Energy · Profile from Energy Research Companion
Schneider Electric
A French company that began as an ironworks and arms maker at Le Creusot in 1836 and spent the 1980s and 1990s selling steel, shipbuilding and heavy engineering to become a pure electrical-equipment business — then bought its way into the United States (Square D, 1991; APC, 2007) and into industrial software (Invensys, 2014; AVEVA, 2018–23). In 2025 it passed €40bn of revenue for the first time (~€40.2bn, +8.9% organic, company, Feb 2026), with North America its largest and fastest-growing region at about 40% of sales; in Q3 2026 revenue reached a record ~€11.46bn (+16.9% organic) on what management called triple-digit growth in data-centre demand (company, Oct 2026, reported). Schneider makes no turbines and builds no power lines. It sells the equipment on the customer's side of the meter — switchgear, breakers, transformers, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), cooling and the software that runs them — and its main asset is a distribution channel of tens of thousands of electricians, panel builders and distributors who specify its products by habit.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1836 — brothers Adolphe and Eugène Schneider buy the Le Creusot ironworks in Burgundy, France; renamed Schneider Electric in 1999 after the shift to electrical equipment
- Headquarters
- Rueil-Malmaison (Paris region), France; North American headquarters in Massachusetts (Andover, verify current site); large operating hubs in the US, China, India and Hong Kong (verify)
- Ownership / structure
- Public, Euronext Paris: SU (CAC 40, Euro Stoxx 50); widely held, no controlling shareholder; Schneider Electric SE (European company)
- Leadership (2026)
- Olivier Blum (CEO since 13 Nov 2024, reported); Jean-Pascal Tricoire (chairman; CEO 2006–2023)
- Segments
- Energy Management (low- and medium-voltage equipment, secure power/UPS, cooling, building and grid software; ~€9.62bn of Q3 2026's ~€11.46bn, company, reported) and Industrial Automation (drives, controllers, process automation; AVEVA software)
- Scale
- Revenue ~€36bn (2023), ~€38bn (2024), ~€40.2bn (2025) (company; 2023–24 from memory, verify); adjusted EBITA margin ~18–19% (2024–25, verify); ~150,000+ employees (verify)
- Regional mix
- North America ~40% of revenue (Q3 2025 and Q3 2026, reported); Western Europe the second region; China and East Asia; India (~7% of group sales via the Indian subsidiaries in 2024, reported)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Le Creusot origins and the pivot to electrical (1836–1999); Square D hostile takeover (1991); the vetoed Legrand merger (2001–02); APC (2007); Invensys (2014); AVEVA reverse merger (2018) and buy-out (2023); L&T Electrical & Automation (2018–20) and the €5.5bn India buy-out (2025); Motivair liquid cooling (2024); the CEO ouster and the US data-centre push (2024–26)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1836
Le Creusot Founding and the Pivot to Electrical
Founding, then strategy pivot (divestment of heavy industry and acquisition of electrical businesses)
1991
Square D Hostile Takeover
Acquisition (hostile tender offer)
2001
Legrand Merger Veto
Acquisition or merger — blocked by the regulator (failure)
2007
APC Acquisition
Acquisition (agreed cash offer)
2014
Invensys Acquisition
Acquisition (recommended cash-and-shares offer for a UK-listed company)
2018
AVEVA Reverse Merger and 2023 Buy Out
Acquisition or merger (reverse merger into a listed software company), then minority buy-out (take-private)
2020
Larsen and Toubro Electrical and the India Buy Out
Acquisition (with a sovereign co-investor), then minority buy-out
2024
CEO Change and the US Data Centre Push
Leadership change (board removal of the CEO), followed by a capacity investment programme
2024
Motivair Liquid Cooling Stake
Acquisition (controlling stake) / technology bet