The French electrical equipment and industrial automation giant Schneider Electric announced on Friday discussions for “a potential strategic transaction” with the American software company Bentley Systems, valued at more than 16 billion dollars (15 billion euros).
(AFP / JOEL SAGET)
“These discussions remain at a preliminary stage and there is no certainty that a transaction will be approved or completed”, however indicated Schneider Electric in a short press release, reacting directly to an article in the Wall Street Journal reporting the interest in group for Bentley Systems.
This potential transaction could be part, indicates Schneider Electric, of its ambition to become the world leader in “industrial tech”, in other words all the technological devices which make it possible to modernize the traditional industrial sector.
Shares of Bentley Systems jumped more than 5% on Thursday. Around 07:30 GMT on Friday, that of Schneider Electric lost nearly 2.5% on the Paris Stock Exchange.
Bentley Systems software is used in particular by engineers to model and simulate infrastructure projects or to design digital twins of existing projects or sites.
The company, which indicates that it employs 5,200 people, had generated more than a billion euros in turnover in 2023.
Schneider Electric had already acquired the British industrial software publisher Aveva Group in 2017, with the aim of strengthening itself against rivals such as Siemens and Rockwell Automation.
Schneider Electric announced in February an unprecedented net profit of 4 billion euros in 2023, driven by products and services linked to the energy and digital transition, which already assured it “a record order book” for 2024.
The group noted the “maintenance of strong and dynamic market demand, driven by structural megatrends”, such as digitalization and artificial intelligence, the energy transition or industrial relocations.