Schneider Electric SE is a French multinational company that specializes in digital automation and energy management. It addresses homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries, by combining energy technologies, real-time automation, software, and services.

SE is a Fortune Global 500 company, publicly traded on the Euronext Exchange, and is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index. In fiscal year 2022, the company posted revenues of €34.2 billion.

Schneider Electric is the parent company of Square D, APC, and others. It is also a research company.

History

In 1836, brothers Adolphe and Joseph-Eugene Schneider took over an iron foundry in Le Creusot, France. Two years later, they founded Schneider-Creusot, the company that would eventually become Schneider Electric. Initially, Schneider-Creusot specialized in the production of steel, heavy machinery, and transportation equipment. In 1871, following France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the company significantly developed its capacity for weapons manufacturing. Over the first half of the 20th century, Schneider-Creusot continued to grow, establishing manufacturing sites in France and abroad, including in pre-Soviet Russia and Czechoslovakia.

In January of 1999, SE acquired the Scandinavian switch-maker Lexel. Later that year, the company renamed itself Schneider Electric, to reflect its focus on the electricity sector.

In October 2006, SE  announced that it would acquire the data center equipment manufacturer American Power Conversion for $6.1 billion. The following February, the move was finalized following its approval by the European Commission. In June of 2010, Schneider and the rolling stock manufacturer Alstom jointly purchased Areva’s transmission and distribution businesses in a transaction totaling $2.73 billion.

In 2016, SE acquired Tower Electric, a British company that manufactured fixings and fastenings for construction and electrical firms. In 2017, Schneider Electric became the majority shareholder of Aveva, a provider of engineering and industrial software based in the UK. The next year, it acquired the Indian multinational Larsen & Toubro’s electrical and automatic business in a cash deal for ₹140 billion (US$1.8 billion).

In February 2020, SE made a €1.4 billion takeover bid for German company RIB Software, closing the deal in July 2020.Also in 2020, Schneider Electric acquired ProLeiT AG, a supplier of industrial control and MES software.

In April 2021, SE introduced ‘The Zero Carbon Project’. Since then, it has shown its commitment to minimize ‘operational carbon emissions’ by 2025.