Schneider Electric in Talks to Take Control of Bentley Systems
A deal would merge Schneider’s software business with publicly traded Bentley
Schneider Electric SU 2.79%increase; green up pointing triangle is in talks to take control of the engineering-software company Bentley Systems BSY 3.89%increase; green up pointing triangle in a deal that could be worth more than $15 billion.
The companies are holding early-stage talks for a deal in which Schneider would merge its software business with Bentley, according to people familiar with the matter. Bentley would remain a public company, albeit much larger.
Family-controlled Bentley has a market value of $15.6 billion. The company’s shares closed Thursday at $52.06, up around 4%, after Reuters reported that Bentley was exploring alternatives including a sale after receiving takeover interest.
The Bentley family isn’t interested in an outright sale, the people familiar with the matter said.
The talks with Schneider might not result in a deal.
Keith and Barry Bentley, who are brothers, co-founded the company that bears their name in 1984.
Structural and civil engineers use Bentley’s software to model and simulate infrastructure projects. The Exton, Pa., company makes software that is used to design and build roads and airports, water-treatment plants and office buildings. Bentley, which went public in 2020, has annual revenue of more than $1 billion.
In March of this year, the company said Chief Executive Greg Bentley, brother of the founders, would make the transition to executive chair of the board of the directors. The company’s chief operating officer, Nicholas Cumins, will be promoted to chief executive as of July 1.
Schneider Electric, a large maker of electrical and automation products, is based in France and has a market value of roughly 120 billion euros ($127 billion).
Schneider has targeted acquisitions in the past, particularly in the U.K., to bolster its industrial-software business and compete with rivals such as Siemens and Rockwell Automation.
In a similar move to what is being considered now, Scheider took control of the British engineering-software provider Aveva Group in 2017. Emerson Electric pursued a similar type of transaction when it merged two of its software businesses with Aspen Technology.
Schneider’s software is used to help manage manufacturing processes, design tools and train-plant crews. It services industries range from transportation to food and beverages and pharmaceuticals.
Deal making is starting to pick back up, particularly in tech, after a fallow stretch the past couple of years.
The design-software maker Synopsys agreed to acquire Ansys in a $35 billion cash-and-stock deal earlier this year. Hewlett Packard Enterprise struck a roughly $14 billion deal to buy Juniper Networks in a bet on networking and artificial intelligence. Salesforce has been discussing a sizable deal for the data-management software provider Informatica.