The Guardian newspaper reported this morning that the French automation giant, Schneider Electric, has made a GBP3.3 billion offer for Invensys. The Guardian also reported that the Invensys board has told Schneider that it would look favorably on this bid.
The Guardian also quoted analysts from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs saying that the merger has benefit for Schneider, since Schneider has very little presence in process automation. This despite Schneider's purchase of several process automation and SCADA companies including Citect several years ago.
It is not clear from the offer how Schneider would operate the business, nor is it clear whether Invensys' releasing this information isn't simply a ploy to engender a bidding war. The Guardian commented that Invensys' other competitors such as ABB or Emerson, or Siemens, might very well make counter offers.
You can read the entire story here.
