Here we go again: AVEVA+Schneider?

Jul 10, 2017 | Hot Topics

A couple of UK media outlets reported yesterday that Schneider Electric is considering once again making an offer for AVEVA. This is one such report, repeating what was in a Sunday Times (paywall) article. As before, such a deal would make a lot of sense: Schneider Electric is a hardware company that has ancillary software assets in SimSci, WonderWare and other brands, and could create real value for customers by combining those with AVEVA’s plant design and data management solutions. Prior deals fell apart because they were too complex (in my opinion) but also because the companies couldn’t agree on the value of AVEVA as continued weakness in oil and gas markets led to slow sales (also my opinion). A new deal would have to value AVEVA is such a way that the board of directors can approve a sale and spell out how AVEVA’s current team would be positioned within Schneider Electric — since Schneider would be buying innovation, it’s important to retain the innovators.

AVEVA also issued one of its periodic non-news statements last week, as the company said it “has made a solid start to the financial year” and that “there has not been any noticeable change in the trends reported” back in May, when AVEVA reported results for the fiscal year ended March 31.

Of course, we won’t know for sure that anything is afoot with Schneider Electric until a deal is announced, so we’ll all need to stay tuned.