The board of one of Europe’s biggest tech companies has signalled it’s looking for a change of direction with the unanimous decision to appoint company veteran Olivier Blum as Chief Executive Officer.
Schneider Electric SE has a new chief executive. It has removed chief executive officer Peter Herweck from the post he has held for 18 months and named Olivier Blum as his successor.
The French multinational company specialises in electrical equipment and energy efficiency technologies and has a market capitalisation of around €140bn.
Blum was previously the technology and business leader of the largest business of Schneider Electric, the energy management division.
“The Board of Directors decided to remove Peter Herweck as Chief Executive Officer due to divergences in the execution of the company roadmap at a time of significant opportunities,” the company said in a statement.
The new CEO, Olivier Blum has been with the company for 30 years and held various positions, including member of the Executive Committee since 2014, Chief Human Resources Officer and Country President of Greater India.
Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman, said about Olivier Blum: “I have complete confidence in his ability to lead Schneider Electric in this new phase of focused acceleration.”
Sales at record levels for third quarter
According to Schneider’s latest earnings report, the systems and services have been the main drivers of growth as the group has reported record revenues for the third quarter, €9.3bn, an increase of 8% on the previous year.
Digital Services delivered double-digit growth in the three-month to 30 September, driven by the energy management division’s performance in this segment.
“Sales in Q3 are at record levels and were led by our Systems business reflecting particularly the strength of megatrends including Digitization & AI and the Energy Transition,” said the then CEO Peter Herweck.
The company recently acquired US-based Motivair Corporation, which specialises in advanced liquid cooling solutions, used in data centres.
According to Schneider, although the technology is not new, specific application of liquid cooling to data centres and AI environments is a market, set for strong growth in the coming years.
Meanwhile, the multination tech company has recently been given a heavy fine from the French competition authority.
On 30 October 2024, a total fine of €470m was handed out to Schneider Electric and Legrand and their distributors Rexel and Sonepar over the electrical distribution activities in France.
Schneider Electric was fined €207m for “vertical price-fixing practices” between December 2012 and September 2018.
The company disputed the decision, saying in a statement: “Schneider Electric firmly disagrees with the finding of the French Competition Authority and rejects any allegation that its distribution practices are not compliant with competition rules.”
It added that “Schneider Electric reserves the right to appeal the decision”.
Company shares were trading down around 2% by early afternoon on Monday.
