Schneider Electric buys PTC for billions to boost data center technology

On Monday, the French multinational Schneider Electric announced an all-cash acquisition of the American industrial software firm PTC for $22.6 billion. Established in 1985, PTC specializes in lifecycle management tools and computer-aided design software. This massive investment follows a period of significant growth for Schneider Electric, which has seen its market valuation more than double over the last four years due to the surging demand for data center infrastructure.

The transaction aims to strengthen Schneider Electric's position as a primary provider of power and cooling solutions required for modern artificial intelligence workloads. As AI development shifts requirements from traditional air-cooled setups to much denser 250kW liquid-cooled systems, integrated software and hardware become essential. This acquisition allows the company to better manage the increasing technical complexity and supply chain intricacies associated with deploying advanced data center environments.