Schneider Electric has acquired ASCO Power Technologies from Vertiv for $1.25 billion.
The acquisition gives Schneider Electric an opportunity to develop its position in the switch technologies market, as the company which already produces Automatic Transfer Switches is already known as a lead player for its ATS business in China, according to Schneider Electric.
“ASCO brings to Schneider Electric a well-organised brand in North America, a strong level of know-how, prescription skills and network and diversified customer base,” Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chief executive, Schneider Electric said in a statement.
The acquisition also comes at a good time for Vertiv, which restructured its business after being sold to Platinum Equity in November 2016. The company, formerly known as Emerson Network Power, sold its data centre business and became Vertiv after the $4 billion deal with Emerson.
Following this, it became clear that the ASCO business and its Automatic Transfer Switch expertise were no longer part of the company’s more focused strategy, according to the CEO of Vertiv Rob Johnson.
Read more:Emerson exits data centre business – new owners rebrand as Vertiv and hire new CEO
In a statement, Johnson said: “This sale is a significant step forward in our evolution as the premier provider of digital critical infrastructure solutions.
“This is consistent with our strategy of focusing on our customers and aligning the strengths of our organisation- deep domain knowledge in IT and facilities applications, global scale and service coverage- to better meet their needs.”
ASCO provides a selection of data centre products, and it has been operating as a part of Vertiv’s data centre business. It first introduced ATS in 1925 before it began expanding towards protection and control application products.
The power technologies business mainly offers products that are central to regulations and power voltages within the US.
The sale of ASCO to Schneider Electric is expected to close by the end of 2017.
