Schneider’s PTC Acquisition to Boost Industrial Intelligence

Global energy technology company Schneider Electric and PTC have signed a definitive agreement for the latter’s acquisition.

The deal is an all-cash acquisition at US$205 per share for 100% of the share capital of PTC, valuing PTC’s equity at around US$22.6bn.

Serving 30,000 customers, PTC operates in the area of complex industrial product design, engineering and data management, further expanding Schneider Electric’s reach and expertise in this area.

The acquisition follows Schneider Electric expanding its software arm through a merger with AVEVA in 2018.

Currently, it is set to acquire industrial AI and data software provider Cognite.

PTC’s offering includes computer-aided design (CAD), and lifecycle management in product, application and service, helping it generate €2.4bn (US$2.7bn) in revenue in 2025.

“Neil Barua [PTC’s President and CEO] and the PTC teams have established an outstanding track record of growth, innovation and customer success,” says Olivier Blum, Schneider Electric’s CEO. “At Schneider Electric, we have built a strong leadership position in industrial software with AVEVA under the leadership of Caspar Herzberg. Together, with Cognite’s unique AI capabilities, we will accelerate innovation, unlock new opportunities and create long-term value for our customers, employees and shareholders as we shape the future of Energy and Industrial Intelligence.”

Through the acquisition, the companies aim to create a leading, open and interoperable industrial software and artificial intelligence franchise.

The franchise is expected to support customers in achieving business outcomes across design, control, intelligence and data systems, bridging the physical and digital across the lifecycle from design to build, operate and maintain.

Through the converging of the physical and digital, Schneider Electric says trusted and contextualised industrial data can provide actionable intelligence and AI-driven outcomes. 

A focus on the digital will be at the heart of the franchise with AI playing a role across products, machines, energy and process systems, helping to boost energy and industrial intelligence.

“PTC provides the software the world’s leading manufacturers and product companies rely on to design, build, and maintain great products and unlock more value from their product data in an increasingly AI-driven world,” says Neil. “Joining Schneider Electric is an incredible opportunity to elevate the scope and impact of what we deliver for our customers globally. We gain substantial scale and resources to accelerate innovation, advance our Intelligent Product Lifecycle vision, and expand our business into more geographies and end markets to serve more customers.”

One of the manufacturing companies PTC has partnered with is powerhouse Caterpillar, which uses its services across a number of areas.

Caterpillar particularly relies heavily on PTC's enterprise product lifecycle management software, PTC Windchill. 

It helps connect Caterpillar's global engineering, enterprise resource planning, and CAD platforms, assisting it with minimising time-to-market for its complex heavy machinery.

The manufacturer recently announced that it will be increasing the volume of in-demand equipment it produces in North Carolina in the US.

Why Caterpillar Is Ploughing US$1bn into North Carolina

Caterpillar is investing US$1bn to expand manufacturing capacity in North Carolina, building on its longstanding presence and existing expertise in the area.

The major move will embed the company further into North Carolina’s manufacturing sector, through a new facility, allowing it to expand its manufacturing capacity through its growing Cat Compact business.

The move responds to growing demand in the region from Caterpillar’s customers.

“As demand for compact equipment continues to increase, we're investing to better serve this growing segment of customers,” says Rod Shurman, Caterpillar Construction Industries Group President. “This investment is another way we are solving our customers’ toughest challenges by expanding access to the products, solutions and services they need to work more efficiently.”

Uptick in track loader and telehandler demand 

The products Rod refers to are track loaders and telehandlers, highly versatile machines that are not only used across construction but landscaping and material handling among other applications.

Their diverse use ranges from moving materials, to managing jobsites, supporting workforce productivity and delivering critical work efficiently and safely.

Increasing the production level of these machines is part of Caterpillar’s Cat Compacct strategy to deliver a more streamlined and convenient experience for growing businesses and small contractors.

The move feeds into a wider goal of supporting customers in solving difficult jobsite challenges, building homes and infrastructure.

Building communities

Caterpillar also says that its investment will help its customers build communities. This is a goal it is also supporting directly.

The company plans to continue to capitalise on the local workforce and build on North Carolina’s existing manufacturing expertise, particularly in Sanford.

“We appreciate the partnership and support of the State of North Carolina, Lee County and the City of Sanford as we continue investing in the future of manufacturing and the customers we serve,” says Rod. 

The investment is expected to create advanced manufacturing career opportunities as well as help employees develop skills required in automation, robotics, advanced production systems and digital manufacturing.

Caterpillar’s AI push

As with Schneider Electric, Caterpillar is also driving AI optimisation.

Ogi Redzic, the company’s Digital Chief has sperheaded Cat Digital, the company’s 3,000-strong workforce delivering the digital tools powering Caterpillar’s equipment.

“We have remotely operated machines that will increasingly run on AI to become fully autonomous. We’ve done this in mining for decades, with hundreds of millions of kilometres driven autonomously without safety incidents. Construction sites are more complex than mining sites, so our first focus is “task autonomy”, allowing individual machines to execute specific assigned tasks,” he told outlet OBSERVER.

“In five to ten years, you will likely see AI coordinating multiple machines on a construction site. On a typical construction site, up to 40% of the time is unproductive, people waiting for another machine to finish, searching for original design files, or experiencing idle delays. An AI layer can orchestrate site operations, measure progress and adjust workflows to maximise productivity.”

It is technology that can address the labour shortages the construction industry is increasingly facing as a substantial proportion of its workforce nears retirement, and it struggles to attract young talent.

Operating globally, Caterpillar saw sales and revenues of over US$67bn in 2025.

The business covers manufacturing construction and mining equipment as well as natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, off-highway diesel and diesel-electric vehicles. 

Its primary business segments are Construction Industries, Power & Energy and Resource Industries.

Schneider Electric's key partners: 

PTC

PTC is a Boston-area software company best known for Creo CAD, Windchill product lifecycle management, and the ThingWorx industrial Internet of Things platform, which help manufacturers design, build, and service products.

Cognite

Cognite is a Norwegian industrial software company. Its Cognite Data Fusion platform pulls together operational, engineering, and IT data into a single contextualised model so asset-heavy industries like energy and manufacturing can run analytics and AI on it.

AVEVA

AVEVA is a UK-headquartered industrial software company, majority-owned by Schneider Electric, that provides engineering design, operations control, and asset performance software for sectors such as oil and gas, power, and manufacturing.