Schneider Electric Ousts CEO After Disagreements Over Strategy

(Bloomberg) -- Schneider Electric unexpectedly ousted its Chief Executive Officer Peter Herweck after only a year and a half in charge, citing disagreements with the board over the strategic direction of the French maker of energy-management equipment and software.

The company said in a statement Monday that its board replaced Herweck with group veteran Olivier Blum, effective immediately. The board is led by Chairman Jean-Pascal Tricoire, who built Schneider into one of France’s biggest companies, with a market value of €137 billion ($149 billion), through a series of deals during his 17-year run as CEO.

The change at the top comes as Schneider has struggled with supply constraints from an extended period of high demand that hit its sales growth in North America, particularly in the residential buildings market in the U.S. The company was also recently fined by French regulators in a price-fixing case.

Still, Schneider last week reiterated its full-year financial targets. Its shares recently hit a record high on rising demand for transformers, inverters, sensors, meters, software and systems, spurred by the AI-driven boom for data centers and government policies encouraging businesses and households to replace fossil fuels with electricity.

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The company’s shares, which dropped as much as 2% at the open in Paris Monday, are still up 31% this year.

The new CEO, Blum, 54, has been a member of the company’s Executive Committee since 2014. Before his present role as technology and operations leader of the largest business of Schneider Electric, he held a wide array of positions at the group. 

Blum, who has been with Schneider for more than 30 years, has served in key roles at the company, including as country head for India and strategy and business leader in China.

Herweck, who joined Schneider in 2016, had taken over the top job from current Chairman Jean-Pascal Tricoire, who had been CEO between 2006 and 2023. 

The change in the corporate suite comes just days after the group was among companies fined by French antitrust regulators over a price-fixing pact.

On Oct. 30, Schneider, Legrand SA and distributors Rexel SA and Sonepar were fined a total of €470 million ($512 million) by French regulators. The French competition authority said that the two manufacturers colluded from 2012 to 2018 with distributors to fix prices for low-voltage electrical equipment through a special price agreement mechanism.

Schneider was hit with the heaviest penalty of €207 million. The companies all said in statements that they disagree with the competition authority’s reasoning and may appeal. 

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Schneider made no reference to the price-fixing case in its CEO-appointment statement on Monday.