Schneider Increases Aveva Bid to £9.9 Billion Following Investor Pressure

Schneider Electric SE has agreed to raise its offer for Aveva Group Plc following pressure from investors who wanted a higher price for the UK software company.

Schneider said in a statement on Friday that the offer of £32.25 per share values Aveva at £9.86 billion ($11.6 billion). That is up 4% from a previous bid that priced the industrial software maker at about £9.5 billion.

Schneider has said that its latest offer for Aveva is its final one, unless a rival bidder emerges. The French industrial conglomerate has been facing claims from some investors that its bid is opportunistic, after a decline in technology stocks this year. Aveva's stock had fallen 47% in the 12 months before Bloomberg reported that Schneider was considering a bid.

Hedge fund Davidson Kempner Capital Management, which was building a stake in Aveva, as well as M&G and Canada’s Mawer Investment Management, were among the shareholders who resisted the deal at the previous price. These shareholders felt that the price was too high and that the company was not worth the investment.

Shareholders will be able to receive an interim dividend of 13 pence per share, which was announced earlier this week, Schneider said in the statement. A vote on the deal is scheduled for Nov. 25.

Aveva shares rose 23 pence to £31.68 in London trading on Tuesday. Schneider rose 84 cents to €141.42.

Aveva, based in Cambridge, England, provides software tools for utilities, oil and gas producers, transportation firms and other companies, according to its website.

In 2017, Schneider agreed to combine its industrial software business with Aveva, taking control of the British company. Aveva has since grown through acquisitions, buying Osisoft from SoftBank Group Corp. in 2020 for a valuation of $5 billion including debt.

Aveva's original deal with Schneider prevented the French company from boosting its stake for two years after the deal closed, and capped its holding below 75% for a further 18 months unless certain conditions were fulfilled. However, Aveva has now announced that it has reached an agreement with Schneider that will allow it to increase its stake in the company to up to 80%.