French electrical equipment maker Schneider Electric said yesterday it has agreed to combine its industrial software activities with British firm Aveva in the third attempt to merge the two companies in as many years. Schneider Electric said in a statement it will take a 60-percent stake in the combined entity, with existing Aveva shareholders to receive 650 million pounds in cash or 1,014 pence per Aveva share. It would continue to be based in Cambridge and it will remain listed on the London Stock Exchange.

"The directors of Schneider Electric and Aveva believe that there is a clear and compelling business logic and strategic rationale" for the tie-up, the statement said.

"The combined entity will be a global leader in engineering and industrial software, with scale and relevance in key markets as well as an extensive technology portfolio," Schneider Electric argued. In the year ended March, the combined revenues of the new company would have amounted to 657 million pounds and its operating or underlying profit would have totaled 146 million pounds, it said. Schneider Electric already attempted to take control of Aveva in 2015 and 2016.

The new deal is expected to be completed "at or around the end of 2017." Aveva's current chief executive James Kidd would continue in his role until a new CEO was appointed, after which he would be made deputy chief executive Officer and chief financial officer. At the end of July, Schneider Electric announced an agreement to buy Asco Power Technologies in the US for just over one billion euros.