Schneider Set to Expand Market Share in Romania, Spaolanse Says

Schneider Electric SA (DG), the biggest maker of low- and medium-voltage equipment, is set to expand its market share in Romania and may consider acquisitions in the Balkan country, Saulo Spaolanse, the chairman of the local unit, said.

The French company seeks to invest mostly in energy- efficiency service as the Balkan country is expanding its power grid to face growing output especially from renewable sources, such as wind and hydro power plants, Spaolanse said in an interview from Bucharest today.

“Our plan is to always increase the market share and invest in local competencies,” Spaolanse said. “We focus more on customer service, investment in providing more special services to our customers and we keep hiring.”

Schneider, based in Rueil-Malmaison near Paris, spent $3.8 billion last year on takeovers to expand in emerging markets and broaden power-management systems. The acquisitions included Spanish software company Telvent GIT SA, Chinese maker of energy saving equipment Leader Harvest Power Technologies and Luminous Power Technologies, an Indian maker of inverters and power- storage systems.

“This year we are more focused on the consolidation of the integrated business and if we find some good opportunities we are open to discussions, including in Romania,” Spaolanse said, adding that the company is not interested in buying a production plant in Romania, because it has production units in Bulgaria, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Schneider started its operation in Romania 15 years ago and now employs 180 people in the country, where it specializes in the sale of power distribution equipment and industrial automation, according to Spaolanse.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andra Timu in Bucharest at atimu@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James M. Gomez at jagomez@bloomberg.net