Schneider Electric Gets EC Approval To Buy APC

The European Commission on Thursday gave France-based Schneider Electric permission to close its $6.1 billion acquisition of American Power Conversion. <P> The approval is subject to "certain conditions," Schneider said, and as a result the company has agreed to divest its MGE UPS Systems business, which serves the market for small systems below 10 kVA. <P> "Following the approval of APC shareholders at a special meeting on Jan. 16, 2007, this decision is a major milestone toward the successful completion of the acquisition. Schneider Electric and APC now expect to close the transaction within the next two weeks," Schneider said in a statement. <P> The deal, once completed, would give Schneider ownership of APC's product and sales operations in data center architecture and cooling, as well as in power supply management solutions. <P> Schneider said the divestment that will take place involves 6 percent of "the combined operations of APC and MGE UPS systems in critical power." <P> Executives of APC, based in West Kingston, R.I., have said Schneider plans to continue the APC brand as well as maintain a dedicated channel operation.