Schneider-Empain (later as Group Schneider SA) was a Franco-Belgian industrial holding.
History
Schneider-Empain was a Franco-Belgian industrial holding formed by the merger of the activities of the Empain group (of Edouard Empain) and the Schneider company (consisting of Compagnie Industrielle de Travaux (CITRA), Société des forges et ateliers du Creusot (SFAC, later known as Creusot Loire)), and Société Minière Droitaumont-Bruville.; Empain obtained a holding in the Schneider company in 1963, and the two business merged into a single holding Empain Schneider in 1969, with two subsidiary companies Schneider SA (France) and Electrorail (Belgium).
Spie Batignolles was acquired in 1971, and Merlin Gerin in 1974.
The energy generation and telecommunications subsidiary Jeumont Schneider was formed in the late 1970s from parts of Schneider Empain, and from companies of the Jeumont Industrie group.
The Empain family exited the major holding it had in the group in 1980 and the organisation subsequently became known as Schneider SA. During major reorganisation in the 1980s the company divested its heavy engineering activities, followed by rail transport, nuclear and telecommunications interests, with the firm retaining holdings in Spie Batignolles, Merlin Gerin and Jeumont-Schneider. The companies Telemecanique and Square D were acquired in 1988 and 1991, and Spie Bagnitolles divested in 1996. In 1999 the company was renamed Schneider Electric.