Schneider sues Commission over merger

Schneider Electric is to sue the European Commission for more than €1bn over its failed bid for rival company Legrand. Schneider had completed an agreed €5.4bn bid for Legrand when in October 2001 the Commission ordered the deal be overturned on competition grounds. Schneider challenged the Commission and won a landmark ruling in the Court of First Instance in 2002. By then it proved too late for Schneider to hold on to Legrand and it had to sell the company it had just purchased to a private equity consortium.