By Inti Landauro

PARIS--Schneider Electric SA (SU.FR) Friday said all anti-trust authorities have approved its 3.4 billion pound ($5.57 billion) takeover of U.K.-based Invensys PLC (SYS.LN), a deal that will lift the French company to global main player level within industrial automation.

Given both companies' global reach, anti-trust authorities in many countries had to approve the merger, Schneider Electric said, citing the U.S., the European Union, China, Canada and Brazil.

In July, Schneider Electric offered to pay 502 pence a share to Invensys shareholders in a mix of cash and shares, a deal that values the company at GBP3.4 billion pounds. The offer was approved by a majority of shareholders which the company's board unanimously recommended to them.

Schneider, with annual revenue of 23.9 billion euros ($32.92 billion), has in recent years made a big push into providing industrial sites with offer bundles of electrical and industrial equipment, and software and services, instead of selling low voltage devices which is its historical business.

The company is especially keen to develop in emerging markets such as China. Schneider Electric Chief Executive Jean-Pascal Tricoire is currently based in Hong Kong.

Demand is growing fast as companies seek to extract cost savings from smarter management of industrial systems--from assembly lines to data centers, petrochemical plants and power stations--amid rising energy costs, tougher environmental regulations, and increasingly globalized supply chains.

The operating margin on the sale of bundled services is lower, but the business is less capital intensive.

In the automation industry, Schneider Electric was strong in selling small devices to the suppliers of big machinery for the manufacturing industry, a business dubbed "discreet automation," while Invensys delivers whole automated operations for large industrial plants such as mines and oil fields. With the takeover Schneider becomes a global player in line with Siemens AG, Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Rockwell Automation Inc.

Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com

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