Schneider Electric GC Thinks Globally, Hires Locally

In the last decade or so, Paris-based energy management company Schneider Electric — already a giant multi-national conglomerate with roots in Europe going back almost 180 years — has gotten a lot bigger.

Schneider gobbled up French nuclear reactor maker Areva in 2009 , Spanish IT company Telvent in 2011 , and British engineering and IT firm Invensys in 2013 , to name a few of the more notable moves.

As General Counsel Peter Wexler puts it, Schneider is a “consistent, opportunistic, and serial acquirer of companies.”

Many of these acquisitions have come with new legal teams. When Wexler started, his legal department ...