According to the French newspaper Les Echos, Schneider is in exclusive talks with private equity firms Carlyle and PAI Partners over the sale which could value CST at €800–900m. The report suggests that Schneider would retain a 30% stake in the business whose portfolio includes sensors, controls, motors, actuators, switches, solid-state relays, fans and pneumatics.
Schneider has confirmed to Reuters that is involved in talks about the possible sale of CST.
Schneider first tried to sell CST a few years ago but delayed the sell-off in 2011 because of the volatility in the financial markets. According to Les Echos, in 2012 Schneider rejected a bid worth almost $1bn for CST from Avago Technologies, which was mainly interested in the US operations.
The CST business employs around 4,400 people worldwide and in 2012 recorded sales worth $604m. Its headquarters are in California and it has manufacturing facilities in France, the US, China, Germany, Morocco and the UK.