Schneider Electric slumps after $22.6 billion deal to buy PTC

** Schneider Electric SCHN.PA falls 8% on a deal to buy PTC PTC.O in an all-cash transaction valuing the US software company at around $22.6 billion

** Schneider will pay $205 per PTC share; the deal will be financed through a combination of equity and debt issuances

** Analysts agree the rationale for the deal is clear, but flag AI-related concerns

** RBC says the deal's multiples are reasonable but it increases Schneider's exposure to AI concerns among the pressured industrial software assets

** Jefferies echoes these comments: the fears that allowed for the deal at a decade low valuation could weigh on shares post-deal

** "Integration will likely be complicated and it will likely also see the market revisit capital allocation discussions," RBC adds

** Baird says PTC/Schneider combination creates a "powerhouse" in industrial data management at a time when Schneider has bet big on supplying the infrastructure for data centres

** Up to the previous session's close, shares in Schneider Electric were up 29%​ YTD

($1 = 0.8938 euros)