France's Schneider Electric will acquire U.S. industrial software company PTC for $22.6 billion, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday.

Schneider Electric shares fell more than 8 percent in morning European trade. PTC shares jumped 35 percent in U.S. premarket trading.

Schneider Electric sees PTC as helping it expand into product design and engineering. It is a strategy to prepare for an era of industrial AI in which AI is embedded in machines and physical products.

After the acquisition, the share of software and services in Schneider Electric's overall revenue will rise to nearly one quarter from currently less than one fifth, the WSJ reported.

The deal is Schneider Electric's largest acquisition this year. In June, Schneider Electric agreed to acquire industrial data and AI software company Cognite for $3.1 billion. Last month, it made an acquisition offer of about 1.2 billion euros for smart device maker Shelly Group.

Schneider Electric shares have nearly doubled over the past 3 years, helped by a boom in data centre construction.

PTC shares have fallen about 17 percent so far this year amid investor concerns that AI will disrupt the software industry.

Schneider Electric CEO Olivier Blum (올리비에 블룸) said the acquisition has created a software and AI powerhouse that connects the physical world and the digital world. The companies plan to complete the transaction by the third quarter of 2027.