Schneider could be forced into a demerger from Legrand, just months after the two French electrical manufacturers completed a €6.42bn ($5.86bn) merger, as a result of European anti-trust authority opposition, according to sources close to the deal.

This could mean that the two companies will have to re-hire financial advisers. The boards of Schneider and Legrand have said that the European Commission merger task force has given a negative preliminary view on the merger of the two companies. Rothschild's bankers are understood to be locked in meetings with Schneider executives about how to save a costly demerger.