Legrand is raising its long-term growth ambitions as the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure turns data centers into a larger engine of the French electrical equipment group. The company now expects organic sales to grow at an average annual rate of 6% to 8% from 2027 through 2030, supported by digital infrastructure and electrification demand. Acquisitions should add about 5% to sales each year on average, extending a strategy that has already pushed Legrand deeper into critical power, cooling and physical compute infrastructure. The new targets mark a significant step up from the organic growth range Legrand outlined when it presented its previous 2030 ambitions in 2024.

Data Centers Move Deeper Into Legrand’s Core Business

Data centers accounted for 32% of Legrand’s sales in the first half of 2026, compared with 26% for full-year 2025, showing how quickly the business mix has shifted toward digital infrastructure. Legrand expects its data-center operations to generate more than €3 billion in sales during 2026, backed by organic expansion, acquisitions and a broader technology portfolio. The company has positioned itself across infrastructure surrounding computing systems rather than depending on a single equipment category. That exposure now stretches from electrical distribution and physical compute infrastructure to monitoring, cooling, testing and lifecycle services.

The scale of that portfolio gives Legrand exposure to several infrastructure requirements that become more important as operators deploy higher-density AI systems. Based on its 2025 data-center sales mix, critical power represented 35% of the business, while physical compute infrastructure and infrastructure monitoring, management and control each represented 25%. Testing and lifecycle services accounted for another 10%, with advanced cooling representing 5%. Those categories put Legrand close to the power and thermal changes emerging as operators redesign facilities for increasingly demanding computing environments.

Legrand Upgrades Its 2030 Growth Ambitions

The revised targets extend beyond revenue growth and signal management’s confidence that Legrand can protect profitability while expanding through acquisitions. The company expects an average adjusted operating margin of 21% to 22% between 2027 and 2030, after acquisitions and including restructuring expenses. It also targets average free cash flow equivalent to 13% to 15% of sales, with average cash conversion above 100%. Meanwhile, Legrand expects divestments over the period to represent between €500 million and €1 billion of sales as it continues reshaping the portfolio.

The new growth ambition is notably stronger than the framework Legrand established at its September 2024 Capital Markets Day. At that time, the company targeted organic sales growth of 3% to 5% and acquisition-led growth of another 3% to 5% annually through 2030. It also expected an average adjusted operating margin of about 20%, compared with the newly announced 21% to 22% range for 2027 through 2030. The change reflects a business whose growth profile has strengthened as data centers and energy-transition products take a larger share of group revenue.

AI Infrastructure Reshapes Legrand’s Opportunity

Legrand sees the data-center market changing structurally as AI workloads increase rack densities and force operators to reconsider power, cooling and deployment architectures. Faster time-to-operation requirements also place greater pressure on suppliers to integrate systems and deliver equipment across multiple regions. Legrand plans to use its open architecture approach, specialist products and global delivery footprint to address those requirements. The company is also developing a roadmap around low-voltage direct-current architectures as it prepares its portfolio for the next generation of large AI facilities.

That strategy extends Legrand’s addressable opportunity beyond traditional electrical equipment used inside commercial buildings. Data centers now sit alongside energy transition and essential building infrastructure as one of the three principal areas in its strategic roadmap. Energy-transition products represented 22% of first-half 2026 sales, while essential infrastructure for buildings, including digital lifestyles, represented 46%. The mix illustrates how Legrand is balancing its established building businesses with faster-growing markets linked to electrification and digital infrastructure.

First-Half Performance Shows Data Center Momentum

Legrand entered its new planning period after a strong first half in which sales increased 17.4% excluding currency effects. Organic sales rose 9.8%, while acquisitions contributed another 6.9% to growth, with data centers and energy-transition offerings providing major support. The data-center business itself delivered organic growth above 30% during the period, prompting Legrand to raise its expectations for the segment. Management subsequently projected organic data-center growth of between 25% and 30% for full-year 2026.

Chief Executive Officer Benoît Coquart highlighted the shift when Legrand reported its first-half results in July. “In the first half of 2026, Legrand delivered record sales growth of +17% excluding currency effects, driven by datacenters, energy transition-related offerings and acquisitions. Financial performance remained outstanding, reflecting both the quality of our market positions and the execution capabilities of our teams in a fast-changing geopolitical and economic environment.” The performance came even as some of Legrand’s more traditional building markets remained comparatively subdued.

Acquisitions Remain Central to Expansion

Acquisitions will continue to play a major role in the company’s strategy, with Legrand planning to direct around 60% of free cash flow toward deals on average through the new planning period. The company has used acquisitions to add capabilities across power infrastructure, cooling, testing and other systems surrounding data-center computing environments. Legrand completed or announced seven acquisitions during the first half of 2026, all focused on energy and digital-transition markets. That activity followed seven acquisitions announced in 2025 representing about €500 million in annualized sales.

Management still intends to maintain financial discipline while pursuing that expansion. Legrand targets net debt of between 1.5 and 2.5 times EBITDA and plans to maintain a dividend policy representing around 50% of net income. Selective share buybacks will remain another option for capital allocation. However, acquisitions remain the largest planned destination for free cash flow as Legrand seeks additional growth in markets where infrastructure investment is accelerating.

Legrand Builds for the Next Data Center Cycle

The strategic importance of data centers now goes beyond the revenue they contribute to Legrand. AI infrastructure requires operators to coordinate electrical systems, rack architecture, cooling, controls and commissioning more closely as power density rises. That creates an opportunity for suppliers capable of addressing multiple layers of the physical infrastructure stack while still allowing customers to integrate equipment from different vendors. Legrand’s expanded portfolio places the company across several of those layers at a time when data-center design is becoming more tightly interconnected.

The shift also changes how investors may view Legrand’s growth profile compared with its traditional exposure to construction and building markets. Data centers have grown from 26% of group sales in 2025 to 32% in the first half of 2026, while the company expects the business to exceed €3 billion in sales this year. Legrand is now tying its higher 2030 ambitions to a broader structural shift toward digitalization, AI infrastructure and electrification rather than relying primarily on a recovery in conventional building demand. Its upgraded targets show how quickly the data-center buildout has moved from an adjacent growth opportunity to a central component of the company’s long-term strategy.