OSLO, July 1 (Reuters) - Shares of Aker ASA AKER.OL rose nearly 7% on Wednesday after the Norwegian investment company and its partners agreed to sell industrial software firm Cognite to Schneider Electric SCHN.PA in an all-cash deal valuing the company at $3.1 billion.

Under the deal announced on Tuesday, Cognite will be integrated into Schneider Electric's industrial software unit AVEVA, with completion expected in the coming quarters.

Aker, controlled by Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Roekke, said it expected around $1.48 billion in net proceeds from the sale, including repayment of a convertible loan.

It said those proceeds represented about 20 times its invested capital in Cognite and would strengthen its investment capacity, adding that it would continue looking for investment opportunities across AI and industrial software.

While analysts at JPMorgan said on Wednesday that Cognite was a good strategic fit for Schneider Electric, they questioned the deal's high valuation at a time when artificial intelligence is disrupting the software industry.

Aker's Oslo-listed shares were up 6.6% at around 1000 GMT on Wednesday, while Schneider Electric's Paris-listed shares were down 1.9%.

Since Cognite was founded in 2016, Aker has brought in investors including Accel and TCV, while Saudi Aramco 2222.SE took a 7.4% stake in 2022.

Aker had for years weighed a listing of Cognite, first in Oslo and later in the United States, and even relocated the company's headquarters to Phoenix, Arizona.

Cognite generated more than $170 million in revenue in 2025 and employs around 800 people globally, Schneider said on Tuesday.

($1 = 9.9479 Norwegian crowns)