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Samsung to pay 8bn dollars for Harman Industries
Electronics group’s biggest deal is largest foreign takeover by a Korean company

2 HOURS AGO by: Bryan Harris in Seoul
Samsung Electronics has agreed to pay 8bn dollars for Harman International Industries, a US maker of automotive electronics, in a deal that will drive the South Korean group’s push into connected technologies.

The deal, if completed, represents Samsung Electronics’ biggest acquisition to date as well as the largest foreign corporate takeover by a South Korean company.

Under the agreement, Samsung will acquire Harman for 112 dollars per share in cash — a premium of 27.8 per cent to the target’s closing price on Friday. Harman shares were down 7 per cent in the year-to-date on November 11.

The US-listed company is a global leader in connected car technology and is known for its high-end multimedia, navigation and visual display systems. Group sales were 7bn dollars during the 12 months to October and its order backlog as of June was 24bn dollars, the company said.

“Harman perfectly complements Samsung in terms of technologies, products and solutions, and joining forces is a natural extension of the automotive strategy we have been pursuing for some time,” said Oh-Hyun Kwon, chief executive of Samsung Electronics.

More than 30m vehicles worldwide are equipped with Harman systems and the company has established relationships with premium automakers such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

The transaction “will immediately give Samsung a significant presence in the large and rapidly growing market for connected technologies, particularly automotive electronics”, said Samsung on Monday, adding that the connected technology market was a strategic priority for the company.

Lee Se-chul, an analyst at NH investment Securities, said: “Samsung has shown its willingness to enter the vehicle components business by using its IT competitiveness. Since the completed car market doesn’t look bright overall, they seem be targeting the car components market.”

Young Sohn, Samsung’s chief strategy officer, said: “The vehicle of tomorrow will be transformed by smart technology and connectivity in the same way that simple feature phones have become sophisticated smart devices over the past decade,”


“We see substantial long-term growth opportunities in the auto technology market as demand for Samsung’s specialised electronic components and solutions continues to grow,” he added.