The company first reported on the fact that Samsung would like to take over the giant Harman conglomerate on November 11 last year. Samsung would especially like to acquire two companies that belong to the Harman Group and are crucial for the company in the coming years. These are Becker and Bang & Olufsen Automotive. It is Becker who creates the basis of on-board computers for companies such as Mercedes, BMW and many others. In conjunction with Bang & Olufsen Automotive, Samsung can easily implement its upcoming systems related to autonomous vehicles in a number of well-known vehicle brands.
However, the company will of course also acquire companies such as AMX, AKG, BSS Audio, Crown Internationall, dbx Profesional Products, DigiTech, HardWire, HiQnet, Harman-Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon, Mark Levinson Audio Systems, Martin Profesional, Revel, Selenium, Studer, Soundcraft and last but not least also JBL. All this should be acquired by Samsung for 8 billion US dollars, and this now seems too low a price to the minority shareholders of Harman. Some of them are even suing Harman's CEO. Everything has gone so far that the shareholders will vote already this Friday, February 17, on whether the merger will take place.
In order for the acquisition to be completed, Samsung must obtain the approval of at least 50% of shareholders. Samsung offered to pay $112 per share in cash, a 28% premium to where the stock closed on November 11, 2016, when the merger was announced. However, Harman does not expect that small shareholders will be able to prevent the acquisition, and the transaction for approximately 180 billion crowns should be completed in the middle of this year.
*Source: theinvestor.co.kr
