April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Shareholders of Harman International on Feb. 17 voted overwhelmingly for its planned merger with Samsung Electronics.

The US$8 billion mega deal is expected to be completed within the first half of this year as planned.

Almost 95 percent or 46,921,823 shares of the shares represented at the meeting voted in favor of the deal, while 2,107,178 shares opposed.

Samsung will be paying US$112 per Harman share in cash, marking a 28 percent premium on the closing price on Nov. 11, a day before the deal was publicized, and a 37 percent premium on its 30-day volume weighted average.

(From left) Samsung Electronics President and Chief Strategy Officer Young Sohn, Harman International CEO Dinesh Paliwal and Samsung's automotive division chief and senior vice president Park Jong-hwan pose after a press conference held in Seoul on Nov. 21.

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The Samsung-Harman deal is widely considered a win-win for both companies.

Samsung, facing a high barrier of entry in the automotive industry, will include the world’s largest audio and infotainment systems to a slew of global carmakers into its business portfolio, while Harman will expand its presence in the burgeoning connected car solutions market by teaming up with the Korean electronics and memory chip giant.

Following the shareholders’ approval, the two firm plan to start the integration work soon. All the management members of Harman are expected to remain even after the acquisition. About 8,000 software designers and engineers are working currently.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)