Harman will operate as a standalone subsidiary following the completion of its acquisition by Samsung, executives from both companies have stated. While the headline reason given for the deal was to boost Samsung’s presence in the connected car markets, the electronics giant has stated that it will retain and build on Harman’s professional and consumer brands.
Mohit Parasher (pictured), EVP of Harman and president of Harman Professional Solutions, commented: “We see this transaction as a benefit to all stakeholders in the Professional Solutions space because we will be able to leverage Samsung’s unparalleled global scale and R&D capabilities that will enable us to accelerate our innovation.
“The combination will also expand the company’s business-to-business platform through its ability to deliver integrated, large-scale audio, video, lighting, control and switching professional solutions across all the market verticals we serve. The synergy is compelling and we see a clear opportunity to develop and own a total complete end-to-end solution for our customers.”
In the call to investors announcing the deal, a graphic was presented showing four areas that present growth opportunities for the combined companies: on the go, in the car, at venues (video, audio, display, lighting, control) and at home (TV, speakers, smart home, IoT, home theatre, smart appliances).
In the same call, Samsung president and chief strategy officer Young Sohn said: “We are excited to combine our respective audio and video expertise. This will enable us to enhance offerings for both consumers and professional end markets.”
Harman chairman, CEO and president Dinesh Paliwal stated: “Our professional solutions division serves the entertainment and enterprise markets. With this transaction, we will be a comprehensive system provider, offering a complete audio signal chain, along with Samsung’s unmatched display capabilities.”
Speaking to Installation, David Glaubke, PR director for Harman Professional Solutions, stressed that the actual change of ownership was still some way off. “What we announced last week was simply… the agreement for the intent for Samsung to purchase Harman, and that won’t be completed until approximately mid-2017. So certainly there are a lot of questions that want to be asked of what’s happening, but as is the case with any of these announcements we won’t know a lot until we get way further down the road – so in the meantime really it’s business as usual.”
Glaubke added that, even after the deal completes, he did not expect major changes: “Samsung has made it quite clear that throughout the agreement process and the closing and beyond that it’s Samsung’s intent in maintaining the structure, the management and the brands of Harman – so I don’t expect this to change.”
He agreed with the suggestion that Samsung would become another brand that Harman Professional could build into its solution sales: “Especially in display, Samsung brings to bear a lot of compelling technology that we can also fold into our product suite and our brand suite.”
