Harman International

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Harman International Industries, Inc.
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Audio electronics
Founded1980;44 years ago (1980)
Founders
Headquarters Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.
Key people
Michael Mauser (president & CEO)
Products Audio equipment
Brands See list
RevenueIncrease2.svg$8.8 billion(2020) [1]
Number of employees
30,000 (2020) [2]
Parent Samsung Electronics
Website www.harman.com

Harman International Industries, Inc., commonly known as Harman (stylized as HARMAN), is an American audio electronics company. [3] Since 2017, the company has been operating as an independent subsidiary of Samsung Electronics. [4]

Contents

Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, US, it has its own executive leadership team. [5] Harman maintains major operations in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Harman markets its products under various brands, including AKG, AMX, Arcam, [6] Bang & Olufsen Automotive, Becker, BSS Audio, Crown, dbx, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon, Mark Levinson, Martin, Revel, and Soundcraft.

Early history

Sidney Harman and Bernard Kardon founded the predecessor to Harman International, Harman Kardon, in 1953. Both Harman and Kardon were engineers by training and had worked at the Bogen Company, which was a manufacturer of public address systems. They developed high-fidelity audio products together. Harman bought out his partner in 1956 and then expanded Harman Kardon. [7]

Acquisitions and expansion

Promotional vehicle at Geneva International Motor Show 2019 GIMS 2019, Le Grand-Saconnex (GIMS0562).jpg
Promotional vehicle at Geneva International Motor Show 2019

In the 1960s, Harman Kardon acquired other audio companies such as JBL. [8] In the 1970s, Harman accepted an appointment in the Carter administration as United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce and sold his company to conglomerate Beatrice Foods to avoid a conflict of interest. Beatrice sold many portions of the company, including the original Harman Kardon division.

After he left his government position in 1978, [9] he created Harman International Industries and reacquired a number of businesses he sold to Beatrice. The company continued its growth with a string of acquisitions throughout the 1980s. Harman International went public in 1986 with a stock offering on the New York Stock Exchange. Cash from that sale was used to purchase other professional and consumer audio companies including Soundcraft, DOD Electronics Corp, Infinity and Epicure loudspeakers, Allen & Heath, dbx, Studer, Lexicon, AKG, BSS, Orban, Quested and Turbosound.

A 2003 acquision was Madrigal Audio Laboratories which includes Mark Levinson and Revel. [10] In July 2011, Harman acquired MWM Acoustics. [11] Harman expanded to include lighting in 2013 with the acquisition of Martin Professional. [12] In June 2014, Harman completed the acquisition of AMX LLC. [13]

In March 2015, Harman acquired the automotive division of Bang & Olufsen for €145 million (US$156 million) for the unit as well as technology license fees. [14] The purchase did not include Bang & Olufsen's consumer-electronics business. [15] Later that year, recognizing the increasing role of software and services in the markets it served, Harman expanded its capabilities around cloud, mobility and analytics with the acquisitions of Symphony Teleca, a software services company based in Mountain View, CA, [16] and Redbend, an Israeli-based provider of software management technology for connected devices, and over-the-air (OTA) software and firmware upgrading services. [17]

In March 2016, Harman acquired the automotive cyber-security firm TowerSec. [18] This acquisition was notable for further demonstrating Harman's desire to expand beyond its traditional business areas of in-car audio and entertainment systems. [19]

On November 14, 2016, Harman entered into an agreement to be acquired by Samsung Electronics. [20] In February 2017, Harman International shareholders voted in favor of the acquisition by Samsung. [21] On March 10, 2017, the acquisition was completed, with Harman becoming the independent subsidiary of Samsung. [22]

Private equity attempt

Harman International Industries was to delist from NYSE in Q3/2007 due to a buy-out by KKR and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners. [23] However, as of mid September 2007, KKR announced they would back out of the deal.

Coincident with the buy-out deal, Dinesh Paliwal was hired as company president and CEO in July 2007. On July 1 2008, Sidney Harman was succeeded by Dinesh Paliwal as chairman of the board. [24] In April 2020 he was succeeded by Michael Mauser. [25]

Brands

Related Research Articles

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Mark Levinson is an American high-end audio equipment brand established in 1972 by eponymous founder Mark Levinson, and based in Stamford, Connecticut. It is owned by Harman International Industries, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics.

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Harman Kardon is a division of US-based Harman International Industries, an independent subsidiary of Samsung Electronics. Harman Kardon was originally founded in Westbury, New York, in 1953 by business partners Sidney Harman and Bernard Kardon.

Bang & Olufsen (B&O) is a Danish high-end consumer electronics company that designs and manufactures audio products, television sets, and telephones, originally from Denmark, founded in 1925 by Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen, who designed a radio to work with alternating current, a product of significance at a time when most radios were still running on batteries. Bang & Olufsen are also known for contributing to make speakers for Ford cars such as the Ford Puma.

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Sidney Mortimer Harman was a Canadian-born American polymath whose varied intellectual interests enabled him to flourish during a sixty-year career as an engineer, businessman, manager and philanthropist active in electronics, education, government, industry, and publishing.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">AKG (company)</span> Acoustics engineering and manufacturing company

AKG Acoustics is an acoustics engineering and manufacturing company. It was founded in 1947 by Rudolf Görike and Ernest Plass in Vienna, Austria. It is a part of Harman International Industries, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics since 2017.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinesh Paliwal</span> Indian American business executive and former CEO of Harman International

Dinesh C. Paliwal is an Indian American business executive. He is a Partner at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and also serves as Executive Chairman of Marelli. He was the Chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Harman International, a provider of audio and infotainment systems for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets, from 2007 to 2020.

Crown International, or Crown Audio, is an American manufacturer of audio electronics, and is a subsidiary of Harman International Industries, which has been part of South Korea-based Samsung Electronics since 2017. Today, the company is known primarily for its power amplifiers, but has also manufactured microphones, loudspeakers, and a line of commercial audio products, as well as digital audio networking products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harman Becker Automotive Systems</span> Automotive equipment manufacturer

Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH, commonly known as Becker, is a manufacturer of automotive electronic equipment. It is part of the car division of the American manufacturing company, Harman International Industries, a subsidiary of South Korean company Samsung Electronics.

References

  1. ↑ "HARMAN Announces Executive Management Changes". businesswire.com. February 3, 2020.
  2. ↑ "HARMAN Launches AccuAlertMe – An Enterprise Platform to Enable Workplace Safety for Employees and Visitors". HARMAN Newsroom.
  3. ↑ "HARMAN Unveils New Logo, Signals Brand Evolution". HARMAN Newsroom. July 30, 2015. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  4. ↑ Trentmann, Nina (June 13, 2017). "Samsung Takeover Allows Harman International to Think Bigger, CFO Says". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Leadership | HARMAN".
  6. ↑ stereo.de 17 July 2017, Harman kauft Arcam (German), retrieved 11 October 2020.
  7. ↑ "Dr. Sidney Harman". Archived from the original on December 28, 2007. Retrieved October 24, 2008.
  8. ↑ "History – Home". Archived from the original on April 15, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Jimmy Carter: Department of Commerce Exchange of Letters on the Resignation of Sidney L. Harman as Under Secretary". Presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Harman increases Madrigal severance package". middletownpress.com. December 2003. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  11. ↑ "High Quality Audio – High Quality Audio – About Us". Embedded.harman.com. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  12. ↑ "HARMAN Completes Acquisition of Entertainment Lighting Company Martin Professional". HARMAN Newsroom. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  13. ↑ "HARMAN Completes Acquisition of AMX". HARMAN Newsroom. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  14. ↑ Tom Lavell (March 31, 2015). "Bang & Olufsen to Sell Car-Audio Unit to Harman in Focus Shift". Bloomberg. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Harman Kardon acquires Bang & Olufsen Automotive". Bmwblog.com. March 31, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  16. ↑ "HARMAN to Acquire Software Services Company Symphony Teleca | HARMAN". News.harman.com. January 22, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  17. ↑ "HARMAN Completes Acquisition of Redbend". HARMAN Newsroom. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  18. ↑ "HARMAN Completes Acquisition of TowerSec Automotive Cyber Security". HARMAN Newsroom. Retrieved September 17, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Harman automotive cyber-security system". Deep Tread. Archived from the original on September 18, 2016. Retrieved September 17, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Harman (HAR) to be Acquired by Samsung for $8B in Cash". Yahoo! Finance. Zacks Equity Research. November 14, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Harman International merger with Samsung Electronics approved by shareholders". SamMobile. February 19, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Amid scandals and setbacks, Samsung completes its biggest acquisition ever". Digital Trends. March 12, 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
  23. ↑ "KHI Parent Inc. – 'S-4' on 6/20/07". SEC Info. Retrieved August 28, 2016.[ permanent dead link ]
  24. ↑ "Harman to Retire from Company He Founded – 6/2/2008 – TWICE". Archived from the original on March 31, 2009. Retrieved October 24, 2008.
  25. ↑ "Harman Confirms Michael Mauser to Succeed Dinesh Paliwal as New President and CEO". February 3, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
  26. ↑ "HARMAN Acquires Roon, a popular Multi-Device, Multi-Room Audio Technology Platform". news.harman.com. November 27, 2023.
  27. ↑ "Evertz Acquires Studer from Harman". tvtechnology.com. January 13, 2021.
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