Last month, Samsung announced that they would be acquiring Harman, who for those unfamiliar is a company that produces automotive electronics in addition to other products you might be familiar with, such as consumer-grade speakers. The acquisition is said to be worth $8 billion with $112 being paid per share.
Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, but it seems that it might not be sweet enough. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, investment firm Atlantic Investment Management revealed that they are planning on blocking the acquisition by voting against it. The company has a 2.3% stake in Harman and according to Atlantic’s Alexander Roepers, he believes that investors deserve a bit more from this deal.
Exactly how much more he thinks that investors deserve to get is unclear, but considering that his firm only has a 2.3% stake in the company, it seems unlikely that he will be able to sway the votes in any meaningful way. However at the same time, Samsung is not alone in their bid for the company.
The WSJ notes that earlier this week, there was a regulatory filing by an unnamed company who offered Harman $115 per share, a bit higher than what Samsung is offering, but unfortunately discussions fell through. In any case we’ll have to wait and see what happens, but in the meantime if it is successful, don’t be surprised to see Harman branding on future Samsung smartphones.
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