Technology giant Samsung is getting into the car game.
The company has revealed that it would buy U.S. auto-parts supplier Harman International Industries Inc., based in Stamford, Conn., for $8 billion in an all-cash deal that instantly makes Samsung a major player in the world of automotive technology.
Harman has been aggressively pushing into the automotive world securing big contracts from the likes of General Motors Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV. It has projected an order backlog of $24 billion, more than three times annual revenue, and about two-thirds of its current sales come from auto makers.
The company has diversified into software development and components for connected cars.
The acquisition makes Samsung a direct competitor to Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc, who are all trying to reshape the auto industry and have been working on self-driving cars.
However, Samsung doesn’t plan to make cars itself, instead, it will venturing into automotive technology.
Harman will remain an independent subsidiary of the technology giant. Samsung will pay $112 a share in cash for Harman, which generated roughly $700 million in net profit on $7 billion of revenue last year.
