2019 In the 1960s, Harman Kardon acquired other audio companies such as
JBL. 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, 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 acquisition was
Madrigal Audio Laboratories which includes
Mark Levinson and
Revel. In July 2011, Harman acquired MWM Acoustics. Harman expanded to include lighting in 2013 with the acquisition of
Martin Professional. In June 2014, Harman completed the acquisition of
AMX LLC. In March 2015, Harman acquired the automotive division of
Bang & Olufsen for 145 million (156 million) for the unit as well as technology license fees. The purchase did not include Bang & Olufsen's consumer-electronics business. 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, and
Redbend, an Israeli-based provider of software management technology for connected devices, and over-the-air (OTA) software and firmware upgrading services. In March 2016, Harman acquired the automotive cyber-security firm TowerSec. This acquisition was notable for further demonstrating Harman's desire to expand beyond its traditional business areas of in-car audio and entertainment systems. On November 14, 2016, Harman entered into an agreement to be acquired by
Samsung Electronics. In February 2017, Harman International shareholders voted in favor of the acquisition by Samsung. On March 10, 2017, the acquisition was completed, with Harman becoming the independent subsidiary of Samsung. In 2017, Samsung acquired Harman International. Harman makes
high fidelity audio products under many brand names such as
AKG,
AMX,
Becker,
Crown,
Harman Kardon,
Infinity,
JBL,
Lexicon,
dbx, DigiTech,
Mark Levinson,
Martin,
Revel,
Soundcraft,
Studer,
Arcam,
Bang & Olufsen and BSS Audio. In May 2025, Harman agreed to the acquirement of
Bowers & Wilkins,
Marantz,
Denon,
Polk Audio,
Definitive Technology,
Classé,
HEOS and
Boston Acoustics as
Masimo sells its consumer audio business. In December 2025, it was announced that Harman had agreed to acquire the
advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) business of
ZF Group for €1.5 billion. The transaction, expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory approval, included compute platforms, smart camera and radar technologies, and the transfer of approximately 3,750 employees. == Private equity attempt ==