"Nearly a decade ago, private-equity firms backed out of an $8 billion deal to buy Harman International Industries Inc. amid concerns the stereo-maker’s worsening financial condition rendered it worth less than the price they agreed to pay.
The deal also vindicates Mr. Paliwal’s turnaround efforts at Harman. He took over the company in 2007 when Harman’s late founder Sidney Harman stepped aside. Mr. Paliwal closed factories, dropped unprofitable product lines, cut new-product roll outs and reshaped the board to get the ball rolling on reviving the company."
http://www.wsj.com/articles/harman-o...ace-1479146323
so let me get this right.
HARMAN was almost sold a decade ago for $8B. Darth Paliwal came in and slashed/burned , then nearly 10 years of this later , now can sell the company for the same $8B (now in 2016 dollars) ??
Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles
My current (and likely last) DIY speaker build will eventually have all JBL Pro drivers (2242, 2012, and 2453H-SL/2452H-SL), my next set of speakers are most likely going to be Danley Sound Labs unless Samsung surprises me and returns JBL to it glorious past when it actually supported DIY (unlikely).
Yes again. I was with EDS for a number of years when they were with GM. Then they moved back onto their own and then to HP and now HP has split in two into a product marketing branch and an engineering development branch with the EDS people going with the engineering side. To be honest, I am more than a little surprised at how negative and seemingly surprised people here are re the changes for JBL. I thought it was amazing that the old engineering guys hung on so long. In automotive we all got shuffled, quit, fired, retired all through the '80s, '90s and beyond. GM went bankrupt! Chrysler similar and suppliers ditto. There is no longer any such thing as simple economic circular flow . . . everything is untethered global macro economics - terrifying! Again, people are just trying to survive - Harman is doin' pretty well considering the environment, I'd say. Again, it ain't the '50s. And Americans don't take much econ, it seems - tend to get blind-sided. Mike
Everything specifically mentions the automotive side of things so I hope they don't neglect the other areas out of existence.
The automotive business has been keeping Harman's head above water since before I started working there in 2009. Without it, the company probably would have been forced to close its doors years ago, so I wouldn't be so quick to look askance at it.
Harman has thousands of software engineers (all in Asia) with experience integrating electronics and control systems into vehicles and connecting them with personal devices. I'm sure that's the real reason Samsung was willing to shell-out $8billion for the company. The fact that Samsung made a major investment in its audio division a couple of years ago bodes well for the continued survival of the JBL brand. And JBL products will once again be able to benefit from the considerable talents of Alan Devantier and Jerry Morro!
JBL has been gone for years in my mind. I'm glad I have some of the older JBL drivers from the better days of old!
Ron
JBL Pro for home use!
Dinesh Paliwal, HARMAN Chairman, President and CEO, stated, "This compelling all-cash transaction will deliver significant and immediate value to our shareholders and provide new opportunities for our employees as part of a larger, more diversified company. Today's announcement is a testament to what we have achieved and the value that we have created for shareholders."
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Then he screamed, "Where's my damned bonus check??" (not a real quote)
Out.
This statement tells it like it is... it is all about shareholders. CEOs and other top management being significant shareholders. For many of the employees down the food chain, the "new opportunities" will be to leave the company and create greatness elsewhere.
We've been watching this unfold for quite some time. Maybe someone at Samsung will pick up the baton and allow this collection of companies return to greatness.
Widget
so checking the calculator ,,,, after about 10 years of pallys acrobatics , he now sells the company at a loss of approx. $1,200,000,000+ in real value difference from the 2007 price.
wow,,that's a "value added" (subtracted ?) performance deserving a huge bonus.
Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles
There are very good reasons to cap executive compensation and have firm legal guidelines around what pay for performance metrics and values look like. I'm tired of people getting to a certain level then stripmining companies to extract the biggest payout possible for ruining healthy businesses. I've seen it firsthand, and the trend shows no signs of slowing. Ethics in businesses are not to be assumed- they must be enforced. Leaving them to businesses/individuals to execute on simply ensures that those who are willing to sink the lowest for a reward will be the most successful.
There is a possibility of Samsung finding value in making JBL a premium brand again, and I'll keep my fingers crossed but would want 14.2:1 odds if I were to bet on it.
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