HARMAN International, the automotive and audio subsidiary Samsung Electronics acquired in 2017, agreed to purchase ZF Friedrichshafen’s advanced driver-assistance systems business for €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion), capitalizing on financial pressures sweeping through Europe’s auto-supplier sector.
The transaction covers ZF’s automotive compute solutions, smart cameras, radars, and ADAS software operations. Approximately 3,750 ZF employees across Europe, the Americas, and Asia will transfer to HARMAN when the deal closes in the second half of 2026, pending regulatory approval.
For ZF, the divestiture offers relief. The German supplier carries more than €10 billion in debt following acquisitions of TRW Automotive and Wabco, and recently saw its borrowing costs surge to 7% on new bonds compared with 2% in 2019. S&P Global Ratings downgraded the company to BB- earlier this year, citing weak leverage and cash flow metrics.
ZF chief executive Mathias Miedreich characterized the sale as helping reduce the company’s debt burden, allowing management to concentrate on core businesses.
Samsung has steadily built HARMAN’s automotive presence since the $8 billion acquisition eight years ago, growing the unit from $7 billion to over $11 billion in annual revenue. HARMAN chairman Young Sohn indicated the ZF purchase extends that trajectory, adding driver-assistance capabilities to the company’s digital cockpit offerings as automakers increasingly integrate vehicle systems onto centralized computing platforms.
