Wipro acquires Harman's engineering R&D unit in $375 million deal

The acquisition will enhance Wipro's capabilities in domain-led design, connected products, and software platforms

Wipro is buying the digital transformation solutions (DTS) business of audio products maker Harman for $375 million in cash to deepen its push into engineering research & development (ER&D) services.

 

The deal is expected to be completed by the end of this year and will need the US antitrust’s nod. It would result in more than 5,600 DTS employees, including key leadership across the Americas, Europe and Asia, moving to Wipro.

 

The deal will help Wipro have stronger capabilities in domain-led design, connected products, and software platforms.

 

With deep engineering and artificial intelligence (AI)-native platforms, domain expertise, proprietary accelerators and autonomous agent frameworks, it will help the Bengaluru-based company expand into a high margin business.

 

 

US-based Harman is a unit of Samsung, which was bought by the South Korean conglomerate in 2016.

 

“Its specialised engineering expertise, combined with Wipro’s consulting-led, AI-powered capabilities, will significantly enhance the value we deliver to clients. DTS’ strong presence in high-growth sectors and strategic markets complements our global footprint and strengthens our position as a trusted transformation partner,” Wipro chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) Srini Palia said.

 

Engineering R&D is the fastest growing segment in the Indian IT industry sector, according to data from Nasscom.

 

It is expected to grow at 7 per cent with revenue of $55 billion in 2025-26. The IT services industry is expected to grow, in comparison, at just 4.3 per cent.

 

Digital engineering also formed two-thirds of large deals in banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), healthcare and retail.

 

Christian Sobottka, CEO of Harman, said, “This agreement unlocks the next chapter for the DTS business unit — one where it can scale faster, reach more clients in key industries, and fully realise its growth potential.”

 

Harman’s DTS is a global provider of ER&D services and IT services to the industrial, consumer, hi-tech, and healthcare & lifesciences sectors. It has presence in 14 countries such as India, US, South Korea, UK, Poland, and Germany.

 

The unit reported revenue of about $314 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. About 85 per cent of the revenue would be services and the rest from products.

 

Post acquisition, DTS will be part of the company’s engineering business. The company realigned its business units from April to match clients’ evolving business needs and bank more on emerging technology opportunities such as AI, Cloud, and digital transformation.

 

The acquisition by Wipro highlights a growing trend of mergers and acquisitions by the IT services player to boost capabilities and revenue.

 

In the last few years, IT players have been gearing up their capabilities in the ER&D space. 

 

Infosys acquired two companies, HCLTech had announced the acquisition of a German automotive engineering services company in 2023 and Cognizant had acquired Belcan for a whooping $1.3 billion.