In a bid to enter the growing market for automotive technology to produce "connected" cars, Samsung Electronics is set to buy US auto parts maker Harman International Industries for $8 billion.
The deal, the biggest in the firm's history, will provide a chance for the tech titan to move past the exploding Galaxy Note 7 crisis that is expected to cost it billions of dollars as well as its cherished reputation.
Board members of Samsung -- the world's largest producer of smartphones -- approved the all-cash deal of the Connecticut-based firm for $112 a share, Samsung said in a statement.
"Harman perfectly complements Samsung in terms of technologies, products and solutions, and joining forces is a natural extension of the automotive strategy we have been pursuing for some time," Samsung vice chairman Kwon Oh-Hyun said in a statement.
Harman produces high-end audio systems and other internet-enabled entertainment features for global car makers including General Motors and Fiat Chrysler.
Samsung is hoping to complete the deal by the third quarter of 2017 after getting approvals from Harman shareholders and regulators.
The latest deal also came as the firm seeks new sources for growth beyond its key business of mobile handsets as the market slows.
The Samsung group dabbled in car making business in the 1990s but was soon forced to sell the business to the French car maker Renault in the wake of the crippling 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.
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