Tokyo – Embattled
said that it received capital alliance offers from Sony, Fujifilm Holdings and
Terumo, according to a
Tuesday.
Company president-designate Hiroyuki Sasa reportedly said the
company may decide as early as next month whether to form a tie-up. The company
plans to release a business plan as early as May.
Sasa, who’s been nominated to replace Shuichi Takayama, is
looking to restore investor confidence following revelations of a $1.7 billion
accounting fraud allegedly committed by former managers, who are now facing
trial.
The company said in February it may seek an alliance to bolster
capital eroded by restating securities reports.
Olympus’s net assets fell to $536 million (43.8 billion yen) for
the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2011, from 151 billion yen reported June 30, 2011.
The company’s ratio of capital to total assets dropped to 4.4
percent, from 13.5 13.5 on June 30.
The company expects to make its digital camera business
profitable this fiscal year after expecting a loss for the second straight
year, Sasa told Bloomberg.
Olympus has proposed an 11-member board to replace Takayama and
other executives at an extraordinary shareholders meeting on April 20. Sasa has
been nominated as president, though analysts and others have called for a
complete replacement of the board with outside managers.
