Another deal by Japanese camera maker Olympus faces questions, says Wall Street Journal

TOKYO (TR) – Another questionable deal has come to light just days after the chairman of embattled Japanese camera maker Olympus stepped down, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The latest controversy involved the purchase of a U.S.-based orthopedic business in which Olympus gave a $23 million loan to U.S.-based merchant bank Viscogliosi Brothers — an adviser on the deal — which it later wrote off, according to the WSJ. On Thursday, the new president of Olympus, Shuichi Takayama, defended the deals made by the company, including a payment of $687 million for financial advice on a $2 billion purchase of U.K. based medical-technology company Gyrus Group LLC. Adviser fees are normally 1 to 2 percent of any deal.

The other deals facing scrutiny involve Japanese start-up firms and Cayman Islands-based companies worth nearly $1 billion, the paper said. The three Cayman companies closed shortly after Olympus transferred the funds and the camera maker wrote off nearly three-quarters of the value of the start-ups a year after the deals were finalized, WSJ said.

The sacking of former British CEO Michael Woodford triggered the scandal. He claimed he was fired after launching his own investigation into the payments — a claim Olympus has denied. Olympus Chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa resigned on Wednesday in a bid to restore confidence in the 91-year-old company.

Source: Wall Street Journal

  Gyrus, Michael Woodford, Olympus, Shuichi Takayama, Tsuyoshi Kikukawa