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Olympus reportedly in final talks for Sony investment
If the recent chapter in Olympus' history was a photo, it'd be a blurry thumb covering the subject's head. But, if reports from Nikkei are correct, it looks like the next one might be a happy family portrait. As suggested earlier this year, Sony is reportedly close to agreeing on a 50 billion yen (about $620 million) investment in the scandalized firm. This would likely give the Japanese electronics giant a 10 percent stake in Olympus, making it the largest single shareholder. This isn't the first time we've seen the troubled camera and optics brand associated with other electronics firms, and with Olympus telling Reuters that "This is not something that we have announced" we'll just have to wait and see exactly how this next frame develops.
Olympus turns to Sony to help it get its feet back on the ground (updated)
Olympus might have some good news soon: it might have found a hero to rescue it from its woes. The "troubled" (read: it hid $1.7 billion worth of accounting losses, was nearly de-listed from the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is currently suing its leadership team for fraud) company is reportedly about to negotiate a capital-and-business alliance with Sony. The TSE gave the optics-maker three years to clean up its act, which it's hoping Big S (that already owns a 0.03 percent stake in the company) will assist with some know-how, a big pot of cash, and maybe loaning them a competent accountant, or something. Whatever happens, the rumors are that all will be revealed at a press conference next week, we're just hoping Will Smith turns up to announce it. Update: The Nikkei is reporting that Sony could be interested in buying up between 20 and 30 percent of Olympus in order to get at its medical imaging business. It also mentioned that it's not a done-deal just yet, Fujifilm and (medical gear maker) Terumo are still circling in the hope of biting off a piece of the action.
