Tokyo: Olympus Corp. today said that chairman and President Tsuyoshi Kikukawa is stepping down amid widening scrutiny into acquisitions after the company's British ex-CEO alleged financial wrongdoing. The Japanese camera and medical device maker said the move was to take responsibility for the troubles caused to customers, business partners and investors over recent media reports that have sent Olympus stock plunging.
Olympus shares, which have lost half their value in the last two weeks, fell 7.6 per cent today. The drop followed Kikukawa's firing of Chief Executive Michael Woodford after he questioned a USD 687 million payment to financial advisers as part of Olympus' purchase of the U.K.'s Gyrus Group Plc. as too high. The payment represented more than a third of the USD 2 billion purchase. Fees for advisers are normally 1 to 2 per cent of the deal value.
Shuichi Takayama, who was tapped as president, apologised for the latest woes, including the sliding stock price, and promised to do his utmost to investigate what had happened. "We will work day by day with sincerity and with all our hearts to resolve the problem, regain social trust and allay the worries of our customers, business partners and investors as soon as possible," he said in a statement.
Last week, the company said it would establish an independent task force to review past acquisitions, seeking to ease mounting shareholder pressure.
Comments
0 comment