Equity firm eyes Olympus investment

PRIVATE equity firm TPG Capital is willing to invest up to €1 billion in Japan’s Olympus Corp in a joint deal with Sony Corp or another suitor circling the scandal-hit firm, a source said.

TPG has informed executives at Sony, Canon Inc, Fujifilm Holdings and Panasonic Corp of its interest in providing capital and expertise to help revive the maker of medical equipment and cameras, the source said.

Olympus has been seeking a friendly investor to make a minority investment and help its business recover from a €1.35bn accounting scandal that has crushed its stock price and left a big dent in its balance sheet.

Electronics firms such as Sony, Panasonic and Canon are keen on Olympus’ diagnostic endoscope business as part of their strategies to expand into healthcare, while Fujifilm is already in the profitable endoscope market, banking sources have said.

So far, TPG has not received any indication from these strategic suitors that they would be willing to work with the private equity firm on a transaction, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity.of the matter.

But TPG believes it could be an effective partner by putting up capital, offering its experience in management, restructuring and the healthcare field, and by taking over parts of the company the strategic investor does not want, the person said.

A TPG spokesman declined to comment.