Fujifilm, Sony consider Olympus investment as lawsuits begin

Fujifilm Holdings Corp. and Sony Corp. are among the companies considering investing in cash-strapped Olympus Corp., according to reports from the Wall Street Journal and Nikkei (the latter being cited by press agency Reuters).

It's been a difficult few months for Olympus, which admitted to accounting irregularities last November. It's stock price fell more than 80% to as low as ¥424, before recovering somewhat. (For the last few days, it's hovered around the ¥1,200-1,300 mark, after the Tokyo Stock Exchange allowed the company to keep its listing, albeit with a US$130,000 fine.)

Olympus is said to be seeing around US$1.3 billion in capital, equating to most of the US$1.5 billion in losses that it had concealed for more than a decade.  It should be noted that both the WSJ and Nikkei articles don't cite sources at either company, but are said to be based on reports from those in the know. Officially, all three companies (as well as medical equipment manufacturer Terumo Corp., which is also said to be considering an investment) have made no comment at this time.

Kicking off the lawsuits related to the case, the WSJ reports that a group of current and former shareholders filed suit against Olympus last Monday in Japan, seeking ¥220 million in damages for their losses.