Olympus is in hot demand at the moment, with no fewer than two competing offers on the table for the company's fortunes.
Medical equipment manufacturer Terumo has proposed a 50 million yen (AU$607 million) bid for Olympus, which also makes a range of medical imaging tools, on top of its regular camera range. The bid puts it in direct competition with another consumer electronics heavyweight that has also put a bid forward — Sony. Other bidders include Fujifilm and Panasonic.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the deal proposed would allow both companies to remain separate, but form a joint holding company. "We have received capital alliance proposals from several companies, including Terumo. But we are still in the stage of carefully studying," Olympus said in a statement.
Olympus was rocked by an accounting scandal in October 2011, which saw its chief executive blow the whistle on alleged loss-hiding activities in the company.