TPG willing to invest $1 bn in Olympus

Private equity firm TPG Capital is willing to invest about $1 billion in Japan’s Olympus Corp in a joint deal with Sony Corp or another suitor circling the scandal-hit firm, a person familiar with TPG’s thinking said.

Private equity firm TPG Capital is willing to invest about $1 billion in Japan’s Olympus Corp in a joint deal with Sony Corp or another suitor circling the scandal-hit firm, a person familiar with TPG’s thinking said.

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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 person said.

Olympus has been seeking a friendly investor to make a minority investment and help its business recover from a $1.7 billion accounting scandal that has crushed its stock price and left a big dent in its balance sheet.

Electronics firms such as Sony, Canon and Panasonic 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.

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.