Stefan Mileschin

It seems that the tech industry in the East is falling over itself to save the troubled camera maker Olympus.

Reuters claims that Panasonic and Samsung Electronics have each decided to propose capital ties with the outfit.

They are not the only ones trying to woo the cash strapped outfit. Olympus has a 70 percent share of the global market for diagnostic endoscopes. Fujifilm Holdings Corp has already proposed an alliance and Terumohas said it wants closer links.

An unidentified Japanese company is also expected to make Olympus a deal it might find difficult to refuse.

Olympus has to find $1.7 billion after years of accounting fraud.

Reuters points out that Olympus is unlikely to respond quickly to any approaches. It is too busy trying to sort out a new management team, due to be chosen at a shareholder meeting in April.

Problems for the company become public in October when Olympus fired its British chief executive Michael Woodford for daring to point out that its senior managers had been cooking the books and serving them up to shareholders in a white wine sauce.

The company is being investigated by Inspector Knasher of the Yard in several countries. However, it is being propped up by its major Japanese shareholders, who prefer bringing in an equity partner rather than selling the whole company or its assets.

http://news.techeye.net/business/pan...oubled-olympus