Samsung may consider alliance as it eyes Olympus medical unit

Samsung Electronics is open to forging an alliance with troubled Olympus Corp, potentially joining other electronics firms in circling one of the world's biggest names in medical equipment, sources said. Samsung's major Japan-ese rivals, Sony and Panasonic, have already shown interest in Olympus, now in need of capital after being swamped by a $1.7 billion (Dh6.24 billion) accounting scandal over the past three months, sources in Tokyo have said. Olympus is best known for cameras, but makes most of its money in health care, dominating the market for gastro-intestinal endoscopes which are seen as the kind of high-tech, profitable and stable business that electronics firms would covet. Samsung has ruled out any interest in Olympus' loss-making camera business, but a company source said yesterday that it might consider an alliance with Olympus in other areas. Article continues below "We are open to the possibility of an alliance with Olympus," the source with knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity, without elaborating. Possible partners Earlier, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported that Olympus was scouting out the electronics industry for a friendly investor to take a minority stake in the company, and that Olympus had drawn up a shortlist of five potential partners. The daily, quoting unnamed sources, listed them as Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Japanese medical-equipment firm Terumo Corp, which already has a small stake in Olympus, and camera and endoscope rival Fujifilm Holdings. Olympus turned almost overnight from a venerable blue chip to an investor's nightmare in October, when it fired its British chief executive, Michael Woodford, who then went public with his concerns about the firm's dubious book-keeping. It has since lost about 40 per cent of its share price — though it has recovered from an 80 per cent sell-off at one stage — and its management is in disgrace after the firm was found to have hidden losses from investors for 13 years. A Samsung spokeswoman said yesterday it had not received a detailed offer from Olympus regarding a tie-up. Samsung has targeted health care for growth as it diversifies away from businesses where it commands leading positions such as electric components, mobile phones and TVs. It has said it will aggressively pursue investments and acquisitions in new areas such as health care and renewable energy. "That situation isn't far enough along for me to comment on," the spokeswoman told reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. "We have a relationship with Olympus, have had a relationship because we make components for Olympus. We haven't marched forward in that particular area. It's a little confusing..." A Panasonic official said yesterday: "We are not considering a capital tie-up at this point." Raising equity The Asahi Shimbun said Olympus planned to decide on a tie-up as soon as next month and was looking to raise up to about 100 billion yen (Dh4.8 billion) in new equity, although it was unclear if either Olympus or its major owners were in talks with any of the short-listed five. Olympus, responding to the daily newspaper's report, said only that it was considering various reform options and nothing was decided. Sony, Panasonic and Fujifilm have already been examining the scope and timing of a possible equity stake in Olympus, sources familiar with the matter have said. All three firms are keen on the lucrative medical equipment sector. The Asahi report sent shares in Olympus climbing as much as 6 per cent, recovering further from the depths of a crisis. The stock closed up 3.25 per cent at 1,270 yen, valuing Olympus at around $4.35 billion.