Former Olympus chief executive Michael Woodford has returned to Japan for the first time since he was ousted last month, setting up a showdown with the fellow board members who fired him.
Mr Woodford said today he believed the company's shares should not be delisted but that it needed new management.
Since the Briton was ousted a month ago for questioning $1.4 billion in takeover costs now at the centre of criminal investigations, revelations of accounting tricks at the camera and endoscope maker have emerged. Olympus, which at first denied any wrongdoing, this month admitted to hiding investment losses from investors for two decades and to using some of $1.3 billion in unusual merger and acquisition payments to help in the cover-up.
Former chairman and president Tsuyoshi Kikukawa quit as chairman over the scandal last month.
"Olympus needs to rebuild its creditability given the financial scandal and confidence given the leadership reshuffles, and Woodford looks to have both," said Gavin Parry, managing director of Hong Kong-based brokerage Parry International Trading Ltd. The board members "are still ultimately answerable to shareholders, with many shareholders voicing their support for Woodford's return", he said.
Mr Woodford told reporters at the arrival gate at Tokyo's Narita international airport that he had faith that Tokyo police were capable of uncovering the truth in the accounting scandal.
He arrived in Tokyo today to meet prosecutors, the nation's security industry watchdog and police investigating efforts by Olympus to hide losses through M&A deals, including the payment of a massive $687 million advisory fee.
Mr Woodford on Friday will also attend his first board meeting since it convened to oust him. He had earlier refused to return to Japan saying he was concerned for his safety.
He will press the board to carry out a forensic investigation of the accounting on past acquisitions, he said in an interview this week. The agenda for the meeting is confidential, said Tsuyoshi Kitada, an Olympus spokesman.
Mr Kikukawa and Mr Woodford both remain on the board, along with company auditor Hideo Yamada, who offered to step down over the scandal, and executive vice president Hisashi Mori, who was fired.
After being fired, Mr Woodford went public with concerns he raised with Mr Kikukawa and Mr Mori over $687 million paid in advisory fees in the $2.1 billion acquisition of U. medical company Gyrus Group Plc and writedowns of stakes in three other takeovers.
Agencies
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