TOKYO ? Olympus Corp. is establishing what it says is an independent task force to review past acquisitions, seeking to ease mounting shareholder pressure over the abrupt dismissal of its CEO who questioned a $687 million payment to financial advisers.
The camera and medical device maker said Friday the committee will include outside lawyers and accountants who will investigate deals that have come under scrutiny since CEO Michael Woodford presented allegations of potential financial wrongdoing.
The company also said it is working to answer letters sent by concerned investors.
Olympus' latest move comes after its shares endured a brutal week, shedding half their value. More than $4 billion of its market value has evaporated.
Shareholders and analysts say the escalating scandal highlights long-standing corporate governance problems in Japan, where board independence is rare and companies face less outside scrutiny.
Woodford has said that his firing is linked to his probe of a $687 million payment to financial advisers as part of Olympus' purchase of U.K.'s Gyrus Group Plc. The payment represented more than a third of the deal's $2 billion value. Fees for advisers are normally 1 to 2 percent of the deal value.
Woodford also questioned the lofty prices Olympus paid for three other Japanese companies that appear to have little strategic value.
He commissioned Pricewaterhouse Coopers to analyze the deals and distributed the results to the board of directors. The findings compelled him to call for Olympus executives to resign.
The board of directors fired Woodford last Friday instead.
Chicago-based Harris Associates L.P., which owns a 2.5 percent stake in Olympus, is among the major shareholders seeking answers. It sent a letter to the board of directors, demanding an independent investigation and details about the company's mergers and acquisitions procedures.
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Associated Press writer Bob Barr in London contributed.
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