Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC is conducting an
investigation to determine whether Olympus Corporation (“Olympus”
or the “Company”) and certain of its officers and directors made
false and misleading statements and/or omissions in violation of
the federal securities laws or other laws.
A class action lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by another law firm on
behalf of purchasers of the American Depository Receipts (“ADRs”)
of Olympus Corporation (OTC: OCPNY.PK) between November 7, 2006 and
November 7, 2011, inclusive (the “Class Period”).
The complaint alleges that Olympus and certain of its officers
and/or directors (“Defendants”) misrepresented and/or failed to
disclose that the Company hid large financial losses by falsely
representing them as fees paid to advisers for work on corporate
acquisitions, and that as a result the Company’s stock price was
artificially inflated throughout the Class Period.
On October 14, 2011, two weeks after the Company named Michael
C. Woodford its Chief Executive Officer, the Company announced that
Woodford was dismissed and the Company’s Chairman, Tsuyoshi
Kikukawa, would succeed Woodford. Woodford claimed he was fired
because he questioned a $687 million “advisory” fee related to a
2008 acquisition of Gyrus Group PLC (“Gyrus”).
According to the complaint, Olympus had described the $687
million payout as a fee to Axes America for acquisition advice on
the Gyrus deal, although when Olympus first announced the
acquisition it made no mention of Axes America and only listed
Perella Weinberg as advisor on the deal. According to the
complaint, while Perella Weinberg is a recognized independent
investment bank, Axes America was a small broker-dealer in New York
headed by two Japanese bankers. Axes America allegedly ceased
operations shortly after the Gyrus deal.
In October 2011, the Company announced that it would form an
independent committee to investigate the Gyrus allegations. Shortly
thereafter, on October 26, 2011, Kikukawa resigned as Chairman and
President of the Company.
On November 7, 2011, the Company disclosed that payments
supposedly for corporate deals made from 2006 to 2008 had in fact
been used to mask heavy losses on investments incurred since the
1990s. According to the Company’s statement the following day:
[I]t has been discovered that the Company had
been engaging in deferring the posting of losses on investment
securities, etc. since around the 1990s, and that both the fees
paid to advisors and funds used to buy back preferred stock in
relation to the Gyrus Group PLC acquisition, as well as the
purchase funds for the acquisition of the three domestic new
business companies (Altis Co., Ltd, NEWS CHEF, Inc. and Humalabo
Co, Ltd.) had been, by means such as going through multiple funds,
used in part to resolve unrealized losses on investment securities,
etc. by such deferral in the posting of these losses.
At a news conference held in connection with the announcement,
the Company’s new President, Shuichi Takayama, stated that: “It is
true that there were inappropriate dealings. . . . Our previous
statements were in error.” He further stated that Olympus was still
investigating the case and was unprepared to reveal the scale of
past losses. He also said that an executive vice president had been
fired over his involvement in the cover-up and another high-level
executive offered his resignation.
On or about November 14, 2010, the Company posted the following
admission on its webpage:
Olympus Corporation would like to announce
that the company discovered, in the process of the investigation
being carried out by the Third Party Committee with respect to
certain previous acquisition transactions, that it had been
engaging in activities such as deferring the posting of losses on
investment securities.
The Company would like to take this
opportunity to sincerely offer our deepest apologies to its
stakeholders including shareholders, customers, trading partners
and other relevant parties for all inconvenience caused including a
fall in share price.
As a result of these revelations, the value of Olympus stock and
American Depository Receipts has declined sharply. In early
October, the ADRs had been trading at over $30 per share. On
November 8, 2011, the price of OCPNY ADRs closed at $9.05, down
from the prior day’s closing price of $13.72, for a single day loss
of over 34%. By November 10, 2011, the ADRs were trading at less
than $6 per share.
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC encourages all investors
who purchased Olympus American Depository Receipts between November
7, 2006 and November 7, 2011 or former employees with information
concerning this matter to contact the firm.
If you are an Olympus shareholder and would like to discuss your
right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without any cost
or obligation, call Cohen Milstein’s Managing Partner, Steven J.
Toll, at (888) 240-0775 or (202) 408-4600, or email him at
stoll@cohenmilstein.com. If you purchased the American Depository
Receipts of Olympus and wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must
move the Court no later than January 13, 2012 to request that the
Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. A lead plaintiff is a
representative party acting on behalf of other class members in
directing the litigation. To be appointed lead plaintiff, the Court
must decide that your claim is typical of the claims of other class
members, and that you will adequately represent the class. Your
share in any recovery will not be enhanced or diminished by the
decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. Any member of
the proposed class may retain Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll
PLLC or other attorneys to serve as your counsel in this action, or
you may do nothing and remain an absent class member.
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC has significant
experience in prosecuting investor class actions and actions
involving securities fraud. The firm has offices in Washington,
D.C., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and West Palm Beach, and is
active in major litigation pending in federal and state courts
throughout the nation.
The firm’s reputation for excellence has repeatedly been
recognized by courts which have appointed the firm to lead
positions in complex multi-district or consolidated litigation.
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC has taken a lead role in
numerous important cases on behalf of defrauded investors, and has
been responsible for a number of outstanding recoveries which, in
the aggregate, total over a billion dollars. Prior results do not
guarantee a similar outcome. For more information visit
www.cohenmilstein.com.
If you have any questions about this notice or the action, or
with regard to your rights, please contact either of the
following:
Steven J. Toll, Esq.Tyler GaffneyCohen
Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC1100 New York Avenue, N.W.West
Tower, Suite 500Washington, D.C. 20005Telephone: (888) 240-0775 or
(202) 408-4600Email: stoll@cohenmilstein.com;
tgaffney@cohenmilstein.com
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