Woodford sues for damages but gives up proxy fight
MICHAEL Woodford, the former chief executive of Olympus, was suing the camera maker over his dismissal, he said in Tokyo on Friday, as he abandoned plans to wage a proxy battle for control of the company.
Woodford, 51, had filed a case in the UK last week seeking damages for the remainder of his four-year contract and additional costs, and might also file a case in Japan, the British citizen said. He declined to specify the amount he was seeking.
The announcement came as Woodford abandoned efforts to regain control of Olympus, which fired him after he questioned $1.5 billion (R12.2bn) in takeover costs that have become the centre of criminal investigations of the company. The former chief executive, who was dismissed in October last year, cited a lack of support from Japanese shareholders.
“None of the major Japanese institutional shareholders have offered one word of support to me,” Woodford said. They “have in effect allowed the tainted and contaminated board to continue in office”.
Olympus rose 2.1 percent to ¥1 053 at the close of trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Saturday. The shares have fallen 58 percent since Woodford was fired.
“Olympus can avoid turmoil thanks to the withdrawal of Woodford,” said Naoki Fujiwara of Shinkin Asset Management in Tokyo. “The next focus is whether or not the Tokyo Stock Exchange will delist Olympus.”
The company’s plans would not be affected by Woodford withdrawing his bid for control, Tsuyoshi Kitada, a spokesman for Olympus, said. It might still hold an emergency shareholder meeting as early as March depending on the results of its panel reviewing management at the company, he said.
Olympus could not confirm whether Woodford had filed a lawsuit, Kitada said.
Olympus’s biggest shareholder, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, said it would maintain support for the company after Japanese prosecutors raided Olympus’s offices following admissions that it hid investment losses for more than a decade. Southeastern Asset Management, the company’s biggest overseas stockholder, and Harris Associates have said the entire board and all executives involved in the fraud must go.
“Though Mr Woodford is no longer a factor, reform must still proceed,” said David Herro, the chief investment officer at Harris, Olympus’s ninth-largest shareholder. – Bloomberg