 | Hello |  |  | Michael Woodford asked too many questions. That's the reason the 51-year-old Englishman gives for why he lost his job as first-ever foreign-born CEO at Japanese camera maker Olympus a mere two weeks after he was given the role in early October.
Woodford tells Reuters investigative reporters Kirstin Ridley and Alexander Smith in a new special report that it was his inquiries into a series of questionable takeover deals and advisor payouts the company made over the past half decade, including the biggest mergers and acquisitions fee ever, that led to his ouster. Board members insist instead it was Woodford's failure to grasp the company's management style and Japanese culture that cost him the job, but Woodford says allegations of a "power grab" by him are not the "real story". Now, Woodford is on a one-man campaign to "cleanse" Olympus with the goal of removing its entire board.
Giving in to pressure from many corners, Olympus on Tuesday named six men, including a former Japanese supreme court justice, to investigate the past M&A deals at the core of the scandal in a bid to stem an exodus of irate investors. The all-Japanese committee will look into $687 million in payments made to a financial adviser for the $2 billion purchase of British medical equipment maker Gyrus in 2008, the biggest such payment ever, and the acquisition of three companies in Japan that Olympus, under chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa's decade-long reign at the company, later largely wrote off.
Who can get to market first? That's the question some may be asking today after Lashou Group, China's leading daily-deals website, filed for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq. The firm's business model is similar to that of U.S. deals site Groupon, which is also currently in the process of filing its books for an IPO. Lashou plans to raise up to $100 million in the offering, most of which it plans to use for expanding its marketing efforts and delivery systems.
Meanwhile, Groupon has once again amended its prospectus just days before the company is expected to price its intitial public offering. As DealBook reports, the updated filing notes that the company had completed a 2-for-1 split of its voting common stock. The firm did not increase the price range of its offering from the current $16 to $18 a share, despite strong investor demand.
MF Global Holdings Ltd (MF.N), the futures broker that filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, failed to keep its customers' accounts separate from the firm's funds, its main exchange regulator said on Tuesday. Mixing customer funds with company money violates a key tenet of futures brokerage. Donohue's statement on Tuesday raises questions about statements from CME and other exchanges as recently as Friday that MF Global was a clearing member "in good standing." | | | LATEST NEWS | | MF Global collapses under euro zone bets | | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jon Corzine's bid to revive his Wall Street career crashed and burned on Monday when his futures brokerage MF Global Holdings Ltd filed for bankruptcy protection following bad bets on euro zone debt. | Full Article | | | MF Global did not separate customer accounts: CME | | November 01, 2011 10:20 AM ET | | CHICAGO (Reuters) - MF Global Holdings Ltd , the futures broker that filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, failed to keep its customers' accounts separate from the firm's funds, its main exchange regulator said on Tuesday. | Full Article | | Greece faces meltdown after bailout vote bombshell | | November 01, 2011 11:59 AM ET | | ATHENS (Reuters) - The Greek government faced possible collapse on Tuesday as ruling party lawmakers demanded Prime Minister George Papandreou resign for throwing the nation's euro membership into jeopardy with a shock call for a referendum. | Full Article | | | TOP NEWS
| | Wall Street tumbles 3 percent | | November 01, 2011 12:09 PM ET | | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks tumbled 3 percent on Tuesday after the euro zone agreement to rescue Greece and keep the sovereign debt crisis from spreading was upended. | Full Article | | China PMI in surprise fall, lowest since 2009 | | November 01, 2011 04:24 AM ET | | BEIJING (Reuters) - China's big manufacturers ran at their slowest pace in October since early 2009, purchasing managers' data shows, though signs of a bounce-back at smaller firms and a sharp fall in factory-gate prices suggest no swift change to interest rates. | Full Article | | Yahoo to buy interclick for $270 million | | November 01, 2011 12:20 PM ET | | (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc will pay $270 million for interclick inc as it tries to revive its ailing online advertising business, even as the search and advertising giant continues to scout for potential bidders. | Full Article | | | | TECHNOLOGY NEWS | | | | | RELATED VIDEO | | |  |  | | A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. Register Today. |  | | Your daily briefing on the latest tech developments from around the world from Reuters expert tech correspondents. Register Today. |  | | The latest Reuters articles on M&A, IPOs, private equity, hedge funds and regulatory updates delivered to your inbox each day.. Register Today. | | | » MORE NEWSLETTERS | | | ODDLY ENOUGH | | | | | | |
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