Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC Announces Investigation of Olympus Corporation

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 [phone] or [phone], or email him at [e-mail]. 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: [phone] or [phone]Email: [e-mail]; [e-mail]

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