The involvement of U.S. hedge fund ValueAct Capital Management in Olympus Corp.¡¯s strategy and management is spurring the transformation of the world¡¯s leading maker of endoscopes, Chief Executive Officer Yasuo Takeuchi said, boosting its stock price and profit.
Olympus¡¯s shares have more than doubled since ValueAct persuaded Olympus to accept its director nominations in 2019 ¡ª a seldom seen victory for activism in Japan. That same year, Takeuchi took over the leadership, and ValueAct¡¯s Rob Hale and two other external directors joined the board. They boosted the number of non-Japanese executives on the management team, cut jobs and sold off none-core assets while focusing its business on medical devices.
¡°We have committed that we will become a leading global med-tech company; that requires a lot of change, eventually the change in culture and any types of diversified opinions and viewpoints are very much welcome,¡± Takeuchi said in an interview. ¡°I¡¯m very glad that I have Robert Hale as a board member.¡±
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