Olympus delays plans for investor tie-up Olympus said it would delay a decision on whether to ally itself with a strategic investor until at least the end of April, when its president and most of its board will resign over its accounting scandal. The Japanese optical equipment company, which has admitted hiding more than Y100bn ($1.3bn) of investment losses dating back to the 1990s, said on Wednesday it would hold a shareholder meeting in "the second half of April," near the end of a previously announced target of March or April. Shuichi Takayama, its caretaker president, confirmed he and other directors would make way for new executives. Four other top managers alleged to have orchestrated the loss-hiding scheme have already lost their jobs, but outside legal experts asked by Olympus to examine the affair have found Mr Takayama and other officers indirectly responsible and have urged them to quit. The experts" conclusions have involved Olympus in a web of awkward legal conflicts: its statutory auditors - non-voting board members responsible for legal and ethical oversight - are suing Mr Takayama and other executives on behalf of the company, while the executives are in turn suing the auditors. In a tacit acknowledgment that management's leadership was compromised, Mr Takayama said nominees for the next board would be selected by another special committee, headed by two non-executive directors, rather than by the full board as is usual. The two men, Yasuo Hayashida and Hiroshi Kuruma, were not sanctioned by the investigating experts. "Given the situation, we have decided to entrust the selection to others," Mr Takayama said. However, he resisted suggestions that he resign immediately, saying - as he has during previous public appearances - that his presence was needed to ensure a smooth transition and "to prevent damage to our stakeholders." As well as excusing itself from the nomination process, Mr Takayama said the current board would refrain from "active involvement" in the search for a strategic investor and would leave a decision on the matter to the next board. In December, Mr Takayama revealed that Olympus, which is deeply indebted, was considering soliciting fresh capital from one or more rival technology groups. Many of Japan's best-known electronics makers have been rumoured as possible suitors, including Sony and Toshiba, as has Samsung of South Korea. Shigetaka Komori, president of Fujifilm, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday that his company would consider investing in Olympus if it were invited to do so. Mr Takayama reiterated that Olympus needed capital and said an alliance was one way to secure it, but he also left the door open to other fundraising options, possibly including bank loans, that would preserve the company's independence. "There are a variety of different ways to rebuild the company," he said.