After a fraud case that saw the company lose $1.7 billion, Olympus Corp. is planning to cut 2,500 jobs and sell an equity stake to either Sony or Panasonic (News - Alert) in order to bolster its finances, according to an article from Reuters.

The Japanese electronics manufacturer has been crippled economically after severe accounting fraud was discovered by its then CEO, Michael Woodford. After being forced to correct its accounts, Olympus found its balance sheet badly weakened. Furthermore, Woodford recently acquired $60 million from the company after suing for unfair dismissal.

The job losses will account for about seven percent of Olympus' workforce and will come mainly from the company's camera business which hasn't been doing very well of late. Furthermore, the company plans to consolidate its overseas plants. Job cuts will be revealed on June 8.

Sony and Panasonic are the most likely to purchase an equity stake in Olympus. Whichever company ends up making the purchase, it will receive a stake of more than 10 percent for the hundreds of millions of dollars spent. This decision is expected to be made by the end of June.

Both Sony and Panasonic have been struggling lately as well with both companies posting record losses for 2011. Sony saw its shares drop by 1.9 percent after news of the possible equity purchase came to light, while Panasonic's shares dropped by 2.2 percent.

Panasonic is also planning to cut jobs — possibly as much as half of its 7,000-person workforce at its headquarters, following 17,000 job cuts in the year ended March 31. Likewise, Sony has stated that it will cut 10,000 people from its employ.

Both companies have been struggling due to a lack of international interest in LCD and plasma televisions. There has been speculation that Panasonic, Sony and a number of similarly afflicted Japanese electronics corporations are interested in expanding into the much more stable healthcare industry; Olympus' endoscope business has continued to see profit even throughout the scandal, after all.