Private equity firm TPG Capital has held informal talks with Japanese technology firms, including Sony and Fujifilm, about jointly investing in some businesses of Olympus, people familiar with the matter said Friday.

The talks between TPG and potential partners come as Olympus desperately needs capital to shore up its tattered balance sheet. The Japanese maker of cameras and medical equipment said in November it had concealed $1.5bn in investment losses for more than a decade, one of the biggest corporate scandals in Japan.