Proxy fight

Japan's disgraced Olympus Corp ironed out its crooked accounts Wednesday, unwinding a 13-year fraud to reveal a $655 million dent in its balance sheet and igniting speculation that it would need to merge or sell assets to repair its finances.

Japan's scandal-ridden Olympus Corp faces one of its biggest challenges to survive as an independent company on Wednesday, when it must meet a deadline to file its second-quarter results or be delisted from the Tokyo stock exchange.

Takeover defense measures such as poison pills and staggered boards are at their lowest levels in more than a decade, making U.S. companies more vulnerable at a time when hostile bids are expected to rise.

Olympus Corp's board signaled plans to quit over a $1.7 billion accounting fraud, but will likely pick a team of potential successors, triggering a battle for control of the Japanese firm with the former CEO who blew the whistle on the scandal.

Former Blockbuster chairman and CEO John Antioco has been tapped to head Rave Cinemas, the company announced Wednesday, succeeding Charles B. Moss as the company's chairman on September 19.

Clorox rejected Carl Icahn's takeover bid for the second time on Wednesday, calling the bid "inadequate."