After receiving approval from the U.S. bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Eastman-Kodak has announced that it has emerged from Chapter 11. The Rochester-based company has scheduled a press conference for 8 am where Chairman Antonio Perez is expected to announce that its 20 month journey through restructuring has come to an end.
The company filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2012 after struggling for over a decade to transition itself from its traditional film-based business.
“Next we move on to emergence as a technology leader serving large and growing commercial imaging markets – such as commercial printing, packaging, functional printing and professional services – with a leaner structure and a stronger balance sheet,” announced Perez upon receiving court confirmation.
Since the Chapter 11 filing, the company has made major structural changes, including exiting the consumer inkjet printer business, exiting the consumer digital camera sector and selling digital imaging patents worth US$525 million. Kodak’s Document Imaging and Personalized Imaging businesses became property of the U.K. Kodak Pension Plan (KPP), alleviating about $2.8 billion of claims as the company’s largest creditor.
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Today, the KPP has announced it has completed its acquisition of the above Kodak businesses and will operate those divisions under a new company known as Kodak Alaris.
“Our excitement around the acquisition of these businesses comes not just from their market strength but from what we see as long-term, highly successful growth opportunities,” said Steven Ross, independent chairman of KPP. “Today starts the new chapter of a storied brand and we’re thrilled with the potential the new company holds for our plan members, our customers, and our employees.”
With the transaction complete, Kodak Alaris now has more than 4,700 employees in approximately 30 countries with expected revenues of more than $1.3 billion.
In its latest financial filings, Kodak posted a US$157 million net loss before taxes, a 49 percent improvement from the $306 million loss in the prior-year quarter. Its Digital Printing and Enterprise (DPE) division reported a $13 million loss, compared to a $61 million loss in the second quarter of 2012.
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