Kodak exits bankruptcy with new focus on business imaging
After a year and a half of trials and tribulations, Kodak is finally in the clear -- it just exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Now that the company has finished offloading its document and personal imaging groups, it's free to pursue a recently court-approved reorganization plan that focuses solely on business products like movie film and packaging. The resulting firm is a far cry from the camera giant that we once knew, but we may hear about its work in the future. Kodak promises more details of "what's next," and it tells the AP that it's working on technology like printable touchscreen layers and smart packaging.
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Kodak Emerges as Technology Company Focused on Imaging for Business
CEO Perez: "Kodak: What's Next Starts Now."
ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--"Kodak: What's Next Starts Now."
Today, Antonio M. Perez, Kodak Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, announced the company's emergence from Chapter 11 as a reorganized company, following completion of the final steps in the restructuring process.
"We have emerged as a technology company serving imaging for business markets – including packaging, functional printing, graphic communications and professional services," said Perez. "We have been revitalized by our transformation and restructured to become a formidable competitor – leaner, with a strong capital structure, a healthy balance sheet, and the industry's best technology."
Kodak completed the final steps in its Chapter 11 restructuring, including the spin-off of its Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging businesses to Kodak Pension Plan, a longstanding pension plan of Kodak's U.K. subsidiary. The company also successfully closed on its agreement for $695 million in term exit financing, paid off its DIP lenders and second lien noteholders in full and completed its rights offerings, receiving approximately $406 million of new equity investments from participating unsecured creditors.
"We are setting a trajectory for profitable growth," Perez said. "We have the right technology at the right time as printing markets increasingly transition to digital. Our broad portfolio of offset, hybrid and digital solutions enables customers to make the transition at their chosen pace using our breakthrough technology solutions.
"We thank our employees for their extraordinary skills and commitment. We thank our suppliers for their dedication. We thank our customers and partners for their loyalty and for inspiring us to create disruptive technologies and breakthrough solutions."
The company has filed notice of the effectiveness of its Plan of Reorganization with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Upon the effectiveness of the Plan, all previously issued and outstanding shares of Kodak common stock were cancelled, as were all other previously issued and outstanding equity interests. Kodak issued shares of a new class of common stock to participants in the rights offerings and will issue additional shares of this new class of common stock to unsecured creditors as provided in the Plan of Reorganization. Kodak expects to make initial distributions on account of general unsecured claims by the end of September.
Kodak will file a report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission including more details.
