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Kodak (EKDKQ) Faces the Music, Will Sell Unit that Built the Company

August 24, 2012 8:53 AM EDT
Eastman Kodak (OTCBB: EKDKQ) said it plans to sell its Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging businesses as it works its way through Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company believes that he sale process will be completed by the first-half of 2013.

The move comes as the beleaguered film and camera giant continues seeing pressure from all sides, from higher-quality digital SLR cameras to consumers taking more and more photos via mobile devices like smartphones.

Sales include the camera-film business, the unit that Kodak rode all the way to success since its founding in 1889 and inclusion in the Dow Jones Industrial Index from 1930 through 2004. In addition to selling assets like print film, Kodak will unload digital development kiosks and heavy-duty commercial scanners, such as those used by health care and financial firms for processing large amounts of forms.

News from Kodak follows recent reports the venerable firm might not be getting as much as expected from a sale of its digital patents. From speculation that the portfolio could nab $2.2 billion to $2.6 billion, the gritty reality is that the patents might fetch something around $500 million.

So, although Kodak invented the digital camera and has been slow to follow up an lead the segment, many hope that its new focus on commercial, packaging and functional printing solutions and enterprise services will lead it out of bankruptcy sometime in 2013.

Shares are flat in early trading Friday.


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