The era of Kodak as a leading film manufacturer are now officially over after a US Bankruptcy Court approved the company’s plans to restructure its business to become a commercial imaging market player.
Already in April, Kodak had virtually exited the film business when it sold its personalised imaging and document imaging divisions to its own UK Kodak Pension Plan.
[bjp_ad_slot]Now, Kodak plans to concentrate its business on commercial printing, packaging, functional printing and professional services – markets, Kodak believes, that are “large and growing,” according to Antonio Perez, the corporation’s chairman and CEO.
With the court’s approval, Kodak is now expected to emerge from bankruptcy protection on 03 September. “It will be enormously valuable for the company to get out of Chapter 11 [protection], and begin to regain its position in the pantheon of American business,” the court says in a statement.
During its restructuration, Kodak reduced its legacy costs, liabilities and infrastructure, “exiting or spinning off businesses and assets that were no longer core to its future, and focusing on the company’s most profitable business lines,” says Kodak.