Kodak to sell two imaging businesses to its UK pension for $ 650 million

Tuesday, 30 April 2013 00:30 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters:Bankrupt photography pioneer Eastman Kodak Co EKDKQ.PK said it will sell two of its remaining imaging businesses to its UK pension fund for $650 million.

The agreement, subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, also settles the fund’s claims of about $2.8 billion against Kodak.

The settlement assures Kodak’s continued operations outside the United States, Chief Executive Antonio Perez said in a statement.

Kodak has been trying to sell most of its consumer and document imaging businesses and shift its focus to commercial imaging.

The two businesses being sold are personalized imaging, which includes most consumer products and retail printing kiosks, and its document imaging unit that makes scanners for enterprise customers.

Kodak’s commercial imaging business includes its graphic communication, film and specialty chemical products.

Kodak last month amended its financing deal that required it to raise at least $600 million from the sale of noncommercial imaging assets.

The company, which launched its first camera in 1888, was unable to successfully shift to digital imaging and filed for bankruptcy protection last year.

Its bankruptcy case is in Re: Eastman Kodak Co. et al, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-10202.