Kodak has started the ball rolling for the sell-off of its dedicated capture device business and technology, with the company this week seeking approval for the sale of over 1,100 patents in its ongoing effort to recover from its bankruptcy in the US earlier this year.
On June 11, Kodak filed a motion seeking approval of bidding procedures for the bankruptcy auction of its Digital Capture and Kodak Imaging Systems and Services (KISS) patent portfolios. These portfolios comprise over 1,100 patents that are necessary for the capture, manipulation, and sharing of digital images.
The sale of Kodak’s ailing digital capture business and the associated technology is part of a continued push for the company to focus on its more profitable businesses, including its commercial segment which produces machinery and equipment for the graphic arts and printing industry.
The company, along with its financial advisor, Lazard, has conducted an extensive marketing process for these assets over the past 12 months, and claims that 20 interested parties have already signed confidentiality agreements regarding the sale of its technology. Following bidding procedures approval, the company will mount a sales process open to all qualified bidders.
“The proposed structure of the auction is tailored to the special nature of the assets,” says Kodak’s vice president and chief intellectual property officer, Timothy M. Lynch (pictured). “The bidding procedures are designed to allow bidders to give us their best offers without fear of showing their cards to competitors.”
Of the two portfolios up for sale, the Digital Capture business contains the majority of the technology, with over 700 patents including key aspects of digital image capture, processing and transmission technologies that are integral to the design and operation of digital camera and multi-function devices.
The company has previously said that once it completely phases out these two portfolios from its overall business, it expects to achieve annual operational savings of over US$100 million, helping the company to bounce back after January’s bankruptcy filing.
Kodak expects the motion to approve bidding procedures to be heard by the court on July 2 with the auction to be held in early August, and the winning bidder to be announced by August 13.
“We are moving ahead as quickly as possible with the process of monetizing our digital imaging patent portfolio,” says Lynch.