Kodak turns over a new leaf
In early September, Kodak, via the mouth of the president and chief executive officer Antonio M. Perez, officialised the successfully terminated reorganization of the company with the completion of restructuring procedures under Chapter 11 of the US company code.
Having sold the personalized imaging and document imaging divisions to Kodak Pension Plan, the solid pension fund subsidiary of Kodak in the UK, the company has also clinched a deal for the divestment of 695 million dollars, having liquated lenders and creditors, sold patents and garnered over 406 million dollars from non guaranteed creditors ready to invest in the company.
And the concern has been reborn as a "technology company specializing in image reproduction for businesses, including the packaging, functional printing, graphic communications, and professional services sectors”.
The slimming treatment has been drastic: Kodak has gone from 145 thousand employees of the eighties to the current 8,500, with an income of $ 2.7 billion against the 16 of its best year (1996), excluding the scanner and retail and consumer photo division just sold. «The future starts now - said the president of the group - this revival has revitalized us and we are now leaner, with a solid capital, accounts in good health and the best technologies in the industry».
New projects. «We're mapping out a new course for growth and profitability - Perez communicated during a recent press conference via the web - we have the right technology at the right time, ie at the very moment in time of conversion to digital. Our wide range of offset, digital and hybrid printing solutions allows users to make the transition at their own pace and making use of innovative technologies».
That these are not mere declarations is borne witness to by the experience of the former imaging giant, field where it remains one of the world leaders, but also the over $102 million invested last year in digital R&D. Leading trend: hybrid printing and reproduction of variable data. Keyword multimediality.
