“Eastman Kodak Company announced that it and its U.S. subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 business reorganization. However, this does not apply to Kodak Korea. No changes will be made to domestic businesses and services.”
Kodak Korea (President: Lee Soo Beom, http://www.kodak.co.kr) announced on the 1st that the recent Chapter 11 business reorganization filed by Kodak U.S. is applicable only within the U.S. and will not affect Kodak Korea’s domestic businesses and services such as product supply, warranty, and services.
On the 19th of last month, Kodak U.S. and its U.S. subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. The U.S. Chapter 11 proceeding is a mechanism that generally focuses on the preservation and reorganization of ongoing operating companies while restructuring debts, costs, and other obligations under court supervision. This is completely different from Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy code which liquidates all assets and files for bankruptcy.
The Chapter 11 proceeding applies only to Kodak U.S. and its U.S. subsidiaries. Non-U.S. subsidiaries are not included in the filing. Also, products sold at Kodak are manufactured in China and Europe; therefore, Kodak Korea will not be affected by Kodak U.S’s Chapter 11 business reorganization. All of Kodak Korea’s product supply and services including digital cameras will operate as usual.
Kodak Korea President Lee Soo Beom said, “Kodak subsidiaries in Asia including Korea have firmly secured #1 position in digital printing business and have maintained two-digit growth.” He added, “The financial footing is solid and Kodak U.S.’s filing for Chapter 11 business reorganization will have no effect on domestic businesses and services.”
Mr. Lee also said, “Kodak U.S’s filing for Chapter 11 business reorganization aims to regenerate business while temporarily postponing debt repayment under Court supervision. Henceforth, Kodak will reorganize by focusing on its valuable business and emerge as a profitable digital imaging business.”
Meanwhile, Kodak is changing from B2C business such as film, camera, to B2B business such as digital printing, publishing and more. Especially, Kodak’s photographic printing business and photo printer Kiosk still rank 1st in the digital imaging market. Moreover, Kodak is a global leader in the enterprise market with its commercial document image capture, document outsourcing, and print consulting. In the past few years, Kodak has mainly invested in digital and material science technology, producing 75% of 2011 gross revenue from its digital business.
