Following widespread rumour and speculation, the OEM has begun proceedings to sell its personalised imaging and document imaging businesses, to focus on commercial markets and will retain its consumer inkjet business.
Kodak has announced that it is to sell its Personalised 
Document and Document Imaging businesses – namely camera film and photo businesses – as the OEM begins restructuring towards a focus on commercial markets, the BBC reports.
According to Labels and Labelling, Kodak believes that the “sale of these assets, as well as continued cost-reduction initiatives, curtailment of its legacy liabilities and the monetisation of the company’s digital imaging patent portfolio” will present significant milestones towards the company’s reorganisation.
Investment bank Lazard has been hired to aid the sale of its businesses and aims to have the sale concluded by mid-2013. CBR states that the company expects to raise almost $700 million (€560 million), which will enable the OEM to pay back creditors and exit bankruptcy.
Kodak CEO Antonio Perez commented: “The initiation of a process to sell the personalised imaging and document imaging businesses is an important step in our company’s reorganisation to focus our business on the commercial markets and enable Kodak to accelerate its momentum toward emergence.
“We are reshaping Kodak. We continue to rebalance our company toward commercial, packaging and functional printing – in which we have the broadest portfolio solutions – and enterprise services. These business have substantial long-term growth prospects worldwide and are core to the future of Kodak.”
Reuters notes that Perez would not reveal the estimated value of the businesses to be sold.
Despite speculation from a number of outlets including Democrat and Chronicle, Kodak is to retain and operate its commercial, packaging and functional printing and enterprise services businesses, in addition to its consumer inkjet business.
However Democrat and Chronicle states that the OEM’s desktop inkjet printing business is “no longer considered a core business”, to which Kodak spokesperson Christopher Veronda commented that it “is now at a different product life cycle stage […] we have successfully built a significant installed base that is generating strong ink revenue […] the business has enjoyed several profitable months and is expected to generate cash in 2013”.
Kodak has refused to respond to inquiries of plans to sell its desktop inkjet business.
The OEM has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy since January 2012, and has lately initiated the sale of a substantial number of patents in a bid to exit bankruptcy. However the patent portfolio has attracted significantly lower bids than expected and resulted cooperation from unusual bedfellows.
Kodak had previously announced that it was exiting the digital camera business in February 2012.