Kodak receives $500 million plus offer for some patents: report
07 Dec 2012
Eastman Kodak Co, the iconic photographic film pioneer currently under bankruptcy protection, has received more than $500 million for some of its digital imaging patents from prospective suitors, the Wall Street Journal today reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The offers were made in the past few weeks, but a deal is yet to be finalised. The paper could not confirm who the bidders were, but said most of them were Silicon Valley technology companies and firms that specialise in buying patents.
Rochester, New York-based Kodak had filed for bankruptcy in January (See: Photographic film pioneer Eastman Kodak files for bankruptcy protection) and had sought the bankruptcy court permission to sell more than 1,000 digital imaging patents through an auction.
According to Kodak and patent advisory firm 284 Partners LLC's estimates, the portfolio of patents are worth between $2.2 billion and $2.6 billion.
Kodak has been trying to sell the patents for more than a year, but the sale has been hindered by lawsuits from technology giants like Apple over ownership of some of them.
In an August auction, two suitors bid below $250 million, forcing Kodak to suspend the auction.