Kodak patent sale a condition of new $800m facility

Investors Centerbridge Partners, GSO Capital Partners, UBS and JPMorgan Chase have offered to provide a $793m junior debtor-in-possession (DIP) facility provided Kodak meets certain conditions and milestones.

These include the long-awaited sale of its digital imaging patent portfolio for "no less than $500m", a figure which Kodak was reported to have turned down in the summer when it was holding out for more than $2bn from the patent auction.

Kodak said it was confident it could now successfully complete the patent sale as it hailed the new DIP facility, $567m of which can be converted into exit financing, as a "key element in the steps to enable the company to successfully emerge from Chapter 11".

"The additional liquidity from this financing will enable Kodak to accelerate its momentum as we continue to successfully execute on our reorganization objectives and emerge in the first half of 2013," said Kodak chief executive Antonio Perez in a statement.

"The significance of this agreement for Kodak is that it establishes a clear path for our emergence as a stronger, more focused company. The significance for our customers, partners and suppliers around the world is that it solidifies our ability to continue to serve them, innovate for them and contribute to their success."

The DIP facility is made up of separate term loans of $476m and $317m and includes provisions allowing for the conversion of $567m into exit financing, provided Kodak completes its reorganisation by 30 September 2013, resolves all of its UK pension obligations and completes all or a portion of the sales of its Document Imaging and Personalised Imaging businesses.

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This article originally appeared at printweek.com