http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/19/news/companies/kodak_bankruptcy/index.htm?iid=HP_LN NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Eastman Kodak, the once mighty icon of the photography industry, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday. Kodak's (EK, Fortune 500) stock plunged 35% at the start of trading. The New York Stock Exchange suspended trading within a few minutes after the opening bell. The company said it has obtained $950 million in financing from Citibank to maintain operations. The company said the credit facility is still subject to court approval. Kodak said it has enough liquidity to continue operating during the bankruptcy process. Kodak acknowledged, in its Chapter 11 filing, that it had more than 100,000 creditors, with debts totaling $6.75 billion. Kodak company also said that it had assets of $5.1 billion, with properties in Rochester, N.Y., Windsor, Colo. and Weatherford, Okla. Kodak's top creditor is the Bank of New York Mellon (BK, Fortune 500) in its role as trustee for other bondholders, with claims of more than $650 million. Other creditors include Sony (SNE), Nokia (NOK), WalMart (WMT, Fortune 500), Target (TGT, Fortune 500), Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500), Office Max, Disney (DIS, Fortune 500) Studios and CVS (CVS, Fortune 500). Kodak has long struggled to evolve from film and compete in the digital age, even though it was an early pioneer of digital photography. For months, bankruptcy rumors have dogged the venerable company, which was founded by George Eastman in 1888. In September, Kodak tapped $160 million from a pre-existing $400 million credit line, prompting Moody's to downgrade the company's debt securities, pushing them further into junk territory. Just over a month later, the company warned that it could run out of cash if it failed to sell a number of its patents, raised additional capital or borrowed more money. In its most recent attempt to stay afloat, the Rochester, N.Y.-based company looked to raise cash by exploring the sale of more than 1,100 patents, or 10% of the company's patent portfolio, which had the potential of generating $3 billion, according to analysts. And earlier this month, the company streamlined its corporate structure. Polaroid goes digital with Android Kodak has been struggling to evolve in today's digital world. The shift from film upended the company's business model, causing sales to shrink almost in half from 2005 to 2010 and profits to dry up completely. In fact, Kodak has only posted one full-year profit since 2004. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters have estimated that the company will end 2011 and 2012 in the red, too. In addition to licensing its technology, Kodak has been trying to develop its printer and digital camera business. The company also retired its traditional film brand Kodachrome in 2009, after 74 years. Amid its financial demise, Kodak's stock has also suffered considerably. Shares tumbled almost 90% last year to penny stock status. Kodak was delisted from the S&P 500 in December 2010, and was dropped from the Dow Jones industrial average in 2004.
You give us those nice bright colors You give us the greens of summers Makes you think all the world's a sunny day kinda sad. Did many a dumb thing on Kodak courage. and to think they came up with the first digital camera in the '70s. (read that on a twit -- not sure how true).
Man I used to use their disposables a lot in high school. Then I got a digital and I think that's when they started going downhill. Early 2000's.
it's incredible to think that they would have done this 20 years ago but they just did not keep up and adjust to the times. They focused way too much on selling film as opposed to selling memories. They were too rigid in their market strategy
Thread hijack: If you've never heard about The Impossible Project, check it out - it's a very cool story.
