Ein Pionier ist Pleite

VON Dr. Wolf SiegertZUM Freitag Letzte Bearbeitung: 19. Januar 2015 um 13 Uhr 43 Minuten

 

In dem ersten Entwurf zu diesem Text stand in der Überschrift noch:

Kodak kapituliert

Aber nach alldem, was seit der inzwischen vorliegenden Verlautbarung aus dem Hause Kodak zu erfahren war [1], steht fest, dass man sich eigentlich immer noch nicht damit abfinden will, kapituliert zu haben.

Bereits Mitte August hatte das Wall Street Journal davon berichtet, dass die Eastman Kodak Co. mit Hilfe der Investmentbank Lazard Ltd. versucht habe, seine Patenrechte zu einem Preis von gut und gerne 3 Milliarden Dollar auf den Markt zu werfen: Ein sicher interessanter Partner für so einen potenziellen Deal, nachdem Lazard auch schon bei Nortel und Motorola - bzw. Google - mitgemischt hatte.

Doch all das schein nichts genützt zu haben. Wie die FAZ in der Online-Ausgabe vom 19. Januar 2012 berichtet, stehen den Vermögenswerten von 5,1 Milliarden Dollar (3,9 Mrd Euro) Schulden von 6,8 Milliarden Dollar gegenüber, die aktuell nur durch einen Milliardenkredit der Citiigroup gedeckelt werden.

Beiträge wie den von N-TV gibt es seitdem zu Hauf. Und immer wieder sieht man darin die gleichen Bilder: Shots auf die Firmensitze, und Takes von den Verpackungsmaschinen für die Rollfilme, mit denen einest das meiste Geld verdient wurde.

2004 wurden dann auch der Verkauf der Kleinbildkameras eingestellt, mit denen man einst den Erfolg auf dem Markt zementiert hatte: Nur auf den Knopf drücken "und wir machen den Rest". Mit dieser ebenso klaren Ansage wurde mit Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts die Position eines Weltmarktführers begründet. 2 Jahre nach der ersten Kamera überhaupt war im Jahr 1900 mit der "Kodak Brownie" erstmals eine massenmarkttaugliche Kamera auf dem Markt angekommen.

Aber auch die Wirtschaftswoche behauptet, der Foto-Pionier wolle weitermachen. Und in diesem Zusammenhang sei nochmals ein Blick auf das Interview "Unser Kurs ist lächerlich niedrig" von Thomas Kuhn mit dem Vorstandschef Antonio M. Perez aus dem ersten Rote-Zahlen-Jahr 2008 - vom 6. September - geworfen, in dem er selber sagt:
"Zugegeben, wir sind spät gekommen und stehen noch am Anfang."

Dieser Anfang war zugleich das Ende.
Und dieses Chapter-Eleven-Ende die Basis für einen neuen Anfang?

Auch: Kein Orakel Digitalisiert Analoge Kompetenz

Anmerkungen

[1Thursday, January 19, 2012

Eastman Kodak Company and Its U.S. Subsidiaries Commence Voluntary Chapter 11 Business Reorganization

Flow of Goods and Services to Customers to Continue Globally in Ordinary Course; Non-U.S. Subsidiaries Are Not Included in U.S. Filing and Are Not Subject to Court Supervision; Company Secures $950 million in Debtor-in-Possession Financing in U.S.; Kodak’s Reorganization to Facilitate Emergence as Profitable and Sustainable Enterprise

ROCHESTER, N.Y., January 19 — Eastman Kodak Company (“Kodak” or the “Company”) announced today that it and its U.S. subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for chapter 11 business reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

The business reorganization is intended to bolster liquidity in the U.S. and abroad, monetize non-strategic intellectual property, fairly resolve legacy liabilities, and enable the Company to focus on its most valuable business lines. The Company has made pioneering investments in digital and materials deposition technologies in recent years, generating approximately 75% of its revenue from digital businesses in 2011.

Kodak has obtained a fully-committed, $950 million debtor-in-possession credit facility with an 18-month maturity from Citigroup to enhance liquidity and working capital. The credit facility is subject to Court approval and other conditions precedent. The Company believes that it has sufficient liquidity to operate its business during chapter 11, and to continue the flow of goods and services to its customers in the ordinary course.

Kodak expects to pay employee wages and benefits and continue customer programs. Subsidiaries outside of the U.S. are not subject to proceedings and will honor all obligations to suppliers, whenever incurred. Kodak and its U.S. subsidiaries will honor all post-petition obligations to suppliers in the ordinary course.

“Kodak is taking a significant step toward enabling our enterprise to complete its transformation,” said Antonio M. Perez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “At the same time as we have created our digital business, we have also already effectively exited certain traditional operations, closing 13 manufacturing plants and 130 processing labs, and reducing our workforce by 47,000 since 2003. Now we must complete the transformation by further addressing our cost structure and effectively monetizing non-core IP assets. We look forward to working with our stakeholders to emerge a lean, world-class, digital imaging and materials science company.”

“After considering the advantages of chapter 11 at this time, the Board of Directors and the entire senior management team unanimously believe that this is a necessary step and the right thing to do for the future of Kodak,” Mr. Perez continued. “Our goal is to maximize value for stakeholders, including our employees, retirees, creditors, and pension trustees. We are also committed to working with our valued customers.

“Chapter 11 gives us the best opportunities to maximize the value in two critical parts of our technology portfolio: our digital capture patents, which are essential for a wide range of mobile and other consumer electronic devices that capture digital images and have generated over $3 billion of licensing revenues since 2003; and our breakthrough printing and deposition technologies, which give Kodak a competitive advantage in our growing digital businesses.”

Mr. Perez concluded, “The Board of Directors, the senior management team and I would like to underscore our appreciation for the hard work and loyalty of our employees. Kodak exemplifies a culture of collaboration and innovation. Our employees embody that culture and are essential to our future success.”

Kodak has taken this step after preliminary discussions with key constituencies and intends to work toward a consensual reorganization in the best interests of its stakeholders. Kodak expects to complete its U.S.-based restructuring during 2013.

The Company and its Board of Directors are being advised by Lazard, FTI Consulting Inc. and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. In addition, Dominic DiNapoli, Vice Chairman of FTI Consulting, will serve as Chief Restructuring Officer to support the management team as to restructuring matters during the chapter 11 case.

More information about Kodak’s Chapter 11 filing is available on the Internet at www.kodaktransforms.com. Information for suppliers and vendors is available at (800) 544-7009 or (585) 724-6100.

Kodak will be filing monthly operating reports with the Bankruptcy Court and also plans to post these monthly operating reports on the Investor Relations section of Kodak.com. The Company will continue to file quarterly and annual reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which will also be available in the Investor Relations section of Kodak.com.


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