Industry News : Kodak: Court Approves $650M of Interim Financing and Normal Business Operations

Court approves first day motions allowing Kodak operations to proceed in ordinary course, including uninterrupted payment of employees

January 23, 2012

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Rochester, NY—Kodak announced that Judge Allan L. Gropper of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved initial availability of $650 million in interim Debtor-in-Possession (DIP) financing by Citigroup. Kodak will use these funds, among other things, to pay vendors and other suppliers for all post-petition goods and services, and to operate its day-to-day business activities.

The judge set February 15, 2012 as the date of a hearing to issue the final order regarding first day motions. As announced earlier, Kodak and its U.S. subsidiaries filed to reorganize its U.S. business under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Non-U.S. subsidiaries were not part of the filing.

“The Court’s immediate approval of these critical first day motions is an important first step, enabling us to continue to operate our U.S. business in ordinary course, and putting us on the right path to a successful reorganization,” said Antonio M. Perez, Kodak’s chairman and CEO.

The interim DIP approved as part of the first day motions represents the first portion of the fully committed $950 million DIP credit facility that it obtained from Citigroup to enhance liquidity and working capital.

Kodak also reported the court approved additional “First Day Motions” that assure the company’s ongoing business will not be disrupted. In this regard, Kodak received authorization from the court to: pay U.S. employees in the usual manner and to continue their healthcare and other benefits programs without disruption; pay certain pre-petition wages and reimbursable U.S. employee expenses; maintain and administer customer programs and honor pre-petition obligations to customers including all pending orders, warrantees and other customer programs; and continue to use existing cash management systems and maintain existing bank accounts. kodaktransforms.com.

Information for suppliers and vendors is available at (800) 544-7009 or (585) 724-6100. The court case number is 12-10202 (ALG).