Kodak May Call Off Patent Auction After Missing Deadline
Bankrupt imaging giant Eastman Kodak Co. (Pink: EKDKQ) said it may call off its auction of 1,100 patents that was scheduled to conclude Monday. In a statement late Thursday, Kodak said it "has not reached a determination or agreement to sell the digital imaging portfolio."
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper in Manhattan had permitted the auction of the patents, which the Rochester, N.Y. company had estimated might fetch as much as $3 billion a year ago. Bids were received last week from rival syndicates led by Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the world's most valuable technology company, and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), the No. 1 search engine.
Reports said neither side had offered more than $300 million for the lot. Kodak has been hoping to reorganize as a printers company after emerging from bankruptcy, for which it filed Jan. 19, but needs to repay creditors and well as Citigroup (NYSE:C) which lent the company $950 million for debtor-in-possession financing.
Kodak shares traded around 21 cents early Friday, giving the venerable company a market capitalization of only $58.1 million.
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