Kodak: court OKs exclusivity extension, continuity plan, sale of Gallery assets to Shutterfly

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., May 1 - Eastman Kodak Co.'s request to extend its exclusive periods to file a plan of reorganization and solicit votes on the plan by 180 days was approved, according to Tuesday filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Specifically, the court extended the plan filing date to Nov. 14 and the period to solicit acceptances to Jan. 13, 2013.

Kodak cited the size and complexity of its cases and noted its efforts to streamline business operations and sell its Digital Capture and KISS patent portfolios when requesting the extension.

Continuity plan approval

The court also approved the company's proposed $13.5 million employee continuity plan, despite the objection of Kodak's U.S. Trustee for its bankruptcy case, according to a separate court filing.

As previously reported, Kodak said that the group one continuity plan participants would include 119 employees at the middle manager level and above, excluding insiders.

Group two is expected to be comprised of at least 200 employees, and Kodak retains the flexibility to identify and reward group two employees on an as-needed basis during the Chapter 11 cases.

The company said it expects non-insider manager-level participation to be limited.

Kodak Gallery assets sold

Also, the court approved Kodak's sale of assets related to the Kodak Gallery online photo services business to stalking horse bidder Shutterfly Inc. for $23.8 million.

As previously reported, the April 26 auction was canceled due to lack of qualified bids.

Kodak is a Rochester, N.Y.-based imaging technology products and services provider to the photographic and graphic communications markets. The company filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 19. Its Chapter 11 case number is 12-10202.

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