Kodak Reportedly Seeks Rescue Financing

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Eastman Kodak(EK) has held talks with hedge funds about providing it with roughly $900 million in rescue financing as it tries to sell its patents, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

Kodak has held discussions since about mid-September with Cerberus Capital, Silver Point Capital, Centerbridge Partners and Highbridge Capital, the people told the newspaper.

The discussions are preliminary and might not lead to a deal. Kodak hasn't yet negotiated details of the possible financing, one of the people said.

Kodak wouldn't comment on specifics of any new financing, but a spokesman told the Journal, "As a matter of course, we are always assessing the financing strategies available to us."

Reports surfaced in August that Kodak, the struggling imaging company, was working to sell off its potentially lucrative patents.

Kodak has struggled to gain momentum in its digital camera business as its printing business flailed, but its patents could be worth far more than the 131-year-old camera company itself.

Digital-imaging patents owned by Kodak could fetch as much as $3 billion, according to analysts.

-- Written by Joseph Woelfel

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