Was that Sino Promise? What's the story? I've been confused by this part of the history. On the one hand I read that Kodak had lost the rights to Kodak-branded chemistry, and on the other I've read that when Sino Promise exited the business Kodak made a licensing agreement with PSI, and I've been scratching my head about that ---- How can Kodak make a licensing agreement for rights they supposedly do not have?
They also make the chemistry for Clayton, CineStill, and Freestyle's multiple house brands.
Does CineStill do customer service for just Kodak-branded chemicals or is it for other PSI products as well? (i.e. Unicolor).
Kodak still film photo-chemicals were already being contract manufactured for Eastman Kodak prior to the bankruptcy.
As part of the bankruptcy settlement, the trustee in bankruptcy and the (UK) Kodak Limited pension plan (and the UK statutory authority that guaranteed its obligations) came to an agreement whereby the pension plan received as settlement for its super-priority secured claim:
1) various real property (including leasehold property) interests; and
2) a license for exclusive worldwide rights to manufacture, market and distribute:
a) Kodak branded photographic paper - just colour paper, because Kodak left the black and white market a few years before the bankruptcy;
b) Kodak branded photo-chemicals; and
c) Kodak branded technology relating to a business involved with office document scanning and management.
In addition, and most importantly, the pension plan received:
d) a license for exclusive worldwide rights to market and distribute Kodak branded still films.
In return, the trustee received from the (UK) Kodak Limited pension plan (and the UK statutory authority that guaranteed its obligations):
e) a release of the claim of the plan against the bankrupt's estate for potential future pension shortfalls;
f) a large sum of money - I've seen a few numbers, but $600,000,000.00 USD seems most common; and
g) through the hiring by Kodak Alaris of a substantial proportion of Eastman Kodak's remaining worldwide employee base, relief from many of the claims that those employees might have made.
All of which permitted Eastman Kodak to survive the bankruptcy, albeit as a considerably smaller business entity.
Kodak Alaris was the business incorporated by the pension plan to operate the business received.
Kodak Alaris then took steps to both continue parts of the business and sell off other assets and parts of the business.
They sold the property interests fairly quickly. That left them with just the marketing and distribution rights of all the photographic parts of the deal.
They have continued to operate the office document related business.
But with respect to the photographic paper and still film photo-chemicals businesses, Kodak Alaris sold those marketing and distribution rights to Sino-Promise, who after a few tumultuous years, went bankrupt themselves, due at least partly to the results of the COVID pandemic.
Kodak Alaris was also badly affected by the COVID pandemic - one result being some re-negotiation in Eastman Kodak's favour, of some of the terms of the rights agreement that formed part of the bankruptcy settlement.
Kodak Alaris itself was recently sold as a going concern by the UK pension authority (who had taken over the Kodak Limited pension plan) to US investors. It remains a UK based corporation, and continues to hold the license for exclusive worldwide marketing and distribution rights for Kodak branded still films.
Although there was some uncertainty for a while, it was eventually determined that the bankruptcy/default of Sino Promise resulted in the license for rights purchased by Sino Promise from Kodak Alaris for Kodak branded photo-chemicals reverting back to Eastman Kodak. Eastman Kodak has recently licensed those rights again - to PSI.
Well, you did ask!
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PSI probably make some of the chemicals that you reference - possibly most of them - but not necessarily all of them.
And I don't know who PSI has doing the customer service for their other brands. CineStill has the capacity to handle the worldwide distribution responsibilities for the Kodak branded stuff. I'm not sure that the potential business for the other products requires that.
