The Cost of Kodak's Bankruptcy

The bill came in, and it's a doozy, a quarter billion dollars to the lawyers.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/kodak-bankruptcy-advisers-likely-see-225118441.html;_ylt=A2KIq_20KJdScHkABQrQtDMD

I should have gone to law school instead of art school.

Those costs are in part due to not charging a bancruptsy trustee with the case, but letting Kodak run the affair themselves, including hiring a great number of law firms.

Nevertheless over here, where that trustee approach is applied, there is a lot of criticism at those trustees. Here their fee is regulated in such a case on 0.5% of the resting assets.
But a trustee himself can hire in advisory firms who then crank up costs.
(The demise of the GDR was probably a paradise for advisory firms...)

Kodak seems to have learned nothing... LOL still just love to bleed money everywhere lol

StoneNYC said:

Kodak seems to have learned nothing... LOL still just love to bleed money everywhere lol

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??

To bad the stock holders are not litigating against the top brass.

Quote Originally Posted by StoneNYC View Post

Kodak seems to have learned nothing... LOL still just love to bleed money everywhere lol


??

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More ??

JLP said:

More ??

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I'm not sure what everyone is confused about.

Kodak has been resting on its laurels, and spending excess money and not making a profit for a while now. It's why they went into bankruptcy in the first place, because they weren't more careful about how they ran things, (yes I understand the bottom dropped out on them, but they also did a lot of bad business and poor investments and the board ran it into the ground) and if they spent so much on all the legal stuff without actually being cautious about it little more, it shows that they haven't really learned anything from their past mistakes that's what I meant. Whether you agree with me is another story, this is just one man's opinion, as my signature says...

you said " still" as if after alaris was formed they continue to act irresponsibly ...
its rather strange seeing YOU are relying in the regrouped kodak to sell you
sheet film of their movie stock ...

jnanian said:

you said " still" as if after alaris was formed they continue to act irresponsibly ...
its rather strange seeing YOU are relying in the regrouped kodak to sell you
sheet film of their movie stock ...

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First, I don't think Alaris was part of the decision making at the time the bankruptcy was started was it? (I don't know for sure)

And two, the movie stock film production company is a separate company I think?

Third, what does my view of how the old company does business have to do with my decision of what products I might want to buy from them? Just because the company doesn't handle things well, doesn't mean there film isn't good, they just aren't good at the business end of things, but there film is still very good quality, something that as I said they rested their laurels on, it's great and it's something certainly to be proud of, but you have to have more than just a good product sometimes, it doesn't mean I won't buy from them if they have something good, it just means that I'll be cautious about investing in something long-term with them if they are poised to fail.

If you notice I didn't really use much kodak film until the Alaris announcement. Sure I tested a few rolls of TMY, mostly just to see what all the fuss is about, and at first couldn't get things right until I figure some stuff out, that said, I didn't buy any large quantities of TMY until after the announcement of Alaris, then I felt better about the company and decided I would give TMY a try long term as one of my films...

Double-X is a grand film but only recently have I even gotten a 4X5 and I know they wouldn't make it in 120, but cutting sheets as a special order is nothing new for Kodak (or any other film company) so I asked...

Again, nothing wrong with that...

No Stone , We will continue to run after you with torches and forks until you say Leica II is the best camera and lens is glowing your eye

Count me out. I can't run very far or very fast any more.

StoneNYC said:

First, I don't think Alaris was part of the decision making at the time the bankruptcy was started was it? (I don't know for sure)

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Kodak Alaris is most probably a child born out of necessity laid upon by that bancruptcy.

Mustafa Umut Sarac said:

No Stone , We will continue to run after you with torches and forks until you say Leica II is the best camera and lens is glowing your eye

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Hah! I don't doubt it!! "I will only shoot a Leica, I will only use kodak Tri-X, I will only develop in D-76, I will only optically print... I will only use the zone system, Ansel is Jesus and Yellow is the god color...."

The stuff I saw indicated to me that the bankruptcy and the issues dealt with during the bankruptcy period necessitated an enormous amount of legal and accounting and valuation work.

Legal and accounting and other professional services totaled $242 million - that includes fees billed by those assisting creditor committees.

That is less than 3.5 percent of the $6.7 billion in debts dealt with in the bankruptcy. Seems reasonable to me.

And certainly less than a bankruptcy trustee would charge up here.

MattKing said:

That is less than 3.5 percent of the $6.7 billion in debts dealt with in the bankruptcy. Seems reasonable to me.

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One should relate the fees for advisors or trustees not from the debts but from the remaining assets, as from those they are paid.
That will likely yield another percentage.

AgX said:

One should relate the fees for advisors or trustees not from the debts but from the remaining assets, as from those they are paid.
That will likely yield another percentage.

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I don't necessarily disagree, but note that the value of those assets at the time of initial filing was uncertain but potentially extremely large (patent portfolios) and that the work associated with those assets was complex and extensive.

I never worked for Kodak, or for that matter have never been north of Philadelphia once back in 1970 as a kid going to see old neighbors who were transferred up there. Anyway... But I DO believe without the Eastman Kodak Co., I would be where I am today, which is with a roof over my head, food in my belly, and a fire in the wood stove over here. Not too shabby. But one thing I never wanted to see in my lifetime was Kodak going belly up. But as a zombie now, I still hope them the best.

if you read what you actually wrote

StoneNYC said:

Kodak seems to have learned nothing... LOL still just love to bleed money everywhere lol

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it seems you are talking about the "modern kodak and companies that spun off of the old dying company "
at least that is what i translated your off the cuff remarks ..

whether it is the movie film division, the film / entertainment division or the other divisions they are all in play now hoping to stay alive..
and i found it to be kind of hilarious that you would make a comment that they are bleeding money everywhere after they restructured their company
into smaller divisions, private entities that are forced to work together in this new world they have found themselves in ...
20 years ago when they were in the middle of making boatloads of cash of of the movie industry, and the camera toting public and professional photographers
they would have laughed at you if you asked them to cut their movie film stock as sheet film but now they might do it as long as a minimum order is reached ...
it seems they have learned a great deal from the past, and they are catering to their small customer base's needs and doing their best to be profitable ...
not really bleed money everywhere.

unless of course you were suggesting their paying lawyers and consultants zillions of dollars was the bleeding of money everywhere .
i just thought your comment was kind of funny, and ill informed ...


couldn't care less about your equipment, what exposure system you use or what materials you expose what photographers you idolize

no ... not coming after you with pitchforks and torches, just getting a good laugh out of some of your threads LOL hahaha

cheering themselves at the stock exchange:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_gTizvjspQ

Hahaha awesome!

Thank you! I now know what a total A**H*** looks like. Minus arms and legs of course.