Photography pioneer Kodak files for bankruptcy

(Reuters) – Eastman Kodak Co, the  photography icon that invented the hand-held camera, has filed  for bankruptcy protection and plans to shrink significantly  after a prolonged plunge for one of America’s best-known  companies.
The Chapter 11 filing may give Kodak, which traces its roots  to 1880, the ability to find buyers for some of its 1,100  digital patents, a major portion of its value.
Kodak once dominated its industry, and its film was the  subject of a popular 1973 song, “Kodachrome,” by Paul Simon.
But it failed to embrace more modern technologies quickly  enough, such as the digital camera — ironically, a product it   invented. Kodak now employs 17,000 people, down from 63,900 just  nine years ago.
“It is a very sad day even though we had anticipated it  happening,” said Shannon Cross, an analyst at Cross Research who  has had a “sell” rating on the company since 2001. “If it  emerges, it will be a much smaller entity.”
According to papers filed with the U.S. bankruptcy court in  Manhattan, Kodak had about $5.1 billion of assets and $6.75  billion of liabilities at the end of September.
In court documents, Chief Financial Officer Antoinette  McCorvey said, without elaborating, that Kodak plans to sell  “significant assets” during the bankruptcy. Non-U.S. units are  not part of the Chapter 11 case.
Kodak also obtained a $950 million, 18-month credit line  from Citigroup so it can keep operating during the bankruptcy  process, which it expects to complete in 2013.
“This is a necessary step and the right thing to do for the  future of Kodak,” Chairman and Chief Executive Antonio Perez  said in a statement today.