The judge overseeing Kodak's bankruptcy proceedings has approved the company's proposed $950 million financing arrangement between itself and its lenders and bondholders. Kodak filed for Chapter 11 protection in January and sought to use the funds while it sold off some of the 1,100 patents it held to generate cash while it restructured itself and continued to make payroll. The judge, Allan L. Gropper of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, approved the arrangement despite a series of suits and counter-suits between Kodak, Apple, and others over some of the patents that Kodak now hopes to sell.
As part of its bankruptcy filing, the company sought approval of the $950 million credit from Citibank, one of its creditors, as it tried to reap the benefits of some of its intellectual property, valued in excess of $1 billion. Shortly after Kodak filed, Apple raised an objection to the loan arrangement, claiming that some of the patents that Kodak was trying to sell were at the center of litigation between the two companies.
The judge didn't directly address Apple's claims in granting the money, although an attempt by Apple to claim ownership of Kodak patents based on earlier work had been tossed out. Apple has subsequently asked for permission to sue Kodak to counter a suit that Kodak had filed against Apple immediately before Kodak filed for Chapter 11.
