Kodak's long and twisting history has taken another turn, as British-based Kodak Alaris has been acquired by an American private equity firm.
The move comes four years after Kodak Alaris – which was previously owned by the UK pension protection authority, following a tortured series of events in the wake of the original Kodak declaring bankruptcy – sold its paper and chemistry business to a Chinese holding company.
The latest development (sorry, couldn't help myself!) sees the acquisition of Kodak Alaris by Los Angeles-based carveout company Kingswood. Yes, I know it's complicated. To be honest, I've always struggled to keep up with exactly which part(s) of Kodak were effectively controlled by the British government.
In short, Kodak Alaris has nothing to do with Kodak's camera lines; the instant cameras, such as the Kodak Smile+, are produced by Eastman Kodak, while the compact cameras, like the Kodak Pixpro FZ55, are made under license by JK Imaging.
The component of Kodak that has just been sold includes two business units: Kodak Alaris (primarily a data capture business based around software, scanners and associated services) and Kodak Moments (a consumer film, photo printing and imaging services business).
As noted, Kodak Alaris' photo paper and photochemistry businesses were sold to Chinese company Sino Promise (the world's largest distributor of Alaris, which had previously purchased manufacturing assets from the company) in 2020, with its AI business being sold to US mortgage company Guaranteed Rate the same year.
"At Kingswood, our goal is to help companies reach their full potential by providing capital, bolstering its operations, and identifying avenues to achieve growth," says Alex Wolf, a managing partner at Kingswood.
"We are excited to help continue Kodak Alaris’ strong recent performance and momentum."
From what I can tell, the Kingswood situation is not dissimilar to Japan Industrial Partners carving out the imaging business from Olympus (which now operates as OM Digital Solutions). Kingswood's current portfolio includes everything from energy drinks company G Fuel to perfume brands Fragrance Outlet and Perfumia.
Something tells me there will be more chapters to the story in the not too distant future…
You might be interested in the best compact cameras or the best instant cameras. Of course, Kodak also makes some of the best photo paper and best 35mm film.
