Eastman Kodak is selling its Prosper inkjet business and related products. Those related products include the Ultrastream inkjet printhead technology that was announced at the recent pre-Drupa press conference. Philip Cullimore, president, enterprise inkjet systems division and senior VP Eastman Kodak, said at that time that Kodak expected to have “OEMs in most vertical markets, including wide-format” by the end of Drupa.
This week Kodak has announced it is in talks with prospective buyers about this inkjet business. Sagent Advisors, an independent investment bank, and DC Advisory, a European corporate finance adviser, which share Daiwa Securities, a Japanese investment bank, as a common shareholder, have been engaged by Kodak to manage the sale process.
“The Prosper business has significant potential for accelerated growth,” said Jeff Clarke, Kodak CEO. “To achieve its full economic potential, it will be best leveraged by a company with a larger sales and distribution footprint in digital printing markets.”
Cullimore added: “The market opportunity for Prosper will expand even further with the planned introduction of Kodak Ultrastream, a next-generation inkjet writing system with significantly enhanced performance. That will move production inkjet into the mainstream of commercial printing and packaging.”