Kodak offloads its film and scanner businesses to its UK pension group

Kodak may have offered to sell key parts of its document imaging unit to Brother for $210 million, but even that amount is just a small step on the company's long road out of bankruptcy. The company has been looking for a sweeter deal -- and it just found one by settling with its very own UK Kodak Pension Plan. The agreement offloads control of both the document and personal imaging units (read: scanners and film) in return for eliminating a hefty $2.8 billion in claims and receiving $650 million in 'considerations' that include cash. Kodak has already received approval from the UK's Pension Regulator and expects to submit its plans to a US bankruptcy court on Tuesday. We've also confirmed with Kodak that this will supercede the Brother deal as long as it's approved, so there shouldn't be any legal entanglements from changing suitors. As such, Kodak is well on its way to a healthier (if much smaller) company.