Kodak files for Chapter 11

Eastman Kodak Co., an icon that dates back to the 1880s and the biggest supplier of raw film stock to Hollywood from the beginning of motion pictures, filed for Chapter 11 overnight in U.S. bankruptcy court for the Southern District of NY after struggling for years with fierce competition and shifting technology. The Rochester, N.Y.-based company said Citigroup put out a statement just after midnight Thursday. It said it will provide a $950 million debtor-in-possession loan to allow it to operate during bankruptcy. A bankruptcy judge must approve the loan. Sony and Warner Bros. are named in the filing among Kodak's unsecured creditors, with respectively, $16.7 million and $14.2 million in unsecured notes. For years, Hollywood was based around Kodak products. The 3,332 Kodak Theatre, home of the Academy Awards, opened in 2001. The move has been expected for some months, if not years. Kodak said it will reorganize its businesses, bolster liquidity in the U.S. and abroad, sell non-strategic intellectual property, resolve legacy liabilities, and enable focus on its most valuable business lines. The company has made pioneering investments in digital, it said, generating approximately 75% of its revenue from digital businesses in 2011. "Kodak is taking a significant step toward enabling our enterprise to complete its transformation," CEO Antonio Perez said. Kodak was founded by George Eastman who introduced the Kodak camera in 1888. The company went on to invent film, enabling Thomas Edison to develop the motion picture camera, Brownie cameras selling for $1 and Kodachrome film. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com