Kodak Seeks More Time to File Plan to Exit Bankruptcy

Eastman Kodak Co. (EKDKQ) is seeking to yet again extend the exclusive control it has over its bankruptcy case for a few more months, citing significant progress towards the targeted mid-2013 exit date.

The beleaguered photography company is asking the court to give it until May 31 to file a bankruptcy-exit proposal without threat from competing plans and until July 31 to seek support for the plan.

The extension request, filed Friday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, is Kodak's third in a little over a year. A similar request last November was met with resistance from a group of bondholders who argued that the company should have to relinquish control of the case given the lack of progress and the company's average $50 million monthly cash burn.

Kodak's latest request comes on the heels of a complex deal the company completed for the sale of a trove of its digital-imaging patents for $527 million, a process that has been more than a year in the making and yielded a much lower price than Kodak had originally hoped it would get. However, the sale moved the case forward by settling patent litigation that could have further stalled the reorganization process.

Rochester, N.Y.-based Kodak filed for Chapter 11 protection in January 2012 after years of facing challenges from competitors and the proliferation of digital technology.

(Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review covers news about distressed companies and those under bankruptcy protection. Go to .)

Write to Yogita Patel at [e-mail].

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