September 30, 2011 6:12 PM

Jones Day's Kodak Moment: Company Hires Firm for Restructuring Advice

Posted by Tom Huddleston Jr.

Facing flagging stock prices and uncertainty over its direction, Eastman Kodak has hired Jones Day for restructuring advice, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The revelation follows the company's disclosure earlier this week that it had accessed $160 million from a revolving asset-based credit line capped at $400 million. That move led many investors to doubt the soundness of the company's finances and to shed Kodak stock, according to Bloomberg.

Kodak did not specify what kind of work it has hired Jones Day to perform, and the exact nature of the company's restructuring plans remain unclear. The firm could advise Kodak on ways to improve its finances by raising new equity or seeking debt forgiveness from creditors, according to the WSJ. Jones Day has previously represented Kodak in multiple litigation matters, including patent infringement suits involving Sony and Goodyear, according to the firm's Web site.

A Jones Day spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

Once the leader in the U.S. photography industry and one of the 30 companies whose stock figured into the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Eastman Kodak has been hit hard by the shift from film to digital photographs. Sibling publication Corporate Counsel reported in August on the state of Kodak's finances, noting that the value of its intellectual property portfolio now exceeds that of its revenue operations. In August, Kodak was forced to adopt a so-called poison pill defense to protect itself from potential unsolicited takeover offers by those seeking to acquire the portfolio and shutter the business.

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