Suffice to say, things are not going quite according to plan at Kodak. The “fast-track” patent sale that was supposed to be finalised by 13 August remains in a state of limbo. We may or may not know more by 30 August, the revised timescale for an announcement. Kodak did say all along that if bids were not deemed sufficiently high to reflect what it believes to be the worth of the patent lots, then it reserved the right not to sell them at all. However, that won’t help pay off its $950m debtor-in-possession financing, never mind other creditors. In its presentation to potential lenders back in January, after it filed for Chapter 11, Kodak outlined its future strategy as focusing on its most valuable operations: growth businesses (including digital printing and packaging) and three “core businesses” of retail systems solutions (this includes some 105,000 photo kiosks, and its drylab business), document scanners, and digital printing plates. In a massive about turn it has now announced that it will SELL the first two of the core businesses above. The bundle of up-for-sale businesses includes the still film business upon which Kodak was founded, so truly the end of an era for the company. It’s also worth noting that Kodak’s plates and prepress solutions business sits in a separate business segment to its digital printing solutions operations. Two out of three core businesses up for sale, could plates be next? The fresh sell-off plans were billed as the “the next step towards a successful emergence from Chapter 11”. If the sale is successful, the new Kodak will be much, much smaller and will be mostly geared around printing-related products. But it remains a big if.