The firm announced the news along with details of an amended financing plan that will give the company more flexibility as it moves closer to emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Since going into Chapter 11 in January 2012 the firm has put back the deadline for filing its reorganisation plan three times.

Kodak is expected to exit Chapter 11 by mid-2013, and the terms of the amended supplemental financing deal include a deadline set by Kodak’s lenders of 30 September 2013 for this exit to take place.

New covenants include lenders having a say in the future shape of Kodak’s board of directors, with the addition of an independent director "who shall be satisfactory to the Steering Committee Lenders" and the appointment of an executive search firm to "identify candidates for the post-emergence board of directors".

A Kodak spokesman told PrintWeek that it was too soon to say what the specifics of this would involve.

He said: "It is typical that a new board is appointed upon emergence from Chapter 11, and the initiation of a search process indicates we are moving one step closer to completing our reorganisation. It's premature, though, to speak about the composition of the new board - and whether current board members would continue or not."

In addition, amendments to the fresh supplemental financing conditions include a reduction in the minimum purchase price to $600m, from $700m, that Kodak needs to achieve for its remaining up-for-sale assets. This includes the company’s Document Imaging and Personalised Imaging businesses, along with various related trademarks and intellectual property assets.

Kodak finalised the sale of a tranche of its patents for $527m last month. Initial estimates had put the value at almost four times that amount.

Steering Committee Lenders have laid down terms for the restated financing commitment that include prompt approval for the new financing plan, setting a deadline of 8 March for approval and 5 April to close the financing.