A statement released by the court, following the confirmation hearing, said: "It will be enormously valuable for the company to get out of Chapter 11, and begin to regain its position in the pantheon of American business."

Filed in April this year, around 16 months after entering bankruptcy protection, Kodak’s 200-page reorganisation plan set out how the business would emerge from Chapter 11 as a smaller, streamlined and profitable entity dedicated to commercial imaging.

Under the plan, key objectives to prepare for the emergence of the new organisation include reducing legacy costs, liabilities and infrastructure, exiting or spinning off businesses and assets no longer core to the business and focusing on more profitable business lines.

To help fund its emergence Kodak announced the sale, in April this year, of its Document Imaging and Personalised Imaging businesses to UK Kodak Pension Plan (KPP), in a move that also helped solve its pension liability issue in the UK.

In July it added a supplement to the Chapter 11 filing that detailed its new executive board, with Antonio Perez remaining at the helm for a year after exiting bankcruptcy protection, or until a successor is elected.

Commenting on the court’s confirmation, Perez said: "This critically important milestone marks the final step in the court process.

"Next, we move on to emergence as a technology leader serving large and growing commercial imaging markets – such as commercial printing, packaging, functional printing and professional services – with  a leaner structure and a stronger balance sheet.

"There are additional transactional steps ahead as we complete our Chapter 11 restructuring, but with the court’s decision, our emergence is now imminent."

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