Kodak is hoping its Prosper business will be sold this year after it failed to find a buyer in 2016, but in the meantime will streamline the Prosper business, with associated costs expected to reach up to $20m.

The company first put the high speed inkjet Proposer business up for sale in March last year, citing the need for it to be supplied by a company with more resource on the ground. It was hoping a sale would be completed by the end of the year, but this failed to materialise.

It will now restructure the Prosper business, and in the process incur costs including US$5m-$7m for separation benefits, some US$5m-$6m in non-cash related charges for inventory write-downs, around US$2m-$3m of non-cash related charges for asset write-offs, as well as up to $1m in other cash-related charges that accompany the plan.

Kodak says: “Kodak is streamlining its commercial inkjet operations to maximise performance and address market opportunities in publishing, high volume direct mail and packaging. In addition, the company is planning to refocus the business to emphasise print head components and the development of Ultrastream technology.”

The company is hoping its investment and development of the Prosper business will deliver a handsome return when it sells. However the high speed inkjet market is still in its infancy, and while the transactional and book printing sectors have embraced the technology it has so far failed to make a significant impact on mainstream print.

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