Eastman Kodak, the 131-year-old photography pioneer and once the hottest tech firm on the planet, is reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy.
The company is just weeks away from declaring itself bust and is making a last- ditch effort to sell patents in order to stay out of the bankruptcy court, according to The Wall Street Journal.
If sale plans fall through, the firm is preparing a chapter 11 bankruptcy, which would protect it from creditors while it reorganises its business. Similar moves have been made by other struggling American icons, including General Motors and American Airlines.
Kodak is not commenting on what the firm dismisses as "speculation." But the firm has disclosed that the New York Stock Exchange has warned the company it could be de-listed unless its fortunes rebound in the next six months. The company's shares have traded at under $1 for more than 30 days.
Kodak once sold 90% of the world's film but started to struggle in the 1980s as foreign competitors gained market share. However, the firm was hit really hard as photography entered the digital age. Its attempts to go digital did not meet with success and moves into new areas including pharmaceuticals, cheap printers and medical testing have not paid off.
More recently, the company seems to have concentrated on making money by suing competitors for patent infringements.
Last year the company hired restructuring advisers and it is now shopping around 1,100 digital-imaging patents estimated to be worth $2bn to $3bn.
Last November Kodak announced a third-quarter loss of $222m, and said it could run out of cash within a year unless it can sell its digital-imaging patents, or raise money selling debt.
Antonio Perez, Kodak's chairman and chief executive officer, is expected to be quizzed about the firm's future when address shareholders on January 26.