Eastman Kodak Co. (EK) announced its plans to sell substantially all the assets associated with its OLED business to a group of LG companies. The company said that this transaction will tighten Kodak’s investment focus and strengthen its financial position. Financial details were not disclosed.
 
Kodak, which has been a pioneer in developing technology associated with OLED displays, said that it will continue to have access to its OLED technology for use in its products.
 
The company noted that this decision in consistent with its strategy of repositioning some of its businesses to maximize its competitive advantage at the intersection of materials and imaging science. Kodak pointed that though OLED intellectual property portfolio is fundamental, realizing the full value of this business would have required significant investment.
 
This transaction is expected to close by the end of the year.
 
In addition, Kodak said that it has entered into a technology cross-license agreement with LG Electronics, Inc., which will allow each company broad access to the other’s patent portfolio. The license agreement is royalty-bearing to Kodak. The company did not disclose additional financial details.
 
The companies also agreed to conclude their patent litigation, which involved a subset of their imaging technologies. Pursuant to a settlement agreement, Kodak and LG will request that the U.S. International Trade Commission terminate the investigations initiated earlier this year following complaints filed by both the companies in late 2008.
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