Deal may give KKR "a 16.5% stake in" EK. Go Print!

I thought it was going to be Japan money.

Not a surprise that it would be KKR. What is very cool (2me) is that it might get Print on KKR's radar. That increases the chance of a Creo spin off. That means they can unlock the value of integrating the offset workflow.

For the last couple of weeks, the price of EK finally moved. I couldn't figure out why. It didn't make sense(2me) that was about "social media" and Twitter and buzz. Now it seems a bit more clear. Meanwhile, XRX was over $9 last time I looked. Hmmm.... Canon? Fuji? Canon+Fuji? (naw.)

Whatever happens next, it's good for my IRA and great for Print. I think to myself, What a Wonderful World.

story at Bloomberg

a refinancing deal that may give KKR a 16.5 percent stake in the imaging company.

George Fisher, a former Kodak chairman, is one of KKR’s senior advisers.

And at the WSj Blog:

Kodak and KKR: Distressed Debt Investing 101 - Deal Journal - WSJ:
KKR is taking the lead on $700 million in debt financing for Eastman Kodak, and charging the struggling camera and printer maker sky-high interest rates.

"KKR will buy up senior secured notes carrying interest rates as high has 10.5%, which is twice the blended interest rate that Kodak is paying on its current debtload. The firm will also receive warrants to convert the debt into 53 million Kodak shares.
. . .
Most interestingly is what the deal says about KKR and private equity generally. The firm built by Henry Kravis defined the LBO model of borrowing lots of money to snap up entire companies. With deals like Kodak, KKR is essentially acting as a lender of last resort, while gaining the potential upside of owning a piece of the company’s equity in the future. It can be a safer bet than the gigantic buy outs that made KKR famous.