Kodak Completes Acquisition of KPG
ROCHESTER, N.Y.—Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE:EK) today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Kodak Polychrome Graphics (KPG) through redemption of Sun Chemical Corporation's 50 percent interest in the joint venture. KPG is now part of Kodak's Graphic Communications Group (GCG).
The acquisition further establishes Kodak as a leading company in the graphic communications industry and complements Kodak's existing businesses in this market.
"The addition of the people, products and distribution capabilities of KPG makes Kodak the company to turn to for the broadest solutions portfolio in the industry," said James Langley, President, Graphic Communications Group, and Senior Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company. "We are uniquely positioned to be the preferred partner for our customers and help them improve efficiency and expand their business offerings."
As planned, with the completion of the KPG acquisition, Kodak will implement a new GCG organization structure, consisting of two operating units, a strong regional structure and integrated sales and service forces. The GCG organization includes the following two operating units:
1) Graphic Solutions & Services (GS&S), led by Jeff Jacobson, President, consists of the following strategic product groups (SPGs):
- Workflow & Prepress includes computer-to-plate equipment, workflow solutions, color, storage, professional services, inkjet proofing and digital halftone proofing.
- Digital Printing includes Kodak's electrophotographic (EP) and direct imaging portfolio, professional services, device controls and publishing services.
- Consumables includes printing plates, film, flexographic plates and digital halftone media.
Once Kodak's planned acquisition of Creo, Inc., which was announced on January 31, 2005, is completed, Kodak intends to include Creo's operations in the GS&S portfolio.
As President of GS&S, Jacobson is responsible for R&D, commercialization, manufacturing, product marketing and administrative functions, including finance, information technology and human resources.
Jacobson also will serve as the Graphic Communications Group's Chief Operating Officer, with responsibility for key strategic functions, including global services and global customer operations that will support the regions (Americas, EAMER, Greater Asia and Japan) and their integrated sales forces.
2) Transaction & Industrial Solutions (T&IS), led by Nachum "Homi" Shamir, President, consists of the following strategic product groups:
- Continuous inkjet (CIJ) includes Kodak's high-speed, high-volume CIJ portfolio.
- Industrial inkjet includes CIJ technology and drop-on-demand inkjet solutions designed for industrial and packaging applications.
- Wide-format inkjet includes wide-format printers, inks and media.
- Document scanners includes Kodak's market-leading document scanning technology.
- Business process services operations.
Shamir is responsible for the R&D, manufacturing and commercialization of advanced inkjet and scanning technologies for GCG, and administrative functions, including finance, information technology and human resources for T&IS; he also manages product and sales specialists within the regions for the T&IS portfolio.
