Eastman Kodak, which is planning to auction 1,100 digital patents, received two bids from investor groups including Apple Inc and Google Inc of between $150 million and $250 million, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.<\/p>\n
Bankrupt Kodak is selling the patents, which it believes could be worth $2.6 billion, in order to repay creditors. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection in January after failing to keep up as consumers and rivals shifted to digital photography from film photography.<\/p>\n
A spokeswoman for the company declined to discuss the report in detail, citing court-ordered confidentiality surrounding the auction process.<\/p>\n
“Kodak believes that speculation about the details and potential outcome of the auction is inappropriate,” spokeswoman Stefanie Goodsell said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Bids can rise quickly in bankruptcy auctions. Nortel Networks Inc in 2011 sold its patent portfolio for $4.5 billion after initial bids came in at just $900 million.<\/p>\n
Kodak’s auction is slated to begin on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
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