Polariod - good new? (yeah Canada)

[Joseph O'Neil]

seriously - look at this link

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090418.RPOLAROID18ART1940//TPStory/Business

sorry for the long url. If you don't wan tot read the whole story, it starts:

Canadians snap up Polaroid

JANET MCFARLAND

April 18, 2009

Two Canadian investors have teamed with a U.S. partner to win a bidding war for most of the assets of Polaroid Corp., the camera company once famous for its instant snapshot.



......so, I hope this is good news. Wait and see I guess

joe

[Wayne Crider]

Looks like a brand name acquisition. I doubt that their interested in sourcing materials to reproduce any film. Of course with the purchase they get the patent rights supposedly to sell if there is still rights that are allowable. Polaroid became from whatI have seen just a general consumer electronics company with products made in east Asia.

[Gene McCluney]

Seems like they are just getting a name and intellectual property rights. No factories, no equipment, and I would say-no hope of instant film production.

[Derek Kennedy]

Seems like they are just getting a name and intellectual property rights. No factories, no equipment, and I would say-no hope of instant film production.


What I gleaned from the article was they had no plans on producing film, just other products and stamp them with the Polaroid name.

[Marco Milazzo]

Vulture capitalsts -- they want to exploit Polaroid's brand and reputation. They won't manufacture anything, but will license the name to other companies.

[D. Bryant]

seriously - look at this link

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090418.RPOLAROID18ART1940//TPStory/Business

sorry for the long url. If you don't wan tot read the whole story, it starts:

Canadians snap up Polaroid

JANET MCFARLAND

April 18, 2009

Two Canadian investors have teamed with a U.S. partner to win a bidding war for most of the assets of Polaroid Corp., the camera company once famous for its instant snapshot.



......so, I hope this is good news. Wait and see I guess

joe

"Where's the beef?"

From the article:

While Polaroid snapshots have been overtaken in the digital age, the buyers believe the brand can be used to sell other products, such as printer paper, electronic goods such as baby monitors or GPS devices, binoculars, lighting or even sunglasses.

I've been watching a documentary on Shelby Lee Adams tonight and he used a ton of PN 55. If someone starts making that again at reasonable prices along with SX-70 film, I'll rejoice and take up serpent handling! As I read the article there are now plans to manufacture film, simply a brand name acquisition.

Don Bryant

[ki6mf]

The Bankruptcy courts have been selling off divisions of the old Polaroid corporation for several years now the question is what was left over from this sale and/or is this one of the divisions that didn't make it in the market place!

[Bob Salomon]

"Hilco Consumer Capital LP of Toronto "

Like Gordon Brothers and a couple of others are liquidators. They are one of the liquidators that won the rights to liquidate Circuit City stores (US ones) as well as Ritz stores being closed. Also Sharper Image.

They are not manufacturers.

Check out their web site:

http://www.hilcoind.com/sales/index.asp

[Barronius]

This may be more what you're looking for:
http://www.the-impossible-project.com/

It's a group that has purchased the old film making equipment and leased the old plant in order to re-invent integral film for vintage Polaroid cameras.

- Barron

[Gene McCluney]

This may be more what you're looking for:
http://www.the-impossible-project.com/

It's a group that has purchased the old film making equipment and leased the old plant in order to re-invent integral film for vintage Polaroid cameras.

- Barron

To be precise, they bought the cutting, assembling and packing equipment. All the film component was made in Polaroids defunct plants in the USA. That is why they have Ilford as a partner, to develop a new film component.

[steve barry]

the impossible project. sure would be cool. wonder how likely that is. i wonder if they are planning to change anything, to make it more profitable and sustainable as a business. that appears to be a huge factory, i can not imagine the demand being high enough to support such an operation, but what do i know. photos are cool though.

now i see. ilford. hummmm. Gene, do you know why they didn't acquire the Polaroid film factories in the US? or get a partner? maybe the actual film production is the part of the equation they felt unprofitable.

[Gene McCluney]

now i see. ilford. hummmm. Gene, do you know why they didn't acquire the Polaroid film factories in the US? or get a partner? maybe the actual film production is the part of the equation they felt unprofitable.

I think the Polaroid USA factories had already been dismantled, and the equipment sold for scrap.

[Bob Salomon]

More of the story:
"Bankruptcy judge declares Hilco, Gordon Brothers winning bidders for Polaroid
A tumultuous auction for Polaroid Corp. ended last Thursday with a St. Paul, Minn., bankruptcy judge declaring liquidators Hilco Consumer Capital of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and Boston, Mass.-based Gordon Brothers Brands the winner with a bid of $85.9 million in cash and equity, reports the Star Tribune. The joint venture's bid was nearly a half million dollars lower than Patriarch Partners', but the judge deferred to creditors who urged him to approve the joint venture's bid as the best choice because of protections it offers them as minority shareholders.
It was the third round of bidding for the photo icon since the bidding began March 30, with each of the top two bidders winning once, only to have the auction reopened each time. Patriarch Partners, a New York private equity firm, technically won the auction in court with its high bid of $86.4 million, but it could not prevail as the "highest and best" bid without the judge's final approval, says the article.
Hilco and Gordon Brothers have purchased other distressed companies, including Linens 'N Things, Bombay Brands, and Sharper Image. Their bid was significantly higher than the original bid of $43.58 million in March.
Both bids included 25 percent equity in the new Polaroid, the maximum allowed in the auction, but differed primarily on the cash amount, the equity structure and the value of excluded assets, reports the Star Tribune. Patriarch's bid included Polaroid's large art collection with original works by Ansel Adams and Andy Warhol. The Hilco group's bid did not. The collection was given an estimated value of $6.5 million in the auction, but New York auction house Sotheby's actually appraised the collection between $7.3 million and just over $11 million, according to testimony Thursday.
Stephen Spencer, a director at restructuring bank Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, which handled the auction, testified that Hilco's proposed equity structure was more transparent, benefiting creditors. He also said Hilco's branding model would require less working capital than Patriarch's.
Polaroid filed for bankruptcy in December, shortly after Minnesota businessman Tom Petters was indicted on charges of running a $3.5 billion Ponzi scheme. Petters denies the charges and is preparing for a trial. Petters purchased Polaroid in 2005 for $426 million. The court-appointed attorney managing his estate filed an affidavit Monday saying Petters bought Polaroid with money he fraudulently obtained through his financing entity Petters Co. Inc., reports the Star Tribune. "