Kodak on the lookout for acquisitions

Kodak chief executive Jeff Clarke has been on the hunt for potential high-tech acquisitions in Israel, according to venerable Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The paper interviewed Clarke while he was visiting Kodak’s R&D centre in Petah Tikva at the end of last year. The facility is a major centre for software development for the group.

It described him as “hunting for microdigital printing and other new technologies” that would “give Kodak a second life.”

Israel is renowned for its large number of high-tech startups. Clarke told Haaretz he was meeting with more than ten companies during his trip, including firms involved with software, inkjet printing, inks, 3D printing, and materials science.

“I’m here to look for companies that we can use to make Kodak bigger,” he said.

Clarke implemented a new business structure at the beginning of the year, and Kodak recently renamed its functional printing operations, which includes touch sensor printing technology, as ‘micro 3D printing’.

Israel has spawned a host of notable print equipment and software manufacturers over the years, including Scitex, Indigo and Creo.

The most high-profile recent industry startup is Landa Digital Printing, created by Indigo founder Benny Landa.

The full Haaretz article can be found here.