US company Eastman Kodak beat its global rival Fuji to sign an
agreement giving it a 20 percent stake in China Lucky Film for US$100 million in cash and
technology.
China Lucky is China’s last photographic film company and the deal is
subject to government approval.
In 1998, Kodak took over three failing state
photographic film companies in Shantou, Xiamen and Wuxi – leaving China Lucky as the
only remaining wholly owned domestic producer. Kodak paid US$380 million for the three
companies and agreed to invest an additional $700 million in them by this year.
In
exchange, the government barred other overseas competitors – including Fuji – from setting
up film-production facilities in China for four years. The ban expired last year.