Xerox and Kodak affiliate to end resale pact
Monday December 8, 2:22 pm ET
NEW YORK, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Kodak Polychrome Graphics, an affiliate of Eastman Kodak Co.(NYSE:EK - News), on Monday said they agreed to stop selling production printers made by Xerox Corp. (NYSE:XRX - News), sparked by Kodak's strategic shift into commercial printing.
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Graphic arts products maker Kodak Polychrome Graphics, a 50-50 venture between Rochester, New York-based Kodak and Japan's Sun Chemical, said it will discontinue sales of several Xerox DocuColor digital color presses and color copier-printers, effective Jan. 1, 2004.
KPG, in a release, said that both companies decided that "the time is right to pursue alternative strategies."
Xerox spokeswoman Karin Stroh said the separation comes at the expiration of a contract originally signed in December 2001. She said the decision comes in the wake of Kodak's decision in September to make commercial printing a priority, as it looks for growth vehicles amid the decline of its traditional film business.
"The fact that Kodak...announced that they were getting into the commercial printing market, and that they were going to use KPG as one of their assets to distribute the new product -- there is a conflict of interest," Stroh said.
"We felt a this time we could not pursue a relationship with them," she added.
Xerox, however, will continue to market to its customers KPG's Matchprint Professional Server, a product that works with Xerox's DocuColor 12 machine.
Shares of Kodak rose 25 cents to $23.95 on the New York Stock Exchange (News - Websites) in afternoon trade, while Xerox shares slipped 13 cents to $12.00.
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