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Eastman Kodak Non-US Pension Plan
The Eastman Kodak Non-US Pension Plan represents the defined-benefit obligations the former industrial giant sponsors for employees outside the United States.
Eastman Kodak Non-US Pension Plan
The Eastman Kodak Non-US Pension Plan represents the defined-benefit obligations the former industrial giant sponsors for employees outside the United States. The most documented component is the UK Kodak Pension Plan, which played a pivotal role in Kodak's 2012 bankruptcy. Rather than receiving cash in settlement, the UK plan accepted ownership of two Kodak operating divisions: Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging. Those businesses, later consolidated under Kodak Alaris, gave the pension fund a direct equity stake in operating companies — an unusual structure for a retirement scheme. Strategy flows from liability-matching imperatives rather than a growth mandate. The plans maintain diversified portfolios spanning equities, fixed income, real estate, hedge funds, and illiquid alternatives. The UK plan's historical asset mix included a notable allocation to natural resources and timber funds alongside a global hedge fund portfolio. A meaningful repositioning occurred in 2024 when The Mastercard Foundation purchased a portfolio of illiquid assets from the Kodak pension program, signaling a liquidity event within the alternatives sleeve. The plans also hold direct property, including industrial land at the Harrow site in the United Kingdom. The UK plan's governance evolved significantly after Kodak's restructuring. The Pension Protection Fund — the UK's statutory lifeboat — assumed responsibility for a segment of the Kodak Pension Plan in 2020, designated KPP2, after it failed to meet Pension Regulator funding standards. In 2024, private equity firm Kingswood Capital Management acquired Kodak Alaris from the PPF, severing the last direct link between the pension safety net and the former Kodak operating businesses. The non-US plans more broadly report through Kodak's corporate financial disclosures, but individual plan-level staffing and AUM figures are not publicly itemized. The structural differentiator lies in the plan's origin story: a pension fund that became a corporate carve-out owner by necessity, not design. For over a decade, the UK Kodak Pension Plan was both a retirement scheme and a direct operating-company shareholder — a governance hybrid nearly unmatched among US-domiciled sponsors of foreign plans. That chapter closed with the PPF transfer and the Mastercard Foundation asset sale in 2024, leaving a more conventional but historically singular pension entity.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Location
Region
Europe
Country
United States
City
Rochester
Corporate office
Rochester, NY, United States
Principals
Eastman Kodak Company
Sponsor
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
What role did the UK Kodak Pension Plan play in Kodak's 2012 bankruptcy?
The UK Kodak Pension Plan was Kodak's largest unsecured creditor during its Chapter 11 restructuring. Rather than receiving a cash distribution, the plan accepted ownership of Kodak's Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging businesses — assets that later formed the basis of Kodak Alaris. This settlement made the pension fund a direct operating-company owner, a highly atypical structure for a defined-benefit plan.
How are the non-US pension plans governed versus a typical corporate pension?
The plans are sponsored by Eastman Kodak Company and operate under the regulatory frameworks of each host country. The UK plan, for instance, operated under The Pensions Regulator and ultimately saw a portion transferred to the Pension Protection Fund in 2020 after it failed to meet statutory funding requirements. Governance is layered: local trustees manage day-to-day administration while Kodak retains ultimate sponsorship obligations, subject to corporate-level financial disclosure.
What happened to the Kodak Alaris assets held by the UK plan?
Kodak Alaris was the entity created from the businesses transferred to the UK Kodak Pension Plan in 2013. In 2020, the Pension Protection Fund took control of KPP2, a segment of the plan, and assumed the Kodak Alaris stake. Private equity firm Kingswood Capital Management acquired Kodak Alaris from the PPF in 2024, marking the final separation of those operating assets from the pension ecosystem.
What is the current investment posture of the Kodak non-US pension plans?
The plans hold diversified portfolios across equities, fixed income, real estate, hedge funds, and private market alternatives. Natural resources and timber funds have been disclosed as components. In 2024, a portfolio of illiquid assets was sold to The Mastercard Foundation, indicating a liquidity or rebalancing move within the alternatives allocation. The plans no longer hold direct operating-company equity.
Are the Kodak non-US pension plans open to new participants?
Kodak's defined-benefit plans outside the US are largely closed to new entrants, consistent with the company's long-term trend away from defined-benefit provision. The UK plan has been closed to new accruals and remains in run-off, focused on meeting existing obligations to retired and deferred members. Specific closure dates vary by jurisdiction.
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