Source: Kodak Reaches Deal to Borrow $793 Million

NEW YORK (AP) -- Kodak (Nasdaq: EKDKQ  ) has reached an agreement to borrow $793 million, potentially allowing it to exit bankruptcy protection early next year, a person with knowledge of the arrangement said Monday.

The printing and photography company would borrow the money from a private investment firm, Centerbridge Partners, and the lending arms of asset management firm The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX  ) and banks JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM  ) and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS  ) .

The deal is contingent on Kodak being able to sell its patent portfolio for more than $500 million, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been announced. The company has been trying to sell that asset for more than a year.

The loan would consist of $476 million in new loans and $317 million in roll-overs of old debt. There's a provision to convert $567 million into "exit financing," a prerequisite for emerging from bankruptcy protection.

Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection in January after struggling to adapt to the world of digital photography.

News of the deal was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal.