As another example of how business can make strange bedfellows, Apple, despite its ongoing legal battle with Google subsidiary Motorola, is reportedly teaming up with the search giant to offer a bid for Kodak patents valued at over $500.
On Friday, Bloomberg cited two people familiar with Kodak’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings who claim Apple and Google have become partners in a grab for 1,100 patents owned by the erstwhile photography monolith. Sources say the Apple-Google consortium was behind a bid placed a bid earlier this week.
At the start of bidding the companies were on two separate teams, Apple leading a consortium that included Microsoft and patents holding firm Intellectual Ventures, while Google threw its lot in with RPX Corp. and a number of Asian handset manufacturers.
Kodak had estimated the value of its portfolio was between $2.2 and $2.6 billion, although when bidding was opened, the bids were reportedly in the range of $150 million to $250 million. Kodak cannot accept a bid lower than $500 million according to the terms of its $793 million loan agreement that it is pinning its hopes on to stay afloat.
In November, sources claimed that both Apple and Google were still interested in the patent portfolio, and Kodak said it was “confident” the minimum bid level would be reached.
