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Notice of Lead Plaintiff Deadline for Shareholders in the Eastman Kodak Company Class Action Lawsuit
[August 14, 2020]

Notice of Lead Plaintiff Deadline for Shareholders in the Eastman Kodak Company Class Action Lawsuit


Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the District of New Jersey on behalf of purchasers of Eastman Kodak (News - Alert) Company (NYSE:KODK) common stock between July 27, 2020 and August 7, 2020 (the "Class Period"). The case is captioned Tang v. Eastman Kodak Company, No. 20-cv-10462. The Kodak class action lawsuit charges Eastman Kodak Company and certain of its officers with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 permits any investor who purchased Kodak common stock during the Class Period to seek appointment as lead plaintiff in the Kodak class action lawsuit. A lead plaintiff will act on behalf of all other class members in directing the Kodak class action lawsuit. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice to litigate the Kodak class action lawsuit. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery of the Kodak class action lawsuit is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff of the Kodak class action lawsuit or have questions concerning your rights regarding the Kodak class action lawsuit, please provide your information here or contact counsel, Michael Albert of Robbins Geller, at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058 or via e-mail at [email protected]. Lead plaintiff motions for the Kodak class action lawsuit must be filed with the court no later than October 13, 2020.

Kodak is a technology company that provides hardware, software, consumables, and services to customers in commercial print, packaging, publishing, manufacturing, and entertainment. On July 27, 2020, Kodak issued statement to media outlets on the imminent public announcement of a "new manufacturing initiative" involving the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation ("DFC") and the response to COVID-19.



As alleged by the Kodak class action lawsuit, on the same day, July 27, 2020, to further a scheme to profit from the use of material non-public information about the DFC deal before its official disclosure, Kodak granted its CEO and Executive Chairman, defendant Jim Continenza, 1.75 million stock options at a conversion price of between $3.03 and $12 per share. Kodak also awarded 45,000 stock options each to its CFO, defendant David Bullwinkle, Vice President Randy Vandagriff, and General Counsel Roger Byrd. On the day these options were awarded, Kodak's stock price closed at $2.62 per share, meaning these options were "out of the money" when they were awarded. The following day, the price of Kodak shares jumped 200% following news that Kodak had won a $765 million government loan from the DFC under the Defense Production Act to produce pharmaceutical materials, including ingredients for COVID-19 drugs. Shares continued to surge by over 300% the next day to close at $33.20 per share on July 29, 2020.

On August 1, 2020, a Reuters (News - Alert) article reported new details of the "unusual" 1.75 million option grant to defendant Continenza. The article emphasized that the options award "occurred because of an understanding" between Continenza and Kodak's Board of Directors "that had previously neither been listed in his employment contract nor made public." On this news, Kodak's stock price fell nearly 32%.


Then, on August 4, 2020, an article published on CQ Roll Call reported that U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren had submitted a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC (News - Alert)") requesting an investigation of the deal and Kodak for apparent violations of the securities laws and SEC regulations. Also that day, according to an article published in The Wall Street Journal, the SEC commenced an investigation into "how Kodak controlled disclosure of the loan, word of which began to emerge on July 27, 2020."

Finally, in response to increasing public awareness and Congressional and regulatory scrutiny of Kodak's alleged fraudulent scheme, the DFC paused the deal. On August 7, 2020, the DFC announced that, "[o]n July 28, we signed a Letter of Interest with Eastman Kodak. Recent allegations of wrongdoing raise serious concerns. We will not proceed any further unless these allegations are cleared." On this news, Kodak's stock price declined nearly 28%.

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP is one of the world's leading law firms representing investors in securities class action litigation. With 200 lawyers in 9 offices, Robbins Geller has obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history. For seven consecutive years, ISS Securities Class Action Services has ranked the Firm in its annual SCAS Top 50 Report as one of the top law firms in the world in both amount recovered for shareholders and total number of class action settlements. Robbins Geller attorneys have helped shape the securities laws and have recovered tens of billions of dollars on behalf of aggrieved victims. Beyond securing financial recoveries for defrauded investors, Robbins Geller also specializes in implementing corporate governance reforms, helping to improve the financial markets for investors worldwide. Robbins Geller attorneys are consistently recognized by courts, professional organizations, and the media as leading lawyers in the industry. Please visit http://www.rgrdlaw.com for more information.


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