Kodak Paper Business sold to Hong Kong based Sinopromise Holdings

According to a report published by Inside Imaging, and confirmed by anonymous industry insiders who spoke to SilvergrainClassics on the condition of remaining anonymous, Kodak Alaris has sold its photo paper division to the Hong Kong-based company Sinopromise Holdings.

Referring to our sources, this move should not be seen as a “last stand effort”, similar to the sales of former Agfa assets, for example, but as a genuine investment into silver halide paper. Sinopromise already are one of the largest distributors of Kodak Alaris products and operate a paper production plant in Wuxi, China, taken over from Kodak Alaris in 2016.

In the recent past, with the acquisition of the distribution business of Noritsu silver halide printers, Sinopromise has laid a strong foundation for becoming a leading contender in the silver halide photo paper business and its supporting industries, possibly striving to be able to compete with Fujifilm in the future.

According to industry insiders, the sale of Kodak Alaris’s paper division is by no means a bad signal for film, or for analog photography in general. Quite to the contrary, it signifies, that silver halide photographic products are seen as “worthy to invest in” again – a welcome shift of paradigms.