(News)
– A tweet Friday hit Kodak hard on Monday. “Recent allegations of crime have raised serious concerns,” the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. said. placed. “We will not proceed unless these allegations are dispelled.” It was a reference to a planned $ 765 million government loan that Kodak could allow in the drug business; shares are currently earning 29% at $ 10.60 on the news that loan is now ending, CNN reports. The allegations mentioned in the tweet include the time of the loan announcement, which the SEC is reportedly considering, the Wall Street Journal reported last Tuesday. TV stations in Kodak’s hometown of Rochester, New York, reported the deal a day before the official announcement. The stations apparently received no embargo, a restriction that was often placed on media.
The SEC is also said to be looking at stock options granted to James Continenza, Kodak’s executive chairman. After buying about 46,700 shares a month earlier, he was given options for 1.75 million shares the day before the announcement. Within two days, the stock price had risen from $ 2 to $ 60 in heavy trading, per NBC, although it was after the close of trading on Friday to $ 14.88. The loan is to help the one-time film giant in producing drug ingredients, thereby reducing US dependence on foreign companies. Kodak offered a defense of Continenza’s options in comments to the Journal last week, saying the point was simply to protect him from dehydration and point out that he “has invested more capital in Kodak than he has earned in his tenure.” (Read more Kodak stories.)
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