National to sell off image sensor business

National Semiconductor has signed a definitive agreement to sell its imaging business to Eastman Kodak Company.

National Semiconductor has signed a definitive agreement to sell its imaging business to Eastman Kodak Company.

As part of this agreement, Kodak will acquire certain assets, including intellectual property and equipment, and plans to hire approximately 50 employees, currently supporting National's imaging business.

Most of the employees are based in Santa Clara, California.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The sale, which requires approval from regulatory agencies and the satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the next few weeks.

"This transaction benefits both companies".

"For National, this sale enables us to further sharpen our focus on core analogue capabilities that provide the strongest returns for shareholders".

"And Kodak, one of the world's leaders in imaging technology, is ideally positioned to leverage National's CMOS image sensor (CIS) technologies into its image sensor business", said Brian L Halla, Chairman, President and CEO of National Semiconductor.

"Kodak has a long history of image sensor innovation in both CCD and CIS technologies", said Chris McNiffe, General Manager of Kodak's Image Sensor Solutions organisation and Vice President of its Display and Components Division.

"The addition of the imaging business from National will further strengthen our CIS design and development expertise as we target high volume applications such as consumer digital still cameras and camera phones".

National maintains an investor and business relationship with Foveon, a privately held company which patented the Foveon X3 direct image sensor.

The transaction with Kodak does not include any of National's ownership interest in Foveon or any related intellectual property.

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