Eastman Software announces new president amid sale rumors

Just as the Wall Street Journal went to press with a report that Eastman Kodak (www.kodak.com) has put Eastman Software (www.eastmansoftware.com) up for sale, the Billerica, MA-based software division announced Gerry Sutton as its new president.

The WSJ reported that Kodak is looking to unload the unit only two years after purchasing it for $260 million from Wang Laboratories (www.wang.com).According to Michael Loria, Eastman's VP of marketing, the report stemmed from a Kodak investor meeting where investors talked of reviewing areas of Kodak's business that were not performing up to expectation, Eastman Software included. The investor meeting included talk of reviewing those units--which also include the copier and writeable compact disc units. Among the options was selling for the right price, he said.However, Loria pointed out that "any business, plus a premium, is up for sale."

Loria said Kodak is not actively seeking buyers, but as with any company, would sell Eastman Software if a profitable offer came along, but "that's business."

It is a view shared by market analyst Bruce Silver, who declared the report as non-news."What would be news is if they found a buyer," said the president of Bruce Silver Associates (www.brsilver.com).

Eastman Software's Loria instead focused on the news of Sutton's appointment as president. Sutton, most recently general manager for Kodak's Business Imaging Systems worldwide service bureau operations and sales, replaces Robert Weiler, who had been president of Eastman Software since the unit's inception in 1997.

The move has been long-planned as Weiler committed to doing a "two-year tour of duty" after the Wang sale, Loria said.

Sutton brings a blend of experience including hardware and software, analog and digital imaging, and sales and product development.

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