Petters Acquires Polaroid Holdings

By Greg Scoblete -- TWICE, 1/24/2005

LAS VEGAS — Polaroid reached the final journey in its Chapter 11 saga during International CES with the announcement of a merger by acquisition with Polaroid- licensee Petters Group Worldwide.

The deal, worth approximately $426 million, makes Polaroid a wholly owned subsidiary of Petters and removes it from public trading as Petters is a private company.

Petters acquired the Polaroid brand in 2002 for use in consumer electronics such as DVD players and televisions and partnered with World Wide Licenses last June to distribute Polaroid-branded digital still cameras in North America.

With the acquisition, Petters has access to more Polaroid sales channels, its intellectual property and brand name, said Larry Hammer, CEO, Petters Consumer Brands.

The acquisition enables Petters to better leverage the Polaroid brand, particularly internationally, Hammer added.

Polaroid's majority shareholder, One Equity Partners, has agreed to vote all of its shares in favor of the merger, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter when more information will be made available.

According to a Polaroid spokesman, the company was optimistic about the change in ownership.

“We are excited. [Petters] knows what the brand means in the market,” the spokesman said.