London, UK, 9 May 2017 – London-based law firm Bristows LLP announced its involvement in the sale of the Kodak Industrial Complex in Harrow. The firm’s Real Estate team acted for Kodak Alaris Limited in relation to the sale of the final 30 acre phase of the Kodak Industrial Complex in Harrow which completed on the 28th April 2017. The buyer, a joint venture between two of the UK’s largest housing groups, Barratt London and Hyde, intends to redevelop the manufacturing site and create 1,150 new homes as part of the £1.175 bn ‘Heart of Harrow’ regeneration strategy.

Alexandra Lethbridge, head of the Bristows Real Estate practice said: “On 28 April we completed the sale of a major piece of manufacturing history”. The Kodak factory in Harrow opened in 1891 and at its height 6,000 people were employed on the 55 acre site in connection with the manufacture and processing of photographic film. It was the first manufacturing facility for Kodak outside the US and at one time the largest manufacturing facility in the British Empire. Bristows has acted for Kodak for much of the time since the facility was established and the sale marks the completion of a 10 year project to deliver a phased disposal and redevelopment of the site.

Since 2007 the terms of the partnering agreement have been significantly restructured a few times to reflect the changing economic environment and the strategy of the parties. In 2013 parts of Kodak’s worldwide business, including the Harrow site, were transferred to a new company, Kodak Alaris, owned by Kodak’s UK Pension Fund, as part of the emergence of Eastman Kodak from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US. Manufacturing finally ceased on the site in November 2016 and since then Kodak Alaris has been engaged in disposal of its remaining interest in the project. The successful bidder was a joint venture between Barratt London and the Hyde Group, who intend to carry out a large scale mixed-use residential-led development. The project will deliver 1,150 new homes, 350,000 sq ft employment space, senior living facilities, community centre and leisure uses as part of the £1.175 bn ‘Heart of Harrow’ regeneration strategy.

The long term industrial and manufacturing history of the site, which includes a dedicated onsite power station, made the effective management of environmental risk a key concern for all parties but tax, corporate and employment issues made this a multi-disciplinary project involving the whole of the Bristows’ transactional group.
John O’Reilly Group General Counsel and Company Secretary of Kodak Alaris commented:
“The closure of the Kodak facility in Harrow, the end of 126 years of production at the site and the subsequent disposal of the land to Harrow View LLP represents the final chapter of Kodak’s association with Harrow. Throughout all those years, the site had an excellent reputation, meeting or exceeding its commitments year over year with talented, engaged and dedicated people being key to all that was achieved. The partnership with the Bristows team lead by Alex Lethbridge strongly supported by Tim Allen and others both in this final transaction and other prior transactions equally delivered a truly outstanding outcome consistent with the history of the site and we look forward to working with them again in the future.”
—
For further information, please contact:
Valentina Ciolino, PR Manager, Bristows LLP
E: valentina.ciolino@bristows.com
T: +44 (0)20 7400 8262