A U.S. Bankruptcy judge has granted the Eastman Kodak Company’s request to end its deal for naming rights to the Los Angeles theater that hosts the Academy Awards.
Judge Allan Gropper approved the move Wednesday, freeing the embattled company to save money during ongoing bankruptcy restructuring.
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“They have due regard for the interest of their creditor body,” Gropper said during the hearing, Bloomberg reports, “and they just don’t want to pay this money for the next nine years.”
The hearing also gave Kodak approval to borrow $950 million in financing, having previously given the green light to just $650 million.
Under the terms of the Kodak Theatre agreement, court documents cite that the company had to pay $72 million in annual installments over 20 years. A lawyer for the company says they pay $3.6 million a year and have $38 million in payments left on the contract.
News of the theater losing its title sponsor comes less than two weeks shy of the 2012 Oscars.
