Polaroid Sold at Court Auction to Patriarch Partners

Polaroid Corp., the bankrupt pioneer of instant photography, was sold in an auction to Patriarch Partners LLC, a New York-based private-equity firm that beat out a $42 million offer by a European investment company.

Polaroid said yesterday in a statement that Patriarch’s undisclosed offer for its assets, including “substantially all” of its intellectual-property rights, must be approved by a judge at a hearing scheduled for April 6 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Paul, Minnesota.

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Polaroid sought bankruptcy protection in December amid an alleged $3 billion Ponzi scheme by its owner, Petters Group Worldwide LLC. The investment firm’s founder, Thomas Petters, was charged with mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. His trial is scheduled to begin June 9.