Crucible Industries declares Chapter 11 bankruptcy

[sal]

Thanx Shawn.

sal

[Fireman]

February 25th 2025 is the day we are waiting to find out the outcome.

I am hoping a few knife manufacturers will chip in and buy the company

[TimButterfield]

Perhaps a cooperative bid could be made where a knife manufacturing conglomerate (KMC) could arrange to buy the IP for some of the steels while a partner entity could buy the IP for more structural type steels and other components. The KMC could then tool up for smaller productions separate from the more mass productions.

[2HB]

Looks like there are other bidders for the assets. From a filing by the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Crucible's case today: "The Debtor has received several qualified bids for the sale of its assets, in whole or in lots, and the auction scheduled by the Court to take place on February 21, 2025, will be conducted." Stay tuned.

[Red Leader]

Okay, so the auction was yesterday, yes? I looked but didn't see any news yet on the outcome. Has anyone heard anything?

[RustyIron]

Okay, so the auction was yesterday, yes? I looked but didn't see any news yet on the outcome. Has anyone heard anything?

It wasn't me.
I missed the deadline to register as a certified bidder.
Sorry.

[vanka]

Look few posts up. The hearing about sale approval is scheduled for Tuesday, February 25. We'll find out in just about few days.

[Red Leader]

Look few posts up. The hearing about sale approval is scheduled for Tuesday, February 25. We'll find out in just about few days.

Whoops, I didn't scroll down far enough, thanks!

[Deadboxhero]

Erasteel won the bid for the intellectual property and inventory.



A new company, Lauter Metal Technologies LLC won the bid for the Geddes, NY steel mill facility and plans to continue operations.



https://cases.stretto.com/crucible/




















https://www-syracuse-com.cdn.ampproject ... eddes.html

[SpeedHoles]

Good to hear some jobs may be preserved.

I don't know anything about Lauter Metal Technologies, so did a quick search.... They appear to only be 12 days old.


Also, I thought at one point it was mentioned that Erasteel was Swedish, but with locations in France, etc, but that article mentions them specifically as a French company...

[cjk]

Erasteel won the bid for the intellectual property and inventory.

Did Lot 1 still include the particle metallurgy equipment?

[Deadboxhero]

Good to hear some jobs may be preserved.

I don't know anything about Lauter Metal Technologies, so did a quick search.... They appear to only be 12 days old.


Also, I thought at one point it was mentioned that Erasteel was Swedish, but with locations in France, etc, but that article mentions them specifically as a French company...

Nobody knows anything about Lauter Metal Technologies LLC.


Erasteel is an international company, it's origins are from Sweden the PM facilities are in Sweden.

[Deadboxhero]

Erasteel won the bid for the intellectual property and inventory.

Did Lot 1 still include the particle metallurgy equipment?

Unknown.

However Erasteel has plenty of very modern PM equipment so it's not the prize you would think.

[Red Leader]

Hmm, I wonder if this Lauter group was something that was quickly formed for this specific reason. Could be a really intresting play. Thank you for the update.

[cabfrank]

That must be the case.

[Bolster]

Question: "...continue the mill's operations...," but without the IP, ie, the PM steel formulas?

(PS: Thanks, Shawn, for the updates!)

[Cletus]

Will this mean the end of CPM steels?

[vanka]

Question: "...continue the mill's operations...," but without the IP, ie, the PM steel formulas?

(PS: Thanks, Shawn, for the updates!)

Formulas are well known. I mean most of it. As previously mentioned, only s110v is patent protected, but a lot is trademarked. As far as I understand, no one can use CPM, REX, Cruwear and many more. The technology is well known. As I already mentioned, the tricky part is not if the steel makers can produce X type of steel, the secret is to convince them to do a run of that particular steel you want. Until now, Crucible was the only one willing to play with all the exotic formulas exclusively for the knife making industry.

[Deadboxhero]

Will this mean the end of CPM steels?

No, You can reread the earlier parts of the thread that talk about NSM and the role they play.

[RustyIron]

However Erasteel has plenty of very modern PM equipment so it's not the prize you would think.

Moving a bunch of old machinery half way around the world doesn't seem sensible. Maybe it's not even possible. Time and time again, factories like this just get bulldozed.

However... One has to wonder what's up with Lauter. Who are the principals? I suspect they're recognizable names within the industry, and they have a very precise game plan. They didn't randomly just form a corporation. Nor did they just randomly bid over a million bucks for a bunch of forklifts and old office furniture. There's no doubt in my mind that there have been serious negations to acquire the land and all the equipment. That's the only scenario that makes sense.