Lion Elastomers buys assets from East West Copolymer

Baton Rouge, Louisiana – Lion Copolymer Services LLC has purchased assets of East West Copolymer, LLC in Baton Rouge, Lousiana, which was announced bankrupt earlier in April.

The company, which is a part of Lion Copolymer Holdings and a sister company of Lion Elastomers, said on 2 June that the sale was approved in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Louisiana on 19 May and the transaction closed on 26 May.

According to local news reports, the transaction was worth $5.6 million (€4.9 million).

East West Copolymer, a manufacturer of styrene-butadiene rubber and nitrile-butadiene rubber, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection before the Middle District of Louisiana court 7 April 7.

The company, which began life as the Copolymer Corp. in 1943, closed its doors 31 March after operating at the same Baton Rouge plant for 74 years.

Approximately 110 employees were laid off.

Lion Elastomers is currently reviewing the condition of the assets, which were set up in 1943 and built by the US government during World War II.

The site, said a 2 June statement, will be decommissioned and will remain idled while Lion Elastomers evaluates its strategic options.