Crucible Industries: Knife Steel Maker Sells CPM Business to Erasteel

Crucible Industries, LLC, a specialty steel manufacturer headquartered in the Syracuse area, filed chapter 11 on December 12, 2024 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of New York. The company has manufactured specialty steel at its Geddes, New York facility since 1876, and it issued a WARN notice in early December 2024 that put 158 jobs at risk. The filing followed a period of financial strain and a pre-filing marketing process in which potential buyers were unwilling to proceed without a bankruptcy sale process.

The case was structured around a two-lot section 363 sale. Court filings show that Erasteel acquired the CPM business and related intellectual property in a Lot 1 sale, while Lauter Metal Technologies acquired the real estate and other residual assets in a Lot 2 sale. The court approved both sales in March 2025, and the case converted to chapter 7 on May 30, 2025 after the sales closed and employees were laid off. For the knife and specialty steel markets, the case is notable because the Crucible Particle Metallurgy platform and steel grades like MagnaCut, S30V, and S35VN are widely used in premium knives, and the ownership of those trademarks and production rights shifted through the bankruptcy process.

Debtor(s)	Crucible Industries, LLC
Court	U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of New York
Case Number	24-31059
Judge	Hon. Wendy A. Kinsella
Petition Date	December 12, 2024
Conversion Date	May 30, 2025
Employees	About 170 full-time and 8 part-time; WARN notice for 158
Facility	575 State Fair Blvd., Geddes/Solvay, NY (65+ acres)
DIP Facility	Revolving DIP up to lesser of borrowing base or $13.0 million (KeyBank)
Secured Debt	KeyBank ~$10.28 million; ESD ~$5.486 million; CX ~$3.0 million
Lot 1 Buyer	Erasteel Inc. (CPM business and IP)
Lot 2 Buyer	Lauter Metal Technologies (real estate and residual assets)
Lot 1 Sale Order	March 6, 2025
Lot 2 Sale Order	March 12, 2025

Restructuring

Legacy and operating footprint. Crucible traces its origins to 1776 in Sheffield, England and established operations in Syracuse in 1876. By the early 20th century the company had grown through mergers into Crucible Steel Company of America, and it later became part of Colt Industries before a management buyout in 1985. Its current name, Crucible Industries, LLC, dates to 2009 after a prior chapter 11 case. The company maintained a 65-acre plant on the Solvay and Geddes town line and employed roughly 170 full-time and 8 part-time workers, with most hourly employees represented by United Steelworkers locals.

Crucible's historical record includes several technology and ownership milestones cited in industry histories. The company reported that it became the largest tool steel manufacturer in the country by 1939 with more than 400 steel grades, and it was among the first to commercially produce vacuum arc remelted steels in 1955. A Colt Industries acquisition in 1968 led to the Crucible Specialty Metals name, followed by a management buyout in 1985 that created Crucible Materials Corporation. The modern CPM steels for knives were introduced in 2004, and the company entered its first modern chapter 11 case in 2009.

CPM technology and knife industry relevance. The company is best known in consumer markets for its Crucible Particle Metallurgy (CPM) steels, a powder metallurgy process that creates a uniform carbide distribution in high performance steels. That process underpins knife steels such as S30V, S35VN, S45VN, S110V, 3V, CPM 154, CruWear, S90V, and MagnaCut. Industry coverage noted that CPM-S30V was designed specifically for knives and popularized in the mid-2000s. Knife Steel Nerds reported that Crucible owned trademarks for "CPM" and "MagnaCut" and that trademark ownership controls whether mills or distributors can use those grade names.

Company histories describe CPM technology as an atomization process that turns molten steel into powder and then compresses it under high pressure to form steel with evenly distributed carbides. That process supports steels designed for wear resistance, edge retention, and toughness in demanding applications. The CPM-S30V grade was developed with input from knifemaker Chris Reeve, and industry coverage links the rise of premium knife steels in the mid-2000s to CPM grades such as S30V and S35VN. These products made Crucible a key supplier to knife manufacturers even though the company also served automotive, aerospace, and industrial machining markets.

Facility and production assets. Court filings describe the Solvay facility as including a 40-ton electric arc furnace, a 3-ton induction furnace, and various press and hand rolling mills. The debtor served customers across automotive, power generation, aerospace, and industrial machining markets. The company also claimed a long history of supplying specialty materials for advanced applications such as the Jarvik-7 artificial heart and the Statue of Liberty renovation.

Local coverage described the mill as covering more than 65 acres and located at 575 State Fair Boulevard in Geddes, New York. Another report noted the company held more than 1,000 patents associated with production processes. Court filings list both production equipment and the CPM intellectual property platform as core assets, which later formed the basis for the two-lot sale structure.

Workforce and WARN notice. The WARN notice issued on December 5, 2024 identified a potential shutdown period from March 5 to March 19, 2025 and listed 158 affected employees. The notice was posted by the New York Department of Labor on December 9, 2024 and described the reason for closure as economic. The filing also noted that over 80% of workers were represented by the United Steelworkers and that salaried employees made up roughly 20% of the workforce.

The WARN notice identified the United Steelworkers locals representing hourly employees and listed a closure window that aligned with the expected timing of the sale process. Those dates created a deadline for the debtor to run the auction and obtain court approval for a transaction before the facility's planned shutdown period.

Distress indicators and pre-filing marketing. In early December 2024 the company told employees it was facing "serious financial difficulties" and required immediate liquidity. Local reporting described the debtor as owing tens of millions of dollars in loans and unpaid bills, including more than $11 million to KeyBank, $5 million to Empire State Development, $823,000 to Onondaga County, and $765,000 to National Grid. Another report cited overdue property taxes of roughly $700,000 and an appraisal value of about $8.5 million for the plant. Court filings show the company began a formal marketing process in April 2024 through Calibre Group LLC, but potential buyers would not commit without a bankruptcy sale process.

Local coverage also reported that the company claimed about $21.5 million in assets based on payments owed and inventory. Spectrum News reported that a potential buyer had committed to paying more than $11 million, but the company indicated it still needed a bankruptcy process to complete a sale. The same LocalSYR report noted that four companies expressed interest in acquisition but would not commit without a court-supervised sale process.

Prepetition capital structure. Court filings describe a secured debt stack anchored by a KeyBank revolving credit facility with first-priority liens, plus subordinated financing from Empire State Development and the debtor's equity owner, CX Industries. The filings noted potential perfection and subordination issues for junior creditors, which became relevant in the conversion motion when the debtor indicated a trustee might evaluate lien challenges. The reported secured obligations and other local creditor claims are summarized below.

The secured stack described in court filings totaled roughly $18.77 million across the KeyBank, ESD, and CX facilities, before consideration of local tax and utility obligations. The debtor's balance sheet was therefore heavily leveraged relative to its reported asset base and liquidity needs, and the company relied on postpetition financing to maintain operations during the sale process.

DIP financing and cash collateral. The debtor sought authority to use cash collateral and obtain postpetition financing through a combined DIP and cash collateral motion. The interim order authorized a revolving DIP facility capped at the lesser of the borrowing base or $13.0 million, with interest at the Derived SOFR rate and a 3% default rate. The DIP motion set a March 7, 2025 maturity date, with termination triggers tied to events of default, conversion, or a section 363 sale. The interim order also authorized a roll-up of prepetition obligations and provided a carve-out for U.S. Trustee fees, limited trustee expenses, and capped professional fees.

Local coverage identified the chief restructuring officer, David Van Rossum, as stating the company needed immediate access to liquidity under a DIP facility to maintain operations, sustain vendor and customer relationships, and make payroll. That framing aligns with the debtor's position in court filings that liquidity was required to preserve operations during the sale process.

The DIP motion also set a final order deadline of January 16, 2025 absent lender consent, making that date a key milestone early in the case. The roll-up provision allowed postpetition cash collateral to be applied to prepetition obligations and DIP obligations at the lender's discretion, which effectively elevated KeyBank's priority position as the case progressed. The carve-out preserved a limited pool for estate professionals and statutory fees, including a capped allowance for KEIP payments and fee limits that differed before and after a trigger notice.

Supplemental bridge financing. As the Lot 1 sale closing approached, the debtor sought emergency approval for supplemental postpetition financing to bridge near-term liquidity needs. The motion described incremental advances of up to $500,000 with potential additional advances of $200,000, for a total of up to $700,000, with repayment tied to sale proceeds or a short-term maturity in March 2025. The request was framed as a short-term liquidity bridge to avoid operational disruptions before sale proceeds were available.

Two-lot section 363 sale structure. The sale motion proposed splitting assets into two lots. Lot 1 included the CPM line of business, intellectual property, accounts receivable, and inventory. Lot 2 consisted of residual assets excluded from the stalking horse APA, including cash, corporate records, insurance claims, benefit plans, tax assets, and most machinery and equipment not used in CPM production, as well as the real estate. This structure allowed the debtor to market the CPM business separately from the real estate and legacy equipment.

Bidding procedures and milestones. The court entered a bidding procedures order on December 20, 2024 setting a bid deadline of January 30, 2025, an auction date of February 4, 2025 if multiple qualified bids emerged, and a sale hearing on February 6, 2025. The order also addressed executory contract cure and adequate assurance procedures, with objections due the morning of the sale hearing. Knife Steel Nerds and local coverage noted the February 4 auction date and indicated that multiple parties had expressed interest but needed a bankruptcy process to commit.

Court filings set a break-up expense fee of $520,460 payable only if the Lot 1 assets were sold to someone other than the stalking horse purchaser. The sale motion also outlined overbid requirements and bidding increments that were intended to create a competitive process while protecting the initial bidder's expenses. The bidding procedures order required cure notices and established objection deadlines, which allowed contract counterparties to raise adequate assurance issues before any assignment.

Lot 1 sale to Erasteel. The sale motion identified Erasteel Inc. as the stalking horse purchaser for Lot 1, and Knife Steel Nerds reported an initial bid of about $17.3 million. Court filings described an itemized consideration framework including $2.0 million for intellectual property, $1.0 million for equipment, and $14.348 million for threshold accounts receivable and inventory, subject to adjustments and assumed liabilities. The sale order entered on March 6, 2025 approved the transfer to Erasteel and included section 363(m) good faith findings, with liens attaching to net sale proceeds. Local coverage later reported that the finalized transaction value, after adjustments, was expected to be $11 to $12 million.

Erasteel profile and IP control. Erasteel is a French specialty steel company owned by Brussels-based Syntagma Capital. In its February 2025 press release announcing the acquisition, Erasteel described Crucible as an American steelmaker specializing in powder metallurgy and stainless steels and said the deal would strengthen its position in powder-metallurgy high speed steels. Blade Magazine reported that Erasteel acquired equipment, working capital, and the trademark rights to CPM steel names, which preserved the ability to sell those grades under their established brand names in the knife market.

Knife Steel Nerds reported that Crucible owned the trademarks for CPM and MagnaCut and that using those brand names requires trademark permission. The report also noted contingency plans in which Niagara Specialty Metals had lined up supply from Erasteel, Carpenter Technologies, Ellwood Quality Steels, and Universal Stainless, indicating that the CPM trademark portfolio and manufacturing know-how were critical to continuity of supply. Those arrangements placed the Crucible trademarks and CPM intellectual property at the center of the sale's value to knife manufacturers and distributors.

Lot 2 sale to Lauter Metal Technologies. The Lot 2 sale order approved a transaction with Lauter Metal Technologies and referenced related agreements for transition services and a real estate purchase and sale agreement for the Solvay property. The order included a back-up bidder mechanism if the sale failed to close. Local coverage later reported that Lauter acquired the real estate and was actively hiring at the former Crucible site, indicating a potential reuse of the industrial footprint even though Crucible's operations ceased.

CNY Central reported that Lauter is a Penn Yan-based steel manufacturer whose parent company produces screws, fasteners, and other steel products. The report described the acquisition as breathing new life into the site and noted that Lauter was recruiting workers for the Geddes facility. The transaction separated the real estate and residual equipment from the CPM business, allowing Lauter to repurpose the site while CPM production assets and trademarks moved to Erasteel.

Conversion to chapter 7. After the Lot 1 and Lot 2 sales closed and employees were laid off, the debtor moved to convert the case to chapter 7. Court filings stated that conversion would allow a chapter 7 trustee to administer remaining estate tasks and evaluate potential lien challenges, including issues involving KeyBank, Empire State Development, and CX Industries. The conversion order entered on May 30, 2025 dissolved the unsecured creditors' committee, directed the U.S. Trustee to appoint a chapter 7 trustee, and set deadlines for final fee applications and the debtor's final report.

The conversion motion also referenced a request by the unsecured creditors' committee for derivative standing to pursue lien challenges, suggesting that the estate expected further litigation or claims reconciliation after the sales. By converting to chapter 7, the case moved into a trustee-administered process focused on liquidating any remaining assets, investigating liens, and distributing proceeds under the statutory priority scheme rather than under a confirmed chapter 11 plan.

Supply chain implications for CPM steels. Post-sale, Erasteel acquired the rights to CPM trademarks and intellectual property, while Niagara Specialty Metals (NSM) entered an exclusive distribution agreement with Erasteel for the CPM line. Blade Magazine reported that NSM can supply CPM steels under original names such as S30V, S35VN, S45VN, S110V, 3V, and CPM 154, while some grades were renamed to reflect existing distributor agreements (for example, CPM CruWear became "NSMwear" and CPM S90V became "NSM 90PM"). The same report noted tariff impacts for European-sourced steels, with powder atomized in Sweden subject to at least a 10% tariff and European-sourced steels facing 25% tariffs, which add costs for U.S. buyers.

The CPM trademark portfolio determines which mills and distributors can use established grade names, which is significant for knife makers that market products based on specific steel grades. Under the NSM distribution agreement, most grades retained their traditional naming, while a few grades were rebranded to avoid conflicts with existing distributor rights. The table below summarizes the naming changes described in industry coverage.

Historical comparison to the 2009 bankruptcy. Crucible previously filed chapter 11 in 2009 and was acquired by JP Industries for $8 million, an outcome that included closing a Pittsburgh R&D center and selling service centers to SB Specialty Metals. The 2024 case followed a similar trajectory toward a sale process, but with a different outcome: a two-lot transaction split the CPM business and the real estate, and the case converted to chapter 7 after sales closed. The table below summarizes key differences highlighted in industry reporting.

Key milestones. The timeline below reflects major events from pre-filing distress signals through the sales and conversion.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Crucible Industries manufacture?

Crucible manufactured specialty steels including CPM powder metallurgy products, stainless steels, alloy steels, automotive valve steels, and tool steels. The company was widely known in consumer markets for its CPM knife steels such as S30V, S35VN, S45VN, and MagnaCut, which are common in premium knife models.

Why did Crucible file for chapter 11?

The company faced liquidity pressure and a debt stack led by KeyBank, with additional obligations to Empire State Development and its equity owner. Court filings show that the debtor marketed the business in 2024 but potential buyers would not commit without a bankruptcy sale process, leading to a chapter 11 filing to run a supervised auction and preserve operations while a buyer was found.

How did the two-lot sale work?

The debtor split assets into two lots. Lot 1 consisted of the CPM business, intellectual property, accounts receivable, and inventory. Lot 2 included residual assets and real estate not included in the Lot 1 stalking horse deal. The court approved the Lot 1 sale to Erasteel on March 6, 2025 and the Lot 2 sale to Lauter Metal Technologies on March 12, 2025.

What was the DIP facility and who provided it?

The court authorized a revolving DIP facility capped at the lesser of the borrowing base or $13.0 million, with KeyBank National Association serving as the lender. The facility carried interest at the Derived SOFR rate with a 3% default rate and a March 7, 2025 maturity date, with additional termination events tied to the sale process and case milestones.

What happened to employees?

The company employed about 170 full-time and 8 part-time workers at filing, with most hourly employees represented by the United Steelworkers. A WARN notice issued in early December 2024 indicated that 158 employees could be affected by a closure window in March 2025. Court filings indicate employees were laid off after the sales closed and the case moved to chapter 7.

Will CPM steels still be available under the same names?

Blade Magazine reported that Erasteel acquired the trademark rights to CPM steel names and that Niagara Specialty Metals entered an exclusive distribution agreement with Erasteel. Under that arrangement, most CPM steels can be supplied under their original names, while a small number of grades were renamed due to existing distributor agreements.

What is the status of the case today?

The chapter 11 case converted to chapter 7 on May 30, 2025 after the asset sales closed. A chapter 7 trustee was appointed to administer remaining estate matters and evaluate potential lien issues referenced in the conversion motion.

Who is the claims agent for Crucible Industries, LLC?

Stretto, Inc. serves as the claims and noticing agent. The firm maintains the official claims register and distributes case notifications to creditors and parties in interest.

For more bankruptcy case analyses and restructuring insights, visit ElevenFlo's bankruptcy blog.