Fort Wayne company seeks to buy, reopen Jasper Rubber plant
Fort Wayne’s Jasper Acquisition Co. wants to buy Jasper Rubber for $8.03 million, a move that could save 345 jobs after a permanent shutdown notice.
A Fort Wayne company is seeking court approval to buy Jasper Rubber Products for $8.03 million in cash plus certain liabilities, a move that could keep 345 jobs tied to the Jasper plant and reopen a facility that had been headed for permanent shutdown.
Jasper Acquisition Co., LLC wants to acquire the business from First Brands Group, LLC through an asset sale, not a transfer of the old corporate entity. That matters because the buyer would be taking on the plant’s operating business and related assets while the former owner remains in bankruptcy. The U.S. Department of Justice said First Brands filed for bankruptcy on September 28, 2025, at a moment when the company had about $5 billion in worldwide annual sales, just $12 million in cash and more than $9 billion in liabilities. In October 2025, Reuters reported that a First Brands creditor told a court as much as $2.3 billion had simply vanished from the auto parts supplier.
The Indiana WARN notice for Jasper Rubber said 345 total employees would be affected by the closure, which was expected to begin April 30, 2026 and be permanent. The sale now offers a possible path in the opposite direction, from shutdown to restart, but only if the court approves the transaction and the buyer can complete the deal.
Jasper Rubber has long been tied to the city it now occupies at 1010 First Ave. The company’s own history page says it is a hometown Jasper business that was founded here and grew up alongside its local workforce. Another company-history listing says Jasper Rubber Products was organized in Indiana on December 27, 1949. The plant manufactures rubber, plastic and thermoplastic elastomer components, making it one of the older industrial names in Jasper’s manufacturing base.
If the purchase is approved, the effect would reach beyond one factory floor. A restart would help preserve payrolls, keep spending tied to local households and vendors, and protect a manufacturing presence that has been part of Dubois County’s economy for decades.
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