Press-Seal seeks to buy Jasper Rubber, restart operations

Press-Seal Corp. is seeking to buy Jasper Rubber Products, Inc. for $8.03 million.

If a federal bankruptcy judge approves the sale, the transaction would transfer the property, contracts, permits, intellectual property, business technology and other assets needed to keep the rubber manufacturer operating.

The deal would restart production in Jasper, keep customer accounts in place and bring some former workers back to the plant.

First Brands Group, which owns Jasper Rubber, needs the sale to move quickly because its liquidity is limited. Jasper Acquisition Co. LLC is the acquisition entity in the proposed transaction, with Press-Seal serving as guarantor. Press-Seal’s goal is to acquire the plant, resume operations and rehire some of the workers who were displaced when Jasper Rubber was pushed toward shutdown.

A WARN notice on Feb. 27 warned employees that Jasper Rubber could permanently close by April 30 if no buyer emerged. That notice covered 345 workers. Dubois Strong estimates Jasper Rubber’s employment footprint at about 800 jobs.

Jasper Rubber’s history traces the business back to 1949 in Jasper, when it began in a converted skating rink before growing into a larger production operation. The company later expanded beyond its early plumbing products into molded, extruded, lathe-cut, injection-molded and thermoplastic elastomer products, serving customers across the continental United States as well as in Canada, Mexico and other international markets.

First Brands’ Chapter 11 cases in the Southern District of Texas were filed in September 2025 before Judge Christopher M. Lopez. In January, federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment against founder and former chief executive Patrick James and his brother Edward James, alleging a yearslong fraud scheme involving fake collateral, double- and triple-pledged assets and misleading financial statements. At bankruptcy, the Justice Department said First Brands had about $12 million in cash and more than $9 billion in liabilities.