Searles Valley Minerals, together with its affiliates Trona Railway Company and Searles Domestic Water Company, has filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The company intends to use the Chapter 11 process to conduct a competitive, court-supervised sale of substantially all its assets under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code.
The filing is intended to facilitate the sale of the company’s assets and position the business for a new owner. These assets include Westend, a boron supplier; the Trona Railway; Searles Domestic Water Company; and the critical mineral reserves at Searles Lake.
“For more than 150 years, Searles Valley Minerals has produced critical minerals from one of the world’s few water-soluble borate deposits,” Dennis Cruise, president of Searles Valley Minerals, said. “As the soda ash market changed, we repositioned the business around borates — a mineral with no synthetic substitute and growing strategic importance. A court-supervised sale is the most orderly and transparent way to place this rare resource base, and the people who run it, with an owner who can invest in its next chapter.”
To fund operations during the case, a long-standing strategic supplier, Tata Chemicals North America, agreed to provide an unsecured, interest-free liquidity advance of up to $20 million while continuing to supply soda ash to the company’s customers. In addition, the company’s parent, Karnavati, is providing a $20 million junior debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing facility. Subject to court approval, these arrangements are expected to provide sufficient liquidity to operate the business in the ordinary course and fund the sale process through closing.
The company has filed customary first-day motions seeking authority to operate normally throughout the Chapter 11 process, including continuing paying wages and benefits to active employees in the ordinary course. Westend will continue to produce boron, sodium sulfate, salt and other products for customers. Trona Railway will continue to operate. Searles Domestic Water Company will continue to provide potable water service to its customers in Trona without interruption.
The Section 363 sale process will be conducted by Lazard, the company’s investment banker. Building on a marketing process begun in 2025, in which more than 140 parties were contacted and 50 entered into confidentiality agreements, the company remains in active discussions with a number of interested parties. The company intends to conduct a competitive, open auction under bid procedures to be approved by the court. These bid procedures will permit the company to designate a stalking horse bidder to establish a floor for the auction. The company believes that an open auction, following the extensive prepetition marketing efforts already undertaken, is the path most likely to deliver the highest and best outcome for the estate and its stakeholders.
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is acting as general bankruptcy counsel, Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones is acting as bankruptcy co-counsel, Ankura Consulting Group is acting as financial advisor, and Lazard Frères and Lazard Limited are serving as investment banker for the 363 process.
