Exide Technologies LLC won bankruptcy court approval Thursday to sell its Americas battery business to an affiliate of Atlas Holdings for $178.6 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The buyer is Atlas Capital Resources, a fund managed by Atlas Holdings, a manager of investments in industrial manufacturing and distribution businesses. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi approved the sale yesterday at a hearing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., where Exide is proceeding through chapter 11 for the third time. Earlier bankruptcies chopped down Exide’s debt load, but the company’s revenue failed to catch up. The current bankruptcy, which began in May, offers hope in the form of a settlement with federal and state environmental authorities over contamination left behind by Exide’s operations. Over the years, the maker and recycler of lead-acid batteries for cars and industrial use has closed sites, including a major facility in Vernon, Calif., that had been contaminated with pollution. Exide’s contaminated sites are destined for abandonment, with regulators left to clean up once the company wraps up its corporate affairs. Litigation with California regulators over the Vernon plant that began during a 2013 chapter 11 case continued as late as March. Terms of the new agreement are being presented to assorted regulators for approval, after mediations between Exide and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and environmental agencies in more than a half-dozen states.
