Yellow Terminals Sold for $1.9 Billion in Bankruptcy Auction

Several less-than-truckload carriers bought truck terminals in a court-supervised action that liquidated 75% of Yellow’s properties, according to a filing Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. Combined, the properties sold for slightly under $1.9 billion.

The bids still must be approved by the court. However the court has scheduled Dec. 12 hearing to approve those bids, reported U.S. News & World Report.

Yellow filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August while owing $1.3 billion to secured creditors that was due to be repaid in 2024. The outstanding debt included $729.2 million to the federal government for a CARES Act loan it received during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yellow’s terminals were appraised at about $1.1 billion before the auction. About 90% of the terminals were sold to about a dozen less-than-truckload carriers, reported the Wall Street Journal.

Top Purchasers

Some of the companies that will be acquiring Yellow properties, once approved by the court, include:

• XPO — The third-largest LTL will purchase 28 properties for a total of $870 million.
• Estes Express Lines — The major LTL carrier entered the action with a bid of $1.5 billion for all of Yellow’s properties, but in the auction only secured 24 terminals for $249 million.
• Saia ­— A Georgia-based LTL, will be paying $236 million for 17 of Yellow’s properties.

According to Yellow’s 2022 annual report, the company owned 166 transportation service facilities. About 130 of those have been sold through the recent auction. The same annual report noted Yellow, at that time, also owned 12,700 tractors and about 34,000 trailers.

Yellow Bankruptcy

The 99-year-old company stopped taking new shipment orders on a Friday, and ceased operations just three days later on Sunday, July. 30.

Read more about Yellow’s financial challenges through the years:

• Stifel Analyst Offers Insight into Market Impact of Yellow’s Exit
• Report Questions Yellow CARES Act Loan
• YRC Hit by Industrial Slowdown, Makes Leadership Changes
• Earnings Watch: ArcBest Rises, YRC Plummets, USA Ekes Out Profit
• Earnings Watch: YRC Worldwide 1st Quarter Loss Doubles
• YRC Worldwide Looking to Borrow More Than $1 Billion to Stay Afloat
• YRC Looking to Wall Street for Dollars to Help Pay Debt
• YRC Considers Refinancing Debt Amid Continuing Losses
• Bloomberg: YRC Back at the Brink?
• YRCW Completes Restructuring Plan
• YRC Avoids Bankruptcy Filing