A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Delaware has given vehicle hauler Allied Systems Holdings the go-ahead to sell most of its assets to a rival auto transporter for $135 million.

The move allowing the sale of the bankrupt Allied last week to Jack Cooper Transport follows it earlier selecting a bid from the investment firms Black Diamond and Spectrum, drawing vigorous challenges by multiple constituents, including the Teamsters Union, all major parties that supported the sale to Jack Cooper.

The sale now faces approval by federal regulators, If received, in the next four to six weeks as expected, it will result in an operation doing about $1 billion a year in business with around 4,000 trucks and as many as 75 terminals.

Last year Allied announced it would be closing terminals and locations, as well as looking for cuts in overhead and the elimination of debt, as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. It emerged from a previous Chapter 11 filing in 2007, but was hit by the downturn in the U.S. auto market in 2008, according to Automotive Logistics.

Allied struggled again in 2011, due to it reportedly not able to get higher vehicle hauling rates from some automakers and possible strike action by employees as it tried to make cuts. Jack Cooper then picked up some of the business Allied lost, estimated to total more than 500,000 vehicles. Allied was also hit with a new dispute from lenders in 2011, that it was involved in two years earlier, also helping to force another bankruptcy filing last year.

The expected sale follows anothr major auto-hauler, Performance Transportation Services, closing up a few years ago due to a labor dispute.

 

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