Court Approves Sale of 23 Yellow Leased Terminals
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The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware approved the sale of 23 terminal leases owned by Yellow Corp. to six bidders for an aggregate price of $82.89 million, documents show.
Now these terminals have new tenants, the decision by Yellow’s administrators to sell off individual properties rather than dispose of the terminals in one deal is being validated, raising nearly $2 billion so far.
The sale of 128 of bankrupt less-than-truckload carrier Yellow’s 169 owned terminals to 21 different buyers, which was approved Dec. 12, raised $1.88 billion.
A $1.525 billion stalking horse bid for all the company’s terminals was submitted in September by Estes Express Lines, a more than 28% discount to the funds raised so far. (A stalking horse wbidder is the initial bidder with whom the debtor negotiates a purchase agreement.)
Estes won five leased terminals for a combined $35.35 million after a Dec. 18-19 auction. (Estes Express Lines via Facebook)
Estes was the biggest spender in the round of bidding for terminals approved by the court Jan. 12. Estes won five leased terminals for a combined $35.35 million after a Dec. 18-19 auction.
The terminals are located in Sun Valley, Calif., Tacoma, Wash., Sparks, Nev., St. Cloud, Minn., and Wichita, Kan.
Estes ranks No. 14 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America and No. 5 on the LTL list.
Richmond, Va.-based Estes landed the second-largest number of terminals in the first auction, securing 24 owned terminals for a combined $248.72 million.
FedEx Freight paid $22.47 million for a terminal in Sparks, Nev., the most for one Yellow's terminals on the sales block. (FedEx Freight)
In the latest auction, TT’s top-ranked LTL carrier, FedEx Freight, paid the most for any one of the terminals on the sales block. FedEx is to buy a leased terminal in Sparks, Nev., for $22.47 million.
Saia Motor Freight Line won the most properties on offer, agreeing to pay a combined $7.92 million for 11 properties across seven Western states. Saia Inc. ranks No. 21 on the for-hire TT100 and No. 9 on the LTL list.
Ramar Land Corp. won three terminals for a combined $8.99 million. The property company is an affiliate of R+L Carriers, which ranks No. 18 on the for-hire TT100 and No. 8 on the LTL list.
R+L Carriers subsidiary Ramar Land Corp. garnered three terminals for a combined $8.99 million (TT File Photo)
With no objections to the latest sale, a hearing scheduled for Jan. 12 to approve the transactions was canceled, the documents show.
A total of 118 leased properties and 46 owned properties remain to be sold. Some 21 of the leased properties are in California, the largest share by state. Of the remaining owned properties, Alabama, Louisiana and Ohio each has three terminals still on the sales block.
The largest leased facilities remaining on offer are a 325-door terminal in Bloomington, Calif., a 274-door facility in Charlotte, N.C., and a 227-door terminal in Atlanta.
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At the time Yellow sought court protection from its creditors in August, the company ranked No. 13 on the for-hire TT100 and No. 3 on the LTL list.
The next omnibus hearing in the bankruptcy proceedings is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET on Jan. 22.
Meantime, the sale of Yellow’s rolling stock and the remaining terminals is ongoing, raising expectations of a return to the company’s creditors of closer to $3 billion than $2 billion.
Yellow owned about 12,700 tractors and 42,000 trailers at the end of the second quarter of 2023, according to company documents.
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