Several large less-than-truckload carriers as well as some real estate investors were named as winning bidders of defunct Yellow’s portfolio of terminals. In total, an auction that started last Tuesday netted nearly $1.9 billion in commitments for 130 of Yellow’s owned properties, according to a Monday evening filing in a Delaware court.
XPO’s (NYSE: XPO) $870 million bid for 28 properties — two of which are leased — was the largest winning bid.
Estes, which started the process with a $1.525 billion stalking horse bid that set the price floor for the auction, will walk with 24 terminals at a total purchase price of nearly $250 million.
Saia’s (NASDAQ: SAIA) bid includes 17 properties for a purchase price of $236 million.
Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE: KNX), which amassed a $1 billion LTL network through acquisition in 2021, has a winning bid for 13 terminals at a $51 million purchase price.
Private carriers R+L Carriers and Pitt Ohio were active as well through their real estate arms.
The Moroun family, which has majority interests in Central Transport, PAM Transportation (NASDAQ: PTSI) and Universal Logistics (NASDAQ: ULH), holds a winning bid for eight properties valued at $38 million through its real estate arm, Crown Enterprises.
Not mentioned in the filing was Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ: ODFL), which briefly held a top stalking horse bid of $1.5 billion. However, the carrier may still be active in the process or it could potentially acquire terminals from the winning bidders.
| Bidder | Terminal count | Purchase price |
| XPO | 28 | $870M |
| Estes | 24 | $248.7M |
| Saia | 17 | $235.7M |
| RAMAR Land Corp. (R+L Carriers) | 8 | $211.5M |
| Terminal Properties, LLC (Pitt Ohio) | 7 | $83.8M |
| Knight-Swift Transportation | 13 | $51.3M |
| ArcBest | 3 | $30.2M |
| A. Duie Pyle | 4 | $29.4M |
| TForce | 2 | $16M |
| Southeast Consolidators | 1 | $8.5M |
| Skylark Logistics | 2 | $8M |
| Z Brothers Trucking | 1 | $4.2M |
| Unis | 2 | $2.4M |
The court filing showed there were still 46 owned terminals that remain to be sold. A separate filing showed the auction of Yellow’s 140-plus leased terminals is set to reconvene on Dec. 18
Objections to the sale order are due by the end of business Friday. The court is expected to hold a hearing to approve the sales on Dec. 12.
The court recently approved the sale of Yellow’s 12,000 tractors and 35,000 trailers through auction houses. That liquidation remains ongoing.
The unwinding of Yellow’s estate is expected to generate proceeds greater than the $1.2 billion in debt held by secured lenders and the more than $200 million in bankruptcy financing provided by hedge funds.
The estate will still need to settle claims from unsecured creditors, including pension funds, which have claimed they are due billions. However, bankruptcy experts have told FreightWaves that pension withdrawal liabilities owed are likely to be negotiated to just a small fraction of a recent $6.5 billion estimate.
More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden
- Landstar CEO Jim Gattoni to retire
- Saia holds on to Yellow’s freight
- Auction for Yellow’s terminals ‘remains ongoing’
