Yellow Corp. is reported to be in talks with multiple parties to obtain improved terms on its bankruptcy financing package, according to Reuters.
A Wednesday hearing in a Delaware court revealed the company will not move forward with a $142.5 million debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing agreement with Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO), one of the company’s current lenders. Boston hedge fund MFN Partners, which recently acquired a more than 40% ownership stake in Yellow, and former competitor Estes Express Lines are reported to be potential lenders.
Apollo’s proposed DIP financing would have placed the private equity firm ahead of other secured creditors on a larger slug of the company’s debt, including unencumbered and certain other assets. The firm already holds first-lien position on the remaining $501 million it’s owed under a term loan agreement and the $337 million outstanding on the first tranche of a COVID relief loan issued by the Treasury.
Monday filings said the Apollo offer represented the best available to the company.
“Following extensive canvassing of the market and several days of around-the-clock and arm’s-length negotiations, the Debtors and the DIP Lenders agreed to the DIP Facility, which, as presented to the Court today, represents the best possible debtor-in-possession financing facility that the Debtors could realistically obtain.”
A high fee structure, the right to reject smaller transactions and a 90-day window to complete the asset dispositions were cited as some of the reasons to go with another lender.
Yellow (NASDAQ: YELL) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday with the plan of liquidating assets to pay off lenders. The filing listed $2.15 billion in assets and $2.59 billion in debt.
Estes declined to comment on the matter.
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