Judge OKs sale of Yellow terminals to Estes, R+L Carriers

Bankrupt estate still has approximately 100 service centers to liquidate

Roughly 100 of Yellow's terminals will head to auction on Jan. 13. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Two separate purchase agreements representing $192.5 million of Yellow Corp.’s real estate were blessed by a federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware on Wednesday.

Richmond, Virginia-based less-than-truckload carrier Estes is buying 11 terminals, four of which are leased, from defunct Yellow (OTC: YELLQ) for $142.5 million. The larger properties in the sale include a 216-door terminal in Cincinnati, 198 doors near Chattanooga, Tennessee, and 167 doors in Tracy, California.

Wilmington, Ohio-based R+L Carriers is buying one location – a 304-door terminal in Maybrook, New York – for $50 million.

The Maybrook location went for more than $164,000 per door while the other owned properties were likely acquired for a little less than $150,000 per door.

A proposed order containing the purchase agreements was submitted to the court last week. The sales are expected to close in January.

Since Yellow’s liquidation began, Estes has acquired approximately 50 owned and leased locations for more than $426 million. R+L Carriers has acquired 12 properties for $270.5 million.

Yellow counsel Allyson Smith of Kirkland & Ellis said Wednesday there are still “a couple dozen” leased and owned properties to sell. However, past court filings indicate that number is likely closer to 100 service centers when excluding the 12 that now have court-approved purchase agreements.

The remaining portfolio includes several large locations – 426 doors in Chicago, 325 doors in Bloomington, California, 198 doors in Memphis, Tennessee, 193 doors in Kansas City, Missouri (near Yellow’s longtime headquarters), 178 doors in Portland, Oregon, 165 doors in Fontana, California, and 140 doors in Phoenix.

The bid deadline for the remaining properties is Jan. 6, with an auction scheduled for Jan. 13 to Jan. 15.

Smith said Yellow is continuing to negotiate with interested parties and that there could be more one-off sales similar to the purchase agreements approved by the court on Wednesday.

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Todd Maiden

Based in Richmond, VA, Todd is the finance editor at FreightWaves. Prior to joining FreightWaves, he covered the TLs, LTLs, railroads and brokers for RBC Capital Markets and BB&T Capital Markets. Todd began his career in banking and finance before moving over to transportation equity research where he provided stock recommendations for publicly traded transportation companies.