Apollo leads deal for trucking firm Yellow's bankruptcy loan

Creditors led by Apollo Global Management Inc. are nearing a deal to provide Yellow Corp. with fresh cash during a coming bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Shares of Yellow were up 78% at $3.14 in afternoon trade.

The U.S. asset manager, which owns most of one of Yellow’s term loans, is well-positioned to provide backing and is finalizing a deal to lead a debtor-in-possession financing for the cash-trapped trucking company, the report said.

Yellow declined to comment, while Apollo did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Yellow, formerly called YRC Worldwide, is the third-biggest U.S. trucking company. It transports goods from multiple shippers in single trailers and focuses on “less-than-truckload” (LTL) shipping, the transportation of goods that don’t require a full truckload.

It recently averted a threatened strike by 22,000 Teamsters-represented workers.

Last week, the Teamsters union said Yellow had ceased operations and was filing for bankruptcy after failing to reorganize and refinance over a billion dollars in debt.

The trucking firm, which bought companies such as Roadway in 2003 and USF in 2005 to strengthen its LTL offerings, posted a total debt of $1.54 billion last year, according to Refinitiv data.

The company’s struggles were compounded by a steep drop in e-commerce shipments from early pandemic highs and an industry-wide decline in freight volumes over the last year.

Yellow has $1.3 billion in debt payments due in 2024, including a $567.4 million term loan due in June and a $729.4 million U.S. Treasury loan due in September.

This story has been corrected to remove a reference to $50 million payment in paragraph 6

Reporting by Priyamvada C in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Devika Syamnath