Estes Express Lines was named the official lead bidder for the real estate portfolio of bankrupt trucking company Yellow Corp., setting the stage for an auction in November.

Estes’ $1.525 billion offer for 172 trucking terminals and office buildings in the U.S. and Canada was approved Thursday as the stalking-horse bid by Judge Craig Goldblatt of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Other interested buyers can still submit offers, but they must be higher than Estes’ bid.

Yellow filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 6 after 94 years in business, weighed down by an elevated debt load that was accumulated through multiple acquisitions of rival trucking companies. Yellow plans to sell its real estate, trucks, trailers and other equipment to pay off creditors through its bankruptcy case. The trucks and trailers will be sold through a separate bidding process.

Estes, based in Richmond, Virginia, outbid Old Dominion Freight Line for the right to be named stalking-horse bidder. Both Estes and Thomasville, North Carolina-based Old Dominion operate in the less-than-truckload sector where trucking companies carry freight from more than one customer on the same trailer.

Yellow was also a less-than-truckload carrier, and its commercial properties were designed to handle the quick freight turnarounds required for that type of trucking business, making them attractive to Estes and Old Dominion.

Yellow’s properties are also appealing because many are located in important markets, such as Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Phoenix and San Antonio, and are already zoned for heavy industrial use.

Yellow didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from CoStar News. An attorney for Estes declined to comment. Attorneys for Old Dominion also declined to comment.

Estes’ bid includes a $7.5 million breakup fee that Yellow will pay the Virginia company if it’s not selected as the winning bidder and an agreement for Yellow to reimburse up to $1.6 million of Estes’ legal expenses. Estes also agreed to provide Yellow with 30 days of free storage and parking for its trucks and trailers.

Judge Goldblatt set Nov. 9 as the deadline for interested real estate buyers to submit auction bids and scheduled a hearing on the bids for Dec. 8.

Kirkland & Ellis and Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones are U.S. legal counsel to Yellow. Goodmans LLP is Yellow’s Canadian counsel. Ducera Partners is Yellow’s investment banker. Whiteford, Taylor & Preston is legal counsel to Estes.