YRC Worldwide, Inc., today extended for the fifth time its offer to bondholders to tender more than $530 million in debt for more than one billion newly issued equity shares and effective control of the troubled less-than-truckload carrier. The latest deadline is set to expire Dec. 30 at 11: 59 PM New York time.

The extension comes as YRC reported progress in convincing bondholders to accept the debt-for-equity swap. According to YRC, 94 percent of its outstanding debt had been tendered as of Dec. 29, up from the 81 percent that was tendered as of the prior day.

In addition, 59 percent of the notes issued by YRC's regional unit have been tendered, up from 53 percent on Dec. 28. As those bonds pay a much higher rate than YRC's other debt, holders of that debt have been reluctant to tender them.

Originally, YRC's lenders stipulated that 95 percent of the debt would need to be tendered before they would make available the $106 million in funds YRC needs to make $19 million in interest and fee payments by Dec. 31. Without access to those funds, YRC, the nation's largest less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier by sales, will likely not meet the deadline and would probably file for bankruptcy protection.

Analysts believe, however, that YRC's lenders will be willing to accept a lower tender rate than 95 percent.