8:21 am, June 22, 2024
Cazoo Group has issued an invitation to shareholders for its extraordinary general meeting on July 2, 2024, to approve the voluntary winding up and liquidation of the company.
It issued a notice to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on June 21, which revealed that the board had voted unanimously to wind up the Cayman Island-based parent-company and appoint voluntary liquidators.
It is proposed that Neema Griffin and David Soden are appointed as joint voluntary liquidators and shareholders will also vote at the meeting for the renumeration of them.
In May, it announced that Cazoo Ltd, Cazoo Holdings Ltd, and Cazoo Properties Ltd would be wound up and administrators were appointed. Soon after it was delisted from the NYSE.
In the letter to shareholders, CFO Gareth Purnell writes: ‘The board of directors of Cazoo Group Ltd has unanimously determined that the winding up, the appointment of the voluntary liquidators, and the remuneration of the voluntary liquidators is advisable and in the best interests of the company and its stakeholders and directed that the winding up proposal be submitted to the company’s shareholders for approval.
‘The board unanimously recommends that you vote “FOR” the proposal to approve the winding up, the appointment of the voluntary liquidators and the remuneration of the voluntary liquidators.’
In the risk factors detailed in the notice, Cazoo Group explains that it is likely shareholders will receive no distributions and that the share price of the company will ‘bear little or no relationship to the actual value realised’.
It writes: ‘If the winding up proposal is approved and the company is wound up, we expect that our equityholders will not receive any distributions for the company’s shares or warrants.
‘Under Cayman Islands law, before a company may make any distribution to its equityholders, it must pay or make reasonable provision to pay all of its claims and obligations, including all contingent, conditional or unmatured contractual claims known to the company.
‘For example, we will need to pay the holders of our Senior Secured Notes in full prior to us making any payments to lower-ranking classes of creditors, like our shareholders and warrant holders.’
Last month, Motors was linked to a possible sale, and Sky News cited an industry source as saying that BMW and CarGurus were also possibly circling.
Cinch owner Constellation Automotive Group reportedly agreed to take over a handful of remaining Cazoo sites, in a deal that would save a number of jobs.
