October 2024 – Manager Commentary
“The change of service provider from Mokoro to Mobalyz (entailing the physical movement of vehicles and the handover of the collections book) has been completed. The task befalling Mobalyz is principally to improve the collections rate. Various initiatives are in place.”
September 2024 – Manager Commentary
“We and other investors have changed service providers from BTF to Mobalyz. This entailed moving ISAs and physical, repossessed taxis, a process that took a few weeks. Mobalyz also collects monthly payments on behalf of SA Taxi and those collection rates are considerably higher than what BTF had been achieving. Some interest was received in September, so the fund returned 0.5%.”
August 2024 – Manager Commentary
“We remain intensively engaged on the Bridge Taxi Finance issue. The replacement of the servicing agent (from Mokoro to Mobalyz) has gone smoothly and early results on collections and sales appear promising.
The business rescue practitioner at Mokoro has come to the view that the business cannot be rescued. He has therefore started preparing an application to liquidate Mokoro. The liquidation hearing is likely to take place during the course of this month, depending on when the court is ready to hear the application. In the meantime, the bulk of the assets that were at Mokoro are now at Mobalyz and efforts to collect on the outstanding debts continue there.”
Update: 17 September 2024
“During September 2024, further progress was made on the fund’s investments associated with Bridge Taxi Finance.
First, noteholders voted unanimously not to extend the maturity of the Martius note with JSE code MAR02B, scheduled to mature on 17th September 2024. Legally, this places the notes in default. The default crystallizes investors’ claims against both the funding SPV and the previous service provider, Mokoro.
Second, we received partial coupon payments on both MAR02B and MAR03B on 17th September. While these are well below the originally promised payments, they are the first interest payments since January 2024.
Third, the default allows us, along with other noteholders, to begin restructuring the Martius and Redink notes.”
July 2024 – Manager Commentary
“We remain intensively engaged on the Bridge Taxi Finance issue. We have changed the servicing agent, responsible for collections and repossessions. Negotiating with other lenders, expert intermediaries and the underlying companies can be frustratingly slow (the Land Bank default has now endured over 4 years) but progress is being made. We have begun exploring a new initiative. As the relevant instruments are listed on the JSE we cannot divulge sensitive information at this stage.”
June 2024 – Manager Commentary
“We remain intensively engaged on the Bridge Taxi Finance issue. We have decided to change the servicing agent, responsible for collections and repossessions. Negotiating with other lenders, expert intermediaries and the underlying companies can be frustratingly slow (the Land Bank default has now endured over 4 years) but progress is being made.”
May 2024 – Manager Commentary
“We remain intensively engaged on the Bridge Taxi Finance issue. Not all lenders agreed to work together on this, but most have given assent. Various measures were put in place towards improving collections, cutting costs at the operating company’s level, testing the efficacy of an outsourced collections agency, increasing throughput at the refurbishment plant and releasing new vehicles currently held at a secure facility in Durban.
Nevertheless, the operating company remains under pressure from a liquidity perspective. A Noteholders’ meeting in May, failed to pass resolutions that would release general management fees to the operating company from funds held in the ring-fenced special purpose vehicles under the control of the Noteholders. However, temporary funding for critical expenses was allowed. We have continued to engage with other Noteholders to further isolate the interests of the Noteholders from the problems at the operating company, which have included engaging legal, verification and valuation advisors. The aim remains to maximise recoveries for investors.”
April 2024 – Manager Commentary
“We remain intensively engaged on the Bridge Taxi Finance issue. Not all lenders agreed to work together on this, but most have given assent. Various measures are in place towards improving collections, cutting costs at the operating company’s level, testing the efficacy of an outsourced collections agency, increasing throughput at the refurbishment plant and releasing new vehicles currently held at a secure facility in Durban.”
March 2024 – Manager Commentary
“This retention fund principally consists of assets with exposure to two special purpose vehicles linked to Bridge Taxi Finance No. 8 (RF) (Pty) Ltd (“BTF 8”) and Bridge Taxi Finance No. 6 (RF) (Pty) Ltd (“BTF 6”). Debt notes have been issued under the Redink programme for BTF 6 and under the Martius programme for BTF 8. These notes referencing BTF 6 and BTF8 have performed as expected since the initial investments in June 2018, paying all coupons in full and on time each quarter.
However, in January 2024, the founder, CEO and largest shareholder of Bridge Taxi Finance and its operating company, Mokoro Holdings, passed away suddenly. Subsequently, Vunani Fund Managers discovered that Mokoro had overdue payments to suppliers and that there had been an underpayment of interest due in a structure outside of either Martius or Redink. These failures caused an “Event of Default”. Upon further investigation, it became apparent cash collections had deteriorated significantly and consequently the likelihood of missed coupon payments had increased. In this light, Vunani Fund Managers took the difficult decision to create a retention fund (also commonly known as a “side-pocket”), to house the affected instruments and prudently assume impairments on the carrying value of the affected instruments based on seniority and priority of claims. Management fees on the side-pocket have been suspended.
Vunani Fund Managers has appointed White and Case, a legal firm with extensive expertise in debt finance and structured finance, to advise on the legal rights and remedies available to the lenders in BTF 6 and Martius programme for BTF 8. Other service providers are being engaged to ensure that there is clarity on the valuation and security of underlying assets. Vunani Fund Managers remains in continuous engagement with the operational management of Bridge Taxi Finance, to ensure funds invested in the affected instruments are protected and recovered to the greatest extent possible. Vunani Fund Managers undertakes to inform clients of any significant developments in relation to this matter. That notwithstanding, a firm timeline for the resolution of this matter is uncertain but will be shared as and when there is further clarity.”