Wragges and Gateley steer black-cab maker's administration
Wragge & Co has won a lead role alongside Gateley on the administration of Manganese Bronze, the stricken company behind London’s world-famous black cabs.
The Coventry-based maker of the iconic taxis filed for administration late last month, with PricewaterhouseCoopers partners Tony Barrell, Matthew Hammond, Ian Green and Mike Jervis appointed to oversee the case.
The company has been making a loss for the past four years and in 2012 has been hit by accounting errors and a recall of over 400 vehicles following a steering box fault.
Wragges London restructuring partner Julian Pallett, London corporate partner Richard Haywood and Birmingham-based director Jasvir Jootla are advising the PwC partners. Gateley is advising the company’s pension trustees.
The administrators announced 156 redundancies last week. The company is 20 per cent owned by China’s Geely International and had been attempted to obtain a loan from the investor to keep it going.
Background to this deal:
Previous advisers to Manganese Bronze including Simmons & Simmons, where Chris Wilkinson advising it on a licence agreement with Computer Cab for a mobile phone taxi hailing system eight years ago (6 December 2004). The group has also instructed legacy Martineau Johnson, now SGH Martineau, and Squire Sanders legacy UK firm Hammonds in the past (16 December 2002).
Readers' comments (2)
Anonymous | 5-Nov-2012 8:25 am
I cannot understand why the UK government aren't involved. Surely London's black taxi industry is far too important to let it just sink.
London's bus and trains receive subsidies, yet taxis get nothing...
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Les dalton | 12-Nov-2012 8:45 am
It is not just the steering problem that has brought on the company to fold,the engine has a bad name as it only lasts around the 106,000 -130,000 miles,they need to put in a new engine that is from a good japaneese company,divers would be banging on the showroom door,if you don,t believe me,just ask any tx4 driver,drivers are not buying new cabs because of the engine issue once it out of warranty,they keep their old tx1,because the engines are bullet proof.
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