On March 20, 2023, 1195407 B.C. Ltd., Canada Drives Ltd., USA Drives Ltd., and Canada Drives Auto Finance Ltd. (Canada Drives) sought and obtained an Initial Order of the Supreme Court of British Columbia pursuant to the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).
PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. LIT was appointed as the Monitor. A stay of proceedings was in place until March 30, 2023.
As at March 17, 2023, Canada Drives Entities owed $87.56 million, consisting of approximately $29.1 million in secured debt, and unsecured convertible notes debt in the amount of approximately $58.46 million.
Largest creditors
goeasy Ltd. – $41.01 million
TD Bank – $22.72 million (secured)
KAR Global – $10.28 million
Automotive Finance Canada (AFC) – $6.38 million (secured)
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) – $2.07 million
Total – approximately $82.46 million
AFC is the Canadian affiliate of Automotive Finance Corporation, a sister company to KAR Global.
In June 2022, Canada Drives announced the close of a $40 million “equity funding” round with goeasy Ltd. The financing was in fact structured by way of convertible debentures which closed in two tranches in 2022.
goeasy has yet to knowledge Canada Drives’ CCAA filing and financial impact on the company, if any.
Canada Drives has raised $100 million in equity and debt financing since 2021. It raised $50 million in Series B funding in June 2021 (which was announced as a $100 million round of financing), $40 million in convertible debenture from goeasy in June 2022 and $10 million in convertible debentures led by KAR Global (announced as an equity round) in August 2022.
Canada Drives’ notable equity investors include Honor Ventures.
photo credit: Canada Drives