Black & White Cabs to continue trade after parent company collapse

The parent company of Black & White Cabs has collapsed three years after it raised nearly $30m from investors ahead of a float on the ASX.

CAB FIRM TIED TO CRASH

The parent company of Black & White Cabs has collapsed three years after it raised nearly $30m from investors ahead of a float on the ASX.

But fear not, the taxi network is a separate entity that remains intact and operational, with stakeholders saying it’s “business as usual”.

Indeed the cab company may emerge even stronger following a recapitalisation scheme orchestrated by a group of investors headed by Brisbane-based industry veteran Greg Webb, who has a history with Black & White dating back to 1995.

The rescue plan has emerged following the crash of P2P Transport Limited and two of its subsidiaries late last week with debts of about $27m.

Greg Webb

Citing pressures brought on by the pandemic, directors of the Melbourne firm tapped Tracy Knight and Damien Lau of bean-counting outfit Bentleys to serve as voluntary administrators.

They declined to comment when City Beat rang for a chat, although it’s understood a “deed of company arrangement’’ will be proposed to creditors next month.

P2P oversaw a national network of about 2400 vehicles, including chauffeured corporate services and ride-share options. It claimed to be one of the country’s biggest fleet management businesses and also ran advertising entity Adflow.

But the firm’s problems predated the COVID-19 squeeze. A shake-up of senior management saw several top figures head for the exits ahead of a near $20m net loss in the 2019 financial year.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

There’s a certain irony that Webb is now back in the driver’s seat, so to speak,

Webb was Black & White’s boss and biggest stakeholder, with a 26 per cent stake, when he sold the booking service to P2P for $8.1m in cash and shares in mid-2018.

The deal included him taking on a board position at P2P. But Webb stepped up to the role of “interim managing director’’ early last year in a desperate bid to turn around the company’s flagging fortunes.

Fast forward to today and Webb has now teamed up with three other former owners of Black & White before its sale to P2P. Together they plan to inject $2.65m into the taxi business as well as taking on all the liabilities, including staff entitlements.

Collectively these gents are owed $5m as unsecured creditors from P2P and another $7m in secured debt. They plan to forgo the $5m to so others can be paid in full.

Webb stressed that the efforts on behalf of Black & White will save about 140 non-driving jobs across Queensland, NSW, Victoria and WA.

He claimed that the taxi firm “has been a profitable business for 26 years and will continue to be profitable’’.

“Black & White Cabs is a well-known brand, with a well-oiled booking service and mobile app, and more than 3,000 cab drivers, operators and owners,’’ Webb said.

In a rather bold forecast, he predicted that “the honeymoon period with rideshare is coming to an end,’’ although that’s probably news to regular Uber patrons.

He also vowed to continue a push into new markets following the launch of Black & White’s new service on the Gold Coast last month.

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