Jucy Rentals business calls in receivers, but sale of brand saves 150 jobs

Saturday, 14 November 2020

Sixty Jucy vehicles were stolen from a secure facility in Auckland in April.

The Jucy Rentals business has been put into receivership after the sale of its assets, but the brand will continue securing 150 jobs in New Zealand and Australia.

With international tourism brought to a complete halt by the Covid pandemic, Jucy, which was known for its bright green and purple rental vehicles, struggled.

Domestic tourism was not enough to sustain the business, which saw business drop by 90 per cent since March, when the Covid pandemic arrives in New Zealand.

On Thursday Grant Graham and Neale Jackson were appointed receivers of Jucy Rentals NZ and Jucy Group, but co-founder Dan Alpe said a deal had been struck to save the Jucy brand, and keep 150 Jucy employees in work.

Police have given an update on the Jucy vehicle heist.

* Jucy rental car heist: Police scouring CCTV from nearby businesses

* Jucy rental raid: 22 arrested, 73 cars recovered

Jucy Group had reached an agreement that saw Polar Capital take a majority stake in the purchase of the assets of Jucy Group’s Car and Campervan Rental businesses in New Zealand and Australia.

Polar Capital already owned retail chains Smiths City and Pricewise.

Jucy made global news during the national pandemic lockdown in April when a gang of thieves stole dozens of Jucy rental vehicles in Auckland.

The story was reported as far afield as the United Kingdom by the BBC and the United States by Fox News.

Polar Capital’s purchase announcement said the interests of David Cushing, a former director of Tourism Holdings, would take a minority stake in the business.

The other businesses Jucy Snooze, JucyCruise, Jucy USA, Jucy UK, Your Drive and Lucky Rentals were not included in the new ownership structure, the announcement said.

Jucy Group was founded in 2001, and Alpe said the aim was to “create something amazing”.

He was pleased the brand would survived, but acknowledged the sale had resulted in a disappointing financial outcome for the founders.

But, Alpe said facing adversity in the pandemic, including illness in the family, had led him to reflect on what mattered most.

“It makes you realise where your priorities are, and there are a lot more important things than making money,” he said.

Jucy co-founder Dan Alpe was remaining with the brand.

The deal meant jobs could be saved, he said.

“That’s fastastic,” he said.

Polar Capital’s Colin Neal said: ‘’Jucy is an iconic brand and while the impact of Covid has been devastating on JGL we are very excited about the acquisition and are pleased we are able to play a part in securing the future of Jucy Rentals and retaining the jobs of 150 Jucy Crew.”

As part of the sale process, Graham and Jackson of financial advisory firm Calibre Partners have been appointed as receivers to four entities within Jucy Group. They are Jucy Group, Jucy Holdings Limited, Jucy Rentals NZ and Jucy By Design.

Jackson, Partner of Calibre Partners said: “The business will continue to trade under its new ownership and the purchaser has agreed to honour holidays booked or credits held with Jucy Rentals”

The agreement would see the original founders of the business brothers Dan and Tim Alpe exit Jucy Group.

Dan Alpe was taking a new role as chief executive of the new entity.

Alpe said: “Covid 19 has had an unprecedented and devastating impact on our business. We moved quickly to reduce costs and hibernate or close parts of the business, however, it became clear that we needed to bring external capital into the business.

“We have always believed that the Jucy brand is an integral part of the tourism landscape in New Zealand and Australia, and this new entity provided the best opportunity for the Jucy brand to recover from the impact of Covid-19 and move forward”.