Singapore car portal UCars S$4 million in debt, heads for voluntary winding-up
Sixty creditors are owed a total of around S$3.8 million; EGM on the voluntary closure slated for Feb 7
SINGAPORE car portal UCars, formed in 2019 as a joint effort by 40 car dealers to take on Toyota-owned Sgcarmart, is set to go into voluntary liquidation.
An extraordinary general meeting will be held on Feb 7 to pass a resolution on the company’s voluntary winding-up and to appoint a liquidator, according to documents dated Jan 22 and seen by The Business Times.
A classified listing in BT on Jan 22, attributed to UCars’ director and former chief executive officer Hong Chun Mun, stated that a meeting of the company’s creditors will take place at 3.30 pm on Feb 7.
The meeting will deliver a full statement of the company’s affairs, with a list of creditors and the estimated amounts of their claims. A committee of inspection will also be formed.
Sixty creditors are owed a total of around S$3.8 million, according to another document dated Jan 22 and seen by BT. Automotive financial services company Teck Wei Credit is the largest creditor, with around S$1.3 million owed. PY Opulence Investments is owed US$184,908, while Black Kite Investments, One10 Food Sciences, and HFC Ventures are owed US$100,000 each.
In addition, UCars is copied in a statutory demand for S$116,190 received by software company PCOM-SSB, which UCars owns; the letter is from TradePal, also a software company.
UCars also has an originating claim from 21 United, a holding company, for S$440,546.
The Jan 14 document stated that because a special resolution was not approved by shareholders, the company no longer has access to funds and has become insolvent.
BT understands that the special resolution was related to raising capital through the sale of shares in the company.
UCars, a sales portal for new and used vehicles supported by editorial content, employed around 50 people at its peak. In February 2024, it laid off the majority of its editorial team of around 10 people. BT understands that some of these former employees are still owed salaries and are undergoing arbitration with the company.
Sources said the company closed its offices and let the remainder of its employees go in the fourth quarter of 2024.
UCars, which started out in 2019 as a sales portal by 21 United, later acquired the editorial brands and teams of the magazines CarBuyer and Top Gear Singapore and became their publisher, with CarBuyer.com.sg becoming the main focus of its push.
