The team at European lender Mintos has shared updates about the latest actions taken in the case of GetBucks Botswana, GetBucks Zambia, and their guarantor – Luxembourg-headquartered firm MyBucks SA.
GetBucks Botswana (Cashcorp Proprietary Limited, Firstcred Limited, TU Employee Benefits Proprietary Limited) and GetBucks Zambia which refers to GETBUCKS FINANCIAL SERVICES ZAMBIA LIMITED “were suspended from the Mintos Primary and Secondary Markets in April 2020.”
Since that time, Mintos claims that it “closely followed developments and continually worked on reaching substantial agreements with the management and guarantor of these entities, as the businesses continued to deteriorate over time.”
Mintos also noted that when it comes to the results of restructured repayments since April 2020, they “made certain progress with GetBucks Botswana.” In this case, they “recovered approximately 40% of the primary exposed amount.”
The principal exposure of GetBucks Botswana “at the moment of suspension was €7.3 million.” Over the course of the year following the suspension, “a total of €2.8 million was recovered, including partial interest accrued.” In July of last year, Mintos and GetBucks Botswana “agreed on a monthly restructuring package that also included payment of commitments due to investors with investments in GetBucks Zambia-issued loans.”
As confirmed in the update from Mintos, GetBucks Botswana “stopped making payments from August 2021 and hasn’t made any new payments until this day.” The Mintos team further revealed that they regularly “reported about the status with the lending company in monthly Funds in recovery updates.” The current exposure of GetBucks Botswana “amounts to €5.2 million.”
GetBucks Zambia was “an even more complex case over this time, with the MyBucks SA group failing to close deals that could’ve helped improve its equity position and give better prospects for payments to Mintos investors.”
The update further noted that “with a really strong impact of the pandemic on Zambia’s already weak economy and ongoing devaluation of the local currency, the company and the group experienced true challenges that they didn’t manage to meet.”
Since the suspension, about €20 000 in borrowers’ payments have been “transferred by GetBucks Zambia.” The current exposure of this entity “amounts to €4.3 million.”
Recently, MyBucks SA, the guarantor for the GetBucks entities, has “entered into bankruptcy proceedings in Luxembourg, where MyBucks SA was registered.”
As MyBucks SA acts as guarantor for the GetBucks Botswana and GetBucks Zambia, on behalf of investors Mintos “prepared a direct claim that was recently registered with the court in Luxembourg which serves as the venue for MyBucks SA bankruptcy case.”
The court will reportedly be taking a decision regarding “the registration of Mintos’s claim in the bankruptcy procedure in the upcoming period.”
This past week, Mintos had delivered a notice about the exercise of the repurchase obligations to GetBucks Botswana and GetBucks Zambia. Acceleration of the outstanding obligations will aim to “strengthen the position of Mintos in the guarantor’s bankruptcy proceeding, as the accelerated amount of the debt will be added to the Mintos claim in the case of MyBucks SA bankruptcy.”
For investors, this will mean that the remaining outstanding investment amounts will also be “moved to “In Recovery” as we are accelerating the total exposed amount of €9.5 million (for entities in Botswana and Zambia), and stating the company’s obligation to repurchase all loans within a few business days after receiving these notices.”
The status of GetBucks Botswana is “changed from “suspended” to “defaulted” on the Mintos platform.”
The team at Mintos also confirmed that they will keep you “updated about all new developments both through our regular recovery reports and via direct communication.”