April 19, 2012,
To Our Valued Friends, Re: Progress Relative to the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act and Restructuring
As you know, on March 26, 2012 Azure Dynamic Corporation and
its operating subsidiaries (collectively the "AZD") filed for
and obtained protection from its creditors under the
Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (Canada) ("CCAA"). The
Supreme Court of British Columbia (the "CDA Court") granted
the initial order ("Initial Order"). Pursuant to the Initial
Order Ernst & Young Inc. was appointed Monitor of AZD during
the CCAA proceedings. In its capacity as foreign
representative of AZD, the Monitor sought relief from the US
Bankruptcy court pursuant to Chapter 15. The US Bankruptcy
court granted a temporary restraining order on March 27, 2012
and a preliminary injunction order on April 9,
2012 pending a full recognition hearing on May 3, 2012. The
CCAA and Chapter 15 proceedings provide
AZD the opportunity to restructure its business and financial
affairs.
While this process initially created some uncertainty in the
marketplace it does not mean that Azure is bankrupt or that
it will cease operations. In fact, the CCAA filing has
allowed Azure's management team to implement significant
restructuring measures and seek out debtor-in-possession
("DIP") financing.
We are pleased to report that on April 13, 2012 the CDA Court
granted an order approving a DIP financing facility which
will provide AZD up to $4,000,000 in funding during these
proceedings to support the company's mission to 'drive a
world of difference' and move forward.
The management team is focused on making a successful
turnaround that will see AZD emerge still passionately
dedicated to delivering sustainable commercial transportation
solutions to a wide variety of fleets in North America and
Europe. To this end, the purpose of this letter is to bring
our dealership network, end users, and all interested
constituents up to speed on recent developments critical to
the return to normal business.
We have been able to re-establish our vehicle warranty
effective immediately. As a result of capital
constraints and the restructuring process we temporarily
suspended warranty coverage in order to get the company back
into a position that would allow it to handle claims. We're
pleased to report that we have now been able to achieve this
important milestone. AZD will now cover all warranty claims
on vehicles where work was performed from March
27th forward. The warranty claims will be
honoured on all AZD products in North America and Europe. We
ask that you exercise patience as we may experience some
initial delays while a leaner group at AZD oversees warranty
claims and also as we deal with new requirements on
processing payments, but we thought that reinstating this
coverage would be an important sign to you of our
determination to keep our customers first.
The entire AZDtec™ website structure will continue to provide
technical information, reference
materials, online store for software downloads and online
training for AZD products.
We will be providing technical support directly from our
Engineering and Technician staff who will continue to monitor
the following support request systems:
• For Dealers and Fleets with login credentials - Dealer Support Solutions (DSS) Support
Request (Select Support, Dealer, and Dealer Support Solutions from AZDtec menu system).
• For all other technical support - Customer Care Center Support Request System (Select
Support, End-User or Fleet, "Report a Customer Concern" in Customer Care Center menu).
ALL REPLACEMENT PARTS should be requested via the online DSS system.
We are in regular communication with Ford Motor Company
regarding the proceedings and it is our objective to be
transparent with all interested parties whether partners,
suppliers, end users or shareholders. We all have a vested
interest in the Electric Vehicle space and Azure
Dynamics.
We believe that our dedication and hard work over the last
decade, which established AZD as a recognized market leader,
will be rewarded as we work on this turnaround.
Unfortunately, when a company goes through what AZD has gone
through in the past few months, a lot of inaccurate stories
and comments
often distort facts. We are the first to admit that this
process has been very difficult for everyone involved but we
want you to know that we are moving forward and if there is
any doubt or questions or a need for additional information,
please contact AZD directly. Our intentions are to be fully
operational as soon as possible, leaner and stronger than
ever.
We sincerely appreciate the kind words of support and
encouragement we have received from so many respected
businesses, organizations and individuals and we look forward
to this same level of cooperation and support continuing as
we complete our restructuring.
If you require further
information on the formal proceedings, or wish to receive a
copy of the Order or any other public notices, please go
to www.ey.com/ca/azure.
Thank you for your cooperation and continued support of AZD.
Sincerely,
Team AZD
Mike Elwood (416) 953-4134
Email: melwood@azuredynamics.com
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