Electric scooter firm Bird recordsdata for chapter

Image Credits: Philippe Lopez / Getty Images

Bird has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, capping off a turbulent yr for the electrical scooter firm.

In a press release right now, Bird confirmed that it had entered right into a “financial restructuring process aimed at strengthening its balance sheet,” with the corporate persevering with to function as regular in pursuit of “long-term, sustainable growth.”

Founded in 2017 by former Lyft and Uber government Travis VanderZanden, Bird is one in every of quite a few startups to introduce dockless micromobility platforms around the globe, permitting city-dwellers to pay for short-term access to electrical scooters or bikes. The firm went public in late 2021 through a SPAC merger, however in a crowded market constructed on questionable economics, its inventory went right into a perennial nosedive, with its market cap dropping from greater than $2 billion at its New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) debut to just $70 million 12 months later. This decline led the NYSE to concern a warning that Bird’s share value was too low.

Things didn’t enhance, and with its share value persevering with to plummet, CEO VanderZanden departed in June with the corporate ultimately delisted from the NYSE in September.

Separately, Bird additionally introduced a spherical of layoffs shortly after shopping for rival Spin for $19 million.

Bird lands on the NYSE Image Credits: Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Chapter 11

A Chapter 11 chapter will allow Bird to restructure its financials with out disrupting day-to-day operations, with Apollo Global Management division MidCap Financial amongst present lenders offering $25 million in financing via the chapter proceedings.

The ultimate objective is to promote Bird’s belongings, with a so-called “stalking horse” settlement kicking off a bidding course of designed to get as a lot worth out of Bird as attainable, with its lenders setting a baseline bid earlier than opening issues as much as exterior suitors over the following 4 months.

Interim CEO Michael Washinushi will proceed in his function earlier than and after the restructuring, in line with the assertion.

“This announcement represents a significant milestone in Bird’s transformation, which began with the appointment of new leadership early this year,” Washinushi stated. “We are making progress toward profitability and aim to accelerate that progress by right-sizing our capital structure through this restructuring. We remain focused on our mission to make cities more liveable by using micromobility to reduce car usage, traffic, and carbon emissions.”

It’s additionally value noting that Bird’s Canadian and European operations are usually not a part of this chapter submitting, and can “continue to operate as normal,” the corporate stated.

This latest information comes only a day after competitor Micromobility.com was delisted from the Nasdaq over its failing inventory value, three years after it too went public through a SPAC merger. And in Europe, dockless scooter startup Tier not too long ago laid off 22% of its workforce, which adopted Dutch e-bike startup VanMoof’s chapter proceedings.

So all in all, it hasn’t been an ideal yr for the micromobility realm.