Financial News Agency, December 21 (Editor Niu Zhanlin) On Wednesday local time, Bird Global, an electric scooter sharing company headquartered in Miami, Florida, USA, filed for bankruptcy protection in the state with the aim of selling its US business.

According to a statement from the company, Bird's bankruptcy application under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Law will allow the company to restructure while selling assets. The company listed assets and liabilities of $100 million to $500 million in a court document.

Bird is a pioneer in the e-scooter and e-bike rental business, making it easy to get around the city. Bird describes itself as “the largest micromobility operator in North America.”

Bird Global was founded in 2017 by Travis VanderZanden, a former Uber executive, and once became one of the startups with the fastest valuation to reach 1 billion US dollars. This year, Bird's stock price fell sharply as the scooter craze receded. In September of this year, the New York Stock Exchange began delisting it.

Currently, the company has reached a “Stalking Horse” agreement (Stalking Horse) with its creditors, which will set a minimum value for Bird's assets. The company said the sale of these assets is expected to take place within the next three to six months.

Bird's current creditors will provide $25 million in DIP financing (bankruptcy protection corporate finance). According to the announcement, the company will continue to operate normally during the bankruptcy proceedings.

Interim CEO Michael Washinushi said, “We are moving in a profitable direction, and our goal is to accelerate this process by adjusting our capital structure through this restructuring. We remain focused on our mission to make cities more livable by using micromobility to reduce car usage, traffic flow, and carbon emissions.”

The company stated that filing for bankruptcy protection did not involve Bird Canada or Bird Europe. A company spokesperson declined to say exactly how many cities Bird currently operates in the US, but the company said it operates in 350 cities around the world.

In fact, during the period when interest rates were rising, Bird was not the only so-called micro-transportation company in trouble. Micromobility.com said on Tuesday that Nasdaq requested the company to be delisted because its stock price was below $1 and other violations of Nasdaq rules. Tier, Europe's largest micromobility company and unlisted company, said last month that it would lay off 22% of its employees after a “difficult year.”

However, it is still too early to conclude that the micro-transportation industry has run out of steam. Bird's main competitor in the US, Lime, seems to have done a better job. In the first half of the year, the company's profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and various adjustments was $27 million, and gross orders increased 45%.