American micromobility company Bird withdraws from Germany, Sweden and Norway: Learn more
California-based Bird, a shared micromobility company, announced Tuesday that it is exiting three European countries, Germany, Sweden and Norway, and several dozen small to medium-sized cities across the United States and the EMEA region.
The company will also lay off employees in the affected markets, but did not disclose exact numbers. According to Bird, the main motivation for leaving these markets was to achieve financial self-sufficiency.
As part of this plan, the US micromobility company would cease operations in markets that lack the regulatory framework necessary to facilitate the development of an innovative, competitive, self-sustaining micromobility industry.
“It has become clear that some markets lack such a framework, resulting in an oversupply of vehicles leading to overcrowded streets and a large but often rotating number of competitors. All this invariably leads to significant losses for operators who, as a result, cannot afford to invest and continue to make micromobility safer and more sustainable,” the company said in the blog post.
“In the short term, current macroeconomic conditions have created an environment that requires us to increase our level of financial discipline and make a clear distinction between markets where we see a short-term path to fully self-sustaining operations, and those that appear to be riskier investments in longer term.”
Goes on, Bird plans to focus on cities and countries with the right regulatory framework and business environment in Europe, the US and the rest of the world.
Bird: Earlier developments
The announcement comes a few weeks after a significant overhaul of its C-Suite, naming President Shane Torchiana as Chief Executive Officer, replacing founder Travis VanderZanden, who will remain chairman.
The board has appointed Ben Lu as Chief Financial Officer, succeeding Yibo Ling. Additionally, Lance Bradley, currently Senior Vice President, Engineering, has been promoted to Chief Technology Officer.
In June, Bird received a delisting warning from the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) because it traded below $1 for a 30-day consecutive trading period.
Bird went public through a SPAC deal last year and began trading at $8.40 a share.
In July, the company said it would notify the NYSE that it intends to address the shortfall in its share price and to return to compliance with the NYSE’s continuing listing standard.
“Pursuant to NYSE rules, if the Company determines that it will cure the stock price deficiency by taking action requiring stockholder approval at its next annual meeting of stockholders, the price condition will be deemed cured if the price promptly exceeds $1.00 per share. , and the price remains above that level for at least the next 30 trading days,” the company says.
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