Bird Global files bankruptcy, inks restructuring deal with lenders

By Sarah Lizee

Olympia, Wash., Dec. 20 – Bird Global, Inc. filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida with hopes to strengthen its balance sheet and better position the company for long-term, sustainable growth, according to a press release.

The company said it has entered into a comprehensive restructuring support agreement with its first- and second-lien lenders. Bird currently has about $41.5 million principal outstanding under a first-lien facility with MidCap as agent and $67.4 million principal outstanding under second-lien notes with U.S. Bank Trust Co., NA as agent.

The RSA provides for a $25 million new debtor-in-possession facility from MidCap Financial, a division of Apollo Global Management, and the company's existing second-lien lenders.

The DIP financing will consist of $19.5 million new-money senior loans, with up to $11.5 million available on an interim basis, and $5.6 million in new-money junior notes.

Interest on the DIP loans will be 6% cash pay and 9% PIK, and interest on the DIP notes will be 18% PIK.

Following a final order, the financing will include a $41.46 million rollup of loans and a $4 million rollup of notes.

Bird said it will use the court-supervised process to facilitate a sale of its assets and has entered into a stalking horse agreement with Bird Scooter Acquisition Corp., an entity of some of the existing lenders.

The bid is subject to higher and better offers. Bird expects to complete the sale process in the next 90 to 120 days.

Bird said it will operate as usual during the process.

“This announcement represents a significant milestone in Bird's transformation, which began with the appointment of new leadership early this year,” interim chief executive officer Michael Washinushi said in the release.

“We are making progress toward profitability and aim to accelerate that progress by right-sizing our capital structure through this restructuring.”

During and after the restructuring process, Washinushi will continue as interim CEO, supported by board chair John Bitove, president Stewart Lyons, and chief financial officer Joseph Prodan. Last week, Harvey L. Tepner joined the board of directors as an independent director, and Philip Evershed resigned from the board of directors.

Bird Canada and Bird Europe (doing business as Bird Rides Europe BV) are not part of the filing and also continue to operate as normal.

Bird has filed with the court a series of customary first-day motions to facilitate a smooth transition into bankruptcy. These filings provide for the payment of wages and benefits to employees, and make other provisions to enable Bird to continue operating as usual.

BergerSingerman LLP is serving as legal counsel, Cassel Salpeter & Co. is serving as investment banker, Teneo Capital LLC is serving as financial and restructuring adviser, and Epiq Corporate Restructuring, LLC is serving as claims and noticing agent to the company.

In its petition, the company listed $100 million to $500 million in assets and $100 million to $500 million in liabilities.

Its largest unsecured creditors are Amazon Web Services, Inc., based in Seattle, with a $4.8 million cloud services claim, CA-Colorado Center, LLC, based in Santa Monica, Calif., with a $3 million lease claim, Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth, PC, based in Newport Beach, Calif., with a $1.61 million professional services claim, Zoba, Inc., based in Boston, with a $1.6 million software service claim, and Ninebot (Changzhou) Tech Co., Inc., based in Changzhou, China, with a $1.05 million vendor claim.

Bird Global is an electric bike rental company with headquarters in Miami. The Chapter 11 case number is 23-20514.

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