Bixi financial books opened in bankruptcy hearing

Bixi was finally forced to open their financial books at a bankruptcy hearing that started this week.

The Montreal company has been under bankruptcy protection since Jan. 20 in a rush to find their best plan for moving forward. Its bankruptcy protection expired Wednesday.

Bixi saw a net loss of $6.5 million in 2012 and slashed that loss to $757,000 in 2013 when they saw huge jumps in revenue. The company still owes nearly $50 million to various creditors, including $36 million to the City of Montreal.

There have been times when it looked like the struggling bike-share company was going to be bought, but two deals fell through. In the summer of 2013, an offer was made to buy the company for $32 million but the deal never came to a close. In December, competitor Alta Bicycle Share offered to buy Bixi in a deal that would have seen Alta also take on Bixi’s debts. That deal fell through as well.

Now, the company is up for bidding. Its financial records have been opened to the public. According to the Montreal Gazette, interested buyers have until March 10 to put in a bid for the company. As many as 14 bidders have already expressed interest. The sale is expected to be finished by mid-April.

Bixi has never posted net profits since it appeared in 2009 on the streets of Montreal, despite large revenue jumps in recent years. The company has been on life support from the taxpayers in Montreal for the past couple of years.

Still, the company did seem to be making a recovery. In 2012, although posting net loses, revenue jumped 42 per cent, and continued to climb even quicker during 2013. The gains came to a stop when New York City and Chicago refused to pay Bixi in full for the Montreal-based company’s services until software flaws that were causing double payments and locking problems were fixed. The software issues still haven’t been fixed and may lessen the selling value of the company.

It was also revealed that in December, right before filing for bankruptcy protection, the company doled out $233,000 in bonus pay to its 38 employees. The eight managers received an average bonus of $15,000.