Electric bike company Rad Power Bikes has reached a deal to sell itself to Life Electric Vehicles Holdings, known as Life EV, for approximately $13.2 million. This agreement comes just over a month after the company entered the bankruptcy process. Florida-based Life EV describes itself as a developer, manufacturer, and distributor in the light electric vehicle industry. Its website lists several electric bikes for sale, though most were marked as sold out at the time of reporting.
A filing to the bankruptcy docket shows that five entities participated in an auction for Rad Power’s assets on January 22. The initial bid started at $8 million, with parties trading offers until Life Electric Vehicles emerged as the winner. When accounting for Rad Power’s liabilities, the total value of the winning bid reaches $14.9 million.
Another e-bike company, Retrospec, submitted the second-highest bid of $13 million and is designated as the backup bidder should the deal with Life EV fall through. These bids represent a steep discount from Rad Power’s peak valuation of $1.65 billion, which it reached in October 2021. According to PitchBook data, the company had raised a total of $329.2 million in funding. The acquisition still requires approval from the bankruptcy judge.
Rad Power is not alone in the micromobility sector seeking bankruptcy protection in recent years. Peers such as VanMoof and Cake underwent restructurings and found new owners, while scooter company Bird also went through the bankruptcy process.
It remains unclear what Life EV plans for Rad Power. Life EV CEO Robert Provost directed questions to Rad Power, stating in a message that there is still a process underway and an exciting future being planned for the company.
Like many of its peers, Rad Power experienced a significant surge in sales during the pandemic but struggled as that momentum faded. The company underwent multiple rounds of layoffs in recent years, juggled CEOs, and more recently faced trouble with some of its older batteries catching fire. The Consumer Product Safety Commission identified 31 reported fires tied to the batteries. Rad Power told TechCrunch at the time that it firmly stands behind its batteries and its reputation as an industry leader, strongly disagreeing with the CPSC’s characterization of certain Rad batteries as defective or unsafe.