Reby will go into liquidation with a debt of 15 million euros, five years after breaking into Barcelona as one of the first scooter rental companies.
The startup, founded by Pep Gómez, had a promising future just over a year ago. In May 2022, House of Lithium announced the acquisition of the business for 100 million dollars, about 95 million euros. The objective of the Canadian fund was to promote the brand, which operated in several cities in Spain and Italy with the intention of entering Portugal. According to the Commercial Register, Reby Rides had a turnover of nearly 8 million in 2021, a profit of 1.5 million and employed 51 people.
However, after the sale agreement was announced, the company began to neglect payments to its creditors. Under the direction of the CEO, Juan Francisco Sánchez, debt soared until in April the company filed for bankruptcy. At the end of July, commercial court number 2 in Barcelona declared the bankruptcy and appointed the Madrid law firm Ejaso as administrator, as reported by El Periódico.
Sources close to the case say that one of the administrator’s first actions was to fire the entire staff at the beginning of August. It was made up of 34 employees who worked in Barcelona, ??Madrid and Zaragoza. These sources point out that the activity was paralyzed months ago (the workers were on ERTE) and that the business had no alternative but to go into liquidation. This month it has also been determined that the liability is 15 million. Among the creditors, there are banks (Santander, BBVA, Sabadell), workers and the public entity Cofides, which at the end of 2022 lent them 1.5 million to finance the growth of Reby in Italy.
With the ERO at the entire workforce, the sale of the production unit is ruled out and now the bankruptcy administration is calculating the value of the assets to sell them and cover part of the debt. Among the assets, a fleet of 2,300 scooters and bikes stands out, which, according to the company, have an accounting value of 2.5 million. However, there are vehicles in poor condition because Reby has been evicted from the warehouses where she kept them, as she did not pay the rents.
Apart from the competition, Gómez and other investment partners are facing House of Lithium in a court process in Delaware (USA). The Canadian fund has not paid the agreed purchase price (it has only disbursed 15%) and the judge must determine whether it is within its right not to pay. At first instance, he ruled in favor of the Canadian group, but Gómez has appealed the decision.
