No threat of bankruptcy, says Ofo founder Dai Wei

It's possible that Ofo could be acquired or merged in the future; however, bankruptcy is impossible, The Paper reported citing Ofo founder and CEO Dai Wei.

Dai did not provide details why Ofo will not go bankrupt.

In late October, media reported that Ofo was filing for bankruptcy, and a big brokerage had begun to make plans. Ofo later denied the story, adding the company still maintained independent operation.

Dai also denied this report at an internal meeting on Wednesday, adding that the company's financial situation was getting better, although problems remained.

When asked why it was hard for users to get refund of their deposits, Dai admitted the procedure had become more complicated, adding that deposits can be refunded, but needed more time.

Earlier, media reported the period of deposit refund was extended to 0-15 working days from 0-10 working days. At present, Ofo collects 199 yuan deposit from each user in China.

Dai's remarks at the internal meeting were in response to recent doubts about its financial trouble.

Since July, media have reported that Didi Chuxing and Alibaba's Ant Financial are in talks with Ofo for a joint buyout, however, the details have not been revealed.

Also, the legal representative of Ofo changed on Oct 22. Chen Zhengjiang replaced Dai Wei becoming the legal representative of Dongxia Datong (Beijing) Management Consultancy Co Ltd, the operating company of Ofo. Ofo later explained this move was to simplify office procedure and improve efficiency.

Early this month, media also reported that Ofo will move to a new office building, which is the second move in the second half of this year. In September, Ofo's office space shrank to two floors from formerly four floors in an office building in Beijing tech hub of Zhongguancun.

Since it was founded in June 2015, Chinese bike-sharing company Ofo has operations in 20 countries, and offers more than 4 billion green rides in 250 cities. In March, Ofo raised $866 million in a new funding round by Alibaba.