SINGAPORE, Sept 14 — SG Bike has acquired Mobike’s fleet of 25,000 bicycles, making it the largest bike-sharing operator in Singapore currently. 

SG Bike said in a statement yesterday that it has received the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) in-principle approval to transfer Mobike’s licence of 25,000 bicycles. The transfer will take place at a later date, it added. 

An LTA spokesperson confirmed this in a statement. 

SG Bike, the only operator with a full bicycle-sharing licence, will be able to operate a maximum fleet of 25,000 bicycles.

While existing users can still continue to use the Mobike app to unlock Mobike bicycles, SG Bike said that it is working closely with Mobike to complete and test the transfer of users, which is expected to be completed in the upcoming weeks. 

Once completed, SG Bike users will be able to unlock bicycles from both operators using the SG Bike app.

Existing Mobike users wishing to transfer their account balances and ride passes to SG Bike can also do so, once they download the SG Bike app.

SG Bike’s plans to acquire Mobike’s fleet was earlier reported in August, when both operators announced that they had submitted an application to the LTA to transfer Mobike’s bike-sharing licence to SG Bike.

Major bike-sharing operators, roiled with financial troubles, have pulled out of the Singapore market since last year. 

Mobile was the third Chinese bike-sharing company to face problems in the Singapore market, after Ofo’s suspension in February 2019 and oBike’s exit in 2018.

Other smaller players that still remain in the scene are looking to expand their fleets. 

Newcomer Moov Mobility has applied to expand its fleet from about 1,000 currently to 10,000. 

Another local start up AnyWheel was also granted a licence to operate up to 10,000 bicycles earlier this year. — TODAY