Mobike dismisses rumor of merging with Ofo

Hu Weiwei, founder and president of Chinese bike-sharing major Mobike Technologies Co Ltd, said there is no possibility the company will merge with its arch rival, Ofo Inc, despite the mounting competition.

"Unlike China's car-hailing and group-buying sector, where two frontrunners had merged, the bike-sharing sector features asset-heavy business models and there is no point in merging or acquiring others," Hu said in an interview on the sidelines of the ongoing Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2017, also known as Summer Davos, in Dalian, Liaoning province.

Her comments came after a rare photo of Hu smiling with Dai Wei, CEO of Ofo, went viral on the social networking platforms, which sparked speculation of a possible merger between the two.

Previously, Chinese car-hailing company Didi Chuxing merged with its rival, Uber Technologies Inc's China operation. Meituan.com, a group-buying site, and consumer review service Dianping.com, also stopped the price war and joined hands with each other amid pressure from investors.

But according to Hu, Mobike is different from these industries, where companies function as an online platform. Mobike is deeply involved in the whole industry chain, from bicycle design to manufacturing, and it now owns and operates more than 5 million bicycles.

"It is almost impossible to merge two bike-sharing companies simply by integrating their smartphone apps. Also the products and operating efficiency vary significantly," Hu said.

Mobike and Ofo are locked in a stiff competition for supremacy of the burgeoning sector at both home and abroad. Mobike, backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd, said it now has presence in 130 cities across China, the UK, Singapore and Japan and it is seeking to march into 200 cities by the end of this year.

Mobike processes 25 million daily trips at peak times, but it did not provide details of its revenue.