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Bird's purchase of Scoot lets it back into San Francisco

That's one way to get around the city's e-scooter restrictions.

You knew it was just a matter of time before there was further consolidation in the e-scooter world. Bird is acquiring Scoot in a move that both describe as a matter of "scale" -- that is, it'll help them take on heavyweight rivals like Lime. Scoot will continue to operate under its own name as a subsidiary of Bird. It's not certain how much Bird paid for the deal, but TechCrunch noted that Scoot was valued at $71 million.

It'll take a while before you see the deeper impact of the purchase, but there will be a short-term effect. This effectively gets Bird back into San Francisco after losing its chance at a permit. While it likely won't operate scooter sharing services in the city under the Bird label (you may have to settle for monthly rentals), it'll stand to profit from the work of its former competitor.

This could lead to additional shake-ups. Now that Bird is that much larger, smaller e-scooter service might feel pressure to find buyers in order to remain competitive. It's also hard to imagine challengers like Lime, Lyft and Uber simply ignoring the acquisition when it gives Bird access to one of the most important cities in the business.