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.