Struggling Bird bought rival Spin from Tier for $19M to buy growth and battery tech

Bird is a shared micromobility operator; Spin runs scooters on more than 50 cities and university campuses, with about $45M net revenue in the 12 months to June 2023.

$19M total: $10M cash, $6M vendor take-back, $3M holdback. Bird had itself exited dozens of US cities in October 2022 to downsize.

Tier had purchased Spin from Ford in March 2022 to expand in the US, but struggled to hold its lead and reach profitability, eventually raising a convertible note while searching for a buyer; Bird, also struggling, had just replaced CEO Shane Torchiana with ex-CFO Michael Washinushi as interim CEO.

Bird expects upwards of $20M in synergies and immediate earnings accretion. Spin brings 60,000+ vehicles including newer models with battery swapping — a capability Bird lagged on, hurting efficiency — and many scooters running Drover AI's sidewalk-detection technology. Bird says overlap is minimal and plans expansion into Baltimore, Salt Lake City and Washington D.C.

Spin becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Bird Rides Inc., keeping its own app; no market closures or personnel decisions were taken in the immediate term, and Bird says it will not change Spin's operating model.

Bird bought $45M of revenue and 60,000 vehicles for $19M — distress pricing only possible when both buyer and seller burn cash.

Battery-swap hardware and Drover AI sidewalk detection fix two of Bird's own weaknesses: charging efficiency and sidewalk compliance.

Keeping Spin as a separate app and model preserves its university-campus contracts and city permits rather than risking a messy migration.

In a cash-burning category, consolidation is a survival swap: a struggling buyer picks up a struggling seller's assets cheaply — $19M for $45M revenue — because synergies beat two slow deaths.

As of September 2023 Spin was operating as a wholly owned Bird subsidiary with no immediate market closures; Bird pointed to Q3 impact from synergies, while Tier continued seeking a buyer for the rest of its business.