May 11 (Reuters) - Bird Rides said on Wednesday it would merge with blank-check company Switchback II Corporation to go public in a deal valuing the electric scooter rental company at $2.3 billion. The scooter startup said the deal would be supported by a private investment of $160 million from Fidelity Management & Research Co and other investors, and provide $428 million in cash to the combined entity. (prn.to/3eFUIqV) The California-based company also said it had access to a $40 million asset financing from Apollo Investment Corp and MidCap Financial Trust. Founded in 2017, Bird operates its shared scooters in over 200 cities. It will be renamed to Bird Global and will list on the New York Stock Exchange after the deal closes in the third quarter, the company said. Switchback II Corp went public in a $275 million initial public offering in January this year. SPACs are listed companies that use the proceeds from an IPO to buy a private firm and take it public.