Investors in Getir, the grocery delivery app that at one point reached a valuation of almost £10 billion, will pump even more money into the company to fund its exit from the UK and Europe.
Sky News has learned that the company’s shareholders have drawn up tentative plans to commit tens of millions of pounds more to Getir in the coming weeks, even though its retrenchment poses a threat to thousands of jobs.
Sources close to the situation said major investors, which include Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi state-backed fund, Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global, were said to have agreed to the new financing plan in recent days.
This will add to the more than $2 billion Getir has already raised, making it one of the best-supported fast delivery platforms in the world.
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An announcement from Getir – which means “bring” in Turkish – is expected soon, bringing the curtain down on an ill-fated headlong expansion into Europe.
Its operations in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands are expected to close, and discussions are ongoing about the fate of its Fresh Direct arm in the US, which it acquired just a few months ago.
The restructuring will leave Getir as a company focused on the Turkish domestic market, with the company planning to focus primarily on its food delivery operations in that country.
Its new shareholder financing would cover the cost of exiting the three markets in Europe, as well as providing additional capital to invest in the Turkish business, according to insiders.
An announcement could be made this week, although people close to the company have warned that the exact timing has not yet been defined.
The valuation at which the new money is being injected was unclear Tuesday.
That’s it withdrawal from the UK will likely put around 1,500 jobs at risk, Sky News revealed last week.
Getir is among Tottenham Hotspur’s sponsors. Photo: Alex Morton/Tottenham Hotspur FC/Shutterstock
The company was valued at nearly $12 billion just a few years ago, amid growing demand for services provided by Getir and rivals such as GoPuff, DoorDash and Deliveroo.
Getir, who has a multi-million pound commercial partnership with Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, said he does not comment on “market rumours”.
It previously denied that any form of insolvency was foreseen for the group or its subsidiaries.
The company has reportedly hired restructuring consultants in recent days, while Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi fund that is one of its largest shareholders, is being advised by AlixPartners.
It has already withdrawn from several countries, including Italy and Spain, in an attempt to reduce losses.
Its decline highlights the drop in valuations of technology companies, once hailed as the new titans of food retail.
Founded in 2015, Getir was one of the hottest start-ups of the pandemic, as financiers rushed to invest billions of dollars in companies they believed would benefit from structural changes in the economy.
It raised more than $750 million in a funding round in early 2022, but has seen its valuation fall since then.
Last September, Getir also announced a sharp cut in the size of its workforce, cutting around 2,500 jobs, or around 10% of its global employee base.
Many of its rivals have already gone bankrupt, while others have been swallowed up as part of a desperate wave of consolidation.
Getir itself purchased Gorillas in a $1.2 billion stock-based deal that closed in December 2022.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
