Getir, the grocery delivery app once valued at almost $12 billion (£9.7 billion), is close to closing its operations in Britain, in a move that would raise concerns about more than 1,000 jobs.
Sky News learned that Getir is preparing to announce next week that it will withdraw from the three remaining European markets where it operates: the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands.
In total, thousands of jobs will be at risk, including approximately 1,500 in the United Kingdom, according to people close to the situation.
The process by which Getir, who has a multi-million pound commercial partnership with Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, plans to leave the UK was unclear on Friday.
Insiders said this could involve the sale of its assets or an insolvency process, although they added that no decision has been made.
Getir previously denied that any form of insolvency was anticipated 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.
Getir’s plans to exit the UK and other markets will leave the company with operations only in the US and Turkey.
Ultimately, it is expected to seek to operate exclusively in Türkiye, where it was founded.
Meaning ‘to bring’ in Turkish, Getir has expanded at breakneck speed to become one of the most valuable fast delivery platforms in the world.
Earlier this week, Sky News reported that the company was mulling a series of asset sales, including FreshDirect, a US-based online grocer that it only acquired late last year as part of efforts to repair its balance.
Getir was valued at almost $12 billion (£9.7 billion) just two years ago and has been looking to acquire a number of rivals facing financial problems.
The company has already withdrawn from several countries, including Italy and Spain, in an attempt to reduce losses.
Its retreat highlights the drop in valuations of technology companies, once hailed as the new titans of major economies.
In addition to Mubadala, Getir is backed by leading technology investors including Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global.
The company was one of the most dynamic start-ups of the pandemic, as financiers rushed to invest billions of dollars in businesses 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.
Founded in 2015, Getir was one of a series of companies that promised urban consumers fast delivery of groceries and other essentials.
During the COVID crisis, the industry saw sales explode, with emerging trends such as working from home fueling investor confidence that the boom was sustainable.
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.
“Getir primarily does not comment on rumors,” a spokeswoman said on Friday.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
