Getir reportedly explores asset disposals
fast-delivery startup Getir is reportedly considering divesting the FreshDirect and BiTaksi applications within the scope of restructuring negotiations, according to Sky News yesterday.
According to the Sky News report, Getir, which was founded in Türkiye and has many assets in the United Kingdom, is said to be evaluating possible sales, including the U.S.-based online grocery application FreshDirect, which it acquired late last year.
The company, one of the top sponsors of London’s football team Tottenham Hotspur, is also said to be considering the sale of BiTaksi, a ride-hailing service in Türkiye at the same time, according to the report.
The sources said that Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi state-backed investor who is a minority shareholder in Getir, was keen for it to pursue a string of asset sales.
Founded in 2015 in Istanbul, Getir offers restaurant courier services and on-demand grocery deliveries via a mobile app.
News of the potential moves comes days after Sky News revealed that Getir was in talks about restructuring some two years after it was valued at nearly $12 billion (TL 390.06 billion).
Rising through the app that is known to deliver service “within minutes,” Getir is one of Türkiye’s earliest unicorns, a term used to describe startups that pass the $1 billion mark.
The company has already last year pulled out of several markets, including Italy and Spain but keeps operating in five countries, including Türkiye, the U.K., the U.S., Germany and the Netherlands.
A source close to the company denied at the weekend that any form of insolvency process was under consideration, saying that if it decided to exit a country it would do so “in an orderly fashion,” the Sky News report said. It also quoted the spokesperson as saying yesterday that “Getir principally doesn’t comment on rumors.”
Getir, which means “bring” in Turkish, was valued at $11.8 billion when it raised more than $750 million in a funding round in early 2022.
Late in 2022, it also acquired German Gorillas in a $1.2 billion stock-based deal.
Ultra-fast delivery services multiplied during the COVID-19 pandemic, boosted by demand from shoppers stuck at home, but a stronger-thanexpected return to physical stores has bruised performance for online-only retailers.