With the takeover, Getir is expanding its business primarily in Germany and Great Britain.
(Foto: Bloomberg)
Berlin, Frankfurt After tough and protracted negotiations, the Turkish fast delivery service pioneer Getir takes over the Berlin competitor Gorillas and thus significantly expands its foothold in Germany, Great Britain and New York. The deal shows that Getir is driving consolidation in the sector, the Istanbul-based company said on Friday.
This is the first mega takeover in the industry, which is still very young in Germany and was only launched during the corona pandemic with billions of euros in venture capital.
Getir did not provide any information on the purchase price or the company valuation. According to financial sources, Gorillas should be valued at $940 million in the deal. Accordingly, the merged company would be worth seven billion dollars. In their most recent funding rounds, Gorillas and Getir combined were worth twice as much.
Gorillas was also one of the few European start-ups that was able to achieve unicorn status just months after it was founded, i.e. was valued by investors at more than one billion dollars.
Tagus Top-Jobs
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
Together they have raised more than $3 billion in venture capital to date. “The unicorn ratings of Getir and Gorillas were primarily due to too cheap investor money, storytelling and, above all, the fear of missing out on something,” says e-commerce expert Matthias Schuh.
Neither Gorillas nor Flink are profitable yet
The crash in the valuation also reflects the changed view of the lenders on the companies. The business model of Getir and Gorillas consists of bringing groceries to the front door by bicycle courier in the shortest possible time. So far, none of the providers, including Flink in Germany, has shown that it can be profitable.
After the delivery boom in the corona crisis, the providers are now being hit by the increased food prices and the economic crisis. Added to this are the high logistics and personnel costs, which can hardly be changed. Just this week, Flink pulled the rip cord in Austria and filed for bankruptcy for the subsidiary there.
It could now be even more difficult for the gorillas competitor: “Flink is faced with an increasingly powerful competitor as a result of the takeover and slips more into the role of David fighting Goliath,” says Schuh, who works as a lecturer for e-commerce and Handel works at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Flink is only active in Germany, France and the Netherlands, where the company now meets the combined power of Getir and Gorillas.
With the merger of Getir and Gorillas, competition will be even tougher for rivals like Flink.
(Photo: Reuters)
According to financial circles, as part of the Gorillas takeover, the owners of the Berlin company around founder Kagan Sümer will receive new Getir shares worth 840 million dollars – 40 million of which will go to the management.
Overall, the Gorillas owners will receive a 12 percent stake in Getir and an additional cash payment of $100 million. However, the latter should be gone again immediately: According to the insiders, a large part of this money is needed for the repayment of the 50 million euro bridging loan, the transaction costs and a payment to the Gorillas management of ten million euros.
>> Read also: Norway’s online supermarket starts in Germany – and wants to become a discounter for food delivery services
A sum of millions ends up with the founder Sümer, who built the company from scratch in early 2020. However, he is also associated with problems with the works council, disgruntled residents and poor working conditions. According to insiders, the boss will now turn his back on the company.
Merged company wants fresh cash
It is currently being discussed that the merged company will receive fresh money from the investor Mubadala, the sovereign wealth fund from Abu Dhabi. Then the valuation could rise to ten billion dollars. Mubadala also has a stake in Flink.
In Getir’s press release on the purchase of the gorillas, no information was given as to whether employees – as assumed by many – would have to leave the company. Both companies have laid off hundreds of employees this year. In many places there should now be overlaps. Getir also operates in Germany, Great Britain and the USA.
Gorillas’ investors include food delivery service Delivery Hero, Chinese e-commerce giant Tencent, well-known Fonds Coatue and DST Global. Early investors were Atlantic Food Labs from Berlin and David Nothacker, head of the logistics specialist Sennder. He is satisfied with the takeover: “It’s a good deal for gorillas, the industry and also for me as an angel investor.”
Collaboration: Florian Kolf
More: Will these 36 billion German start-ups get through the crisis?