(Feb 9): Uber Technologies Inc has agreed to buy Turkish company Getir’s delivery operations from its controlling shareholder Mubadala Investment Co in a deal that will bolster the US company’s position in the Middle East.
The deal spans Getir’s entire delivery portfolio, including food, grocery, retail and water, Uber said in a statement on Monday. Uber will acquire the food delivery portion of the business for US$335 million in cash, the company said in a regulatory filing. It will also take a 15% stake in the remaining grocery, retail and water delivery portfolio for US$100 million, and plans to buy the rest in the “next few years” if it meets certain performance milestones, it said.
The deal solidifies Uber’s ambitions to expand in a populous country with a growing middle class. Uber agreed to buy a US$700 million stake in another Turkish delivery app, Trendyol Go, last May. It’s snapping up Getir relatively cheaply — the delivery and commerce business was once valued at US$11.8 billion at its peak, but withdrew from international markets last year after investor pressure to cut costs. It was later valued at US$2.5 billion.
Bloomberg reported in November that Uber was in talks to acquire Getir’s delivery business in a deal that could value the unit as high as US$1 billion.
Uber will make Getir’s offerings available through the Trendyol Go app, according to Monday’s statement.
“With a thriving digital economy and a dynamic consumer base, Uber is committed to investing in Türkiye for the long term,” said Uber chief executive officer Dara Khosrowshahi in the statement.
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Mubadala backed Getir during a period of rapid expansion for the delivery startup in the pandemic, eventually taking control of the business after relations soured with the founders. The Abu Dhabi fund is exploring options for Getir’s various units, and sold Getir Arac, a car-rental division, to rival hire firm TikTak in October. It is fundraising for Getir’s finance business and is looking to expand the business, a spokesperson for Mubadala confirmed.
Türkiye “remains a highly attractive market for Mubadala,” said Mubadala deputy group CEO Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi.
Getir was founded in Istanbul in 2015, born out of co-founder Nazim Salur’s conviction that consumers wanted groceries delivered in 10 minutes or less, and his earlier experiences running local Uber clone BiTaksi. Customers could order convenience store goods via an app, which would be delivered by a courier. Getir and its competitors relied on local, urban warehouses or “dark stores” to fulfill orders at speed.
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The rapid-delivery sector boomed during the pandemic, as consumers obeyed stay-at-home orders and did the bulk of their shopping online. Getir and its rivals raised vast troves of funding to fund international expansion and big discounts. But as pandemic restrictions eased, consumer habits changed and interest rates rose. Getir and its competitors such as GoPuff in the US and Zapp in the UK have cut staff and retreated from markets.
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