Grocery delivery giant Getir in talks about radical restructuring
Getir, one of the world’s largest grocery delivery platforms, is in talks about a radical restructuring just two years after it was valued at nearly $12bn (£9.6bn).
Sky News has learnt that Getir, which was founded in Turkey and now operates in five markets including the UK, is examining a number of options as part of talks with its leading investors.
Sources said this weekend that this could involve a break-up of the rapid delivery group, an exit from a number of its remaining markets or some form of emergency restructuring mechanism.
A source close to the company denied 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”.
Another insider added that the next few days were “make or break” for the company, with key decisions about Getir’s future expected to be taken as early as the next fortnight.
A drastic restructuring could put thousands of jobs at risk across the markets in which it operates, although further details of the options under consideration were unclear this weekend.
AlixPartners, the restructuring firm, is understood to be advising on the situation at Getir.
The crisis talks highlight the slumping valuations of technology companies once-hailed as the new titans of major economies.
At one point, Getir was valued more highly by private investors than Marks & Spencer and J Sainsbury combined.
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Getir is backed by prominent investors including Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global.
The company was one of the hottest start-ups of the coronavirus pandemic, when financiers rushed to plough billions of dollars into businesses they believed would benefit from structural shifts in the economy.
Getir, which means “bring” in Turkish, was valued at $11.8bn (£9.5bn) when it raised more than $750m (£603m) in a funding round in early 2022.
By the autumn of last year, when it secured a further $500m (£401m) from existing backers, it was worth just $2.5bn (£2bn).
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In the last year, a string of “unicorn” companies have been forced to accept huge valuation discounts in order to secure the funding necessary to survive.
Last September, Getir also announced a sharp cut in the size of its workforce, axeing roughly 2,500 jobs, or about 10% of its global employee base.
It also pulled out of Italy, Portugal and Spain.
Founded in 2015, Getir was one of a crop of companies promising city-based consumers rapid delivery of groceries and other essential products.
During the COVID-19 crisis, the industry saw sales explode, with emerging trends such as working from home fuelling investor confidence that the boom was sustainable.
Many of its rivals have already gone bust, however, while others have been swallowed up as part of a desperate wave of consolidation.
Getir itself bought Gorillas in a $1.2bn stock-based deal that closed in December 2022.
“Our business is very agile and fast-paced,” a Getir spokeswoman said on Saturday.
“Getir principally doesn’t comment on rumours or on internal matters, however, whenever decisions have been made, we will announce them as we have done in the past.”
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The average two-year mortgage rate has fallen below 5% for the first time since the Liz Truss mini-budget.
The interest rate charged on a typical two-year fixed mortgage deal is now 4.99%, according to financial information company Moneyfacts.
It means there are more expensive and also cheaper two-year mortgage products on the market, but the average has fallen to a near three-year low.
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Not since September 2022 has the average been at this level, before former prime minister Liz Truss announced her so-called mini-budget.
The programme of unfunded spending and tax cuts, done without the commentary of independent watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility, led to a steep rise in the cost of government borrowing and necessitated an intervention by monetary regulator the Bank of England to prevent a collapse of pension funds.
It was also a key reason mortgage costs rose as high as they did – up to 6% for a typical two-year deal in the weeks after the mini-budget.
Why?
The mortgage borrowing rate dropped on Wednesday as the base interest rate – set by the Bank of England – was cut last week to 4%. The reduction made borrowing less expensive, as signs of a struggling economy were evident to the rate-setting central bankers and despite inflation forecast to rise further.
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Bank of England cuts interest rate
It’s that expectation of elevated price rises that has stopped mortgage rates from falling further. The Bank had raised interest rates and has kept them comparatively high as inflation is anticipated to rise faster due to poor harvests and increased employer costs, making goods more expensive.
The group behind the figures, Moneyfacts, said “While the cost of borrowing is still well above the rock-bottom rates of the years immediately preceding that fiscal event, this milestone shows lenders are competing more aggressively for business.”
In turn, mortgage providers are reluctant to offer cheaper products.
A further cut to the base interest rate is expected before the end of 2025, according to London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) data. Traders currently bet the rate will be brought to 3.75% in December.
This expectation can influence what rates lenders offer.
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