Getir in advanced talks to acquire Gorillas: sources

People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Turkish instant delivery startup Getir is in advanced talks to acquire rival Gorillas Technologies GmbH. People who said the proposed deal would be a mix of cash and equity said final decisions had not been made and negotiations may not result in a transaction.

Bloomberg reported that Berlin-based on-demand grocery delivery company Gorillas has been exploring options after investors became more cautious in the money-losing industry. Last year in October, Delivery Hero took a minority stake in the company, investing $234 million (€200 million). With this investment, Delivery Hero currently owns approximately 8% of Gorillas.  

After it was founded in 2020, Gorillas quickly attracted capital at the height of the Covid-19 lockdowns as delivery services surged in popularity. More recently, however, the company has had to cut staff and pull back from some of its markets after rapidly burning through capital by offering grocery delivery within minutes. 

Launched in 2015, Getir raised a 768 million Series E funding round at a decacorn valuation of $11.8 billion in March to expand its rapid delivery business.

The combination with Gorillas would give Getir, which is backed by Mubadala Investment Co. and Sequoia Capital, scale in key European markets including the UK and Germany. 

Getir and Gorillas officials declined to comment on the matter.