Turkish grocery delivery startup Getir in talks to acquire German rival Flink

Turkish delivery app startup Getir is in talks to take over money-losing German rival Flink, the Financial Times reported on Monday. The move comes as consolidation continues to gain momentum in one of Europe’s food delivery sector most thriving sectors during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, there is no guarantee that an agreement has been reached, however, Financial Times said, citing people familiar with the ongoing talks. Getir and Flink declined to comment.

The news of the potential acquisition comes just five months after Getir acquired another German rival Gorillas and its 10,000 employees in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $1.2 billion.

Flink has emerged as one of the few remaining independent players in Europe’s grocery delivery market amid a recent trend of consolidation driven by investor caution towards capital-intensive businesses and the looming possibility of a recession.

Founded in Berlin in 2020, Flink has set a target to achieve profitability in its core German operations by the end of 2023, following a projected sales target of €400mn in 2022. The company has also expressed its intent to attain profitability across all its subsidiaries, including those launched in France and the Netherlands last year, by the fourth quarter of 2024.

Mubadala Investment Company, a sovereign wealth fund based in Abu Dhabi, is a common investor in both Getir and Flink.

Food delivery startups are going through a challenging period due to the looming recession and geopolitical risks. Many of these startups have sustained heavy financial losses, causing investors to reevaluate their positions in companies most exposed to the results of tighter government monetary policy and a rising cost of living.

We covered Gorillas late last year after the startup Delivery Hero led a $1 billion investment in the company, with Tencent, Coatue, DST, and Dragoneer joining the funding round. But the startup ran into trouble earlier this year, causing it to lay off hundreds of its employees. The company also existed a couple of markets that generate less revenue including Italy and Belgium.

Gorillas was founded in May 2020 by Jörg Kattner, Kağan Sümer, and Ronny Shibley. The company aggregates supermarket product ranges, which it later delivered to consumers within 10 minutes of ordering.

We covered Getir back in June 2021 when the 7-year-old startup raised $550 million in funding at a $7.5 billion valuation. Getir was last valued at $11.8 billion. Getir currently operates in nine countries including Turkey, the U.S., U.K., Germany, and France, while Gorillas operates in Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, France, Denmark, and the United States.

Founded in 2015 by Nazim Salur, Serkan Borancili, Tuncay Tutek, Dogan Dalyan, and Mert Salur, Getir combines urban logistics and mobile technology to provide instant delivery of goods in urban areas. Its application enables its users to order a range of products and pay for them through their credit cards. Once purchased, the goods are later delivered to the users. The application also features live tracking, which enables its users to track the location of their orders.