(Bloomberg) -- Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co. is poised to take sole control of Turkish grocery delivery startup Getir Perakende Lojistik AS after a power struggle that followed the startup’s decline following Covid-19-era lockdowns.
Mubadala formally applied to take full control of the startup’s grocery and food delivery businesses this week, according to a statement published by Turkish antitrust regulators on Friday. Representatives for Getir and Mubadala didn’t comment.
The Abu Dhabi wealth fund had already taken a controlling stake in a fundraising round in June, that saw founder Nazım Salur step aside from his role as chief executive officer. Getir’s founding team had previously clashed with investors over the company’s strategy and costs, people familiar with the matter said previously.
Under the agreement in June, Salur and his co-founders retained minority stakes and board seats. Getir’s founders will have majority ownership of its e-commerce and mobility businesses.
Getir, founded in 2015, became a pandemic success story by offering ultra-fast grocery deliveries, often within 10 minutes, via bicycle and motorbike couriers. In 2022, Mubadala led a funding round that valued Getir at $11.8 billion. However, the company valuation rapidly dropped to $2.5 billion in a subsequent round, according to a report in the Financial Times last year.
Getir struggled with cash burn and withdrew from key markets, including the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and the US earlier this year. The company is refocusing on its home market, Turkey, where its financial performance is stronger.
“We have been the only investor to consistently support Getir over the last three rounds, providing over 80% of the capital that has gone into the company since 2021,” a Mubadala spokesperson told Bloomberg last month. “Without Mubadala’s partnership, Getir would not exist today.”
(Updates starting in second paragraph through fourth on breakdown of businesses.)
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