Getir acquires Gorillas… or does it?

This may be D-day for German quick commerce company Gorillas, as it prepares to sign an acquisition deal with Turkish Getir. However, it has just emerged that Gorillas might have a back-up plan available.

European expansion

Getir’s acquisition of its German counterpart Gorillas could be finalised later today, Business Insider reports. The Berlin-based start-up has entered some rough waters of late, and a recent capital raising round failed. As investors did not put up with the mounting losses any more, Gorillas has had to slim down: it quit Belgium and several other markets last June.

Getir, on the other hand, is on the rise and is growing quickly – in part thanks to a new partnership with Just Eat Takeaway in Europe. Still, even Getir’s market value is said to have plummeted from twelve to six billion euros. (By comparison: Gorillas fared even worse, dropping from three billion to under one billion).

Plan B

While everything is being prepared for the acquisition, Gorillas may still have a trump card in its sleeves: another candidate for a merger may be waiting in the background: delivery platform Delivery Hero. The German platform used to be a direct competitor to Gorillas, but then became an important investor in the Berlin-based company – currently owning almost a tenth of shares in the company.

The minority shareholder now appears to have put in a bid as well, backed by G Squared. Should the deal with Getir still collapse, the flash delivery company will still have an alternative at hand – even if the chances are very slim.