Turkish grocery delivery app, Getir, has recently announced its plans to exit the UK market. However, it has now come to light that the company owes millions of pounds to Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. According to sources, Getir’s three-year training kit sponsorship deal with the club expired at the end of the Premier League season on Sunday, leaving an outstanding debt of close to £5m.
This news comes as Getir is trying to secure funding from major investors, Mubadala and G Squared, to facilitate its withdrawal from the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands. It is uncertain at this time whether the company has the means to settle its financial obligations to Spurs.
Getir, which means “to bring” in Turkish, was once valued at almost £10bn. However, its deteriorating finances have forced the company to retrench back to its home market, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs. The company’s exit from the UK has put approximately 1,500 jobs at risk, as reported by Sky News earlier this month.
During the pandemic, companies like Getir saw significant success and attracted funding at astronomical valuations. However, the decline of Getir highlights the decreasing valuations of technology companies that were once hailed as the new titans of food retailing. Many of its competitors have already gone bankrupt, while others have been acquired in a desperate wave of consolidation.
In 2022, Getir acquired Gorillas in a $1.2bn stock-based deal. Both Getir and Tottenham Hotspur have declined to comment on the outstanding debt.
