Uber (UBER, Financial) may be plotting its next delivery land grab—this time in Turkey. The company is reportedly in talks to acquire Trendyol Go, the food and grocery delivery arm of e-commerce heavyweight Trendyol Group, which is majority-owned by Alibaba. Details of the potential deal are still under wraps, and there's no guarantee it'll cross the finish line. But if it does, Uber would gain access to a fast-growing logistics platform in a key emerging market—one where it already has a complicated history.
This isn't Uber's first time using M&A to bulk up its delivery business. It scooped up Postmates in 2020 and alcohol delivery app Drizly in 2021. But it hasn't always gone smoothly. Just last month, Uber walked away from its deal to buy Delivery Hero's Foodpanda unit in Taiwan after hitting regulatory walls. That exit came with a $250 million breakup fee—an expensive reminder that not all expansion bets pay off.
Still, Turkey might be worth the risk. Uber was banned from Istanbul back in 2019 over competition concerns, only to stage a comeback in 2021 by partnering with licensed taxis. A successful Trendyol Go acquisition could mark a strategic return—not just to ride-sharing, but to dominating the Turkish on-demand economy.
