“We Ran Out of Days”: How the Glovo–Zakaz.ua Deal Fell Through
The full-scale war was the reason why one of the potentially biggest and most interesting deals in Ukraine’s tech market collapsed in 2022. The story centers on the planned acquisition of the Ukrainian grocery delivery service Zakaz.ua by the Spanish company Glovo.
I first reported on the possible deal back in November 2021. Our editorial team learned from its own sources that Glovo was in talks to fully buy out Zakaz.ua. For Glovo, it would mean a fast track to expand its reach in the local market; for Zakaz.ua’s investors and team, it was a clear exit opportunity.
By January 2022, I wrote that the two sides had shaken hands and agreed on the acquisition. There were even specifics:
- Some shareholders would get cash.
- Others would receive 80% in Glovo shares and 20% in cash.
Meanwhile, journalists started getting invitations to a Glovo event with the company’s founders. The details were under wraps, but it was obvious that Glovo planned to announce the deal and sign the final papers.
Then the full-scale war broke out, and the signing never happened.
Yevgen Netreba, Zakaz.ua’s commercial director, confirmed this on the podcast «Закрив раунд» (Closed Round). According to him, the companies simply ran out of time to finalize all the paperwork. «Today, no one can say whether we were short of weeks, days, or maybe even hours,» Netreba said. Chernovetskyi Investment Group remains the company’s main shareholder.
The Deal That Wasn’t
The logic behind the deal was solid. Glovo was already the leader in restaurant delivery and was ramping up its Q-commerce segment — delivering from dark stores — along with regular store deliveries. Zakaz.ua was, and still is, the key player in delivering groceries from large supermarket chains. A merger would have instantly made Glovo the undisputed leader in this niche, too.
For Chernovetskyi Investment Group, it would have meant a successful exit from an asset that was never easy to scale. There haven’t been many major deals in Ukrainian FoodTech, so this one would have stood out.
No official valuation was ever made public. The biggest skeptics pegged the deal at around $20 million, and the optimists believed it could reach $80 million. Most investors I spoke with back then expected a figure closer to $50 million. In 2020, according to my sources, Zakaz.ua raised funding at a valuation of around $40 million.
“We Ran Out of Days”: How the Glovo–Zakaz.ua Deal Fell Through
The full-scale war was the reason why one of the potentially biggest and most interesting deals in Ukraine’s tech market collapsed in 2022. The story centers on the planned acquisition of the Ukrainian grocery delivery service Zakaz.ua by the Spanish company Glovo.
I first reported on the possible deal back in November 2021. Our editorial team learned from its own sources that Glovo was in talks to fully buy out Zakaz.ua. For Glovo, it would mean a fast track to expand its reach in the local market; for Zakaz.ua’s investors and team, it was a clear exit opportunity.
By January 2022, I wrote that the two sides had shaken hands and agreed on the acquisition. There were even specifics:
- Some shareholders would get cash.
- Others would receive 80% in Glovo shares and 20% in cash.
Meanwhile, journalists started getting invitations to a Glovo event with the company’s founders. The details were under wraps, but it was obvious that Glovo planned to announce the deal and sign the final papers.
Then the full-scale war broke out, and the signing never happened.
Yevgen Netreba, Zakaz.ua’s commercial director, confirmed this on the podcast «Закрив раунд» (Closed Round). According to him, the companies simply ran out of time to finalize all the paperwork. «Today, no one can say whether we were short of weeks, days, or maybe even hours,» Netreba said. Chernovetskyi Investment Group remains the company’s main shareholder.
The Deal That Wasn’t
The logic behind the deal was solid. Glovo was already the leader in restaurant delivery and was ramping up its Q-commerce segment — delivering from dark stores — along with regular store deliveries. Zakaz.ua was, and still is, the key player in delivering groceries from large supermarket chains. A merger would have instantly made Glovo the undisputed leader in this niche, too.
For Chernovetskyi Investment Group, it would have meant a successful exit from an asset that was never easy to scale. There haven’t been many major deals in Ukrainian FoodTech, so this one would have stood out.
No official valuation was ever made public. The biggest skeptics pegged the deal at around $20 million, and the optimists believed it could reach $80 million. Most investors I spoke with back then expected a figure closer to $50 million. In 2020, according to my sources, Zakaz.ua raised funding at a valuation of around $40 million.
