Mutares receives an irrevocable offer from Quiver for last-mile delivery platform Stuart
The Munich-based investor bought Stuart from Geopost in 2023 and now plans to sell a much leaner business. The deal is not yet signed off: closing is expected in the fourth quarter, after employee representatives have been informed.
Mutares, the Munich-based investor that specialises in companies in special situations, has received an irrevocable offer from Quiver to acquire Stuart, the urban and last-mile delivery platform, together with its parent SRT Group SAS and its subsidiaries. Mutares announced the offer in a press release on 26 October 2026.
Closing is expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to the information of employee representatives. No price was disclosed.
What was announced
An irrevocable offer is a binding commitment from the buyer, not a completed sale. Mutares says the closing still depends on employee representatives being informed.
Stuart connects businesses with a network of independent couriers for fast deliveries across industries, and runs its own technology platform to match customers with couriers, according to Mutares. The company is headquartered in France, also operates in the UK and Poland, and has a technology competence centre in Spain. It employs around 70 people and generates revenues of about €50 million.
Mutares did not give details about Quiver, its owners or how the deal will be financed. Finwire, via MarketScreener, also reported that the purchase price was not disclosed.
A much smaller company than in 2023
Mutares bought SRT Group from Geopost SA in a deal it completed on 30 November 2023. At that time, both Mutares and Geopost described Stuart as a European leader in urban on-demand delivery, especially for food and groceries, operating in more than 100 major European cities with revenues of over €400 million in 2022. Geopost said it had been an investor from the start, during a collaboration of almost a decade, and that the sale was approved by the board of La Poste Groupe.
Today's figures describe a far smaller business. Since 2023, Mutares says, Stuart has broadened its client base to depend less on a small number of large accounts, invested in its own technology to protect margins, and targeted new clients while streamlining processes, which "strongly" improved its cost per order.
"Together with the management team, we have successfully diversified the customer base, strengthened operational and technological capabilities, and significantly improved the company's cost structure through targeted efficiency measures," said Johannes Laumann, CIO of Mutares, in the announcement. He added that Mutares is "confident that Quiver is the right partner to support Stuart in its next chapter".
Why Mutares is selling
Mutares says the sale fits its strategy of stabilising and repositioning portfolio companies before selling them to buyers that can support their long-term development. It also says the exit reduces its exposure to the Retail segment.
Private Equity International and Dealroom News also reported the planned exit.
What it means for European founders and investors
Stuart's path is a useful case study for anyone building in quick commerce and on-demand delivery. In 2022 the business was reporting more than €400 million in revenue under a corporate parent. Four years later, after a change of owner and a turnaround programme, it is a roughly €50 million company with about 70 staff, focused on a more diverse customer base and on cost per order. Mutares has not broken down how much of that change came from lost volumes, exits from markets or changes in how revenue is counted.
For founders, the lesson is about concentration risk. Mutares itself names dependence on a small number of large accounts as a problem it set out to fix. Delivery platforms that rely on one or two big restaurant, grocery or marketplace partners can see revenue move sharply when those partners change strategy.
For investors, the deal shows that turnaround and special-situations funds are active buyers and sellers in European logistics tech, and that exits can come through sales to sector players rather than IPOs. We have seen similar sponsor-led deals in recent days, from Sunday PropTech's agreement to buy Fletcher Hotels to AmTrust's purchase of Wakam.
The next milestone is the employee consultation in France and the closing that Mutares expects before the end of the year.
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