breaking / Acquisitions

🚨 DoorDash Just Agreed to Buy Instacart for $17 Billion

DoorDash will buy Instacart for about $17 billion, or $65 a share in mostly cash, a 26% premium. Closing is expected by end-2027 or H1 2028.

By Tech Arcade··2 min read

DoorDash Just Agreed to Buy Instacart for $17 Billion — Tech Arcade
Photo: Maria Lin Kim / Unsplash

DoorDash is buying Instacart for about $17 billion, paying $65 a share in a mostly-cash deal announced Thursday morning (DoorDash).

That price is a 26% premium to Instacart’s close on October 22, the last trading day before reports of the talks leaked. Instacart’s board voted for it unanimously.

If regulators sign off, the app you use for burritos and the app you use for bananas end up under one roof.

⚡ What Happened

  • The terms: at least 75% cash, with stock capped at 25% of the total. Each Instacart share can be swapped for $65 in cash, 0.3372 DoorDash shares, or a mix (DoorDash).
  • The money: cash on hand plus debt, backed by a JPMorgan bridge loan. There is no financing condition.
  • The votes: holders of about 19% of Instacart’s shares have already agreed to back the deal.
  • The timeline: this is slow. DoorDash expects it to close at the end of 2027 or in the first half of 2028.
  • The market: DoorDash shares jumped more than 9% in premarket trading on the deal and an earnings beat (NBC News/CNBC). Instacart sat flat around $58.50, well below the offer price (Reuters).

🧠 Why It Matters

DoorDash already handles about two-thirds of US food-delivery volume, according to Bloomberg data from 2024 (NBC News/CNBC). Instacart is the biggest name in online grocery, working with more than 2,200 retail banners and nearly 100,000 stores.

Put them together and you get one company sitting between a huge share of American shoppers and the shops they buy from. That is the pitch to investors and the worry for regulators.

DoorDash says it will keep the Instacart brand and app, and fold DashPass and Instacart+ into a single membership. It puts the saving for customers at roughly $100 million a year in fees. It has also promised local grocers they can keep using any delivery platform they like.

“It’s still early innings, but we know that when more people shop local, more dollars stay local.” — Tony Xu, co-founder and CEO of DoorDash

🔜 What To Watch

  • Antitrust review. The deal needs US clearance under the HSR Act, plus approvals in Canada and Israel. New York City’s consumer and worker protection agency has already called the tie-up part of a “troubling trend” of consolidation (Reuters).
  • Your fees. One membership sounds cheaper. Whether delivery prices go up with less competition is the question shoppers will care about.
  • Amazon, Walmart and Uber. All three sell grocery delivery. Expect a response.

Details on job cuts or leadership after closing have not been announced.

Sources

❓ Quick answers

How much is DoorDash paying for Instacart?

About $17 billion, or $65 per share in at least 75% cash, a 26% premium to Instacart's October 22, 2026 close, per DoorDash's October 29 announcement.

When will the DoorDash-Instacart deal close?

DoorDash expects closing at the end of 2027 or in the first half of 2028, subject to Instacart shareholder approval and US, Canadian and Israeli regulatory approvals.

Will the Instacart app go away?

No. DoorDash says it expects to keep the Instacart brand, app and enterprise technology, and to combine DashPass and Instacart+ into one membership.