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DoorDash Inc. and Maplebear Inc. recently announced a definitive agreement under which DoorDash will acquire Instacart for a total value of $65.00 for each Instacart share, or an equity value of approximately $17 billion. The aggregate transaction consideration will be at least 75% cash, with Instacart stockholders able to elect cash, DoorDash stock or a combination of both, subject to proration so that DoorDash stock does not exceed 25% of the aggregate consideration. Instacart’s board of directors has unanimously approved the agreement.
DoorDash and Instacart share a mission to help local businesses succeed. Families turn to Instacart for the big weekly shop and to DoorDash for meals and nearly anything else they need from their neighborhood in under an hour. The combined company will offer grocers and retailers of every size DoorDash’s delivery network and Instacart’s grocery and fulfillment technology, in both apps and on stores’ own websites, along with the advertising and AI tools each company has built. On either app, customers pick a store in their own community, and the store makes the sale. Consumers will have more stores to choose from, more savings opportunities when they choose to shop with a local business and faster delivery options, while shoppers will have more ways to earn.
Most grocery shopping still happens in stores, but more people are buying groceries and everyday goods online. They expect fast, affordable delivery and an easy way to order. The biggest online retailers and grocers are racing ahead, building their own delivery fleets, warehouses, membership programs and AI shopping assistants. A grocer or retailer running on thin margins cannot build all of that alone, and with AI, the playing field risks being tilted even further away from local commerce.
“Grocery is one of the hardest things to get right online. Someone has to pick a ripe avocado, find a substitute you’d choose yourself and get the ice cream to you before it melts,” says Tony Xu, co-founder and CEO of DoorDash. “Instacart has spent years learning to do that well for grocers, while DoorDash has built a delivery network and technology that local stores rely on every day. Together, we could give stores of every size more of those tools and unlock the potential of grocery delivery. It’s still early innings, but we know that when more people shop local, more dollars stay local.”
DoorDash expects many benefits will flow from the transaction, including the ability of Instacart customers to shop at more than 50,000 additional stores, on top of the nearly 100,000 stores on the Instacart platform today and DashPass and Instacart+ members paying one membership fee instead of two, which would save them an estimated $100 million per year on membership fees alone.
DoorDash also shared a few of the post-close commitments it is making today that demonstrate how this deal benefits local communities including allowing local grocers to work with any delivery platform they choose to help them grow. Additionally, Instacart Shoppers can keep the features they want and choose whether to take on DoorDash orders or keep shopping only on Instacart.
“Over the last 14 years, Instacart has transformed online grocery by helping retailers of all sizes compete and grow, and joining forces with DoorDash allows us to do even more,” says Chris Rogers, CEO of Instacart. “When our purpose-built grocery technology and trusted retailer and brand relationships are combined with DoorDash’s global consumer reach and logistics capabilities, we can create new opportunities for our retail and brand partners, offer an even better experience for customers and shoppers and deliver compelling value for our shareholders. Together, we can accelerate innovation across the grocery industry and make online grocery more seamless and affordable for the millions of households we serve.”
Following closing, DoorDash is expected to keep Instacart’s brand, enterprise technology products and app. Until the transaction closes, DoorDash and Instacart will continue to operate as separate and independent companies. The transaction is expected to close in the end of 2027 or the first half of 2028, subject to approval by Instacart stockholders, the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, other regulatory approvals, including in Canada and Israel, and other customary closing conditions. Stockholders holding about 19% of Instacart’s outstanding shares have agreed to vote in favor of the transaction.
