What did DoorDash agree to buy?
DoorDash said on 29 October 2026 that it will buy Instacart's parent company, Maplebear Inc., for $65.00 a share. That values Instacart's equity at roughly $17 billion. It pairs the largest US restaurant delivery platform with a grocery marketplace that reaches nearly 100,000 stores.
DoorDash will pay at least 75% of the price in cash. Instacart shareholders can elect $65.00 in cash, 0.3372 DoorDash shares, or $48.75 in cash plus 0.0843 of a DoorDash share. Stock can make up no more than 25% of the total, with proration if too many investors choose it.
Instacart's board approved the agreement unanimously. Investors holding about 19% of its shares have already agreed to vote in favor. The $65 price is 26% above Instacart's 22 October close, the last trading day before reports of a possible sale. It is about 11% above the 28 October close.
The companies expect to close at the end of 2027 or in the first half of 2028. That timetable leaves room for an Instacart shareholder vote and antitrust review in the United States, plus approvals in Canada and Israel.
DoorDash will fund the cash portion with its own cash and new debt. JPMorgan Chase has committed a 364-day bridge loan, and DoorDash says it is targeting a capital structure that keeps an investment-grade rating. The agreement is not conditional on financing.
Instacart's brand, app and enterprise software business would survive the deal. Until closing, the two companies will keep operating separately and competing as they do today.
Why is DoorDash buying Instacart now?
DoorDash has delivered groceries since 2020, but restaurants still define the business. Grocery is a harder product: produce spoils, orders need substitutions, and margins are thin. DoorDash told investors that consumers "are still asked to pay a premium for imperfect delivery".
"Grocery is one of the hardest things to get right online," chief executive Tony Xu said in the announcement. He argued that Instacart has spent years learning how to pick and deliver for grocers. He said DoorDash built "a delivery network and technology that local stores rely on every day".
The strategic logic is scale. Instacart brings nearly 100,000 stores across about 2,200 retail banners, plus enterprise software that runs grocers' own websites and an advertising business. DoorDash brings the delivery fleet, DashPass membership and a marketplace that now sells far more than food.
Both companies face larger rivals in online grocery. Wedbush estimates that Walmart holds about 30.9% of the US online grocery market and Amazon about 23.6%. Both are pushing faster same-day and next-day delivery, and both can spend more on technology than a regional grocer.
DoorDash frames the deal as a defense for local retailers. It says grocers running on thin margins cannot build their own fleets, warehouses, memberships and AI shopping assistants alone. It adds that "with AI, the playing field risks being tilted even further away from local commerce".
Instacart's own momentum has cooled. Its share of US delivery platform spending fell from 26% five years ago to 18%. That figure comes from Consumer Edge data cited by the Associated Press. Orders grew 9% in the second quarter of 2026, well below DoorDash's pace.
Instacart had been exploring a sale and held talks with Uber as well as DoorDash. Reuters reported on 26 October that Instacart's deal talks with Uber were no longer active. DoorDash, meanwhile, has been buying growth abroad, including Deliveroo for $3.9 billion in a deal announced in May 2025.
How big are the two businesses?
DoorDash published its third-quarter results on the same morning as the deal. It reported 993 million orders, up 28% from a year earlier, and marketplace gross order value of $33.9 billion, up 36%. Revenue rose 34% to $4.62 billion.
Consumer Edge data cited by CBS News put DoorDash at nearly 61% of US food delivery market share. The figure covered the end of 2024. Uber Eats held about 26% and Grubhub about 6%, which makes DoorDash the largest restaurant delivery platform in the country.
Profitability improved faster than sales. GAAP net income attributable to common stockholders rose 91% to $466 million, and adjusted EBITDA climbed 41% to $1.06 billion. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.06 beat the 84 cents analysts expected, according to LSEG data cited by CNBC.
Some of that growth came from Deliveroo. Excluding the acquisition, orders rose 17%, marketplace gross order value rose 23% and revenue rose 23%. For the fourth quarter, DoorDash guides to gross order value of $35.4 billion to $36.4 billion. It expects adjusted EBITDA of $900 million to $1.1 billion.
Instacart last reported in August, for the second quarter of 2026. Gross transaction value reached $10.35 billion, up 14%, on 90.3 million orders, up 9%. Revenue rose 14% to $1.04 billion, including $297 million of advertising and other revenue, up 16%.
Instacart remains solidly profitable. It reported net income of $111 million, down 4% from a year earlier, and adjusted EBITDA of $313 million. Free cash flow reached $480 million, and the quarter ended with $1 billion in cash and similar assets. It also bought back $325 million of stock in the quarter.
The scale gap is wide. Comparing DoorDash's third quarter with Instacart's second, DoorDash's revenue is more than four times Instacart's. Its marketplace also handles more than three times Instacart's gross transaction value. DoorDash operates in 40 countries with a network of 9 million independent delivery workers. Instacart works with about 600,000 independent shoppers who completed 338 million orders in 2025.
On the eve of the deal, the Associated Press put Instacart's market value at about $14 billion. It put DoorDash's at about $73 billion. The offer is therefore a large bet for DoorDash, even though it is paying mostly in cash.
The two companies also earn very different amounts per dollar of goods sold. Instacart's revenue equalled 10.1% of its gross transaction value in the second quarter, reflecting commissions, advertising and software fees. DoorDash's net revenue margin was 13.6% in the third quarter.
Will regulators block the DoorDash–Instacart deal?
The agreement cannot close until the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act expires or is terminated. The companies also need approvals in Canada and Israel, and they have not said which US agency will review the transaction.
Analysts expect close scrutiny because the two companies overlap in online grocery and delivery. A Wedbush research note noted that third-party delivery platforms remain a minority of total grocery consumption. But it warned that a narrower view of the market could complicate approval. The note pointed to "slicing and dicing the online market more narrowly or from a perspective of the grocers as enterprise customers". It said that approach "can make approvals more challenging".
That distinction is the crux. Instacart sells software and advertising to grocers as well as running a consumer marketplace. Regulators might treat those enterprise relationships as a separate market. If so, the deal could look more concentrated than a simple share of grocery spending suggests.
The closing window is long. The deal is scheduled for late 2027 or early 2028. The gap gives regulators time to issue a second request for documents, negotiate remedies or sue to block the deal. It also means neither side is working against a deadline in the near term.
Politics also matters. Reuters noted that the delivery industry is already grappling with rising labor costs and tighter regulation of delivery workers. A merger that combines two large pools of independent contractors is likely to draw attention. Regulators and lawmakers who follow gig work will be watching.
The shareholder vote is a separate hurdle. The 19% committed in favor is helpful, but it does not decide the vote on its own. Some Instacart investors may still vote against the deal if they think the price is too low.
Instacart went public in September 2023 at $30 a share. The offer is more than double that IPO price. Instacart's stock was up about 25% for the year so far, according to TechCrunch. That suggests investors had already priced in a recovery.
What changes for customers, shoppers and grocers?
DoorDash promises more choice. It says Instacart customers could shop at more than 50,000 additional stores on top of the nearly 100,000 already on Instacart's platform. It also says DashPass and Instacart+ members would pay one membership fee instead of two. DoorDash estimates the change would save members $100 million a year.
For workers, the commitments are narrower. Instacart shoppers would keep the flexibility to choose when they work and which batches they accept. They could also choose whether to take DoorDash orders or keep shopping only on Instacart.
Grocers get a combined pitch. They could use Instacart's enterprise software to run their own websites and retail media networks. DoorDash's DashMart Fulfillment Services could then handle picking and delivery. DoorDash also says grocers will not be locked into exclusivity and can work with any delivery platform.
The fine print is thin. Neither company has published membership prices, contract terms or a timeline for combining benefits. The $100 million saving is an estimate, not a promise, and it says nothing about delivery fees, service fees or product markups.
Instacart also carries consumer-protection baggage. In December 2025 it agreed to pay $60 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations. The agency alleged that Instacart misled users with false advertising and used unlawful subscription enrollment practices, CNBC reported.
Instacart has been changing its grocery economics already. In its second-quarter release it noted that more retailers are moving to no markups on its marketplace, including Grocery Outlet nationwide.
Instacart is also shrinking one hardware bet. On 26 October it told regulators that it would wind down its Caper Cart smart shopping-cart business. The shutdown is due by the end of the second quarter of 2027. It carries pre-tax charges of $55 million to $80 million.
One unresolved partnership is Walmart. Instacart offers delivery from Walmart, but DoorDash stopped providing Walmart delivery in 2022. The combined company would own a marketplace that depends on a rival retailer's shelves while competing with Walmart's own delivery service.
What could go wrong?
The first risk is growth. Instacart's gross transaction value rose 14% in the second quarter while DoorDash's gross order value rose 36%. If grocery demand slows, DoorDash will have paid a full price. Instacart is growing more slowly than DoorDash overall.
Integration is the second risk. DoorDash plans to keep Instacart's brand, app and enterprise products separate, which limits disruption but also limits cost savings. Two marketplaces, two engineering organizations and two sets of merchant contracts are expensive to run side by side.
The third risk is the balance sheet. Paying at least 75% of $17 billion in cash means more than $12 billion of consideration, funded partly by debt. DoorDash wants to protect its investment-grade rating. A weak advertising market or a downturn in orders could force it to slow buybacks or investment.
Labour costs are the fourth risk. Instacart's 600,000 shoppers and DoorDash's 9 million delivery workers are independent contractors, a model that cities and states continue to challenge. Any reclassification or minimum-pay rule would raise costs at the same time as the companies try to integrate.
Merchant relations are the fifth risk. Grocers have spent years building their own e-commerce capabilities and may resist depending on a single delivery partner. DoorDash's no-exclusivity pledge helps, but retailers such as Kroger and Costco may want to know who controls customer data and pricing.
Finally, the deal may not close on schedule. A second request, a court challenge or conditions imposed in Canada or Israel could push completion beyond the first half of 2028. DoorDash has not set a termination fee or a long-stop date in its public materials, so the cost of delay is unclear.
What to watch next
The next hard data point is Instacart's quarterly report, which will show whether order growth has stabilised after a softer first half. DoorDash's fourth-quarter results will show whether grocery and retail orders keep growing at more than double the pace of its restaurant business.
Watch the proxy statement. It will disclose the fairness opinion, management projections and the terms of the 19% support agreements. Those documents often reveal whether the board ran a real auction or negotiated with a single buyer.
Watch the antitrust process. An early termination notice would signal a smooth review; a second request would signal a long one. Statements from the reviewing agency, and any remedy proposals, will matter more than analyst forecasts.
Watch the financing. DoorDash will need to repay or refinance the bridge loan, likely with bonds or term loans. The interest rate it pays, and any rating agency commentary, will show how investors judge the combined company's debt load.
Watch the merchants and workers. Grocers' public responses, Instacart shopper groups and delivery-worker organizations will shape the political environment around the review. Membership pricing decisions will show whether consumers actually get the promised savings.
The deal is expected to close at the end of 2027 or in the first half of 2028. Until then, the two apps remain competitors.