DoorDash announced Thursday it is buying Instacart in a $17 billion deal, combining a massive restaurant takeout service with the nation’s top grocery delivery app.
The deal – which is at least 75% cash, mostly financed by borrowing – values Instacart at $65 a share, a roughly 11% premium over its closing price on Wednesday, the companies said.
Shares of Instacart slumped 1.3% by about 10:25 a.m. ET, while DoorDash jumped 5.8%.
Instacart’s board of directors has unanimously approved the acquisition. Both companies are headquartered in San Francisco.
The massive takeover comes as Instacart’s annual revenue has been slowing amid stiff competition from Amazon and Walmart, both of which have expanded their same-day and next-day grocery delivery options.
Instacart’s annual revenue grew just 11% in 2025. In the third quarter, sales jumped 17%, the company said Thursday. It also handled 90.3 million orders worth about $10.4 billion, generating about $1 billion in revenue.
DoorDash on Thursday reported 993 million orders in the third quarter, up 28% from the same period last year as customers shelled out nearly $34 billion. It generated revenue of $4.6 billion.
The acquisition is expected to close at the end of 2027 or the first half of 2028.
Grocery delivery can be a challenging business, as DoorDash Dashers and Instacart Shoppers need to be able to pick a ripe avocado, choose appropriate substitutes for sold-out items and get ice cream to a customer’s house before it melts, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu said in a statement.
“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,” Xu said. “Together, we could give stores of every size more of those tools and unlock the potential of grocery delivery.”
The merger will give Instacart customers more than 50,000 additional stores to choose from and combine DashPass and Instacart+ subscriptions into a single membership, saving members an estimated $100 million annually, according to the companies.
The deal could also give DoorDash an estimated 88% share of third-party online grocery marketplaces, accounting for roughly 23% of all online grocery sales in the US, according to estimates from research firm Bernstein.
DoorDash has been considering an acquisition of Instacart for years and did not want to miss a window to close a deal under the Trump administration, which it views as friendlier to mega-mergers, sources told the Information.
Executives at Instacart discussed a possible sale to Uber in late August, the idea being that the deal could secure regulatory approvals by arguing that both Amazon and Walmart are still larger than a combined company, the outlet reported.
But Uber wasn’t eager for another acquisition, fearful of regulatory challenges after purchasing German service Delivery Hero for $15 billion this summer, the report said.
After talks with Uber fell apart in September, Instacart turned to DoorDash, which in 2021 eyed a deal that would have valued Instacart at more than $40 billion. That merger had been sidelined over concerns it would face regulatory challenges from the Biden administration, according to the Information.
Analysts at Wedbush Securities said they expect US regulators will approve the tie-up. But some grocery chains who work with both Instacart and DoorDash might oppose a merger, potentially inciting pushback from state attorneys general even if national regulators pass through the deal.
DoorDash is arguing the deal would be better for local businesses, saying DoorDash and Instacart partner with brick-and-mortar grocery stores instead of owning their own grocery fulfillment centers like e-commerce competitors – an apparent reference to Amazon and Walmart.
Walmart accounted for nearly 32% of all online grocery sales in 2025, while Amazon generated about 23%, according to research firm eMarketer.
Last year, Instacart lost its longtime CEO Fidji Simo to OpenAI, while its Chief Product Officer Daniel Danker fled to Walmart. Those losses, combined with struggling sales growth, convinced Instacart that it was the right time to pursue a sale, sources told the Information.
DoorDash will keep Instacart’s brand, technology and app in place once the deal closes. Until the transaction is completed, both companies will continue to operate independently.
