Instacart is exploring a sale and has held at least preliminary talks with DoorDash and Uber. Valida Pau, Jessica E. Lessin and Cory Weinberg reported this for The Information on 23 October, citing people familiar with the matter. The grocery delivery company is working with an investment bank to weigh its options, the outlet said.
The talks with Uber appear to have fizzled, The Information said later. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman heard the same from his own source: Uber walked away, and the two sides are no longer in talks. TNW has not independently verified either report.
Discussions with other companies are early and may not lead to a deal, according to The Information.
Shares jump 9%
Instacart shares rose 9.2% to $56.44 on Friday after the report, Bloomberg said. That gave the company, which trades as Maplebear, a market value of $13.1bn. Uber shares fell 3.4% and DoorDash shares 3.5%.
A typical takeover premium of 30% to 40% would value Instacart at roughly $16bn to $17bn, The Information estimated, according to Reuters. Instacart declined to comment to both Bloomberg and Reuters.
DoorDash tried before
DoorDash held talks to buy Instacart once before, in 2021, at a valuation of $40bn to $50bn, The Information reported at the time. Worries about antitrust approval under the Biden administration ended them. Instacart was valued at $39bn in a private round that year and went public in 2023.
Both possible buyers have been spending since. Uber agreed a $14.8bn Delivery Hero takeover in July. This month it agreed to buy ezCater for $2.3bn. DoorDash bought Deliveroo last year.
Either deal could draw antitrust scrutiny, Reuters noted, because it would combine two of the biggest food delivery platforms in the US.
Squeezed from both sides
“Instacart risks getting squeezed between retailers building their own digital channels and larger platforms that can bundle grocery with other services, giving consumers more reasons to keep coming back.” Zak Stambor, Emarketer
A deal could give Instacart the resources and reach to compete, Stambor said. He called it plausible because the Trump administration has shown “greater willingness” to approve deals, though perhaps at the cost of selling off parts of the business.
Amazon is also expanding Amazon Now, which delivers groceries and essentials in 30 minutes or less, Reuters reported. Instacart, for its part, says its AI-built carts beat its average basket. DoorDash chief executive Tony Xu has said AI agents will increase delivery demand.
Instacart reports quarterly results on 5 November, and DoorDash on 4 November.