DoorDash to Acquire Instacart in $17 Billion Deal

The DoorDash Instacart deal is official. On October 29, DoorDash and Instacart announced a definitive agreement under which DoorDash will acquire Instacart for $65 per share, an equity value of approximately $17 billion. The agreement brings together two of the country’s best-known delivery names, pairing the app many families open for dinner with the one they lean on for the big weekly grocery run.

The $65 price in the DoorDash Instacart deal is a 26% premium over Instacart’s closing price on October 22, the last trading day before reports of a possible sale surfaced. At least 75% of the total payment will be in cash, and Instacart stockholders can choose cash, DoorDash stock or a combination of both, with stock capped at 25% of the total. Instacart’s board of directors unanimously approved the agreement, and stockholders holding about 19% of Instacart’s outstanding shares have already agreed to vote in favor.

DoorDash plans to pay the cash portion with cash on hand and new debt financing, backed by a bridge loan commitment from JPMorgan Chase Bank. The deal is expected to close at the end of 2027 or in the first half of 2028. Before then, it needs approval from Instacart stockholders, a federal antitrust review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, regulatory approvals in Canada and Israel, and other standard closing conditions.

Instacart trades on the Nasdaq as Maplebear Inc. under the ticker CART and is led by CEO Chris Rogers. DoorDash is led by co-founder and CEO Tony Xu. The company announced the deal the same day it reported third quarter 2026 results, which set company records for Marketplace gross order value, revenue and net income.

A Bigger Shelf for Local Stores

Both companies are presenting the DoorDash Instacart deal as a win for Main Street. 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. More grocers could use Instacart’s technology to run their own websites and retail media networks, opening new streams of sales and advertising revenue. On either app, customers choose a store in their own community, and that store makes the sale.

Xu pointed to the care it takes to deliver groceries well. “Someone has to pick a ripe avocado, find a substitute you’d choose yourself, and get the ice cream to you before it melts,” he said, adding that Instacart has spent years perfecting that work for grocers. Customers will see more choice as well, since Instacart users could shop at more than 50,000 additional stores on top of the nearly 100,000 stores on the Instacart platform today.

Good News for Shoppers and Dashers

The companies say Dashers and Shoppers will gain more earnings opportunities and more control over when and how they work. Under the DoorDash Instacart deal, Instacart Shoppers will keep the features they rely on, including the flexibility to set how much they work and the details they need to decide which batches to accept. They can also choose whether to take DoorDash orders or keep shopping only on Instacart, so anyone earning on either app, as a side hustle or as full-time income, keeps that decision in her own hands.

A Winning Streak Behind the DoorDash Instacart Deal

Instacart would be DoorDash’s third major acquisition in two years, following its 2025 purchases of the U.K. delivery company Deliveroo and the restaurant reservation platform SevenRooms. DoorDash began in restaurant delivery and now delivers from many of the country’s largest grocery chains. With Instacart’s grocery relationships and fulfillment technology added, the combined company would stand among the largest players in online grocery.

The DoorDash Instacart deal now moves to Instacart stockholders and regulators, and both companies point to late 2027 as the earliest closing date. For more industry moves shaping women in business, follow Bacon’s latest business news.