DoorDash in Advanced Talks to Acquire Instacart for $17 Billion

DoorDash is in advanced negotiations to acquire its grocery-delivery competitor Instacart, with a potential deal expected as early as this week. The acquisition would value Instacart at approximately $17 billion, a significant premium over its current market capitalization of roughly $12 billion to $12.6 billion.

Instacart has faced slowing growth since its 2023 IPO and increasing pressure from competitors including Amazon, Uber, and DoorDash. While Instacart previously explored a sale to Uber, those discussions reportedly broke off.

The two companies previously entered acquisition talks in 2021 at a much higher valuation of $40 billion to $50 billion, but those discussions collapsed due to regulatory concerns. Analysts expect the current potential merger to face substantial antitrust scrutiny as it would unite two of the most dominant players in the food and grocery delivery sector.