Grocery delivery: DoorDash to buy Instacart for $17B

DoorDash has agreed to buy Instacart in a transaction valued at roughly $17 billion.

The deal, announced Thursday, would end Instacart's run as a public company. Instacart listed shares in 2023, after demand for its grocery service rose during the pandemic, but has since lost ground to Amazon, Walmart and Uber. Amazon now operates same-day grocery delivery from 2,300 locations, Walmart delivers in 30 minutes in some areas, and Uber recently signed an agreement with Costco. DoorDash said the merged company would pair its delivery network with Instacart's grocery and fulfillment tools. The company has been widening its services beyond restaurant meals, adding reservations and partnerships with Home Depot and Sephora, and said the acquisition would add grocery capacity. Tony Xu, DoorDash's cofounder and chief executive, said in a statement that grocery ordering online is difficult because a shopper must choose produce and find substitutions, adding that 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." DoorDash will pay $65 a share in cash and stock, about 25 percent above Instacart's October 22 close, the day media reports said the company was considering a sale. The companies estimate customers would save $100 million a year in membership fees by combining DashPass and Instacart+. The American Economic Liberties Project, an anti-monopoly group, has asked regulators to block the merger, saying the combined firms would hold nearly 60 percent of the third-party grocery delivery market. Lee Hepner, the group's senior legal counsel, said the companies have spent a decade "bullying main street businesses" and that the merger would squeeze worker pay and raise consumer costs. The transaction is expected to close in the coming months. It follows Grubhub's U.S. sale to Wonder for $650 million in 2025, Uber's $14.8 billion purchase of Delivery Hero this summer, and Uber's 2020 acquisition of Postmates for $2.65 billion.

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] }{"title": "Grocery delivery: DoorDash to buy Instacart for $17B", "dek": "The cash-and-stock deal, announced Thursday, would combine two delivery companies and draw regulatory scrutiny over market share.", "section": "business", "body": ["DoorDash has agreed to buy Instacart in a transaction valued at roughly $17 billion.", "The deal, announced Thursday, would end Instacart's run as a public company. Instacart listed shares in 2023, after demand for its grocery service rose during the pandemic, but has since lost ground to Amazon, Walmart and Uber. Amazon now operates same-day grocery delivery from 2,300 locations, Walmart delivers in 30 minutes in some areas, and Uber recently signed an agreement with Costco. DoorDash said the merged company would pair its delivery network with Instacart's grocery and fulfillment tools. The company has been widening its services beyond restaurant meals, adding reservations and partnerships with Home Depot and Sephora, and said the acquisition would add grocery capacity. Tony Xu, DoorDash's cofounder and chief executive, said in a statement that grocery ordering online is difficult because a shopper must choose produce and find substitutions, adding that 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.\" DoorDash will pay $65 a share in cash and stock, about 25 percent above Instacart's October 22 close, the day media reports said the company was considering a sale. The companies estimate customers would save $100 million a year in membership fees by combining DashPass and Instacart+. The American Economic Liberties Project, an anti-monopoly group, has asked regulators to block the merger, saying the combined firms would hold nearly 60 percent of the third-party grocery delivery market. Lee Hepner, the group's senior legal counsel, said the companies have spent a decade \"bullying main street businesses\" and that the merger would squeeze worker pay and raise consumer costs. The transaction is expected to close in the coming months. It follows Grubhub's U.S. sale to Wonder for $650 million in 2025, Uber's $14.8 billion purchase of Delivery Hero this summer, and Uber's 2020 acquisition of Postmates for $2.65 billion."], "image_prompt": "A photorealistic news photo scene: a grocery aisle with fresh produce in wooden crates under bright overhead lighting, shopping bags on the floor, a quiet, neutral mood, no people, no text, no logos."}]}"}]"}]}.. [truncated output] .. "image_prompt": "A photorealistic news photo scene: a grocery aisle with fresh produce under bright overhead lighting, shopping bags on the floor, quiet neutral mood, no people, no text, no logos."}'}]}..[wait, must output only one JSON object]..{