DoorDash is in advanced talks to acquire Instacart in a deal that could value the grocery delivery platform at about $17 billion, Reuters reported on Monday, citing a source familiar with the matter. A deal may be finalized as soon as Wednesday, although there are no guarantees it will come together, the source said. The Wall Street Journal first reported the talks on Monday, and The Information reported the same day, citing its own sources, that an announcement could come within days.
The market reaction priced the report before any agreement exists. Instacart shares rose about 8 percent in regular trading on Monday, from a market value of about $13 billion at Friday’s close, while DoorDash shares fell around 6 percent. DoorDash has a market value of around $73 billion. Instacart’s separate talks with Uber are no longer active, according to the Reuters source.
The strategic logic is complementarity. DoorDash began in restaurant delivery and has expanded into retail categories including Macy’s, CVS and Target, while Instacart’s business is grocery, built on relationships with supermarket chains and its own advertising and software lines. A combined company would sell delivery, advertising and store software to the same retailers from one platform, and would follow DoorDash’s purchase of Deliveroo and Uber’s earlier purchases of Postmates and Delivery Hero in a sector consolidating around scale.
Neither company has confirmed anything. Instacart declined to comment to Reuters and to PYMNTS, and DoorDash did not respond. Instacart separately announced on Monday that it will wind down Caper Carts, its AI shopping cart business, saying retail adoption had not scaled quickly enough, and will focus its in-store work on software. Until a merger agreement is filed, this remains a reported negotiation, and the $17 billion figure is a reported valuation, not terms.