Instacart Is Exploring a Sale and Has Held Early Talks With Uber and DoorDash, Report Says

Instacart, the grocery delivery company listed on the Nasdaq as CART, is weighing a sale of itself and has talked preliminarily with Uber and DoorDash about a deal, The Information reported on Friday, Oct. 23, citing people familiar with the matter.

The report, carried by Reuters on Friday, said the discussions are ongoing and that there is no guarantee they will lead to a deal. Instacart, legally known as Maplebear Inc. and listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker CART, declined to comment when contacted by Reuters, while Uber and DoorDash did not immediately respond to requests for comment. No price, structure or timetable was reported, and none of the three companies has announced an agreement or a formal process.

The market rewarded the possible seller and charged the possible buyers

Shares of Instacart closed about 9% higher on Friday. The company had a market value of about $12 billion as of Thursday's close, so the Friday move left it modestly above that mark. Shares of Uber closed down around 3%, while DoorDash shares were 4% lower — the familiar pattern in which investors reward the possible seller and charge the possible buyers for a deal that has not been agreed. StockTwits, reporting on The Information's account, said Instacart has hired an investment bank to review its strategic options, a step that would put advisers formally on a process the companies themselves have not confirmed.

What a deal could be worth — and why that number is only a frame

The Information's framing, as carried by Reuters, was that a typical takeover premium of 30% to 40% would value Instacart at roughly $16 billion to $17 billion, based on recent public technology deals. That arithmetic is a benchmark, not an offer: applying a 30% to 40% premium to a market value of about $12 billion produces roughly $15.6 billion to $16.8 billion on a TickerGrove calculation, in line with the reported range. Whether either buyer would pay anything like that — in cash, in stock or in a mix — is unknown, and interest from the only two named buyers could push a price in either direction.

Antitrust is the obvious obstacle

Either combination could draw antitrust scrutiny, as it would bulk up two of the biggest food-delivery platforms in the US and add to a wave of consolidation in delivery. Uber is already absorbing a much larger transaction: in July, Uber struck a nearly $15 billion deal to buy Germany's Delivery Hero. Emarketer analyst Zak Stambor, quoted in the Reuters report, said the latest deal is plausible as the Trump administration has shown greater willingness to approve deals, even as approval could come at the cost of selling off parts of the business. Stambor also set out the strategic squeeze behind a sale: Instacart risks getting squeezed between retailers building their own digital channels and larger platforms that can bundle grocery with other services, while a deal could provide the resources and reach to compete more effectively than it could on its own.

DoorDash has been here before, at three times the price

This is not the first time DoorDash has circled Instacart. In 2021 the two held acquisition talks at a valuation of $40 billion to $50 billion, The Information reported at the time. Instacart was then valued at $39 billion in the pandemic-era private market, the New York Post noted in its account of Friday's report. The discussions broke down partly over concerns about securing regulatory approval during the Biden administration, according to the report — the same obstacle, under a different administration, that any new deal would have to clear. The contrast is the story in miniature: a company once discussed at $40 billion to $50 billion is now exploring a sale from a market value of about $12 billion.

What to watch next

What to watch next is whether any of the three companies confirms, denies or characterizes the talks; whether a formal process, another bidder or a standalone plan emerges; and how regulators signal their view of combining two of the largest US food-delivery platforms. The competitive pressure is building in the meantime: last year, Instacart lowered its minimum order for free delivery for Instacart+ members to $10, as rivals DoorDash and Uber Eats expand grocery and convenience delivery, and Amazon is also expanding its quick delivery service, Amazon Now, which delivers groceries and essentials in 30 minutes or less. Until a company speaks, everything beyond the reported talks themselves — price, buyer, timing and outcome — remains unknown.