DoorDash agrees to buy Instacart for about $17 billionDoorDash agrees to buy Instacart for about $17 billion

DoorDash agreed on Thursday, October 29, 2026, to buy Instacart, whose registered company name is Maplebear Inc., for $65 a share, an equity value of about $17 billion. At least 75% of the price will be paid in cash, and Instacart's board approved the deal unanimously. The companies expect it to close at the end of 2027 or in the first half of 2028. Before then it needs a vote of Instacart's shareholders, the end of the federal antitrust waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, and approvals in other countries, including Canada and Israel. DoorDash says it plans to keep Instacart's brand and app, and the two companies will run separately until the deal closes.

The companies say DashPass and Instacart+ members would pay one membership fee instead of two, saving them an estimated $100 million a year, and that Instacart customers could shop at more than 50,000 additional stores. DoorDash says grocers could keep working with any delivery company they choose. "Together, we could give stores of every size more of those tools and unlock the potential of grocery delivery," said Tony Xu, DoorDash's co-founder and chief executive.

The American Economic Liberties Project, which CNN describes as an anti-monopoly advocacy group, called on the Federal Trade Commission to block the deal. Its statement puts Instacart's own share of U.S. third-party grocery delivery at an estimated 58%; CNN reported the group's position as the combined company controlling nearly 60% of that market. "There's no useful mitigation short of blocking this outright," said Lee Hepner, the group's senior legal counsel. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote that "Corporate consolidation means higher prices, harsher exploitation, and greater economic inequality for New Yorkers."

We found no public statement on the deal from the Federal Trade Commission or the Justice Department as of October 29. Separately, on October 28, the FTC ordered nine companies, including DoorDash and Instacart, to explain how they set prices and worker pay, as part of a study that is not a finding that any company broke the law.