DoorDash to Buy Instacart for About $17 Billion, Prompting Antitrust Scrutiny

DoorDash has agreed to buy Instacart for about $17 billion, a blockbuster deal in app-based delivery that immediately drew political criticism from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and now heads into what is likely to be a lengthy antitrust review.

Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in a post Thursday from the Senate’s verified Bluesky account that the merger could hurt consumers and delivery workers. “NEW: DoorDash just announced a $17 BILLION deal to buy Instacart. That could mean higher food prices and lower pay for delivery workers. We can't let corporate giants put profits over people,” she wrote.

DoorDash and Instacart said in a joint announcement on Oct. 29 that they had entered a definitive merger agreement under which DoorDash will acquire Instacart for $65 a share, valuing the transaction at about $17 billion in equity value. The merger agreement was executed a day earlier, on Oct. 28. Instacart shareholders can choose cash, DoorDash stock or a mix of the two, subject to proration, and the companies said at least 75% of the total consideration will be cash. After closing, Instacart would become a wholly owned DoorDash subsidiary.

The companies said they expect the transaction to close in late 2027 or the first half of 2028, subject to approval by Instacart stockholders, the expiration or termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period — the standard U.S. antitrust review process for large deals — and other regulatory approvals, including in Canada and Israel.

Scrutiny was immediate because the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces U.S. consumer protection and antitrust laws, announced on Oct. 28 that it had issued orders to nine companies, including DoorDash and Instacart, seeking information on whether and how they use personal data and artificial intelligence to set individualized prices and worker compensation. The agency gave the companies 45 days to respond. That inquiry overlaps directly with the concerns Warren raised about prices and pay.

DoorDash said it also entered a financing commitment with JPMorgan for a bridge facility of up to $13 billion to support the cash portion of the acquisition.

The companies cast the merger as a way to deepen their push into online grocery and retailer technology. Chris Rogers, Instacart’s chief executive, said in the company release: “Over the last 14 years, Instacart has transformed online grocery by helping retailers of all sizes compete and grow, and joining forces with DoorDash allows us to do even more… Together, we can accelerate innovation across the grocery industry and make online grocery more seamless and affordable for the millions of households we serve.”

DoorDash is one of the largest U.S. delivery platforms, best known for restaurant delivery but increasingly active in grocery and convenience orders. Instacart, which went public in 2023 as Maplebear Inc., is a grocery-delivery and retail-technology company that works with supermarket chains and other retailers. Both companies depend heavily on gig workers to fulfill orders, a labor model that has drawn repeated questions from regulators and lawmakers.

That backdrop gives the merger significance beyond its price tag. It would combine two major app-based businesses operating at the intersection of local delivery, grocery e-commerce and software tools for merchants, while federal regulators are already asking how such platforms may use data and algorithms to shape what customers pay and what workers earn.

For now, the deal is just beginning a long approval process. It faces antitrust review in the United States under federal merger law, along with additional reviews abroad, even as political opposition to the combination is already taking shape.