DoorDash to Acquire Instacart for About $17B, Pitched as Help for Local Stores

DoorDash said on 29 October 2026 that it will acquire Instacart for a total value of $65.00 per share, an equity value of approximately $17 billion, according to its release on Business Wire. At least 75% of the consideration will be cash. The companies expect the deal to close at the end of 2027 or in the first half of 2028.

What is DoorDash paying for Instacart?

DoorDash will pay $65.00 for each Instacart share, and the release gives the deal an equity value of approximately $17 billion. Equity value is the value of the company's shares. It does not add in debt, so the figure can differ from the total price a buyer pays for the business. The release uses the word "approximately," so the $17 billion is a rounded figure. Instacart's board of directors has unanimously approved the agreement.

CBS News reported the $17 billion figure on the same day, citing DoorDash's announcement.

What does "help local stores win" mean in this deal?

"Help Local Stores Win" is the headline of DoorDash's own release, so it describes the goal the company sets for the deal. It is a self-reported aim, not a measured result. The sourced deal terms cover price, consideration and timing. None of them include store-level commitments such as fees, pricing or payment terms for merchants.

Readers should treat the local-store claim the way they would treat any company's stated rationale for a merger: as the plan the buyer describes, to be tested against later filings and results.

How is the price split between cash and stock?

At least 75% of the aggregate consideration is cash. DoorDash common stock can make up no more than 25%.

What does the stock election mean for Instacart shareholders?

Instacart stockholders can elect to receive cash, DoorDash stock, or a combination of both. Each election is subject to proration, which means DoorDash stock cannot exceed 25% of the aggregate consideration. If many holders choose stock, some stock elections will be cut back and paid in cash instead.

The $65.00 figure is the stated total value for each Instacart share. The sourced terms do not fix a DoorDash share price, so the value of any stock received is not set at announcement. A holder who elects stock takes on the risk that DoorDash's share price moves before closing.

What happens to Instacart's brand and app?

DoorDash is expected to keep Instacart's brand, enterprise technology products and app after the deal closes, according to its investor relations release. The statement is an expectation for the period after closing. It does not describe a change that takes effect at announcement.

For customers, the practical point is that the Instacart app and brand are stated to continue. For merchants, the brand statement says nothing about how orders or fees will be handled.

Did both companies' boards approve the deal?

Instacart's board of directors has unanimously approved the agreement, according to the Business Wire release. LiveNOW from FOX reported that both companies' boards of directors approved the sale. That report is a secondary account. The approval itself is the companies' own statement, and the press reports repeat it.

When is the deal expected to close?

DoorDash expects the deal to close at the end of 2027 or in the first half of 2028, according to its third-quarter 2026 results release, published the same day as the deal.

The window is an expectation. It gives no closing date. The investor relations release ties the timing to approval by Instacart stockholders, and the sourced terms do not list any other conditions.

How can readers check the figures in this deal?

Start with the primary documents, and check any figure in a news report against them before repeating it.

1. Open the Business Wire release for the $65.00 price, the approximately $17 billion equity value, and the 75% cash and 25% stock terms.
2. Open the third-quarter 2026 results release for the closing window.
3. Use DoorDash's investor relations page for the statement on Instacart's brand and app.
4. Treat CBS News and LiveNOW from FOX as secondary reports. They repeat the company's figures and add context.

What's still unclear?

Four points remain open:

• Closing conditions. The timing is subject to approval by Instacart stockholders. Other approvals needed to close are not listed in the sources cited here. The end-2027 to first-half-2028 window is the companies' expectation, not a confirmed schedule.
• Store benefit. The local-store framing is DoorDash's own claim. No sourced term sets out what stores would pay, earn or keep under the combined business.
• Share count and per-share value. The $17 billion figure is approximate. The sourced terms do not give a share count, so the total cannot be recomputed from the $65.00 price.
• Weakest point of the argument. The strongest case for the deal is the buyer's stated goal. Our sources contain no independent evidence on store outcomes yet, so the claim should be read as a plan.

Company statements and press reports are kept apart throughout. The price, split, timing and board approval come from DoorDash's releases. CBS News and LiveNOW from FOX repeat the $17 billion total and the approval, so those figures are also reported by others.