Tech & AI
Instacart shares jump 9% on report it has held early sale talks with DoorDash and Uber
The grocery-delivery platform, worth about $12 billion before the report, is exploring a sale, The Information reported, while shares of both potential buyers fell.
HedgeWeekly Tech & AI Desk ·
Shares of Instacart, which trades as Maplebear, closed about 9% higher on Friday after The Information reported that the company is exploring a sale and has held preliminary talks with potential buyers including DoorDash and Uber, according to Reuters. The stock ended at $56.44, up $4.76, close to its 52-week high of $57.98. DoorDash fell about 3.5% to $179.38 and Uber dropped about 3.4% to $66.70.
Instacart had a market value of about $12 billion at Thursday's close, Reuters said, and a typical takeover premium of 30% to 40% would imply a price of roughly $16 billion to $17 billion. No offer has been made, discussions may not lead to a deal, and Instacart declined to comment. 24/7 Wall St. cited a later report that Uber had walked away after an approach in recent weeks, while talks with others continue; HedgeWeekly could not independently confirm that account.
The talks would revive an old idea at a much lower price. DoorDash discussed buying Instacart in 2021 at a valuation of $40 billion to $50 billion, but those talks fell through partly on antitrust concerns. Uber is still absorbing its nearly $15 billion deal for Germany's Delivery Hero, agreed in July. Instacart is due to report third-quarter results on November 5, after guiding to gross transaction value of $10.30 billion to $10.55 billion.
Why it matters: a sale would consolidate US online grocery delivery just as DoorDash, Uber Eats and Amazon push deeper into the category, and would test how far the Trump administration's antitrust regulators will let the largest platforms combine; Reuters cited an analyst saying any deal might require selling parts of the business. For event-driven funds, the gap between Friday's close and the implied takeover range is the key variable. Watch for confirmation from any of the companies, a bank-run sale process, and Instacart's November 5 earnings call.