Where we heard itMarketplace Morning Report, “A merger of two food delivery giants”, Oct. 27, 2026. Host Kimberly Adams and reporter Henry Epp.
Marketplace led its morning show on Oct. 27 with the week’s biggest delivery story. “Two giants in food delivery are considering a merger,” host Kimberly Adams said. “DoorDash is in advanced talks to buy the grocery delivery company Instacart.”
The talks between DoorDash DASH and Instacart CART were first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Oct. 26. Reuters followed, citing a source who said a deal could value Instacart at about $17 billion and could be finalized as soon as Wednesday, Oct. 28, with no guarantee it comes together. Instacart declined to comment to Reuters, and DoorDash did not immediately respond. Neither company had confirmed the talks as of the Oct. 27 close.
At about $17 billion, Instacart would top the $14.8 billion offer that Uber UBER made for Delivery Hero in July, which is still pending, and every deal below. The bigger question is what the record says about buying a delivery company at a big price. We went back through five big delivery deals since 2020, four of them with a later value to check the price against.
What the Big Delivery Deals Were Worth Later
Grubhub. Just Eat Takeaway agreed in June 2020 to buy Grubhub in an all-stock deal that Grubhub put at $7.3 billion. The deal closed in 2021. In 2022 the Dutch company booked €4.6 billion of impairments, which it tied to the Grubhub acquisition and its Just Eat merger, and in November 2024 it agreed to sell Grubhub to Wonder Group for an enterprise value of $650 million. That is about 9 cents for every dollar of the original price.
Wolt. DoorDash agreed in November 2021 to buy the Finnish delivery app for about €7.0 billion in DoorDash stock, roughly $8.1 billion at the time. DoorDash shares fell before the deal closed on May 31, 2022, and the company booked the purchase at $2.84 billion, 65% less.
Postmates. Uber’s all-stock deal ran the other way. Announced in July 2020 at about $2.65 billion, it closed that December after Uber shares had climbed, and Uber valued the net assets it acquired at $3.9 billion, 47% more.
Drizly. Uber agreed in February 2021 to buy the alcohol delivery app for about $1.1 billion in stock and cash. It shut Drizly down in March 2024.
Deliveroo. DoorDash’s most recent big deal was cash: 180 pence a share, about £2.9 billion, agreed in May 2025 and closed on Oct. 2, 2025, at about $3.7 billion. It is too early to grade, so it is left off the chart.
Of five big delivery valuations, only Postmates was worth more later. Grubhub resold for 9 cents on the dollar
Left: the price when each deal was announced, and Instacart’s March 2021 private valuation. Right: the latest hard number: value at closing for the stock deals, Grubhub’s 2024 resale, zero for Drizly, which Uber shut in 2024, and the $17 billion reported for Instacart. Billions of dollars.
The Buyers’ Stocks Lagged Too
Deal prices are one test. The buyer’s stock is another, since shareholders pay for the deal either way. From the last close before each announcement to two years later, every buyer trailed the S&P 500 by 50 percentage points or more. Just Eat Takeaway fell 79% in euros while the S&P 500 returned 29% with dividends. Uber fell 30% after Postmates and 40% after Drizly. DoorDash fell 56% in the two years after Wolt, when the index slipped 4%.
Those windows include the 2022 selloff in growth stocks, which hit every delivery company, so the deals are not the only cause. DoorDash has also lagged since its Deliveroo offer: its shares fell 17% from the May 5, 2025, close to the Oct. 27, 2026, close, while the S&P 500 returned 39%.
Where $17 Billion Sits for Instacart
Instacart has been priced three ways in five years. In March 2021 it raised $265 million in a round that valued it at $39 billion. It went public in September 2023 at $30 a share, a valuation of about $10 billion on a fully diluted basis. At the Oct. 27 close of $60.08, its stock market value was about $13.9 billion, based on the 231.5 million shares it reported outstanding as of July 31.
The reported $17 billion is about 22% above that market value and 56% below the 2021 price. Grocery delivery is a crowded field. On Marketplace, Epp noted that Amazon and Walmart deliver groceries too, and Kroger is betting $5 billion on lower prices.
Instacart by the numbers
What to Watch
- An announcement: Reuters’ source said a deal could come as soon as Oct. 28. Talks can also collapse.
- Cash or stock: Wolt and Postmates show how far an all-stock price can move between signing and closing. A stock-heavy deal ties Instacart holders to DoorDash’s share price.
- Regulators: the two companies overlap in grocery delivery, and Uber’s Delivery Hero offer is still pending.
- Demand: delivery depends on households paying for convenience. A Mastercard economist recently said consumers have the money to spend.
A $17 billion Instacart deal would be the biggest bet yet on food and grocery delivery. The record is rough: of four big deals since 2020 with a later price to check, only Postmates was worth more, Grubhub resold for about 9 cents on the dollar, and every buyer’s stock trailed the S&P 500 two years on. The terms, and how much of the price is paid in stock, will decide how much of that risk lands on DoorDash shareholders.