Maplebear (CART) news that moved the stock

What happened

DoorDash announced Thursday morning it will acquire grocery-delivery rival Instacart in a ~$17 billion deal — its largest ever — at $65 a share, an 11% premium to Wednesday's close and 26% above Instacart's price before sale talks emerged Oct. 22. At least 75% of the consideration is cash, funded from cash on hand plus debt (JPMorgan has committed a bridge loan), with DoorDash targeting an investment-grade capital structure; close expected late 2027 to early 2028 pending regulatory and shareholder approvals. Instacart's board unanimously approved the deal. DoorDash will keep the Instacart brand, app, and enterprise tech, and says customers could save ~$100M/year from not needing both DashPass and Instacart+ memberships. DoorDash also reported Q3 EPS of $1.06 (vs $0.81 expected) on revenue of $4.62 billion (+34%), and had moved its earnings release up from next week to Thursday morning — telegraphing the deal.

What happened

Instacart (Maplebear, CART) is exploring a possible sale and has held preliminary discussions with potential buyers including Uber and DoorDash, The Information reported on Friday, October 23, citing people familiar with the matter. Instacart has hired an investment bank to evaluate its options, according to the report. Shares of Instacart closed about 9% higher on Friday, while Uber fell nearly 3% and DoorDash dropped more than 4%. Instacart declined to comment; Uber and DoorDash did not immediately respond. Discussions are ongoing and there is no guarantee they lead to a deal. A typical takeover premium of 30-40% would value Instacart at roughly $16-17 billion, versus its roughly $12 billion market value at Thursday's close.