What changed
DoorDash to acquire Instacart (Maplebear, CART) for $65 a share, about $17B equity value
When
Announced Oct 29, 2026; expected close end of 2027 or first half of 2028
Who it affects
DoorDash, Instacart, grocers, CPG brands buying Instacart Ads and DoorDash Ads
What to do
Keep holiday Instacart campaigns live, export reporting, plan for a combined network in 2028

Key takeaways

  • DoorDash agreed on October 29, 2026 to buy Instacart for $65 a share, about $17 billion, closing end of 2027 or first half of 2028
  • Instacart advertising and other revenue grew 23% to $331 million in Q3 2026; guidance is suspended
  • Instacart Ads and Carrot Ads keep running unchanged until closing; export data and benchmark DoorDash Ads now

How DoorDash landed Instacart

  1. DoorDash talks at $40B to $50B collapse

  2. Confidentiality letter signed

  3. Reports: talks with DoorDash and Uber

  4. Exclusive DoorDash talks; Caper Carts wound down

  5. Merger agreement signed

  6. $65 a share deal announced, Q3 ads +23%

  7. Expected closing

Update, November 2: what the merger terms mean for your 2027 ad deals

PPC Land's review of the merger agreement adds detail advertisers can use. New Instacart contracts with exclusivity or most-favored-nation terms need DoorDash's consent until closing, while ordinary changes to top advertiser and intermediary contracts are allowed. The agreement says DoorDash does not control Instacart's operations before closing, and advertiser losses tied to the announcement would not by themselves let DoorDash walk away.

The deal has a hard deadline of October 28, 2027, extended automatically to October 28, 2028 if only antitrust conditions remain. DoorDash would owe $1.25 billion if antitrust approvals fail, and Instacart would owe $650 million if it takes a better offer. By PPC Land's calculation, advertising and other revenue was about 30% of Instacart's revenue and about $3.62 per order in the third quarter.

  • If you are negotiating a 2027 Instacart commitment, do not expect exclusivity or most-favored terms to be quick, since they need DoorDash's consent
  • Ask for a written exit or review clause tied to closing
  • Budget for the deal running up to two years, because the antitrust extension reaches October 2028

Update, October 29: DoorDash and Instacart sign a $17 billion deal

DoorDash announced on October 29, 2026 that it will acquire Instacart for $65.00 per share, an equity value of about $17 billion. Instacart's board approved the agreement unanimously, and holders of about 19% of Instacart shares have agreed to vote in favor. Instacart holders can choose $65.00 in cash, 0.3372 DoorDash shares, or $48.75 in cash plus 0.0843 DoorDash shares, with stock capped at 25% of the total, so at least 75% will be paid in cash. DoorDash is funding the cash with cash on hand and a JPMorgan bridge loan, and the deal has no financing condition.

The companies expect to close at the end of 2027 or in the first half of 2028. Closing needs Instacart shareholder approval, the US Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period to end, and approvals in Canada and Israel. DoorDash says it expects to keep the Instacart brand, app and enterprise technology products after closing, and that grocers can keep working with any delivery platform they choose. It also plans to combine DashPass and Instacart+ into one membership fee.

  • Price: $65.00 a share, a 26% premium to the October 22 close
  • Timing: close expected end of 2027 or first half of 2028
  • Until closing, DoorDash and Instacart operate as separate companies
  • Uber is no longer in the picture; Instacart walked away from talks with Uber, per Bloomberg as cited by TechCrunch

Instacart Q3 2026 at a glance

$331MAds and other revenue, +23%
$10.5BGTV, +15%
91.4MOrders, +10%
$65DoorDash price per share
Source: Instacart Q3 2026 results; DoorDash, Oct 29, 2026

Instacart's ad business grew 23% in the quarter before the deal

Instacart published its third quarter 2026 results the same day. Advertising and other revenue rose 23% year over year to $331 million, equal to 3.1% of gross transaction value. Total revenue grew 17% to $1.095 billion, gross transaction value grew 15% to $10.53 billion, and orders rose 10% to 91.4 million. Net income was $147 million and adjusted EBITDA $342 million.

Instacart suspended its financial guidance, withdrew its long-term targets and cancelled its November 5 earnings call, which is customary while a sale is pending. The company says it works with more than 2,200 retail banners covering nearly 100,000 stores. DoorDash, for its part, says its ads business serves more than 400,000 advertisers across DoorDash, Wolt and Deliveroo, so the combined company would hold two overlapping grocery and restaurant ad businesses.

What the deal means for Instacart Ads and Carrot Ads

The DoorDash release names the Instacart Ads ecosystem and says the combined company will offer grocers the advertising and AI tools each company has built, including Instacart technology for grocers to run their own retail media networks. It does not say whether the two ad platforms will merge, whether shopper data will be combined, or how pricing and measurement would work. Carrot Ads, the Instacart technology that powers sponsored grocery placements on Uber Eats and Gopuff, is not mentioned, so its future with a rival delivery app as a partner is an open question for 2028.

Nothing changes for advertisers today. With close more than a year away, 2026 holiday plans and most 2027 budgets will run on Instacart as it is now.

What could change for brands, and what will not

Until the deal closes, Instacart Ads, Carrot Ads and existing contracts keep working as they do now. After closing, these are the areas to watch:

  • Where your ads can appear: a combined network could add DoorDash surfaces, which already sell sponsored listings, to Instacart campaigns
  • Measurement and reporting: attribution windows and closed-loop sales data may be rebuilt
  • Retailer partners: some grocers and Carrot Ads partners, including Uber Eats, may rethink sharing data with DoorDash
  • Pricing and minimums: auction competition could rise if more advertisers join one network
  • Contracts: annual commitments and upfront deals may include change-of-control terms

Brand checklist before the close

  • Keep holiday campaigns live
  • Export Instacart Ads reporting
  • Check change-of-control terms
  • Ask about Carrot Ads placements
  • Benchmark DoorDash Ads

What sellers should do now

There is no reason to pause Instacart spend over a deal that will not close until late 2027 at the earliest. Use the long runway to protect your data and build benchmarks on both networks.

  • Keep holiday Instacart campaigns live and judge them on incremental sales, not the headlines
  • Export your Instacart Ads reporting history now so you keep your own baseline
  • Read annual or upfront contracts for change-of-control and cancellation terms
  • Ask your Instacart rep how Carrot Ads placements on Uber Eats and Gopuff would be handled after closing
  • Test DoorDash Ads at small budgets so you have your own benchmark before the networks combine
  • Move any Caper cart screen budget to Instacart app placements or other in-store media
  • Review your wider retail media plan so no single network holds too much budget

October 26: Instacart shuts down Caper Carts

Instacart's board decided on October 25, 2026 to wind down Caper Cart operations, according to a Form 8-K that parent company Maplebear filed on Monday, October 26. The filing says Instacart expects pre-tax charges of about $55 million to $80 million, mostly in the fourth quarter of 2026, including $21 million to $36 million for ending contracts, $22 million to $27 million in asset impairments and $12 million to $17 million in employee termination costs. It expects $30 million to $50 million of that to be paid in cash, and the wind-down to be substantially complete by the end of the second quarter of 2027.

Bloomberg reported that Instacart will work with each retail partner to remove the carts by the end of the first quarter of 2027. Instacart said retailer adoption had not scaled fast enough and that the decision predated the sale reports.

  • Caper carts let brands show digital ads to shoppers in store, so any in-store cart placements in your 2027 plans will not be available
  • Instacart Ads on the app and Carrot Ads for retailers are not part of the wind-down
  • Instacart says its in-store focus moves to software and data tools for grocers and CPG brands

How the deal came together

The Information first reported preliminary sale talks with DoorDash and Uber on October 23, and Semafor and The Wall Street Journal reported exclusive DoorDash talks at about $17 billion on October 26. Instacart's results release says it signed a confidentiality letter with DoorDash on October 6 and the merger agreement on October 28. DoorDash previously discussed buying Instacart in 2021 at a reported $40 billion to $50 billion valuation, but those talks fell apart, partly over antitrust concerns.

Where PPC Spider helps

PPC Spider manages Amazon, Walmart and grocery retail media for brands, including campaigns run through our Instacart advertising agency team. Follow updates like this on our retail media news channel, and if you want a second opinion on how your ad budget is split across networks before peak season, start with a free Amazon audit.

Sources

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