Uber To Acquire Alcohol Delivery Service Drizly For $1.1 Billion 

Good news for everyone who uses the Uber Eats app for at-home food deliveries. The company announced Tuesday it is acquiring alcohol-delivery service Drizly for $1.1bln in stock and cash.

Once the transaction is complete, Drizly will be integrated into the Uber Eats app. Drizly is an on-demand alcohol delivery service available in 1,400 cities across the US. 

Uber Eats has seen increasing volumes during the pandemic. 

“During this time our delivery business has been growing at extraordinary rates,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told CNBC on Tuesday.

Merchants on Drizly will be able to benefit from Uber’s top-notch technology and massive customer base. Drizly plans to keep a standalone app. 

“Wherever you want to go and whatever you need to get, our goal at Uber is to make people’s lives a little bit easier. That’s why we’ve been branching into new categories like groceries, prescriptions and, now, alcohol. Cory and his amazing team have built Drizly into an incredible success story, profitably growing gross bookings more than 300 percent year-over-year. By bringing Drizly into the Uber family, we can accelerate that trajectory by exposing Drizly to the Uber audience and expanding its geographic presence into our global footprint in the years ahead,” said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.

“Drizly has spent the last 8 years building the infrastructure, technology, and partnerships to bring the consumer a shopping experience they deserve. It’s a proud day for the Drizly team as we recognize what we’ve accomplished to date but also with the humility that much remains to be done to fulfill our vision. With this in mind, we are thrilled to join a world-class Uber team whose platform will accelerate Drizly on its mission to be there when it matters—committed to life’s moments and the people who create them,” said Drizly co-founder and CEO Cory Rellas.

The deal is expected to close within the first half of 2021. After the news broke this morning, Uber’s stock jumped. 

So, what will Uber acquire next? A marijuana delivery service? We suspect that could be the case…