As alcohol ecommerce and direct-to-consumer continue to evolve, Uber Technologies today announced an agreement to buy Drizly.
The price is approximately $1.1 billion in stock and cash.
Drizly is the leading on-demand alcohol marketplace in the U.S., available and fully compliant with local regulations in more than 1,400 cities across the country. Drizly works with thousands of local merchants to provide consumers with a selection of beer, wine, and spirits.
After completion of the transaction, Drizly will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Uber. Drizly’s marketplace will eventually integrate into the Uber Eats app, while also maintaining a separate Drizly app.
Drizly now gains access to the world’s largest food delivery and ridesharing platform in Uber. Uber’s rewards and subscription programs will also extend onto Drizly.
“Drizly has spent the last eight years building the infrastructure, technology and partnerships to bring the consumer a shopping experience they deserve,” says Drizly Co-Founder and CEO Cory Rellas. “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.”
Uber currently anticipates that more than 90% of the consideration to be paid to the Drizly stockholders in the transaction will consist of shares of Uber common stock, with the balance to be paid in cash. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close within the first half of 2021.
“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,” says Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. “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.”
