Uber in $1.1 billion deal to pick up national liquor-delivery service

Uber Technologies is acquiring leading on-demand alcohol delivery service Drizly for approximately $1.1 billion in stock and cash.

Based in Boston, Drizly is available and designed to be fully compliant with local regulations in more than 1,400 cities across a majority of U.S. states. Drizly works with thousands of local retailers to provide consumers with an on-demand selection of beer, wine, and spirits with transparent pricing.

After the completion of the transaction, Drizly will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uber. Drizly’s marketplace will eventually be integrated with the Uber Eats on-demand food and beverage delivery app, while also maintaining a separate Drizly app.

According to Drizly, the company plans to innovate and expand independently in its sector, while also gaining access to the advanced mobile marketplace technologies of Uber. Retailers on Drizly will have access to Uber’s routing technology and consumer base, and drivers will have more orders to deliver. In addition, Uber can integrate its rewards and subscription programs with benefits and perks on Drizly.

“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,” said 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% 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.” 

“Drizly has spent the last eight years building the infrastructure, technology, and partnerships to bring the consumer a shopping experience they deserve,” said 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 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.