Uber announced on Tuesday that it will be acquiring popular alcohol delivery service Drizly for $1.1 billion in stock and cash, CNBC reports.
Drizly's marketplace will be integrated into the company's Uber Eats app, but it will also keep the standalone Drizly app. Both Drizly and Uber Eats saw a spike in business due to the pandemic, which has confined people to their homes. This comes as Uber shifts its focus on expanding its Eats segment. In July, the company bought Postmates after talks failed when trying to acquire GrubHub. Now, Uber Eats will be adding alcohol delivery to its options.
"During this time our delivery business has been growing at an extraordinary rate," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told CNBC on Tuesday, while also noting that Drizly has grown more than 300% in the past year.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2021. More than 90% of the consideration will likely be paid to Drizly shareholders in the form of Uber common stock while the rest will be paid out in cash. Uber stock went up more than 7% following the news.
The expansion of the Eats segment will help Uber offset some of the expenses generated by its traditional transportation segments. In May, the company transferred its electric bike and scooter business, Jump, to Lime. It also sold its self-driving unit, Advanced Technologies Group, to its start-up competitor Aurora Innovation in December, a day before revealing that it was dumping its flying taxi business, Uber Elevate.
