Uber buys Drizly for $1.1 billion
Hammered by the health crisis that keeps people marooned at home, Uber is rapidly diversifying into new delivery services. The ride-hailing company said Tuesday it’ll buy online liquor marketplace Drizly for about $1.1 billion.
Drizly’s app and website allow users to order their favorite beer, wine or liquor and choose the store where they want to buy it from. It then has the store deliver the drinks to their door within one hour. It partners with retailers in more than 1400 cities across North America.
Under the deal, Drizly will become a wholly owned subsidiary. Uber will maintain a separate Drizly app, and the marketplace will also get integrated with the Uber Eats app.
It’s the latest step the company is taking to branch out after the health crisis dealt a big blow to its core ride-hailing services business. Last July, it shelled out $2.7 billion to acquire Postmates. That deal gave Uber a roughly 30% share of the U.S. food delivery market so it can better take on market leader DoorDash.
Investors applauded Uber’s latest move, driving its shares up 8% in early trading Tuesday.
