Uber announced Tuesday it is acquiring alcohol-delivery service Drizly for $1.1 billion in stock and cash.
Following the completion of the transaction, Drizly’s marketplace will be integrated with the Uber Eats app. The company will keep the standalone Drizly app as well, it said.
Founded in 2012, Drizly has become the leading on-demand alcohol delivery service in the U.S. and is available in 1,400 cities. The purchase could help drive people to use Uber’s app more often.
Uber Eats has been a key segment to Uber’s business amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which has dramatically reduced the number of people leaving their homes.
"Now Uber can deliver even more things," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday morning.
The deal is expected to close within the first half of 2021. Uber said that it anticipates that more than 90 percent of the consideration to be paid to Drizly shareholders will consist of shares of Uber common stock, and the balance will be paid in cash.
Uber stock was up about 5 percent in premarket trading.