DoorDash is buying Instacart for $17 billion and banning LinkedIn connections
DoorDash is spending $17 billion to buy Instacart.
The short version
- Workers cannot connect on LinkedIn until the deal closes.
- The freeze could last up to 20 months.
DoorDash, the restaurant and grocery delivery app, is spending $17 billion to acquire Instacart, the grocery delivery platform. But until the deal closes, its employees are not even allowed to connect with their future colleagues on LinkedIn. According to Fortune, if an Instacart employee reaches out, DoorDash has a script ready telling them to connect after the deal closes, and anything beyond that needs legal approval.
The instructions come from an internal Q&A that DoorDash filed with the SEC on Oct. 29, the day the deal was announced. Employees must not send new LinkedIn connection requests to Instacart workers or accept requests from them, even if they have a prior relationship.
That could take a while, as DoorDash expects the acquisition to close at the end of 2027 or in the first half of 2028, subject to shareholder approval and antitrust reviews in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. That could leave the LinkedIn freeze in place for up to 20 months.
The restriction reflects legal requirements designed to prevent gun-jumping, when companies begin improperly coordinating their operations before a merger officially closes. Chris Selland, a lecturer at Northeastern University, told Fortune the restriction could protect the companies against poaching and org-chart mapping in case the deal is ultimately blocked.
DoorDash CEO Tony Xu put it plainly last year that M&A is very easy to get right on paper and very hard to get right in practice.
