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Uber to buy alcohol-delivery service Drizly for $1.1 billion

Uber Technologies Inc. announced Tuesday it is acquiring Drizly, the nation’s leading on-demand alcohol-delivery service, for $1.1 billion.

According to the ride-share behemoth, Drizly marketplace will be integrated with the Uber Eats app, but the standalone Drizly app will remain as well.

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Founded in 2012, Drizly is currently available in 1,400 cities and generated 300% growth in the past year, CNBC reported.

The announcement marks the largest deal to date in the U.S. online alcohol space, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, a trade group representing more than 350 distributors.

Uber also acquired food-delivery rival Postmates Inc. in a 2020 stock deal valued at nearly $2.7 billion. Uber’s food-delivery segment now trails only DoorDash Inc. in U.S. market share, the Journal reported.

“During this time our delivery business has been growing at extraordinary rates,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told CNBC, noting the Uber Eats segment has bolstered Uber’s primary ride-hailing segment as the novel coronavirus pandemic has left many customers homebound.

Meanwhile, online alcohol sales are expected to capture 7% of total U.S. alcohol sales by 2024, compared with the 1% they represented in 2019, the Journal reported, citing industry tracker IWSR.

The Drizly deal is slated to close within the first half of 2021, CNBC reported.

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