DoorDash Acquires Square’s Caviar In $410M Deal

Payments company Square has announced the completion of a deal to sell food delivery service Caviar to rival delivery company DoorDash, according to a release.

The sale was completed on Thursday (Oct. 31), for a combination of DoorDash stock and cash worth $410 million. Square will include Caviar in its financial results through the month of October, but not after the sale.

Projected total net revenue for Caviar for the full year of 2019 is $190 million, with $32 million expected for the remainder of the year.

Square will release its Q3 results on Nov. 6, and said it will discuss guidance at that time.

Previously, when Square was trying to sell Caviar, Uber almost purchased it, but ultimately decided to pass. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said it wasn’t the right fit: “We took a look at Caviar. It’s a great brand, [but] it wasn’t the right deal for us.”

Square originally purchased Caviar in 2014 for $44 million.

Khosrowshahi noted that Uber Eats would focus on growth instead of acquisitions, and that he sees food delivery as a real battle in the upcoming years. “The Eats market continues to be very competitive,” he said, adding that he’s not worried turning down Caviar will have an effect on future potential acquisitions. “We’re Uber,” he said. “Everyone wants to talk to us.”

As recently as January of last year, Square was still very much trying to make Caviar work. In fact, the company acquired Entrees On Trays, a food service in Texas.

Caviar Product Lead Gokul Rajaram told a news outlet at the time that the goal of the purchase was twofold: to speed Caviar’s growth in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and to profit from the partnerships Entrees On Trays had established with local Texas restaurants.