Instacart’s sale talks, Datadog’s bid for Upwind and Nvidia’s move to back Firmus

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Deals are getting bigger and messier. Some of tech’s best-known companies are weighing a sale, others are shopping, and a few have watched a deal fall apart in public.

At The Information, we break the stories that matter before they become mainstream. Whether you’re raising money, weighing an acquisition or sizing up a rival, it helps to know who is at the table before the deal is announced. Subscribe and save 25% on your first year to get this reporting as it happens.

Here are six stories on who is buying, selling and walking away that we’ve reported in recent weeks.

Companies weighing a sale

Instacart, the grocery delivery app that became a lifeline during the pandemic, is exploring a sale. Our exclusive on Instacart’s sale talks shows who it has been speaking with and what could stand in the way.

Meanwhile, a company that builds software for self-driving vehicles is hearing from investors who want in. The offers Applied Intuition is fielding say a lot about where investors think the value in self-driving will end up.

When deals fall apart

Ramp and Airwallex once talked about a partnership to handle international payments. When it collapsed, some of Ramp’s best-connected backers took the fight beyond the boardroom. Inside the Ramp-Airwallex feud explains what they are asking for and how Airwallex is fighting back.

Firmus, an Australian AI cloud provider, pulled its IPO at the last minute. What Nvidia does next says a lot about how much strain the AI cloud business is under.

Who’s still shopping

Datadog is going after a cloud security startup, and it has tried before. Why Datadog came back for Upwind comes down to the price on the table and how it compares with what the startup says it is worth.

Private equity is shopping in a quieter corner, too. A TPG-backed accounting firm is lining up its next round of acquisitions and betting AI changes the math. Inside the firm’s plans looks at what it expects to gain and who it thinks will keep the savings.

The common thread: whether it is a sale, a rescue or a roll-up, everyone is trying to get to the deal before a rival does.

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