Top 6 Stocks That Went on a ₹90,000 Cr Acquisition Spree in the Last 5 Years

Synopsis: A handful of listed Indian companies have spent nearly ₹90,000 crore on acquisitions over the last five years. From FMCG and pharma to consumer tech and insurance, these companies are using acquisitions not just to grow faster, but to buy market share, enter new categories, and reshape their businesses entirely.

India’s M&A market has entered a very different phase. What was once dominated by opportunistic acquisitions is now being driven by a structured long-term strategy. In 2025 alone, India recorded over $123 billion in deal value, and the momentum has continued as listed companies aggressively consolidate sectors, enter new categories, and build scale faster than organic growth allows.

But serial acquisition strategies come with two very different outcomes. The best acquirers create platform businesses that compound for years. The worst overpay for growth, struggle with integration, and destroy shareholder value. That is what makes this group of Indian listed companies important; each of them has repeatedly used acquisitions as a core growth engine rather than a one-off expansion move.

Tata Consumer Products — Building an FMCG Empire Beyond Tea

Tata Consumer Products has quietly transformed itself from a tea-and-salt company into a diversified food and beverage platform through acquisitions. The company’s biggest move came in 2024 with the ₹5,100 crore acquisition of Capital Foods, owner of Ching’s Secret and Smith & Jones. Around the same time, it acquired Organic India for ₹1,900 crore to strengthen its health and wellness portfolio. 

Earlier acquisitions included Soulfull, a millet-based foods company, and full ownership of NourishCo from PepsiCo, which owns Himalaya Water and GlucoPlus. The strategy is clear to buy categories where Indian consumption is premiumising faster than traditional staples.

Mankind Pharma — Buying Scale in High-Barrier Therapies

Mankind Pharma built one of the most aggressive acquisition playbooks in Indian pharma over the last five years. The defining deal was Bharat Serums and Vaccines (BSV), acquired for ₹13,768 crore in 2024, instantly giving Mankind leadership in women’s health, fertility, and critical care. 

Before that, the company acquired Panacea Biotec’s domestic formulations business for ₹1,872 crore and also purchased brands like Daffy and Combihale from Dr. Reddy’s. Instead of building slowly, Mankind has consistently bought established brands and therapeutic leadership directly.

Eternal (Zomato) — Building India’s Urban Consumption Super-App

Eternal’s acquisition strategy has been about owning urban consumer behaviour end-to-end. The company’s most important acquisition remains Blinkit, acquired for ₹4,447 crore in 2022, a deal heavily criticised initially but now seen as one of the most important pivots in Indian internet history.

The company later acquired Paytm Insider and TicketNew for ₹2,048 crore to build its “District” going-out platform. Investments and acquisitions in Shiprocket, Magicpin, UrbanPiper, and Adonmo further expanded the ecosystem around food delivery, logistics, events, and commerce infrastructure.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals — The Chronic Therapy Consolidator

Torrent Pharma has spent years quietly consolidating branded pharmaceutical businesses. Its biggest acquisition came in 2025 with the acquisition of JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals at an equity valuation exceeding ₹25,000 crore, for 46.39% of equity, one of the largest pharma deals in Indian history.

Earlier, Torrent acquired Curatio Healthcare’s dermatology portfolio for roughly ₹2,000 crore and also purchased ophthalmology brands from Novartis. The company’s strategy has been consistent: acquire established brands in chronic therapies where patient stickiness and prescription continuity create durable competitive advantages.

Bajaj Finserv — Buying Full Control of Insurance

Bajaj Finserv’s acquisition cycle has been less about expansion and more about strategic control. In 2025, the company acquired Allianz’s 23% stake in Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance for ₹9,200 crore and the stake in Bajaj Allianz General Insurance for ₹12,190 crore.

These two deals alone crossed ₹20,000 crore and fundamentally changed the structure of the Bajaj Financial Services ecosystem. The company also acquired Vidal Healthcare to strengthen its health-tech and insurance servicing capabilities. Full ownership now gives Bajaj complete flexibility over capital allocation, product strategy, and long-term expansion.

Marico — Quietly Building a Digital-First Consumer Portfolio

While Marico’s acquisition strategy has been smaller in ticket size compared to others on this list, the company has consistently acquired fast-growing digital-first brands over the last five years. The most notable acquisitions include Beardo, the men’s grooming brand, and Just Herbs, the Ayurvedic beauty and skincare company.

Marico also acquired stakes in brands like True Elements and Plix as it pushed aggressively into health foods, nutrition, and premium personal care. Unlike traditional FMCG acquisitions focused on scale, Marico’s playbook has focused on buying emerging consumer trends early, before they become mainstream categories.

Risks Investors Should Watch

Serial acquisition strategies can create enormous long-term value — but only if integration works. Overpaying for assets, rising debt, cultural mismatches, or poor execution can quickly erode returns. Consumer-tech acquisitions especially carry valuation risk, while pharma and insurance deals often face regulatory and integration complexity. In many cases, the real success of these acquisitions may only become visible three to five years later.

Market Takeaway

What makes these companies different is not just the size of capital deployed, it is the clarity behind what they are trying to build. Tata Consumer is buying future consumption categories. Mankind is buying therapeutic leadership. Eternal is buying ecosystem control. Torrent is buying chronic market share. Bajaj Finserv is buying ownership. Marico is buying emerging consumer behaviour.

India’s next generation of corporate leaders may not be built only through organic growth. They may be built by companies willing to buy scale, distribution, technology, and market leadership faster than competitors can create it themselves.

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