From near collapse to top-tier takeover: Torrent Pharma’s ₹18,000 crore power move signals bold comeback

Torrent Pharmaceuticals , with revenues of over ₹11,500 crore in FY25, is now the seventh-largest domestic pharmaceutical company, boasting one of the highest growth rates among the top ten Indian pharma firms. “Our vision is to become the third largest within the next 3–5 years,” Aman Mehta, director and designated managing director of Torrent Pharma—and the eldest son of Samir Mehta, chairman of Torrent Group—told Fortune India a couple of weeks ago, hinting that the company was closely evaluating acquisition targets in India and Brazil. Aman’s top three ambitions have moved closer with the proposed ₹18,000 crore-plus acquisition of JB Pharmaceuticals, a company with over ₹3,750 crore in revenue in FY25.

Aggressive acquisitions

Acquisitions have always been a key driver of Torrent Pharma’s growth. Unlike major Indian generics firms like the erstwhile Ranbaxy (now part of Sun Pharma ), Dr Reddy’s Laboratories , and Zydus Cadila , Torrent entered the US generics market—the world’s largest—relatively late. In 2007, when German multinational Merck KGaA put its entire generics business on the block, suitors included global majors such as Ranbaxy, Actavis of Iceland, and Teva of Israel. Among them emerged a surprise bidder from India: Torrent Pharmaceuticals, backed by a group of private equity investors. Torrent, however, failed to clinch the deal. Merck’s business was eventually acquired by US-based Mylan in a €4.9 billion ($6.7 billion) deal. (Mylan later merged with Pfizer’s unit Upjohn to form Viatris in 2020.)

Sources say Torrent was, until recently, aggressively pursuing an acquisition of Cipla, one of India’s oldest and largest pharmaceutical companies. While Torrent was reportedly willing to spend up to $7 billion, the seller family’s asking price was 15–20% higher, making the deal unviable.

Before the JB Chem deal, Torrent had spent over $1 billion in the last decade alone on acquiring brands and companies. In 2013, it acquired Elder Pharma’s branded domestic formulations business in India and Nepal for ₹2,000 crore. Four years later, it bought Unichem’s India and Nepal business, along with its Sikkim facility, for ₹3,600 crore. At the time, Unichem’s India business had 120 brands generating annual revenues of over ₹850 crore. In 2022, Torrent acquired Curatio Healthcare, which had over 50 brands in the cosmetic dermatology space, for ₹2,000 crore. That acquisition helped Torrent leap from rank 21 to 10 in the domestic pharma market. With the JB Chem acquisition, Torrent is now poised to break into the top five, joining the ranks of industry leaders like Sun Pharma and Cipla.

A U-turn from near bankruptcy

Torrent Pharmaceuticals was founded by the late Uttambhai Nathalal Mehta, a former medical representative who worked with Sandoz for around 15 years. He invested his life savings to start Trinity Laboratories in 1969. However, a Chennai-based company sued for trademark infringement, alleging that “Trinity” was too similar to its name. Facing near closure, UN Mehta introduced a new product—TrinicamPlus, a combination of three drugs for mental disorders. Torrent pioneered niche marketing, and the strategy turned the company’s fortunes around. It soon expanded into cardiovascular and central nervous system drugs.

Torrent’s initial foray into international markets was through the USSR, where it enjoyed a first-mover advantage—MJ Pharma was the only other serious Indian player in the region. The USSR’s centralised procurement system allowed Torrent to operate without a large infrastructure or marketing team. In its very first year, the company earned ₹8 crore from the USSR market, out of total revenues of ₹14 crore. Within a few years, that number soared to ₹170 crore. But the disintegration of the Soviet Union left Torrent with over ₹200 crore in unpaid dues. Nearly 90% of its annual business evaporated overnight.

UN Mehta’s sons, Sudhir and Samir, took charge during this turbulent time. While they also diversified into power, they revised the group’s pharmaceutical strategy—focusing on new geographies like the US and Brazil and doubling down on the Indian market. In 2005, Torrent made its first major overseas acquisition—Heumann Pharma of Germany, a generic business unit of Pfizer. That marked the beginning of Torrent Pharma’s remarkable turnaround.