D2C M&A activity

Three very different Indian consumer brands changed hands within weeks, and that usually means the easy money phase is over. In March 2026, Estée Lauder moved to buy the rest of Forest Essentials, Mirza International’s managing director Tauseef Mirza bought Solethreads, and Puresta acquired SKINQ before launching a dermatology platform. (economictimes.indiatimes.com, entrackr.com, inc42.com) These were not random startups in one niche. Forest Essentials sells luxury Ayurvedic beauty, Solethreads sells casual footwear online, and SKINQ built a skincare brand that Puresta is folding into a wider beauty-plus-health play. (business-standard.com, entrackr.com, inc42.com) Direct to consumer means a brand tries to sell through its own website, app, or stores instead of relying mainly on big marketplaces and distributors. That model gave Indian startups a way to launch fast, collect customer data directly, and pitch investors on brand loyalty instead of shelf space. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) Then the math got harder. Online ads became more expensive, repeat buying became crucial, and many brands discovered that shipping, returns, and discounting can eat margins faster than revenue headlines suggest. (economictimes.indiatimes.com, entrackr.com) That is why the buyers in these deals matter as much as the brands. Estée Lauder is a global beauty company adding full control of a premium Indian label, Mirza brings shoe manufacturing and distribution to a digital-first footwear brand, and Puresta is using an acquisition to speed up a new dermatology platform. (moneycontrol.com, inc42.com, inc42.com) The Forest Essentials deal shows how long these exits can take. Estée Lauder first invested in the company in 2008, raised its holding to 49 percent in 2020, and in March 2026 agreed to buy the remaining 51 percent, with closing expected in the second half of 2026. (moneycontrol.com, business-standard.com) That is a very different path from the old startup script of “raise fast, list fast.” Here, a multinational spent 18 years moving from minority backer to full owner, which suggests strong consumer brands in India are being treated more like long-build assets than quick flips. (brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com, moneycontrol.com) The Solethreads deal shows the other side of the market. Tauseef Mirza bought 100 percent of the brand, and reports tied the move to Mirza International’s push into the semi-premium footwear segment by combining factory muscle with a youth-focused online label. (entrackr.com, inc42.com) Puresta’s move was different again: buy a skincare brand first, then build a larger machine around it. Inc42 reported that Puresta raised ₹34 crore, or about $3.7 million, in February 2026 and had already acquired SKINQ ahead of launching what it called an artificial intelligence-powered full-stack dermatology platform. (inc42.com) Put together, these deals say something simple about India’s direct-to-consumer market in 2026. Buyers still want brands, but they want brands that can plug into something bigger: a global beauty house, a manufacturing network, or a health-and-beauty platform with fresh capital behind it. (economictimes.indiatimes.com, entrackr.com, inc42.com) For founders and investors, that changes the target. A few years ago the pitch was often “we can acquire customers online”; in March 2026, the exits point to a tougher standard: “we have a brand strong enough that a larger company wants to own the whole stack around it.” (entrackr.com, business-standard.com, inc42.com)