Top 10 smartest acquisitions of all time

Acquisition has long been a favoured way to fill gaps in offerings, and gain new markets or capacities. Many acquisition-savvy businesses seek to grow and expand their operations through a series of smart acquisitions.

Enterprises are willing to pay billions of dollars for some prized acquisitions. Many of these acquisitions pay off the acquirers in a big way in terms of adding a significant figure to their market cap and also fetching them huge profits. In a majority of the cases discussed below, the money put in during the acquisitions has grown several times besides also boosting the share price of the investing firm in a big way.

Business Insider examines some of the biggest acquisitions in history, based on the purchase price. Eventually, most of these deals turned out to be smart moves. Here is a list of top 10 acquisitions in the world where the acquirers got it right.