ISTANBUL: In a landmark development that could reshape Pakistan’s electricity distribution industry, five major Pakistani business groups have joined forces with Türkiye’s industrial heavyweight Cengiz Holding through a joint venture agreement signed in Istanbul to participate in the privatisation of Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO), Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO) and Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO).
The Pakistani consortium comprises Fatima Group, Lake City, Artistic Milliners (Pvt.) Ltd., DIN Group and Fazal Group, bringing together business interests spanning fertilisers, textiles, construction, mining, aviation, industrial investment and real estate development.
Their Turkish partner, Cengiz Holding, is one of Türkiye’s major privately owned industrial conglomerates, with operations across electricity generation and distribution, construction, mining, metals and large-scale infrastructure development.
The agreement represents a potentially significant development in Pakistan’s electricity distribution privatisation programme, creating the possibility of foreign direct investment and international operational expertise entering three strategically important state-owned utilities.
The scale of the partnership is particularly noteworthy.
The five Pakistani business groups collectively represent a reported workforce exceeding 100,000 people across their wider operations, while Cengiz Holding reports approximately 45,000 employees.
Together, the business groups associated with the partnership represent a reported combined workforce exceeding 145,000, although these figures describe their wider operations rather than employees directly involved in the proposed joint venture.
Cengiz Holding also brings experience in managing major electricity distribution networks in Türkiye through CK Enerji and associated businesses, alongside an electricity generation portfolio exceeding 5,600 megawatts.
The Istanbul agreement positions the Pakistani-Turkish partnership as a potentially formidable contender in Pakistan’s first batch of electricity distribution privatisation transactions.
AGREEMENT UNITES FIVE PAKISTANI GROUPS WITH TURKISH ENERGY GIANT
The joint venture has been established to pursue investment opportunities arising from the privatisation of FESCO, GEPCO and IESCO.
The Pakistani consortium brings together five business groups with experience in industrial manufacturing, textiles, investment, infrastructure development and large-scale commercial operations.
Cengiz Holding contributes international experience in electricity distribution, power generation, engineering, infrastructure and industrial investment.
The partnership could combine domestic financial resources and market knowledge with technical expertise developed through Türkiye’s electricity distribution privatisation programme.
The agreement is particularly significant because Cengiz Enerji and Pakistani investors associated with the consortium had already participated in the government’s preliminary privatisation process.
Earlier, Privatisation Commission records identified an Artistic Milliners-led consortium comprising The Lake City Holdings, Fatima Capital Limited, Din Ventures and Fazal Cloth Mills Limited.
The latest Istanbul agreement brings the Pakistani business interests together with the Turkish industrial group in a proposed partnership targeting all three electricity distribution companies.
The exact legal shareholding structure, financial commitments, governance arrangements and financing plans of the joint venture have not yet been publicly disclosed.
The agreement does not constitute the acquisition of any of the three distribution companies. The consortium must still satisfy the applicable privatisation requirements, participate in competitive bidding and obtain the necessary regulatory and government approvals.
