CCP facilitates $50M in FDI through M&A approvals in FY2024-25

The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) approved 69 merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions during the fiscal year 2024-25, facilitating approximately $50 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country.

These transactions spanned a wide range of sectors—including food, finance, logistics, aerospace, media, and e-commerce—highlighting CCP’s pivotal role in fostering competitive markets and bolstering investor confidence in Pakistan’s economy.

Among the most prominent FDI transactions were a joint venture between NLC and DP World Logistics FZE, facilitated through the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), and the acquisition of Wemsol by Bazaar Technologies in the e-commerce sector. In agribusiness, Italy’s Euricom S.P.A. acquired a 50% stake in Fatima Euricom Rice Mills.

The media sector saw Berkeley Square Holding BV acquire 50% shares in Ogilvy & Mather, Mindshare, and Soho Square Pakistan. In technology, Saudi Arabia’s Wakeb Data Company acquired an 80% stake in drone manufacturer Woot Tech.

In addition to foreign investment deals, the CCP approved 64 domestic M&A transactions across sectors such as retail, services, logistics, energy, food, and manufacturing. Sector-wise, 25 deals were in industrial and manufacturing, 14 in energy and power, 13 in services, 11 in financial services, five in consumer goods and retail, and one in real estate.

Key domestic transactions included Asyad Holding’s acquisition of 77.42% shares in Shell Pakistan through UAE-based Wafi Energy—a significant development in the energy sector. Other notable deals included Alfalah Asset Management’s acquisition of fund management rights from Faysal Asset Management; a joint acquisition of Uch Power and Uch-II Power by Sapphire Fibres and Mindbridge; and PPR Holding A.S. taking full ownership of SadaPay Technologies.

Further major domestic deals involved Nimir Industrial Chemicals acquiring assets of Procter & Gamble Pakistan, Naubahar Bottling Company acquiring bottling operations from JK Sugar Mills, and the merger of DWP Engineering Industries with Digital World Pakistan.

Separately, the CCP also granted 38 conditional and time-bound exemptions under the Competition Act, 2010, during the fiscal year. These exemptions were issued across a wide array of sectors, including automotive, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, food and beverages, energy, logistics, telecommunications, banking and finance, tobacco, aviation, and packaging.