Five major Pakistani business groups have signed a strategic joint venture agreement with the Turkish industrial heavyweight Cengiz Holding in Istanbul. The partnership is designed to pursue investment opportunities arising from the privatization of the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO), Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO), and Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO).
The Pakistani consortium consists of Fatima Group, Lake City, Artistic Milliners (Pvt.) Ltd., DIN Group, and Fazal Group. These groups bring together interests in various sectors, including fertilisers, textiles, construction, mining, aviation, industrial investment, and real estate development. Their Turkish partner, Cengiz Holding, is a major privately owned industrial conglomerate in Türkiye with operations in electricity generation and distribution, construction, mining, metals, and large-scale infrastructure.
The Business Recorder reports that the five Pakistani groups collectively represent a 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 brings experience in managing major electricity distribution networks in Türkiye through CK Enerji and associated businesses, along with an electricity generation portfolio exceeding 5,600 megawatts. The partnership is described as a potentially significant development that could create the possibility of foreign direct investment and international operational expertise entering three strategically important state-owned utilities.
The agreement is particularly significant because Cengiz Enerji and Pakistani investors associated with the consortium had already participated in the government’s preliminary privatization process. The partnership could combine domestic financial resources and market knowledge with technical expertise developed through Türkiye’s electricity distribution privatization programme, positioning the group as a potentially formidable contender in Pakistan’s first batch of electricity distribution privatization transactions.
