Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited (Urdu: داؤد ہرکولیس کارپوریشن, DH Corp.) is a Pakistani publicly listed investment and holding company headquartered in Karachi. It operates its subsidiary Engro Corporation.[1]
History
Fertiliser factory in Chichoki Mallian, Sheikhupura district
In 1968 Dawood Hercules Chemicals Ltd. was formed as a joint venture between the Pakistani Dawood Group and the American company Hercules Inc.[2][3] The fertilizer plant in Chichoki Mallian, Sheikhupura, Punjab was constructed in 1969. This was the first private sector venture to receive a loan from the World Bank. The factory was the largest ammonia/urea plant in the country at the time.
Dawood Hercules Chemicals remained as a joint venture between the family-driven business and the American partners for over 20 years until the majority takeover in 1990.
In 1997 the Dawood Hercules Chemicals began equity investments in Engro Corporation, and 27% of its shares were acquired.[4]
In 2002 the company expanded its long-term investment in the Engro Corporation. Since then, at least 37% of the shares of Engro are held by DH Corp.[5]
In 2011, the company's fertilizer manufacturing business encountered problems due to the strain in Pakistan's gas supply.[7] It undertook a failed sale of DH Fertilizers to Pakarab Fertilizers.[7] Dawood Hercules Chemicals Ltd. was de-merged and became Dawood Hercules Corporation (DH Corp.), a holding company which focuses on investments and Dawood Hercules Fertilizers.[8]
In 2012 DH Corp. acquired shares of Hub Power Company (HUBCO), the first and largest independent power producer in Pakistan with a power generation capacity of 2920 MW.[9]
In 2015, DH Corp. sold its fertilizer manufacturing company to the Fatima Fertilizer Company.[10] The shares of Hubco were sold in 2018.[11]
In October 2022, DH Corp. sold its wholly-owned subsidiary Empiric AI, which solves complex industrial problems through software products like data analytics and artificial intelligence, under a share swap agreement to Avanceon.[12]
Shareholding
DH Corp. is a public listed family-owned company on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). It is traded on the PSX under the symbol DAWH. The number of shares of DAWH are 481,287,116.[13] It has received domestic entity rating by the Pakistan Credit Rating Agency Limited (PACRA), Long Term: AA and Short Term: A1+.[14] DH Corp. is one of four companies that collectively control 19.3% of the total market capitalization on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).[15]
Subsidiaries
DH Corp. directly governs financially and operationally over its subsidiary, Engro Corporation, and holds, through the majority of voting rights, the decision-making power at the company's' boards of directors.[1]
Engro Corporation is a conglomerate with subsidiaries itself. Its activities span from production of fertilizers, foods, chemicals to energy, petrochemicals, telecommunication infrastructure and trade.
Associated companies
Through common directorship of DH Corp. are the following companies associated with it:[1]
Inbox Business Technologies had initially started its operations as a computer assembly business in 2001. Inbox has partnerships with leading global IT companies which include Huawei, Oracle, and Microsoft corporation. It is the largest domestic revenue-generating IT company.[16]
Dawood Lawrencepur Limited (DLL), used to be a leading textile company with factories in Burewala and Karachi but shut its textile business and was restyled in 2004[17][18] to become a holding company for two renewable energy projects.[19]
Tenaga Generasi Limited (TGL), a Malaysian company, incorporated in Pakistan in 2004 to implement a 50MW wind power plant. TGL runs a wind power plant in Sindh and was acquired by DLL in 2008.[20]
Reon Energy is DLL's subsidiary actively engaged in solar power, energy storage, electric vehicle charging and digitization of energy assets. Reon is one of Pakistan's leading industrial renewable energy specialist. Its portfolio includes cement, oil and gas, coal mining, steel, textile, dairy, and telecommunications.[21]
Leadership
DH Corp.'s board of directors, according to Pakistan's Companies Act of 2017,[22] comprises 6 non-executive, 3 independent, and 1 executive director.
Mohammad Shamoon Chaudry is since 1st January 2022 the company's chief executive officer.[23]
Rs. 6.22 billion (US$22 million) (2022)
Rs. 3.69 billion (US$13 million) (2022)
