November 28, 2006

Engro Innovative Automation (Pvt.) Ltd. (EIAL) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire 70% of the business interests of a US firm – Advanced Automation Associates, Inc., USA.

Advanced Automation is an industrial automation company based in Pennsylvania, USA whose primary line of business is very similar to that of EIAL. The total investment by EIAL in this venture will be approximately Rs. 450 million.

Addressing a press conference, Mr. Bakhtiar Wain, Chief Executive Officer, Engro Innovative Automation Ltd. – a 51% owned subsidiary of Engro Chemical Pakistan Ltd. – said, “After developing a world standard skill set through extensive experience of Pakistan and Middle East’s industrial automation market, we have decided to venture into North American market by acquiring stakes in Advanced Automation Associates, Inc., USA.”

Mr. Wain said that the strategic acquisition of majority stake will allow the company to raise the expertise of its team to the next level by implementing best engineering practices and synchronization of business processes across the enterprise level. The outsourcing model that we envisage after seamless integration of the two organizations will set the stage of future acquisitions in North America.

“For us, the strategy of offering solutions instead of just products has been extremely successful. iBoiler, our first of its kind proprietary energy optimization solution, is one of the building blocks of our vision for being known as the leading solutions company in the region. The product after its launch at Hanover Fair this year has found excellent response through out Far East. Advance Automation Associates would provide us an excellent window to the world’s biggest industrial market.

Engro Innovative, the market leader in Pakistan, leverages the latest in technology for providing cutting-edge process control solutions to its clients. It has a history of consistently setting new standards of engineering, quality and reliability. Its solutions have helped customers improve efficiency, reduce costs and dramatically decrease cycle times to achieve competitive advantage for continued business success.

EIAL started as a business division of Innovative Pvt. Ltd. (IPL) in July 1995 to implement industrial automation, electric engineering & process control systems for the local industry. In April 2003, it was acquired by Engro Chemical Pakistan Ltd (ECPL) to form an ECPL subsidiary, Engro Innovative Automation Pvt. Ltd – EIAL.

EIAL has its head office in Lahore and regional offices in Islamabad and Karachi and UAE. The employee strength is 175 and growing.