As approved by the Board of Directors of Dawood Hercules Corporation Ltd, DHCL has signed a Sale Purchase Agreement with Avanceon Ltd for the swapping of 100% of the shares of DHCL’s subsidiary EmpiricAI (Pvt) Ltd in exchange for a minority stake in Octopus Digital Ltd, a subsidiary of Avanceon Ltd, subject to all necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals. This is an exciting collaboration between a long-standing capital conglomerate and a new-age technology venture, representing the future of integration between industrial and entrepreneurial ecosystems.

DHCL and AVN are entering this partnership to jointly develop their underlying technology assets, drawing from mutual expertise and synergies. EmpiricAI (Pvt) Ltd was set up by DHCL with a vision to be a leading provider of AI-based analytics solutions for manufacturing equipment, enabling industries to improve the performance of their manufacturing assets. Octopus Digital Ltd provides cloud data enablement, business intelligence, and data-driven services to digitalize supply chain, manufacturing, and operational workflows. The synergy of these business models makes joint management for both assets an ideal value proposition, ultimately leading to increased value for our customers. Avanceon has built tremendous market credibility based on capability, knowledge, and customer focus while DHCL has decades of manufacturing expertise that will play a pivotal role in aligning products and services with client needs. DHCL will also as a significant minority shareholder in Octopus, occupy a position on the Board of Directors and play a role in capital stewardship and governance of the asset.

Such a partnership can prove transformative for the sector by helping manufacturing clients in their journey to Industry 4.0. The capability brought by AVN and the industry knowledge of DHCL can create a cutting-edge center of excellence. DHCL’s link with Engro Corporation Ltd, one of Pakistan’s leading manufacturing conglomerates, can also enable further use cases for such technology ventures as they jointly make the transition towards Industry 4.0. In any business landscape, capital, capability, and vertical knowledge are partners that create prosperity and value for all stakeholders. South Asia is already a budding success story in building globally competitive companies and exporting technology services worldwide; a deeper degree of integration among local partners can provide the necessary collaboration, discipline, and network to truly elevate our entrepreneurial companies to a global scale. According to Shamoon Chaudry, CEO of DHCL, “We are very impressed with the leadership of Avanceon which is what excites us about the potential of this organization; they have an excellent management team in place that is more than capable of elevating EmpiricAI into the next generation of technology companies.” This kind of collaboration between multi-generational investors with manufacturing expertise and technology companies could prove to be the most exciting development in Pakistan’s technology ecosystem. Bakhtiar Wain, founder, and CEO of Avanceon said, “Pakistan has tremendous potential to build IPs and businesses that are globally successful. I have always believed real value for Industry 4.0 technology companies is created by bridging the divide between technology and business knowledge. This partnership with Dawood Hercules Corporation provides the best possible structure for this vision. Our team cannot wait to kick off this journey and create unmatchable value for our shareholders.”