The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has cleared IGI Investments (Private) Limited’s acquisition of a 98.31 percent stake in Akzo Nobel Pakistan Limited, removing a key regulatory condition for a transaction valuing the paints and coatings business at Rs16.22 billion.
IGI Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of IGI Holdings Limited and the group’s strategic investment arm, entered into a share purchase agreement with Netherlands-based ICI Omicron B.V. in April 2026. The seller is part of Akzo Nobel N.V., the Netherlands-based global paints and coatings group.
The transaction puts an enterprise value of Rs16.22 billion, or about $58 million, on Akzo Nobel Pakistan, according to information earlier disclosed to the Pakistan Stock Exchange. IGI Investments may also seek to acquire up to another 1.69 percent stake from minority shareholders through separate arrangements.
The CCP examined the acquisition under Section 11 of the Competition Act, 2010, assessing its potential impact on Pakistan’s decorative coatings, or paints, and industrial coatings markets.
The regulator found no horizontal overlap or vertical relationship between the merger parties in the relevant Pakistani markets. The acquisition would therefore result in no increase in market share or market concentration, according to the Commission’s assessment.
The CCP also found the relevant market to be fragmented and concluded that the transaction was unlikely to create entry barriers, materially increase the parties’ market power, exclude existing or potential competitors or substantially lessen competition.
The Commission consequently authorised the transaction under Section 31(1)(d)(i) of the Competition Act, 2010.
The clearance moves IGI closer to taking control of one of Pakistan’s established paints and coatings businesses and expands the group’s investment portfolio into a business exposed to construction, housing and industrial demand.
Akzo Nobel Pakistan manufactures and sells decorative paints and industrial coatings and has a longstanding presence in the domestic market. The transaction also comes as its Dutch parent continues to reshape its portfolio.
CCP approval removes the competition-regulatory hurdle to the acquisition, though completion remains subject to other applicable conditions and corporate formalities.
The Commission separately noted that certain ancillary restrictions contained in the agreement may require exemption under Section 5 of the Competition Act, read with the Competition Commission (Exemption) Regulations, 2020.
