Nimir Industrial Chemicals Ltd has signalled its ambition to press harder into fast‑moving consumer goods manufacturing, telling analysts it intends to bid for the remainder of Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) manufacturing assets in Pakistan once the multinational completes its exit from direct operations in the country. The declaration – delivered almost in passing during a post‑results call – adds a new twist to Nimir’s already active expansion agenda and follows last year’s acquisition of P&G’s Hub, Balochistan, soap facility and a simultaneous toll‑manufacturing arrangement.
The comment came during an analyst briefing on Nimir’s first‑quarter FY26 results. Management, reviewing quarterly margins and the product pipeline, noted that the company would “potentially acquire” P&G’s Bin Qasim assets in Karachi – home to hair‑care and other consumer lines – if a transaction could be struck on attractive terms. The remark was made matter‑of‑factly, but its significance for both the country’s consumer‑goods supply chain and Nimir’s strategy was hard to miss. The company has already integrated P&G’s Hub soap plant and is contemplating the next step as it assesses the financial case to add more FMCG manufacturing capacity.
Executives were careful to stress that there is no live deal on the table. Still, the intent is clear: with P&G retreating from direct manufacturing and commercial operations in Pakistan, Nimir sees room to build a larger contract‑ and own‑brand production platform, adding scale close to ports and population centres. The same briefing underscores complementary moves, including relocating one oleochemicals plant from Sheikhupura to Hub to serve the southern market and to leverage proximity to seaborne export routes – another nudge that the company is configuring its footprint to support bigger consumer volumes.
P&G’s retreat from Pakistan has unfolded in stages over the past year. In early October, the company confirmed it would wind down all manufacturing and commercial activity in the country and rely on third‑party distributors to serve the market; at the same time, Gillette Pakistan – the shaving‑products subsidiary – said it would consider delisting from the PSX as part of the restructuring. Pakistan, P&G said, would henceforth be served through distribution and contract partnerships.
That decision followed a long investment run in local capacity: as recently as 2019, P&G inaugurated a Port Qasim hair‑care plant producing Pantene and Head & Shoulders, part of a footprint that, at its zenith, spanned soap, hair care and other personal‑care categories. The group’s Hub facility manufactured Safeguard bar soap, while the Bin Qasim site hosted hair‑care and broader home‑ and personal‑care operations. P&G’s own release confirms the commissioning of the Port Qasim hair‑care plant; Nimir’s analyst materials refer to Bin Qasim as a site for shampoo, detergents and Pampers, aligning with the brand’s historical portfolio in Pakistan.
As P&G pivots out, Nimir has already stepped into one gap. In July 2024, Nimir announced definitive agreements to acquire P&G’s Hub soap assets and to continue producing Safeguard on a toll‑manufacturing basis for the US multinational. The Competition Commission of Pakistan cleared the transaction shortly thereafter, and operational control passed to Nimir on 1 September 2024, according to the company’s PSX notices. The company framed the deal as a way to shore up southern‑region capacity, boost exports via nearby ports and strengthen its position in hard soap manufacturing.
With P&G now definitively exiting direct operations in Pakistan, attention has turned to the fate of its Bin Qasim assets. There is a broad divestment plan covering remaining manufacturing lines, while P&G emphasises that consumer access to brands will be maintained through local partnerships. For would‑be acquirers like Nimir, the attraction is straightforward: brownfield capacity in categories that sit close to Nimir’s existing raw‑material and toll‑manufacturing strengths.
Nimir is not a newcomer to consumer‑adjacent chemistry. Incorporated in the mid‑1990s, the company manufactures and sells a broad slate of oleochemicals and chlor‑alkali products – distilled fatty acids, soap noodles, stearic acid, glycerine, and caustic soda among them – supplying both domestic industrial users and multinationals. It has an installed capacities of roughly 140,000 tonnes in oleochemicals and 158,000 tonnes in chlor‑alkali products, signalling a scale base uncommon in Pakistan’s specialty‑chemicals space. Those inputs feed directly into soap, detergent, personal care and home‑care value chains – the very categories P&G historically manufactured locally.
The group’s public materials also point to a wider portfolio that includes aerosols, application services and other downstream chemistries – an operational scope that eases the path from bulk chemical to finished‑goods tolling and private‑label contracts. The company has repeatedly positioned itself as a partner to FMCG players seeking dependable third‑party manufacturing capacity, with an emphasis on quality systems and scale.
The analyst briefing from which the prospective P&G bid emerged shows why the fit could work. Nimir’s management says the company holds over 75% market share in oleochemicals, anchoring a contract‑manufacturing business that already spans toilet soap, aerosols, personal‑care liquids and home‑care products. It has also launched chlorinated paraffin wax (CPW) – a specialty used, among other things, in cable coatings – and reports encouraging market uptake. The plant network includes a captive 20 MW power plant fuelled by biomass and coal, insulating operations from grid volatility.
The company’s supply‑chain geography is another advantage. By moving one oleochemicals plant from Sheikhupura to Hub, Nimir aims to cut logistics to southern markets and unlock export optionality via Karachi’s seaports. If the Bin Qasim assets were to enter its orbit, the combined Hub–Bin Qasim–Sheikhupura triangle would give Nimir a multi‑node footprint straddling raw‑materials production and FMCG finishing – exactly the integration a toll manufacturer seeks to compress cycle times and working capital. That plan, too, is set out in the briefing note.
Crucially, Nimir has already proven it can transact on complex deals in this segment. The CCP’s Phase‑I clearance for the Safeguard soap acquisition, and Nimir’s subsequent assumption of operational control on 1 September 2024, show the regulatory and operational plumbing can be executed within expected timelines – a non‑trivial de‑risking if further P&G assets are offered. The approvals and completion were documented by the regulator.
Where would the P&G assets fit? On the surface, hair‑care lines sit slightly outside Nimir’s legacy core of soap noodles, fatty acids and chlor‑alkali. Yet the company’s existing personal‑care liquids tolling, aerosol capabilities and home‑care manufacturing provide a technical bridge. P&G’s Port Qasim hair‑care facility, commissioned in 2019, is demonstrably modern and modular, factors that tend to ease technology transfer under toll‑manufacturing contracts or post‑acquisition integration. The opening press release for that plant described a “state‑of‑the‑art” site producing Pantene and Head & Shoulders, indicating a platform designed for high throughput and consistent quality – attributes valued by any acquirer.
Against this strategic backdrop, Nimir’s FY25 and 1QFY26 scorecards offer a steady, if unspectacular, picture that reflects both the industry’s input‑cost cycles and management’s cost control.
For the year ended June 2025, net sales rose 8% to Rs45.3 billion from Rs41.9 billion, with the gross margin flat at 15%. Gross profit therefore increased 8% to Rs6.7 billion, and profit after tax doubled to Rs2.0 billion, lifting EPS to Rs18.3 from Rs9.1.
The first quarter of FY26 showed the cost side becoming trickier. While net sales increased 12% year‑on‑year to Rs12.5 billion, the gross margin slipped to 13%, and gross profit edged down 2%. Even so, operating profit was broadly flat, and profit after tax climbed 67% to Rs504 m as financial charges dropped 34%, thanks to the easing interest‑rate cycle and a better funding mix. EPS printed at Rs4.6 for the quarter. Management expects that margins will recover as an unusual low‑margin order rolls off and product mix improves.
Most revenue still comes from corporate clients; CPW has launched to a good market reception; and the company is pursuing new chlor‑alkali products alongside expanded export partnerships. All of that should help Nimir hold margins even as it absorbs integration costs from the Hub plant and evaluates future brownfield additions.
If Nimir follows through with a bid for P&G’s remaining manufacturing assets, it would mark one of the more consequential handovers in Pakistan’s consumer‑goods industrial base in recent years: a transition from a multinational‑owned network to a local operator with established ties to the very brands it might continue to produce under contract.
Three considerations frame the opportunity:
First, the industrial logic looks sound. Nimir’s oleochemical and chlor‑alkali backbone supplies the feedstocks for soaps and detergents; its growing personal‑care liquids and aerosols businesses already work to FMCG standards; and its Hub footprint, plus access to Karachi ports, makes it well placed to serve both domestic and export demand. That base gives it a credible route to scale and synergy if the Bin Qasim assets are offered under terms that reward re‑investment.
Second, execution risk is manageable but real. Integrating hair‑care and potentially diaper or detergent lines would increase Nimir’s exposure to categories with different formulation, packaging and quality‑assurance regimes than hard soap or bulk oleochemicals. That said, the company’s track record – completing a CCP‑cleared acquisition and assuming operational control on schedule – speaks to growing integration muscle.
Third, the macro policy wind is more benign than a year ago. As interest rates fell from last year’s peaks and began to stabilise, manufacturers with debt on the balance sheet captured meaningful savings below the operating line. Nimir’s own quarterly results quantify that effect via sharply lower finance costs, a tailwind that helps fund capex and working capital when opportunities arise.
For now, no formal sale process has been disclosed for P&G’s Bin Qasim factory or any residual Pakistan assets beyond those already transferred. P&G’s statement, as reported by Reuters, focused on the strategic decision to cease direct operations and to serve Pakistan through third‑party partners rather than the mechanics or timing of individual asset divestments. Whether disposal proceeds line by line, or as a package, remains to be seen.
For Nimir, the calculus is straightforward: any bid must preserve returns and expand scale without stretching the balance sheet. The FY25 numbers show a company capable of funding growth through cash flows and measured borrowing; the 1QFY26 update adds that margin headwinds can be absorbed when finance costs are falling and product mix is refreshed. If the Bin Qasim assets come to market, Nimir’s management has made it clear they will at least seek a favourable deal – and that they will not chase one if the economics do not stack up.
