Friday, May 13, 2011
Gulf News
Dubai The Nishat Group — the highly diversified Pakistani business house owned by country’s richest man Mian Mohammad Mansha — is preparing the ground for a major international push in Dubai.
This will be a two-pronged approach that will see the entity — which has assets of $5 billion (Dh18.3 billion) — take exposure in commercial real estate here, through stores and two warehouses, as well as raise its profile in financial services. The first warehouse, in the Al Quoz industrial area, is already set up and a second would follow in Jebel Ali Free Zone.
This, the group believes, would create the logistics base that would support its expansion into the GCC with its retail operations and later into Europe.
But creating a manufacturing base here is not on the cards. “However, we run our enterprise with an assets allocation mindset,” said Ahmad Jahangir, executive director at Nishat Mills, the group company which is overseeing the retail push and, incidentally, is Pakistan’s largest exporter.
“If there are returns in manufacturing or any other business that yield better for our investments compared to other opportunities that may exist for it, we will surely look at it.”
Banking is a prime prospect. The group owns Muslim Commercial Bank, among the more profitable of Pakistani banks, and Adamjee Insurance, one of the largest insurance companies.
Local presence
The banking side of it could now be leveraged for a local presence.
“We have our own banking representatives already in the region and now our asset management division is also exploring options to enter the GCC,” said Jahangir, who is also on the board of MCB Asset Management Company, one of the largest mutual fund managers in Pakistan. The group already has a local presence through its insurance arm.
But it’s from the retail interests that Nishat is expecting the short- to mid-term gains. The first Nishat Linen store opened yesterday in Dubai Festival City, and the plans are to have six of these in the UAE before the end of the year and 25 stores across the Gulf within the next two.
The UAE launch also marks the retail brand’s first foray outside its home market.
“We could have started this a couple years earlier, but the uncertainties after 2008 saw many of our plans get into a wait-and-watch approach,” said “In our opinion, the UAE is a great place to start and build a business.
“Not only will these stores give us reach across all geographical areas, it will provide us with an economic volume to pay for the support staff and services such as warehousing and logistics that we need to do justice to this venture.
“A single store will not give us the flexibility to test market various product ideas simultaneously which is essential to develop a long term strategy for the region.”
In the recent past, Asian retail brands have been to the fore in trying to establish a beachhead in the Gulf markets. In this context, the entry of Nishat Group is as big as it comes.
profile
country’s richest
The founder of Nishat Group, Mian Mohammad Mansha, is on the Forbes rankings as the richest man in Pakistan. He was the first in the country to make it to the list. Apart from Nishat Textiles, which is the largest exporter in the country, the group also has diversified interests in financial services, power and aviation.
By Manoj Nair?Associate Editor
Gulf News 2011. All rights reserved.
