Engro Innovative Auto-mation, a 51 per cent owned subsidiary of Engro Chemicals Pakistan Limited, will acquire 70 per cent business interest in US firm - Advanced Automa-tion Associates.

Chief Executive Officer of EIAL, Bakhtiar Wain, told a press conference that Advanc-ed Automation was an industrial automation company in Pennsylvania , United States of America . Its business was similar to that of EIAL. Total investment by EIAL in this venture would be about Rs. 450 million.

Wain said that EIAL had started as a business division of Innovative Pvt. Ltd. in July 1995 to implement industrial automation, electric engineering and process control systems for local industry.

In April 2003, it was acquired by Engro Chemical Pakistan as a subsidiary, by the name of Engro Innovative Automation Pvt. Ltd.

The company has its head office in Lahore and regional offices in Islamabad , Karachi and the UAE.

The CEO told the press that after extensive experience of Pakistan and Middle East's industrial automation market, the company had decided to venture into North American market by acquiring stakes in the US company.

The CEO hoped that the US company would provide EIAL a window to world's biggest industrial market.