Engro Holdings was incorporated in 1968 as Dawood Hercules Chemicals Limited, a joint venture between Dawood Group and Hercules Inc., each contributed 40 percent of the equity while 10 percent each was subscribed by the International Finance Corporation and the general public following its initial public offering on the Karachi Stock Exchange.

[2][4] In 1997, Dawood Hercules began equity investments in Engro Corporation, and acquired 27 percent of its shares.

[5] In 2002, Dawood Hercules made further investment in the Engro Corporation and since then has increased its shareholding to 40 percent.

[6] In 2003, Dawood Hercules acquired a partial stake in the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline and owned up to 10 percent of its shares.

[13] In October 2022, Dawood Hercules sold its wholly-owned subsidiary Empiric AI, which solves complex industrial problems through software products like data analytics and artificial intelligence, under a share swap agreement to Avanceon.