Gilinski’s “move” for Nutresa and Sura

In what has been described within the world of corporate business in Colombia, as one of the most daring plays in recent years, the Gilinski family recently launched two Public Offerings of Acquisitions (OPA) for two of the most important companies of the Group Empresarial Antioqueño (GEA): Nutresa and Grupo Sura.

According to the conditions of the OPA, the Gilinskis go for majority control of Nutresa (maximum 62.6% of the shares) and a significant portion of Sura (maximum 31.6% of the titles), which in turn could open the doors for them to other group companies such as Bancolombia and Cementos Argos.

It is important to note that the Gilinski family, which has been linked to important capital from the United Arab Emirates, acquired in 1994 (for 375 million dollars) the Bank of Colombia at that time it was owned by the State. Three years later, he sold it to Grupo Empresarial Antioqueño for more than 400 million. This transaction triggered a legal lawsuit that ended in 2010 with accusations of falsification in documents.

It is for this reason that several financial analysts agree that the intention of the Gilinski family is to acquire and control the valuable GEA companies as part of that long-standing business dispute.

In general terms, the GEA is made up of three large conglomerates: Grupo Argos, Grupo Sura, and Grupo Nutresa, which make shareholdings among themselves. That is, one company has shares in another and vice versa. Thus, if the acquisition is completed, the Gilinskis would have access to the other GEA companies, which has complicated the negotiation.

Proof of this is that this Monday, December 6, Grupo Argos rejected the offer made by the Gilinski family for its shares in Grupo Nutresa. “According to the valuation study carried out by JP Morgan, the Board of Directors considered that the economic offer presented of 7.71 USD per Grupo Nutresa share does not reflect a fair price, since it does not recognize the fundamental value of the food business or its investment portfolio ”, indicated Grupo Argos in a statement.

“In developing its strategy, Grupo Argos has been successfully linking international partners in its energy, concessions, real estate and cement businesses in recent years. This strategy meets the premise of accelerating growth and generating more value from the hand of partners who share the vision, values, and balanced management vis-à-vis the various interest groups, ”the statement added.