Jamie Gilinski, the Colombian billionaire and banker, is reportedly set to become the largest shareholder in Grupo Nutresa.
Gilinski has been chasing a majority stake in Colombia’s largest food business for at least 18 months having built up an interest through share purchases – said to be around 31% in 2022.
Grupo Empresarial Antioqueno (GEA), a conglomerate and owner of Nutresa and other companies, has now signed a memorandum of understanding with Gilinski that will see the billionaire and his investor affiliates increase their stake in the meat-to-pasta and ice-cream maker to at least 87%, according to a host of media reports.
The announcement was made in a stock-exchange filing yesterday (24 May), although Just Food was unable to locate the document. A final agreement has yet to be made and the deal is subject to regulatory approval, the reports said, noting no financial terms were disclosed.
Included on Gilinski’s side of the transaction are his investment vehicle Nugil, Abu Dhabi investment group International Holding Co. (IHC), Aflaj Investment, also in Abu Dhabi, and JGDB Holding in Colombia.
JGDB is part of the Gilinski family of companies, while Aflaj holds shares in Nugil.
Last year, IHC launched a process to acquire a minority share in Medellin-based Nutresa of 25% to 31.25% but withdrew last September after failing to attract sufficient interest from would-be sellers.
Meanwhile, as well as Nutresa, GEA also owns investment management and holding company Grupo Sura, or Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana, and cement and energy business Grupo Argos. Those holding companies are also part of the agreement with Gilinski.
Grupo Sura and Grupo Argos will give up their shares in Nutresa – said previously to be 35.7% and 10%, respectively. In turn, Nugil, IHC and JGDB will no longer be shareholders in Grupo Sura.
Just Food has approached Nutresa, Grupo Sura and IHC for confirmation of the proceedings.
