The Colombian banker and businessman Jaime Gilinski Bacal surprised the business world again on Wednesday night by announcing that it is willing to pay 836 million dollars (about 3.5 trillion pesos, taking into account an average exchange rate of 4,200 pesos) for the 96.52 percent that Companhia Brasileira de Distribuição (GPA) owns in success.
(Also read: Attention: Gilinski will make an offer to buy the Grupo Éxito chain)
The price offered would be enough to build about two inter-municipal transport systems such as the Regiotram, valued at 1.9 billion and which connects Bogotá with the municipalities of western Cundiunamarca such as Funza, Mosquera, Madrid and Facatativá.
The offer comes just three days after the French group Casino will announce its decision to sell the supermarket chain, the largest in the country.
The most recent report from the Superintendence of Companies ranks Éxito as the sixth largest company in sales in the country and the first in its sector with more than 15.1 trillion pesos.
(You may also be interested: According to Gilinski and the GEA, Bancolombia was put on the table)
Rimax production plant
As it could be established, The Colombian businessman will go alone in this operation, through Campbelltown Inc., a company one hundred percent owned by him, It is also the largest shareholder of the financial conglomerate GNB Sudameris.
The Gilinski family has just sealed an agreement with Grupo Sura and Grupo Argos to gain control of at least 87 percent of the shareholding of the largest food processor in Colombia, Grupo Nutresa, on the condition of leaving its shares in Grupo Sura.
The investment to acquire Nutresa, a business in which they go hand in hand with the Arab sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who controls the international firm Royal Group of Abu Dhabi, amounted to 2.7 billion dollars at the time.
The Gilinskis’ business is not only in banking. In recent years they have acquired Grupo Semana, the newspaper El País from Cali and they have just signed an agreement to buy El Heraldo, a newspaper from Barranquilla.
Four Seasons Casa Medina Hotel in Bogota
Taken from the official page
The family also owns the Plásticos Rimax company, Lulo Bank (digital bank), the Yupi snack company and the Four Seasons hotels in Colombia, as well as businesses in the real estate sector in Panama, among others.
One of the most recent business deals in Colombia was the purchase of 44 percent of Productos Familia by the Swedish firm Essity, which paid more than 1,514 million dollars for that participation, which allowed it to reach 94 percent of the shares of the Colombian paper company at the beginning of last year.