After the third Public Acquisition Offer (OPA) for Nutresa shares was declared void, banker Jaime Gilinski did not sit idly by, yesterday night he surprised with another OPA, this time by Grupo Argos.
According to information published by the Financial Superintendence of Colombia, Gilinski wants to buy between 26% and 32.5% through Nugil, the same company that offered for Nutresa, and will pay $4.08 per share, the representative market rate in force on the day of the award.
Yesterday, the Grupo Argos stock closed on the Colombian Stock Exchange at $13,540 (regarding $3.34), and its trading will be frozen until the Financial Superintendent reviews and approves or rejects the takeover bid booklet presented by Nugil.
During the last six months, market experts expected a move like this by the banker from Cali, since it was clear his intention to disrupt the established order in the Antioquia Business Group, whose companies have been willing to maintain the stock castling that was created to defend paisa companies precisely from hostile takeovers like this one.
To date, Gilinski has a 30.8% stake in Grupo Nutresa and 34.5% in Grupo Sura, which entitles him to four seats on their boards of directors. Now, with this new takeover bid, he hopes to keep a similar portion.
those who can sell
In this case, once once more, the GEA companies are the main shareholders of Grupo Argos: Grupo Sura has 35.32% of the ordinary shares in circulation and Grupo Nutresa owns 12.41%, followed by Amalfi SAS with 5.6 %, the Porvenir Moderado Pension Fund with 3.74%, the Ishares Stock Exchange Fund with 2.88%, the Mandatory Protection Moderate Pension Fund with 2.70% and some other minority investors with shares of less than 2%, according to the company reports as of December 31.
In the hands of these shareholders will be the decision to sell or not, if the OPA meets the requirements of the Superintendence. It is possible that several of them will sell, especially the pension funds, as several did in previous takeover bids.
According to Laura Daniela Triana, a stock and securities analyst, this offer comes at a time when the stock market has already erased the gains achieved so far, when risk appetite is quite low and global markets are generating losses.
Triana considered that the price might not be so attractive, if one takes into account that at times this year the species has traded above $17,000, “we do not have such a wide premium, as we observed for Nutresa. However, regarding such an uncertain period that comes to us due to elections, it might well represent a good percentage of acceptances”.
However, it is very possible that the boards of directors of the GEA companies continue to consider that this offer is not consistent with the fundamental value of the conglomerate, which should not only be evaluated according to the volatility of the stock market but also according to what they mean for your interest groups
4,08
dollars will be paid by Nugil for each share of Grupo Argos that they agree to sell to him.
