Billionaire’s Bid Boosts Colcap to Best Rally Since Pandemic Hit
Billionaire’s Bid Boosts Colcap to Best Rally Since Pandemic Hit
(Bloomberg) -- Colombian stocks jumped the most since the Covid-19 pandemic began, buoyed by a billionaire banker’s move to shake up the normally sleepy market.
The MSCI Colcap Index rose as much as 6% in dollar terms Wednesday, the most in the world after Argentina’s Merval index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The rally, the biggest since March 2020, came after Jaime Gilinski made his second offer in less than a month to take a substantial stake in a Colombian company.
Gilinski, a banking billionaire and one of Colombia’s richest men, on Tuesday launched an offer to buy as much as $1.2 billion of financial conglomerate Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana’s common shares. Last month, he teamed with the royal family of Abu Dhabi to start a takeover bid for Grupo Nutresa, a foodmaker.
Analysts said Gilinski and his son, Gabriel, may next turn their sights to Grupo Argos SA, which has holdings in a cement maker, energy producer and infrastructure concessions, including airports. Argos, along with Sura and Nutresa are part of the Grupo Empresarial Antioqueño, or GEA, a business association that employs a system of cross investments to fend off takeover bids.
Preferred shares of Sura, which continue to trade, and Argos common stock both hit their highest levels since last March, rising more than 20% in dollar terms Wednesday morning before paring some gains.
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