Colombian food maker’s shares slump after UAE firm’s failed bid

REUTERS/Luis Jaime Acosta

Shares in Nutresa, Colombia’s largest food producer, closed 28.6 percent lower on Monday following a failed public offer for a large portion of shares in the company.

Nutresa shares closed at 38,990 pesos in comparison to a close of 54,600 per share on Friday.

An offer for Nutresa shares by Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company (IHC) was declared void after it failed to receive the minimum number of shares.

IHC’s offer attracted sales of 7.71 percent of Nutresa, though the fund had sought to buy between 25 percent and 31.25 percent for $15 a share (74,376 pesos).

Nutresa’s fall helped send Colombia index MSCI COLCAP down 3.84 percent to 1,233.44 points.

Shares in Grupo SURA, Nutresa’s biggest shareholder, were down 1.22 percent to 40,500 pesos per share.

Neither SURA nor other major shareholder Grupo Argos participated in the offer.

In mid-May, Colombian business magnate Jaime Gilinski worked with Abu Dhabi’s Royal Group – the majority shareholder in IHC – in a bid to buy shares in the food producer, which was also unsuccessful.

Gilinski now owns some 31.09 percent of Nutresa, Refinitiv data shows and market sources say Gilinski, which is a partner of IHC’s parent company Royal Group, is behind the IHC offer.

Grupo SURA is Nutresa’s largest shareholder, with 35.2 percent of shares, while Grupo Argos is its third, with 9.95 percent, Refinitiv data shows.