BOGOTA, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Colombia's Grupo Gilinski is to become the second-largest shareholder in Grupo SURA and Nutresa after securing 25.42% and 27.69% of each company's shares respectively, the Colombian Stock Exchange said in two separate statements on Wednesday.
Both investment company Grupo SURA and Nutresa, Colombia's largest processed food producer, fall under the umbrella of Colombian conglomerate Grupo Empresarial Antioqueno (GEA), which controls more than 100 companies, including industrial conglomerate Grupo Argos, energy generator Celsia and bank Bancolombia.
Many of the companies that make up GEA own significant stakes in one another.
Grupo Gilinski, via JGDB Holding SAS and with the financial backing of First Bank of Abu Dhabi, initially sought to buy between 25.344% and 31.68% of Grupo SURA's shares.
Grupo Gilinski, which offered $8.01 per Grupo SURA share, snatched up 118.9 million shares out of a total 467.9 million available shares in the acquisition, which closed on Tuesday, in a transaction that could exceed $952.5 million.
Following its purchase of the shares Grupo Gilinski will become Grupo SURA's second-largest shareholder after Grupo Argos , which controls 27.6% of the company.
Banker Jaime Gilinski, along with support of Abu Dhabi's Royal Group, also launched a public acquisition offer to buy up to 62.625% of shares in Nutresa, the largest processed food producer in Colombia, in a deal that was slated to have a potential worth of some $2.22 billion.
Grupo Gilinski offered $7.71 per Nutresa share.
The offer to buy shares in Nutresa closed on Wednesday, with Grupo Gilinski securing 126.8 million of the company's almost 458 million shares, in a transaction that could be worth $977.71 million, the Colombian stock exchange said.
Only Grupo SURA, which control's a 35.25% stake in the food processor, owns more Nutresa shares.
Acceptances are subject to the validation and approval of the Colombian Stock Exchange.
Neither Grupo Gilinski, Grupo SURA, nor Nutresa were immediately available to comment. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta in Bogota Writing by Oliver Griffin Editing by Matthew Lewis and Grant McCool)
