By Nelson Bocanegra
BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombian magnate Jaime Gilinski on Monday became the largest shareholder in investment holding company Grupo SURA through a public acquisition offer, according to figures published by the stock exchange.
Gilinski - one of Colombia's richest men and the owner of bank GNB Sudameris - was seeking between 5% and 6.25% of SURA's shares at $9.88 per share in the offer. According to Reuters calculations his total spend in the offer would amount to $288.9 million.
The offer was oversubscribed, the stock exchange said in a statement, with interest totaling 7.74% of SURA shares, but Gilinski can buy only up to 6.25%.
With 31.5% of SURA shares, Gilinski will now rank as a larger shareholder than Grupo Argos, which owns 27.7% of SURA.
Both Grupo Gilinski and SURA declined to comment on the result.
The price per share was nearly a quarter more than that offered by Gilinski in a previous offer when he bought 25.3% of SURA, part of a series of offers by him which have shaken up the country's largest conglomerate, Grupo Empresarial Antioqueno (GEA).
Shareholders in Nutresa - which, like SURA and Argos, is part of GEA - responded to a separate acquisition offer from Gilinski by selling 3.11% of shares, the exchange said, much below the up to 22.88% sought by the businessman.
Gilinski had previously purchased 27.7% of Nutresa shares.
SURA said earlier on Monday it will restart the search for a possible strategic partner after the end of the acquisition offer.
"Once the first offer was presented the search for a strategic partner clearly had to be suspended and so we're waiting for the passivity rule to expire, so the board of directors ... can continue to consider the possibilities," SURA head Gonzalo Perez told investors on a conference call.
SURA - which has a presence in 11 Latin American countries - has projected growth of between 10% and 15% in its net profit for this year, after it more than quadrupled profit last year to $388.6 million.
($1 = 3,910.64 Colombian pesos)