Billionaire Gilinski Raises Bid for Colombian Retailer Exito

Billionaire banker Jaime Gilinski ramped up his bid to take control of Colombian grocery store chain Almacenes Exito, according to a draft letter seen by Bloomberg and later confirmed in a regulatory filing.

(Bloomberg) — Billionaire banker Jaime Gilinski ramped up his bid to take control of Colombian grocery store chain Almacenes Exito, according to a draft letter seen by Bloomberg and later confirmed in a regulatory filing.

Gilinski on Tuesday sent the letter to Exito’s largest shareholder, Cia Brasileira de Distribuição, offering $586.5 million in cash for a 51% stake in the retailer, GPA said. It represents a per-share premium of more than 30% from the original offer, which was made last month for 96.5% of Exito and rejected by GPA’s board.

Shares of GPA jumped following the news to closing 4.8% higher at 22.50 reais in Sao Paulo.

The revised bid ups the pressure on GPA and its French parent company, Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA. Casino has been considering selling units as it seeks to shore up liquidity and reduce its debt burden.

Casino owns a 41% stake in GPA, which, in turn, owns 96.5% of Exito. GPA has been considering a potential spinoff of Exito over the past quarters.

If successful, the deal will give Gilinski ownership of one of Colombia’s largest companies, which runs more than 500 grocery and retail stores throughout the country and has operations in Uruguay and Argentina.

It comes fresh off an agreement the billionaire struck with Abu Dhabi’s royal family to obtain control of food producer Grupo Nutresa, ending a protracted takeover struggle against the country’s most powerful business group.

Gilinski and GPA need to enter into a preliminary agreement by the end of August, according to the document. The terms of the new proposal are valid until 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, according to the regulatory filing.

GPA’s shares have climbed more than 39% since the first offer was made in late June, the best performing stock on the benchmark Ibovespa gauge.

Casino, meanwhile, is likely to come under the control of a foreign buyer. Czech investor Daniel Kretinsky is set to take control after gaining support from key creditors for an improved offer to inject €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) into the debt-laden grocer. Kretinsky plans to divest Casino’s Latin American businesses, including Exito.

–With assistance from Raphael Almeida Dos Santos and Irene García Pérez.

(Updates with confirmation of the proposal in first paragraph, adds details on offer expiry date in eighth paragraph.)

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