State-run oil company Ecopetrol has received requests from 40,600 Colombians in just five days to obtain shares in the company valued at $226 million.
Shares went on sale July 27 and can be purchased until August 17. Ecopetrol has enabled branches of the banks Bancolombia and Davivienda as well as 24 stock brokerage firms to issue shares.
Those who are assigned shares in this second emission will have the right to receive dividends of $0.027 per share from October 25. The minimum purchase is of 500 shares at $2.10 a each which equals to $1,050. Those who buy in cash receive a 2.5% discount.
Ecopetrol will also host a free event Wednesday for residents of Bogota in which the president of the company, Javier Gutierrez, and a team of 15 directors will present details about the share issue in the Great Hall of Corferias between 10AM and noon. This will allow more people to join the program “Become an Ecopetrol Partner.” In Bogota Ecopetrol already has approximately 135,000 shareholders.
“Become an Ecopetrol Partner” is part of the capitalization program which began in 2007. In the first round of shares emission 482,941 Colombians became shareholders purchasing shares to the value of $3.2 billion.