A unit of Citigroup Inc. on Tuesday bought a 5.8% stake in Colombia’s largest retailer, Almacenes Exito SA, according to a statement from Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana SA, which sold the stake.
Suramericana, the country’s largest holding company, sold the stake to Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. with the approval of French retailer Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA, which controls Exito, the statement said.
The Citigroup unit bought the equivalent of 19.37 million ordinary shares of Exito in global depositary shares and paid COP21,803.68 (US$11.14) for each.
Suramericana sold the stake as part of a strategy to focus on financial services, banking, pension funds and insurance.
Earlier this week, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced his government would nationalize Casino’s Venezuelan unit, in which Exito owns a 28% stake.
Shares of Exito were unchanged Tuesday at COP19,000, while the benchmark IGBC index gained 0.8%.
(Dow Jones)