Cencosud Agrees to Acquire 24.52% of Almacenes Exito for $273 Million.SANTIAGO, Chile -- Cencosud S.A. (OTCBB OTCBB See OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB). : CSUDF), a publicly traded Chilean retailer with market capitalization Market Capitalization A measure of a public company's size. Market capitalization is the total dollar value of all outstanding shares. It's calculated by multiplying the number of shares times the current market price. This term is often referred to as market cap. of US$5.3 billion, announced today it has reached an agreement to acquire a 24.52% in Almacenes Exito S.A. from the company's founding family, the Toro Toro may refer to:
A company whose shares of common stock are held by the public and are available for purchase by investors. The shares of publicly traded firms are bought and sold on the organized exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. in the Colombian Stock Exchange, is the largest retailer in Colombia with $1.7 billion in sales and US$136 million in EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) A metric used to show a company's profitability, but not its cash flow. EBITDA became popular in the 1980s to show the potential profitability of leveraged buyouts, but has become for the 12 months ending on June 30, 2006. Earlier this year, Almacenes Exito announced the acquisition of the country's second largest retailer, Carulla Vivero, and such acquisition is pending regulatory approval. The completion of the Cencosud transaction is subject to the exercise of a right of first of offer contemplated in the shareholders' agreement shareholders' agreement n. an employment agreement among the shareholders of a small corporation permitting a shareholder to take a management position with the corporation without any claim of conflict of interest or self-dealing against the shareholder/manager. between the Toro Family and the other major shareholders in the Company, which are France-based Casino Guichard Perrachon (39% stakeholder), leading Colombian economic group Grupo Empresarial AntioqueEo (11% stakeholder) and the prominent local Mejia Family (5% stakeholder). In the event such shareholders do not exercise their right, Cencosud will complete the acquisition of the 24.52% stake through the Colombian Stock Exchange within the next 180 days. "In the event that we are successful in acquiring the Toro Family's stake, Almacenes Exito will provide us with a unique opportunity to enter the high-growth Colombian retail market. We are confident that our retail knowhow and experience combined with Colombia's increased political and economic stability, underscored by the forthcoming FTA FTA abbr. Future Teachers of America between Chile and Colombia, lends itself to an exciting story for growth and profitability going forward", said Laurence Golborne, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Cencosud S.A. This transaction represents the largest single investment by a Chilean corporation in Colombia, and it underscores a recent trend of increased strategic interest from major Chilean companies in Colombia's burgeoning consumer market. "The Toro Family has ended a 56-year cycle in Almacenes Exito. We are proud of what our family has built and we are confident that Almacenes Exito will benefit from having such a highly-reputed company like Cencosud as a new shareholder", said Jose Restrepo in representation of the members of the Toro Family. New York-based Athelera LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control acted as exclusive financial advisor to the Toro Family and Bogota-based Torrado Angarita & Pinzon acted as Counsel for the Toro Family. About Cencosud S.A. Cencosud is a leading multi-format retailer in Chile and Argentina. Through its supermarket, home improvement, department stores, shopping centers and financial services divisions, the Company targets a wide range of customers with the right combinations of products, prices and quality, designed to meet their growing demands. As of June 30th 2006, the Company operates 30 Jumbo hypermarkets, 103 Santa Isabel supermarkets, 2 Las Brisas Supermarkets, 235 supermarkets under the brand names Disco, Plaza Vea, Super Vea and Mini Sol, 47 Easy home improvement stores, 22 Paris department stores, 19 shopping centers and 48 Banco Paris branch offices. About Almacenes Exito S.A. Almacenes Eexito is Colombia's largest retailer. As of June 30, 2006, the company operates 31 EeXITO stores (hypermarket hy·per·mar·ket n. A very large commercial establishment that is a combination of a department store and a supermarket. hypermarket Noun a huge self-service store [translation of French format), 55 Ley stores (supermarket format), 10 POMONA stores (high-end format) and 2 Q'precios stores (discount format) in the country's 34 municipalities, totaling over 330 thousand square meters of sales area. The company serves over 140 million clients every year. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion