While the legal dispute between Grupo Sura and Jaime Gilinski is being resolved, seven executives of the Grupo Empresarial Antioqueño (GEA) traveled on a commercial flight to Madrid, Abu Dhabi and stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel. They had made an appointment with Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who despite not having received them sent senior managers from the International Holding Company (IHC) to hold the meeting.
Carlos Ignacio Gallegopresident of Grupo Nutresa; Jorge Mario Velasquez, president of Grupo Argos; Juan Pablo Londonopresident of Alkosto and nephew of Santiago Mejía (head of one of the GEA Group); Ana Cristina Arangodaughter of Adolfo Arango; Luis Javier Zuluaga Palacewho resigned from the Board of Nutresa and supplier of Nutresa; Jaime Palaciopresident of the Board of Nutresa and representative of the family that has 7%; Ricardo Jaramillo, financial manager of Sura; were the seven members of the GEA who went to the meeting.
In the morning of this Wednesday, the Financial Superintendence of Colombia requested information from Grupo Argos, Grupo Nutresa and Grupo Sura about the trip. In this regard, Grupo Argos responded in a statement that “the meeting mentioned by a media outlet attended by a member of the Board of Directors and the President of the company with representatives of IHC, was not intended to recover the public offer for the acquisition of shares of Grupo Nutresa”.
And they added that “The purpose of the meeting was to hold talks with an investor who has expressed interest in investing in the country and in companies in which Grupo Argos SA is a relevant shareholder, all for the benefit of the company and its shareholders.“.
On the other hand, Grupo Nutresa said that “The purpose of the meeting was to respond to an invitation from IHC, and its results were none other than to deepen the knowledge of that company from the United Arab Emirates and its managers”.