Colombian supermarket Exito share stake for sale

biz.yahoo.com Friday March 7, 11:21 am ET

BOGOTA, Colombia, March 7 (Reuters) - The Colombian Stock Exchange said on Friday it will hold an auction of about $13 million worth of shares in Colombian supermarket Almacenes Exito (IMI.CN).

A subsidiary of France's Casino (Paris:CASP.PA - News), Bergssar BV, which already owns 27.2 percent of Exito, has said it is looking to boost its stake.

Choose loan type:Go! The sale of 6.22 million shares in Exito -- a 3.08 percent stake -- will take place on April 4, the stock exchange said in a paid advertisement.

It did not say who was selling the shares, which are priced at 6,200 pesos ($2.09) each, a premium of 77 percent above the last closing price of the stock, which last traded on Feb. 24.

Exito, which is Colombia's largest supermarket chain and also operates in Venezuela, is controlled by Colombian conglomerate Grupo Empresarial Antioqueno (GEA).

Exito saw sales rise 2.2 percent to about $1 billion in 2002, but its net profits fell 44.5 percent to about $11 million.