Colombia’s Grupo Argos seeks to buy back $81.2 million in shares

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s largest industrial conglomerate, Grupo Argos, said on Wednesday it will carry out a share buy-back plan worth some 400 billion pesos ($81.2 million) in March and ask shareholders to approve an effort to accrue more shares.

Th buy-back set to take place from March 2-26 was approved in 2020 and is an effort to improve the company’s share price, Grupo Argos said.

“The price that shares are trading at currently on the Colombian stock exchange is far from the value of Grupo Argos,” the company said in a statement. “Though EBITDA has tripled during the last decade, stock market capitalization has fallen by nearly half.”

Grupo Argos shares closed at 8,290 pesos ($1.68) per share on Wednesday.

The company did not give the buy-back price it will offer, but said it will look to acquire both ordinary and preferential shares.

It will ask shareholders to approve an additional buy-back program for up to 500 billion pesos ($101.5 million) at a meeting on March 30, the company added.

Two subsidiaries of Grupo Argos have announced buy-backs of their own in recent days. Cement-maker Cementos Argos is seeking 250 billion pesos in shares and electricity company Celsia is seeking 300 billion pesos.

($1 = 4,924.91 Colombian pesos)

(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Leslie Adler)