A personal vision of peace
CREATED IN 1944 TO ATTEND THE NEED OF THE POST-WAR RECOVERY, SURAMERICANA IS TODAY THE LEADING COMPANY OF THE MEDELLIN-BASED GRUPO EMPRESARIAL ANTIOQUEÑO AND MANAGES STRATEGIC INVESTMENT OPERATIONS, NOT ONLY IN COLOMBIA BUT IN THE ENTIRE ANDEAN REGION

Colombia’s giant financial firm Suramericana de Inversiones, whose portfolio includes investments in some 125 companies, was formed just four years ago. In 1997 the group reorganized its investments under one parent company, Suramericana de Inversiones, which takes care of making and managing investments in sectors of interest in Colombia and Latin America. Its strategic investment operations are centered on financial services, insurance, social security, foodstuff, cement, and the services sector.
Today it is the leading company within the powerful Medellin-based Grupo Empresarial Antioqueño and its portfolio includes such big names in Colombia as Bancolombia, the country’s largest bank by total assets, the food producers Compania Nacional de Chocolates, Industrias Alimenticias Noel and retailer Almacenes Exito. Suramericana and its subsidiaries invested over US$100 million in the capitalization of Bancolombia, the group’s main investment of 2000.

Nicanor Restrepo Santamaria President of Suramericana

And in late August, the company announced that it had sold some US$38.7 million in shares that will allow Suramericana to “continue strengthening its present investments and achieve more growth in the domestic and Latin American markets.”
Company officials said as many as ten international funds participated in the sale of the stocks and the company welcomed 200 new shareholders to its fold, for a current total of some 2,500. “We generated 8% of Colombia’s gross domestic product last year. We employ some 83,000 people and export more than US$500 million worth of manufactured goods,” notes Suramericana president Nicanor Restrepo Santamaria, a former governor of Antioquia and top government representative in the peace process.

“We have investments in many countries of the Andean region. In Venezuela we have commerce, foodstuff and cement. In Central America we have banking, insurance and leasing businesses and in Panama we have cement. We’re involved in the cement industry in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and we’re active in the insurance sector and similar activities like pension funds in Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. We have some 125 companies in these industries and others, such as coffee, cacao, pasta, meat, cookies and candies. We also have about 20 companies associated with multinational,” Mr. Restrepo explains. The group is also involved, through Suramericana and the Suramericana Foundation, in numerous social projects, contributing over US$1 million to more than 250 institutions.

Indeed, Mr. Restrepo’s personal role in the ongoing peace process has been pivotal since negotiations began in 1999. As one of the government’s spokesmen at the time, Mr. Restrepo was actively involved in the government’s peace efforts. “I’m convinced that the strategy of the Pastrana administration is the correct one, as it is based on four essential elements: a negotiated political solution to the conflict, a strengthening of the political institutions, the participation of the international community, and the emphasis on social development,” says Mr. Restrepo.
He goes on to explain that, “these negotiations have created a framework that will allow us to move on from a process of searching for peace to one of truly constructing peace. If we achieve this, then the government will be free to concentrate on the necessary economic and structural reforms.”