The expansion plan of the Gilinski Group does not stop. According to information published by La República this Tuesday, June 20, 2023, this group would become the new owner of El Heraldo de Barranquilla.
This news comes after the same business group acquired other media such as Semana Magazine and the Cali newspaper El País in less than two years. It is important to highlight that Semana, a medium that is directed by Vicky Dávila, has become the most read digital medium in Colombia.
Gabriel Gilinski, a 34-year-old businessman, is the head of Grupo Semana, which in January of this year bought El País, considered the most important newspaper in southwestern Colombia. It is said that this business was close to 12 billion pesos and with this purchase the aim was to “ensure the future of the Cali newspaper”, which was going through a financial crisis and, furthermore, its economic sustainability was at risk.
In a multi-million dollar transaction made in 2019, for approximately US$20 million, the Gilinski Group purchased 100% of Semana. Now the interest of this family revolves around El Heraldo, looking for its growth in the field of communication media.
In February 2023, the journalist D’Arcy Quinn had reported for the FM that the business to acquire El Heraldo could be around 30 billion pesos. Sources close to La República indicate that this deal is about to come to fruition and with this the Gilinskis would take control of the entire operation of the most emblematic and important newspaper in northern Colombia.
Likewise, the newspaper El Heraldo currently has annual sales of approximately $24,000 million and has around 10,000 subscribers in its digital channels and has a distribution of between 12,000 and 15,000 physical copies throughout the Caribbean Coast.
In addition, it is indicated that before this operation was completed, a group of businessmen from the coast tried to negotiate with the owners of El Heraldo, however, this transaction failed to materialize. Among the businessmen were Carlos Matus and the Daes, owners of Tecnoglass, who wanted other families in the country to join the bid to keep the Barranquilla newspaper and try to get the Gilinskis’ offer out of business.
Other businesses acquired by the Gilinski Group
This famous business group, in addition to having communication media such as Semana and El País de Cali, also owns other businesses, including Banco GNB Sudameris, and close to 90% of Grupo Nutresa.
He also tried to buy some of the companies of the Antioqueño Business Group, such as Argos and Sura, this being one of the most ambitious businesses in the country’s recent economic history. However, in this business they have had the financial backing of their Arab allies International Holding Company (IHC), of the real Emirati.
At the end of 2020, a clause of an agreement was executed and it was made 100% of Publicaciones Semana, after buying it from businessman Felipe López. Since this financial group arrived at Semana, it has undergone a transformation from print to digital.
After acquiring this medium, its growth was sought in the virtual environment and for this, the journalist Vicky Dávila was sought, in order to add new audiences on the Internet and thus move away definitively from the traditional printed magazine.
Publicaciones Semana obtained income in 2021 for $34,567 million, according to a report from the Superintendency of Companies. In addition, it added assets of $80,107 million, ranking 17th among the media with the highest income in the country, although in terms of print media it ranks fourth. with Infobae