Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores, SA
Encyclopedia
Grupo Aval is a Colombia
n holding company
engaged in a wide variety of financial
activities, including banking, telecommunications and real estate
; in Colombia and Central America. Grupo Aval is controlled by Luis Carlos Sarmiento
(estimated net worth of $4.4 billion), who directly and indirectly owns more than 90 percent of its shares.
Additionally, as a holding company, Grupo Aval owns sufficient amounts of voting stock
in other companies to control their policies and management
. In addition to its interests in numerous industrial sectors, Grupo Aval controls some of Colombia's top financial organizations, including:
Grupo Aval's internal staff consists of approximately 100 employees, dedicated to analyzing and identifying the most efficient financial and operating practices as well as recommending the implantation of these practices within organizations that the Group controls. To obtain these objectives, Grupo Aval is divided into three business divisions that include: (1) Investments and Strategic Planning, (2) Risk Management
, (3) Corporative Services and (3) Technological Information.
to Sociedad A.B.
S.A. On January 8, 1998, the Group once again changed its name to Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores S.A. Later that year, Grupo Aval introduced an Online banking
platform, which was integrated within the Group's major banking subsidiaries, Banco de Bogotá, Banco de Occidente, Banco Popular and Banco AV Villas. This innovation allowed clients to either conduct financial transactions on the Internet
or in real-time at anyone of the banks branch offices or automated teller machines.
A major milestone occurred during 1999 when Grupo Aval listed their shares publicly on the Bolsa de Valores de Colombia
(the Colombian stock exchange
) for the first time in the company's history. The Group made a massive initial public offering
of 1,200,774,970 shares of common stock
between November 1 and December 31, 1999. By December 31, 1999, Aval had 40,042 shareholders. The final result of the IPO was the sale of 312,062,341 shares of common stock, or 2.58 percent of their total, with a fair market value
of $58,190,135,296. In 2000, plans to list Grupo Aval on the New York Stock Exchange
were postponed due to Wall Street
's unfavorable climate for emerging market funds at the time.
As of 2007, Luis Carlos Sarmiento continues to run the company with assistance from his son Luis Carlos Sarmiento Gutierrez, whom he is grooming to eventually assume control of the family conglomerate
.
Due to GE Capital focusing on industrial activity rather than retail banking, the group acquired for US$1.9 billion BAC|Credomatic Network from GE Consumer Finance on July 2010
.
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
engaged in a wide variety of financial
FINANCIAL
FINANCIAL is the weekly English-language newspaper with offices in Tbilisi, Georgia and Kiev, Ukraine. Published by Intelligence Group LLC, FINANCIAL is focused on opinion leaders and top business decision-makers; It's about world’s largest companies, investing, careers, and small business. It is...
activities, including banking, telecommunications and real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
; in Colombia and Central America. Grupo Aval is controlled by Luis Carlos Sarmiento
Luis Carlos Sarmiento
Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo is a Colombian billionaire and the wealthiest man in Colombia with a net worth of USD$10.5 billions as of 2011, fortune that derives from the massive banking conglomerate Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores, SA, of which he is the majority shareholder and president.-Career...
(estimated net worth of $4.4 billion), who directly and indirectly owns more than 90 percent of its shares.
Operations
Grupo Aval owns the BAC-Credomatic Financial Group which has operations in Mexico, Costa Rica, Panamá, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Florida.Additionally, as a holding company, Grupo Aval owns sufficient amounts of voting stock
Stock
The capital stock of a business entity represents the original capital paid into or invested in the business by its founders. It serves as a security for the creditors of a business since it cannot be withdrawn to the detriment of the creditors...
in other companies to control their policies and management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
. In addition to its interests in numerous industrial sectors, Grupo Aval controls some of Colombia's top financial organizations, including:
- Banco de BogotáBanco de BogotáBanco de Bogotá is the first commercial bank established in Colombia.- Overview :Founded in 1870, Banco de Bogotá is the oldest commercial banking institution in Colombia, and operates through 274 branches, five corporate service centers and a banking attention center in the country...
S.A. - Banco de OccidenteBanco de OccidenteBanco de Occidente is one of the largest Colombian banks. It is part of the Grupo Aval conglomerate of financial services in Colombia, owned by the country tycoon of finances, Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo ....
S.A. - Banco AV VillasBanco AV VillasFounded in 1972 as Corporación de Ahorro y Vivienda Las Villas. In 1997 it became a subsidiary of Grupo Aval....
S.A. - PorvenirPorvenirFounded in 1883 by immigrants from Croatia and Chiloé during a minor nineteenth century gold rush, Porvenir is the capital of both the homonymous commune and the Chilean Province of Tierra del Fuego of the Magallanes and Antartica Chilena Region...
S.A. - a pension fundPension fundA pension fund is any plan, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income.Pension funds are important shareholders of listed and private companies. They are especially important to the stock market where large institutional investors dominate. The largest 300 pension funds collectively hold...
administrative company. - Leasing de Occidente S.A.
- CorficolombianaCorficolombianaCorficolombiana , is an extended acronym for La Corporacion Financiera Colombiana . Corficolombiana is a private company dealing in financial solutions, with its customers being some of the largest corporations in Colombia...
S.A. - Casa de Bolsa S.A.
Grupo Aval's internal staff consists of approximately 100 employees, dedicated to analyzing and identifying the most efficient financial and operating practices as well as recommending the implantation of these practices within organizations that the Group controls. To obtain these objectives, Grupo Aval is divided into three business divisions that include: (1) Investments and Strategic Planning, (2) Risk Management
Risk management
Risk management is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events or to maximize the realization of opportunities...
, (3) Corporative Services and (3) Technological Information.
History
On April 18, 1997, the Group formally changed its trading name from Administraciones Bancarias S.A.Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
to Sociedad A.B.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
S.A. On January 8, 1998, the Group once again changed its name to Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores S.A. Later that year, Grupo Aval introduced an Online banking
Online banking
Online banking allows customers to conduct financial transactions on a secure website operated by their retail or virtual bank, credit union or building society.-Features:...
platform, which was integrated within the Group's major banking subsidiaries, Banco de Bogotá, Banco de Occidente, Banco Popular and Banco AV Villas. This innovation allowed clients to either conduct financial transactions on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
or in real-time at anyone of the banks branch offices or automated teller machines.
A major milestone occurred during 1999 when Grupo Aval listed their shares publicly on the Bolsa de Valores de Colombia
Bolsa de Valores de Colombia
The Bolsa de Valores de Colombia, also known as BVC, is the principal stock exchange of Colombia. It was created on July 3, 2001 by the union of three extant stock exchanges in Colombia: Bogotá Stock Exchange , Medellín Stock Exchange and Cali's Western Stock Exchange .The company maintains...
(the Colombian stock exchange
Stock exchange
A stock exchange is an entity that provides services for stock brokers and traders to trade stocks, bonds, and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for issue and redemption of securities and other financial instruments, and capital events including the payment of income and...
) for the first time in the company's history. The Group made a massive initial public offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
of 1,200,774,970 shares of common stock
Common stock
Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. It is called "common" to distinguish it from preferred stock. In the event of bankruptcy, common stock investors receive their funds after preferred stock holders, bondholders, creditors, etc...
between November 1 and December 31, 1999. By December 31, 1999, Aval had 40,042 shareholders. The final result of the IPO was the sale of 312,062,341 shares of common stock, or 2.58 percent of their total, with a fair market value
Fair market value
Fair market value is an estimate of the market value of a property, based on what a knowledgeable, willing, and unpressured buyer would probably pay to a knowledgeable, willing, and unpressured seller in the market. An estimate of fair market value may be founded either on precedent or...
of $58,190,135,296. In 2000, plans to list Grupo Aval on the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
were postponed due to Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
's unfavorable climate for emerging market funds at the time.
As of 2007, Luis Carlos Sarmiento continues to run the company with assistance from his son Luis Carlos Sarmiento Gutierrez, whom he is grooming to eventually assume control of the family conglomerate
Conglomerate (company)
A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...
.
Due to GE Capital focusing on industrial activity rather than retail banking, the group acquired for US$1.9 billion BAC|Credomatic Network from GE Consumer Finance on July 2010
Regulation
The Group is supervised by the Colombian Superintendency of Securities because of its size and because its shares are registered on the Bolsa de Valores de ColombiaBolsa de Valores de Colombia
The Bolsa de Valores de Colombia, also known as BVC, is the principal stock exchange of Colombia. It was created on July 3, 2001 by the union of three extant stock exchanges in Colombia: Bogotá Stock Exchange , Medellín Stock Exchange and Cali's Western Stock Exchange .The company maintains...
.