Cenco Malls (BCS: CENCOMALLS), the shopping center arm of Chilean retail conglomerate Cencosud (NYSE: CNCO, BCS: CENCOSUD), has closed the acquisition of a 51% indirect stake in Plaza Central, one of Bogotá’s largest shopping centers, for $125 million USD. The transaction was completed June 3, 2026, following the fulfillment of all conditions established in the agreement between Cenco Malls’ Colombian subsidiary, Cencosud Col Shopping S.A.S., and Patrimonio Autónomo Estrategias Inmobiliarias (BVC: PEI), Colombia’s largest real estate investment vehicle, which retains a 49% stake in the asset.

Plaza Central, inaugurated in October 2016, is located in the Puente Aranda district of Bogotá, at the intersection of three major arterial roads — Avenida de Las Américas, Calle 13, and Avenida 68 — with direct access to mass transit. The mall serves a predominantly middle-income residential and commercial catchment area, within one of the city’s most active business corridors.

“We expect this acquisition to have a favorable effect on the consolidated results of the company, incorporating a relevant asset for the region into our portfolio.” — Sebastián Bellocchio, CEO, Cenco Malls

According to figures reported at year-end 2025, Plaza Central has 204,832 square meters of total built area and 76,520 square meters of gross leasable area (GLA), with occupancy of approximately 95%. The property generated revenues of 79,098 million COP in 2025. The mall holds LEED certification in both Design and Construction and Operations and Maintenance, and has approximately 1,000 solar panels installed.

“We expect this acquisition to have a favorable effect on the consolidated results of the company, incorporating a relevant asset for the region into our portfolio and strengthening the experience we offer visitors to this shopping center,” said Sebastián Bellocchio, CEO of Cenco Malls.

The deal adds a significant Colombian asset to Cenco Malls’ regional portfolio, which currently comprises 41 shopping centers and 1,450,560 square meters of GLA across Chile, Peru, and Colombia. The company was listed on the Santiago Stock Exchange in June 2019 in what was at the time the largest initial public offering in the Chilean market.

PEI, which will continue as a 49% partner in Plaza Central, is Colombia’s largest real estate investment vehicle, with stakes in more than 150 income-generating assets across more than 30 cities. Its equity securities trade on the Colombian Stock Exchange (Bolsa de Valores de Colombia) under the ticker PEI.

Headline Photo: Plaza Central in Bogotá (courtesy Cenco Malls)

Instacart, a US grocery technology company serving more than 2,200 retail banners and nearly 100,000 stores, announced the acquisition of Instaleap, a Colombia-founded fulfillment and retail technology platform operating in nearly 30 countries, in a deal whose financial terms were not disclosed.

The transaction represents one of Instacart’s most significant international moves since going public in 2023 and strengthens its expansion outside North America, particularly in Latin America, Europe and the Middle East.

Instacart, which trades on Nasdaq under the ticker CART, is seeking to expand its enterprise technology platform focused on omnichannel commerce and the digital transformation of supermarkets and retailers.

“We see a meaningful opportunity to expand internationally through an enterprise-led strategy that empowers retailers across the globe to meet the evolving omnichannel needs of their customers,” Ryan Hamburger, chief commercial officer at Instacart, said in the company’s statement.

Global expansion driven by Latin American technology

Instaleap develops software solutions for supermarkets, pharmacies and consumer goods retailers, enabling them to manage orders, logistics, picking operations and customer experience across digital channels.

The company has processed more than 100 million transactions and maintains commercial relationships with nearly 100 retailers and marketplaces outside North America, including Cencosud, Éxito, Makro, Continente, Jerónimo Martins (owners of Tiendas Ara), Lulu, and SPAR.

The acquisition also allows Instacart to accelerate its presence in regions where it previously had limited operations. The company had already begun deploying products such as Storefront Pro and its AI-powered Caper Carts in Europe and Australia but lacked a consolidated network in Latin America and the Middle East.

Instaleap to continue operating as subsidiary

According to the companies, Instaleap will initially continue operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Instacart to ensure continuity for existing customers during the integration process.

“We’ve built our platform with a deep focus on the unique needs of grocery retailers across diverse international markets. Joining Instacart enables us to scale our impact with the support of a trusted partner that shares our commitment to retailer success,” said Antonio dos Santos Nunes, CEO and co-founder of Instaleap.

The company was founded in Colombia in 2019 by Portuguese entrepreneurs Antonio dos Santos Nunes and Margarida Freitas, the company’s current COO. Both joined the global entrepreneurship network Endeavor in 2025.

The companies did not disclose whether Instaleap’s current management team will remain in place after the transition period.

E-commerce growth fuels regional expansion

The announcement comes amid sustained growth in e-commerce across Latin America, particularly in Colombia.

According to figures cited in the statements, Colombian e-commerce grew 19.9% in 2025, reaching $684.6 million USD transactions, while the regional online grocery market surpassed $3.62 billion USD last year.

Instacart reported adjusted EBITDA of $1.09 billion USD in 2025, representing 23% year-over-year growth, along with 312 million processed orders.

With the acquisition, the company expects to gradually extend additional solutions to Instaleap’s clients, including e-commerce services, retail media, artificial intelligence and in-store technology.

The listing of 5 Chilean names (Banco de Chile, SQM, Cencosud, Falabella & Enel) is the result of an agreement with the BCS in Chile to allow the cross-listing of assets on the local exchange. Colombia’s MGC (Global Market) has been around since 2012 when a number of US stocks were listed – if this structure sounds familiar it is the same concept that can be found across Latam, the SIC in Mexico and CEDEAR in Argentina being two of the most well-known.

In Colombia this market has been a slow burner for a number of reasons but hopefully, now its time has come. In the absence of new equity issuance and several de-listings there has been a growing clamor for new blood among investors who have seen their list of options shrinking.

These five shares bring diversification – with the advent of the MSCI COLCAP we saw the disappearance of Exito from the index giving investors little option in terms of the retail sector. The new boys on the block, such as D1 or ARA, which have been so disruptive to the sector, still haven’t displayed any ambitions to issue equity and therefore the arrival of Cencosud and Falabella are a new option. Falabella since the day it arrived in Colombia has made a tremendous impact (try finding a wedding registry anywhere else) and Cencosud operating under the Jumbo brand, and now Spid35, is also well known in the country.

Rupert’s opinions & analysis as an independent expert contributor are his own and not necessarily those of Finance Colombia or the BVC.

Away from the welcome arrival of the Chileans, which will hopefully be available soon via the on-line trading platforms, there are a host of US names which have represented a major missed opportunity over the years, not least in 2020. Of the FAANG/Stay Home names, Apple, Amazon and Facebook all trade locally in Pesos, at a time when the COLCAP was floundering you would have made 100% returns on those names. Of course, not every year is a 100% year but it is good to have the opportunity in case. Another pair of names on the MGC have also been making a lot of headlines – Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, who have been central to the global COVID vaccine campaign, are also listed here in Colombia, again 50% returns over the past year.

In Mexico the SIC is ~40% of the equity market and whilst in other countries such as Chile and Peru their equivalent markets trade much more modest sums – the BVC aims to be more of a protagonist to offshore assets which trade right here at home.

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Away from the World Cup and Chilean stocks the news in Colombia remains dominated by the ongoing national strike – which in reality is more local in nature.

There is still no sign of the ‘Reformed Tax Reform’ despite everybody discussing how urgent it is – it may not be the only demand of those protesting on the street but if structured in the right way it could take a lot of sting out of the situation.

The protests themselves are slowly bleeding into many aspects of life. Returning to football, Colombia has been stripped as host of the highly anticipated Copa America due to the unrest – the tournament hasn’t been held here for a long time and it has now been moved to Brazil despite the pleas of the Government.

Consumer Confidence was expected to suffer in May and it didn’t disappoint. The reading of -34.3 was the second worst of record (after April 2020) – it was though nowhere near as bad as the -41.1 anticipated by analysts. The reason for this IMO was that they seem to set aside the collapse between March and April.

Finally, inflation for May came in at 1% – well above the expectation of 0.79% and the previous month of 0.59%. This brought the 12m figure to 3.30% as opposed to the 3.08% anticipated. Again, the route of the problem was the protests. There are an abundance of surveys indicating that production companies are being affected by the demonstrations and on top of that there are supply chain issues due to road blockages. The coffee sector would be a prime example of the disruption – exports fell 52% in May as producers struggled to get their beans to ports. Construction is another area with the Chamber for that sector reporting that 1.3 million workers have been affected and that over 1,700 projects have been affected.

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The demonstrations themselves are slowly dissipating however that doesn’t mean that the situation can’t get worse again overnight. There is still a lot of tension surrounding the protests and much will depend on the government delivering on the promises thus far made in terms of youth unemployment and education – unfortunately they are not overnight projects.

Moody’s said in a statement that it based its rating on the Santiago-based retailer’s large presence, market share, and geographic diversification throughout South America. Best known in Colombia for its Jumbo brand of hypermarkets, the company also operates in Chile, Brazil, Argentina, and Peru.

This spread is also a limiting factor, however. Moody’s cited the multinational’s “high leverage” in “challenging countries,” namely Brazil and Argentina, as a constraint on its rating.

But by and large, the agency is encouraged by Cencosud’s further push into the food retail sector, overall capital structure, and improving financial policies in recent quarters.

“The prospective cash tender and 2027 bond issuance, if and when successfully completed, are a modest credit positive for Cencosud as they will result in an extension of the company’s debt maturity profile and will slightly reduce its yearly cost of debt,” said Veronica Amendola, Moody’s lead analyst for Cencosud.

The new note issuance will be directed to tender Cencosud’s 5.5% senior notes due 2021 and 4.875% senior notes due in 2023 and “prepay other existing debt and for general corporate purposes,” stated Moody’s.

In addition to its retail operations in the Colombia, the company, which is 53.4% controlled by founder and chairman Horst Paulmann and his family, offers some financial products in the country in partnership with Colpatria, mainly through its Tarjeta Cencosud store credit card.

Cencosud is also present in the country’s real estate sector. Between Colombia, Chile, Argentina, and Peru, Cencosud has 54 shopping centers available for lease to third parties, according to Moody’s.

Moody’s currently has assigned Baa3 ratings to the following Cencosud senior unsecured notes, all of which have a stable outlook:

• Issuer rating, domestic currency: Baa3
• $750 million USD backed senior unsecured notes due 2021: Baa3
• $1.2 billion USD backed senior unsecured notes due 2023: Baa3
• $650 million USD backed senior unsecured notes due 2025: Baa3
• $350 million USD backed senior unsecured notes due 2045: Baa3
• $850 million USD backed senior unsecured notes due 2027: Baa3

Photo credit: Jlazarte

The 2013 and 2014 events saw participation from names such as the President of Davivienda Efrain Forero, President of Avianca Germán Efromovich, President of Cencosud Horst Paulmann, and this time, José Alberto Vélez from Grupo Argos, and Luis Carlos Botero of Team foods, have confirmed their participation, discussing their personal visions of leadership.

Carlos Alberto Moreno is head of the Colombia Presidents’ Forum

“With this encounter, we realize for the third consecutive occasion, the Presidents’ Forum seeks to consolidate in this space the country’s entrepreneurs for a unique and valuable moment of discussion and learning with panelists and their similar, valuable experiences to generate change and transcendence inside of organizations that are headed for greater success,” said Carlos Alberto Moreno, head of the Presidents’ Forum. “In this third version, after in 2014 having spoken of the experiences from the heads of these organizations constructing a future for the nation, we have focused this time on the histories and the deeds that occur day to day in the lives of these leaders, that inspire transformation in people, transformation that we see reflected positively in the leadership of their companies; for that we hope that the participants in this meeting will take away a message of change and reinvention.”

• José Alberto Vélez – President of Grupo Argos
• Carlos Enrique Cavelier – President of Alquería
• Fernando Rodés – Vice President & Partner of Havas Group (Spain)
• Luis Fernando Santos – Communications Consultant and ex director of El Tiempo
• Luis Alberto Botero – President of Team Foods
• Carlos Sierra – Founder of Twnel & specialist in web marketing and technology
• Eulalia Sanín – General Manager of Prospecta & specialist in corporate governance

The Presidents’ Forum is a community of leaders that promotes personal, business growth, and citizenship among its members who share their experiences and knowledge for development. The forum counts more than 180 members and for more than 25 years, it has worked for the development of its members in Bogotá and the rest of Colombia.

Helcio Beninatto, President of Latin America for Unisys

Unisys expects to attend approximately 70,000 support calls per month from its service and operations centers in Bogotá for Cencosud’s Spanish speakers, and from Campo Grande, Brasil for native Portuguese speakers. Unisys will also support Cencosud’s Chinese workforce from its Shanghai operations center.

“Based on their recognized global experience, including the management of large call volumes, broad regional coverage, and continuous support, Unisys offers and brings to Cencosud the most efficient solution that fits our current needs, allowing us to concentrate on the essence of our business,” said Sebastian Cabrera, the regional user support leader in Cencosud’s IT operations.

“With this contract, Unisys can offer Cencosud, from the first year of implementation, a high quality support solution for its IT users, and specialized, complete coverage for its Latin American operations, with highly specialized personnel who are fluent in diverse languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, and English,” said Helcio Beninatto, Unisys’ President for Latin America.

• Revenues rose 7.0% driven by higher sales in all business divisions.
• Positive Supermarket same-store-sales in all five countries and greenfield operations (Department Stores in Peru and Home Improvement in Colombia).
• Gross profit rose 3.2% year-over-year and gross margin decreased 101 bps.
• Operating income decreased 4.2% in 4Q14 year-over-year. Including discontinued operations decreased 3.0%.
• Adjusted EBITDA decreased 6.9% year-over-year. Including discontinued operations dropped 5.6% explained by lower results from department stores and Argentina.
• Net profit decreased 35.7% in 4Q14 reflecting a combination of a lower operating result and a higher non-operating loss, along with higher tax expenses.

Cencosud expects revenue of $19.3 billion to (USD)$ 21.1 billion, and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 7.0% – 7.4%, for the year 2015, based on a dollar exchange rate as of January 30, 2015. Full year 2015 capital expenditures for organic growth and remodeling of stores is expected to total approximately USD545 million.

This entails capex of $230 million for new stores and shopping center investments.  In addition, the company expects to spend $100 million on IT and related systems, $15 million on additional non-retail development of the Costanera Center’s hotel and for traffic mitigation works, $100 million for maintenance and USD100 for remodeling of existing stores.

Cencosud’s Guidance for the 2015-2018 period (Courtesy: PRNewsFoto/Cencosud)

Capex Guidance 2015 – 2018 period

Cencosud also announced a growth plan for the 2015-2018 period with a total capex budget of $2.4-3.0 billion. The capital expenditures guidance given by Cencosud reflects the company’s priorities of limiting leverage for the next four years while maintaining breakeven or positive free cash flow, sustaining its growth and serving its regional customer base.

Cencosud’s long-term growth strategy includes a commitment to maintaining its investment grade rating while recognizing the need for growth in the markets in which it operates. The funds expected to be received from the anticipated joint venture transaction with Scotiabank are expected to reduce debt and improve the maturity profile of the company’s debt, and also allow Cencosud to have a greater amount of free cash flow available to fund its organic expansion.

“With respect to the shopping centers business and real estate assets, leveraging our existing land bank especially in Chile, Peru and Colombia, we are currently evaluating a potential IPO of our shopping centers division, with Cencosud maintaining a majority position. This evaluation process is in the preliminary stages, and any transaction ultimately undertaken with respect thereto will be subject to approval by the board of directors of the company as well as any other regulatory approvals required under applicable law,” said Cencosud, in a written statement.

Cencosud Jumbo fruver produce section – Photo courtesy Cencosud Colombia