COLOMBIA · ENERGY

This is a depositary receipt programme, not a share sale, and not yet a listing. The company has been careful about that distinction. Headlines have not.

Bogotá. The city district is the majority shareholder in the utility that carries its name. (Photo: “57 – Bogota – Décembre 2008” by Martin St-Amant (S23678), via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.)

The Colombian power company Grupo Energía Bogotá moved a step closer to a United States listing on Friday. Its board called an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting to authorise the registration.

It is the energy utility majority-owned by the city of Bogotá. It operates transmission and gas distribution businesses in Colombia, Peru, Brazil and Guatemala.

Nothing has been listed and nothing has been sold. What happened is a corporate authorisation step.

What Is Actually Proposed

The instrument is an American depositary share. That is a certificate traded in the United States that represents shares held in the home market.

It is the standard route for a Latin American company that wants American investors without moving its primary listing. The shares themselves stay on the Colombian exchange.

The company first disclosed the idea on 20 April 2026. It told the Colombian financial regulator it had begun exploratory activities toward a US registration.

That filing said plainly it was not an offer to sell. It made the plan conditional on corporate approvals, regulatory registration and exchange approval.

Which Exchange

The company has not named one. Its own wording refers to a United States exchange.

A good deal of coverage has written New York. That is an inference rather than a disclosure.

No registration statement with the US securities regulator has been published. No timetable has been given either.

Who Owns It

The city district of Bogotá held 65.7 percent as of the end of September 2025. That makes the capital’s government the controlling shareholder.

Colombian pension funds hold about 21.5 percent between them. Porvenir has 9.9 percent and Protección 7.8 percent.

Corficolombiana holds 5.2 percent. The remaining 7.6 percent is spread across other private investors.

The Liévano Palace, seat of the city government. A separate proposal to sell part of the city’s stake has drawn objections in the council. (Photo: “Palacio Liévano en la lluvia” by Aztlek, Luis Alejandro Bernal Romero, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.)

The Separate Argument About Selling

There is a second proposal that people keep confusing with this one. The city is evaluating the sale of 9.4 percent of its holding.

That would be about 863 million shares, valued at roughly 2.56 trillion pesos, some US$826 million. The district would still hold about 56.3 percent afterwards.

The legal basis is a 2016 council agreement allowing the city to divest up to 20 percent. Selling 9.4 percent would stay inside that ceiling.

This is where the political objection sits. In March a city councillor called the sale another historic emptying of public assets.

The council placed the possible sale under review the same month. No comparable objection to the depositary receipt programme has been recorded.

Why a Company Does This

The company gives three reasons: a broader global shareholder base, better liquidity and easier access to international financing. Those are the standard ones.

A US listing also brings American disclosure obligations. For a state-controlled utility that is a meaningful change in how much it has to publish.

The practical benefit is the investor pool. Many large funds cannot easily hold Colombian local shares but can hold depositary receipts.

The risk is the same as for any emerging-market issuer. A US listing exposes the share price to sentiment about Colombia as a whole.

What Happens Next

Shareholders must vote at the extraordinary meeting. No date for it has been published.

After that, a registration would have to be filed and accepted in the United States. An exchange would have to approve the listing.

Only then would the certificates trade. Each of those steps can take months.

For now the correct description is a process that has started. Anything more definite is ahead of the facts.

More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did the company announce?

Its board called an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on 11 September 2026 to authorise registering with the US securities regulator for a depositary share programme.

Is it listing on the New York Stock Exchange?

Not confirmed. The company refers to a United States exchange without naming one.

Is the city selling the company?

No. A separate proposal would sell 9.4 percent of the city’s stake, leaving it with about 56.3 percent and still in control.

Who owns the Colombian power company?

The city district holds 65.7 percent, pension funds about 21.5 percent, Corficolombiana 5.2 percent and other private investors 7.6 percent.

When would trading begin?

No timetable has been published. A shareholder vote, a US registration and an exchange approval all have to come first.

Sources: Valora Analitik, Bloomberg Línea, Portafolio, La República, Concejo de Bogotá.