Nutresa buys Chilean Tresmontes Lucchetti for $758 million

Grupo Nutresa SA (Nutresa.BO), the largest food producer in Colombia by sales, has agreed to purchase Chilean firm Tresmontes Lucchetti SA in a $758 million deal slated to close by october.

Nutresa, as the company is known, said in a filing with the Colombia securities regulator that the acquisition will be financed with its own cash or with banking credit lines that already have been established.

Nutresa, headquartered in the city of Medellin, has sought to expand its international presence in recent years. 

The company has operations in 13 countries through Latin America.

The purchase is the latest in a wave of foreign acquisitions in recent years by Nutresa. 

In 2.006 it spent more than $300 million to purchase five food companies in Perú, Costa Rica, Colombia and Panamá, including two meat processors. It also made a purchase for $95 million in México in 2.009.

In 2.010 it purchased U.S.based cookie maker Fehr Holdings Llc for $84 million.

Shares of Nutresa on the Colombian stock exchange were up 1.1% to Cop 24,860 on thursday.