Billionaire Gilinski Thrust Into Spotlight With Biggest Bid Yet

Over a span of four decades, Jaime Gilinski has quietly amassed a fortune exceeding $4 billion by expanding his family’s group of companies and pushing into new areas like banking, finance and real estate.

At 63, the Colombian native is embarking on his biggest gamble yet: a $2.2 billion bid to buy a majority stake in foodmaker Grupo Nutresa SA with the royal family of Abu Dhabi. For the deal to succeed, he’ll need to convince a group of investors in the complex cross-holding known as Grupo Empresarial Antioqueno, or GEA, and pension funds that the 38% premium is too ...