Barranquilla Port

active

As of December 1993, the Colombian ports were privatized and given in concession to the newly formed private, regional companies, known as Asociedades Portuarias Regionales. Each company was divided as follows: 70% private capital, 15% owned by the local municipality, 13% by the regional authority and just 2% by the state. The privatization was authorized by Law 1A of 1991, which envisioned the creation of regional entities to operate the ports. Sociedad Portuaria Regional de Barranquilla (SPRB) S.A. is the second largest terminal in Colombia and the largest on the Atlantic coast. In May 2008, Sociedad Portuaria Regional de Barranquilla (SPRB) S.A. signed a 20 year extension with the Colombian government agency INCO and committed to investing an additional US $178 million. In November 2012, Southern Cross, the investment funds manager headed by Norberto Morita, Raul Sottomayor, Ricardo Rodriguez and Horacio Reyser, purchased the majority control of SPRB (Sociedad Portuaria Regional de Barranquilla).