You are Carolina Sánchez Paz, director of strategy at Grupo Industrial Atlántico (GIA) in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. An activist fund holding 15% of the shares wants the group taken apart. It is Monday 30 March 2026, and on Thursday the board expects your recommendation on what to do with its six businesses.
The situation
GIA was born in 1952 as a family cement maker and grew by acquisition. Today it has six units: cement, contracting, real-estate development, wholesale food distribution, export garment-making and maintenance services. In 2025 it billed USD 534 million with EBITDA of USD 90.7 million. Cementos del Atlántico, with about 60% of the Honduran market, brings in just over a quarter of revenue and about two-thirds of EBITDA, and returns 18% on invested capital. The other five return between 3% and 7%. The group returns 9.3%, against a 10% cost of capital.
Valor Capital Partners bought 15% of the group, about USD 80 million, and published that GIA destroys some USD 50 million of value a year. It wants three things: Cement separated as a company with its own listing, the low-return units sold, and the chief executive replaced. In four weeks the market capitalisation fell from USD 480 million to USD 393 million, and analyst confidence in management stands at 35 out of 100. Buyers have shown interest in three units: about USD 40 million for Construction, 35 for Textiles and 17 for Properties.
Management has no single reading. The chief financial officer wants to show the market something concrete and fast. The head of Construction points out that his unit is one of Cement's biggest customers. And the chief executive, Javier Medina, the founder's heir, will not hear of separating the unit the family started with. "On Thursday I want to know what you think, not what they think," he has told you.