Alfa Shares Rise After Joint Venture Deal

Shares in Alfa rose as much as 3 percent in early trading on Thursday before easing after it said it had signed a preliminary deal with Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. (PEGFF) to create a 50/50 joint venture to invest in Mexican energy projects.

Alfa said on Thursday that the new company would look at bidding in Mexico's initial round of oil and gas projects and eventually at doing exploration and production.

Alfa said at the end of the third quarter that it owned 17 percent Pacific Rubiales, which is Colombia's No. 2 crude producer, operating in partnership with national oil company Ecopetrol SA (EC).

Shares in Alfa surged at the market open before easing to trade 1.7 percent firmer at 36.2 pesos per share.
 

Reporting by Christine Murray