U.S. lender Citigroup scrapped its sale of the Banamex unit last week and said it will instead list it, a surprise move coming amid talks to sell the business to Mexican billionaire German Larrea's conglomerate Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB.MX).
"The Finance Minister has asked us to evaluate the different scenarios in which it might be beneficial for Mexico to acquire the bank," Deputy Finance Minister Gabriel Yorio told Reuters.
After Citi announced its IPO plans, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the government could acquire up to half of Banamex.
Before Citi's u-turn, banking sources said Grupo Mexico had been eyeing the unit for around $7 billion.
"Banamex, in fact, has had a significant deterioration in its payment systems, precisely because it was in this sale process," he said.
Persons:
Gabriel Yorio, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Yorio, Lopez Obrador, Banamex, Anthony Esposito, Valentine Hilaire, Dave Graham, Mark Porter, Diane Craft
Organizations:
MEXICO CITY, Citigroup Inc's, Banco, U.S, Citigroup, Grupo Mexico, Finance, Reuters, United, Citi, Welfare Bank, Thomson
Locations:
MEXICO, Mexico, German, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, expropriate