By Anthony Esposito
ACAPULCO, Mexico (Reuters) – Citigroup’s retail unit in Mexico, known as Citibanamex, has said it hopes to define the terms of its sale by the beginning of April, amid signs of intensifying interest in the bank, expected to fetch at least $4 billion.
Citi country head Manuel Romo told journalists on Wednesday that the unit would open its “data room” to those it thinks meet the necessary requirements to launch a bid for the bank, which Citi chief executive Jane Fraser announced for sale in January.
“We’re doing this in a timely and appropriate manner,” Romo said in a press conference ahead of the country’s highly anticipated Banking Convention, which is taking place in Acapulco for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit.
Earlier this week, Mexican bank Banorte said that if it decided to go forward with a bid, it would invite “all Mexicans” to take part in the purchase.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said he wants to see investors “Mexicanize” the bank, which was purchased by Citi in 2001.
Lopez Obrador mentioned the names of several Mexican magnates, such as Ricardo Salinas, who controls Banco Azteca, and Carlos Hank Gonzalez of Banorte as potential buyers.
In a call with investors in February, Romo said that Citibanamex could be sold directly or through an initial public offering (IPO), but that the bank wasn’t open to selling the unit piecemeal.
Romo also said the sale, which could take up to two years, had received interest from banks and non-banks, both local and foreign.
Analysts have priced Citibanamex from $4 billion to $8 billion, though Citi, which acquired the bank for $12.5 billion in 2001, has yet to put a price tag on the unit.
Paco Ybarra, chief executive officer of the Institutional Clients Group at Citi, will steer the sale from New York, Romo said Wednesday.
(Reporting by Anthony Esposito in Acapulco and Kylie Madry in Mexico City; Editing by Nick Zieminski)