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HSBC's Mexico unit analyzing possible Citibanamex purchase

Published 25/01/2022, 21:46
Updated 25/01/2022, 21:51
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A man walks past a Citibanamex bank branch in Mexico City, Mexico January 13, 2022. REUTERS/Gustavo Graf

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A man walks past a Citibanamex bank branch in Mexico City, Mexico January 13, 2022. REUTERS/Gustavo Graf

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - HSBC's Mexico unit is analyzing the purchase of Citigroup (NYSE:C)'s retail operations in the country, known as Citibanamex, HSBC Mexico's chief executive officer and president said on Tuesday.

"We're still looking at the opportunity, if there's a real strategy for the bank," HSBC Mexico's Jorge Arce said in a conference call first reported by Mexican newspaper El Financiero.

An HSBC spokesperson confirmed his comments to Reuters.

"Everyone is looking into it," Arce said, "Everyone will put a different price on it depending on who the potential buyer is, it's a valuable franchise."

Analysts told Reuters that Citibanamex could fetch anywhere from $4 billion to $8 billion.

Arce said HSBC Mexico was in the early stages of analyzing a purchase.

"That's not to say we will or won't make a bid," he said. "That's still a ways off, but there's no banker in Mexico who isn't thinking about how much it's worth, how it can be merged."

U.S.-based Citigroup announced earlier this month that it would be putting its Mexico retail operations up for sale, the latest move away from some international markets.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A man walks past a Citibanamex bank branch in Mexico City, Mexico January 13, 2022. REUTERS/Gustavo Graf

Citibanamex will go on the market sometime this spring, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser said in a Jan. 14 call with investors.

Analysts expect both Mexican and international banks to make a bid for the nation's no. 2 bank, though Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said he would prefer Citibanamex to go to domestic investors.

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