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Grupo Mexico in advanced talks to acquire Citibanamex

Mexico City, Mexico — Grupo México, the mining giant of magnate Germán Larrea, is in advanced talks to acquire the Mexican consumer banking arm of US Citigroup Citibanamex. The mining group is trying to finalize the terms of the deal with Citi, but an agreement has not yet been reached.

Citi revealed in January that it was looking for a buyer, which has since attracted interest from several companies including Mexico’s Banca Mifel SA and US investment firm Apollo Global Management Inc.

In October, different suitors submitted proposals to buy Banamex including Mexican corporate titans Carlos Slim and Larrea. In November, Slim’s Mexican Grupo Financiero Inbursa said it had withdrawn from the bid for Citibanamex after local Grupo Financiero Barnorte did so in late October.

New York-based Citigroup launched the sale of Banamex in January, in what could become one of the biggest banking deals of the year. The number of bidders has dwindled amid a set of conditions set by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, including that the new owners refrain from carrying out mass layoffs.