Citigroup is in advanced talks to divest a 24% interest in its Mexican retail bank Grupo Financiero Banamex to a group of investors that reportedly includes private equity firm Blackstone, according to people familiar with the discussions, as first reported by Bloomberg News.
The move would come on the heels of a previous stake sale last year, when Citi sold a 25% holding in Banamex to a company owned by Mexican billionaire Fernando Chico Pardo and his family. That earlier transaction is part of the backdrop to the current negotiations, which sources say are focused on offloading additional minority stakes.
Details reported on the potential buyers indicate Citi is exploring distributing slices smaller than 5% each to several entities, including General Atlantic, the co-CEOs of Grupo Televisa SAB, Brazilian bank Banco BTG Pactual SA, Afore Sura, and the Mexican pension fund managed by Colombia's Sura Asset Management. Those discussions, as described by the sources, point to a mix of institutional and family-office participants rather than a single large purchaser.
Citi declined to provide a comment on the Bloomberg report. Reuters, reporting on the matter, said it could not independently verify the account. The lack of confirmation from the U.S. lender and the note about independent verification highlight that the situation was reported by sources close to the matter rather than through an official announcement.
For investors tracking Citigroup under the ticker symbol C, separate analytical tools referenced in the original report — described as evaluating C using more than 100 financial metrics and AI-driven idea generation — claim to assess fundamentals, momentum, and valuation across many companies. Those descriptions frame how some market participants might be reviewing the name amid reports of strategic stake sales.
At present, the discussions reportedly focus on selling minority positions to a group of companies and Mexican family offices. The composition of the potential buyer group, combining private equity, banking, media leadership, and pension-related funds, reflects a variety of institutional interests in acquiring exposure to Banamex through small-scale stakes.
Because Citi has not confirmed the negotiations and independent verification was not available at the time of reporting, the eventual structure, pricing, and timeline of any transaction remain unclear.
Snapshot
- Citigroup is reported to be close to selling 24% of Grupo Financiero Banamex to a consortium including Blackstone.
- The potential sale follows a 25% stake sold late last year to a company owned by Fernando Chico Pardo and his family.
- Citi declined to comment and independent verification of the report was not available.