MEXICO CITY, Jan 25 (Reuters) - HSBC's Mexico unit is
analyzing the purchase of Citigroup'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.
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.
(Reporting by Kylie Madry
Editing by Paul Simao)