Billionaire says $2.3 billion Banamex stake signals confidence in Mexico’s economy

MEXICO CITY (AP) – A day after Citigroup announced it would sell a 25% stake in Banamex to billionaire Fernando Chico Pardo, the Mexican businessman said his $2.3 billion investment should be read as a sign of confidence in Mexico’s government and economic potential.

The sale, which is expected to be completed next year after Mexican regulators sign off, comes after Citigroup announced in January 2022 that it was moving away from retail banking in Latin America.

Mexico’s then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had said at the time that “we would like this bank to be Mexicanized,” contending that foreign bankers often take profits abroad rather than re-invest them in Mexico.

Chico Pardo said Thursday that he only got fully into negotiations with the U.S. financial behemoth six months ago.

“I believe that the foreign investment which is so necessary for our country must complement domestic investment,” he said.

Citigroup originally acquired Banamex, one of Mexico’s largest banks, in 2001. Under Citigroup, Banamex had grown to Mexico’s fourth-largest banking company, with 1,300 branches and 13 million customers.

Chico Pardo is currently chairman of the board of ASUR, which operates nine airports in southeast Mexico, the man airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico and six airports in Colombia.

He is also president and CEO of Promecap, a private equity firm. He previously founded and ran a brokerage firm.

The plan is eventually to go public with the remainder of Banamex, but Chico Pardo would remain as the principal shareholder.