Citi Sells 24% of Banamex for $2.5 Billion — With BTG Pactual, Blackstone, and Qatar Among Buyers

A Global Buyer List for a Mexican Institution

Citigroup is halfway out the door of Mexico’s retail banking market — and the investors lining up to replace it tell a story about who sees opportunity in Latin America’s second-largest economy.

This is part of The Rio Times’ daily coverage of Latin American news and Latin American financial news.

The New York bank announced Monday it had signed agreements to sell 24 percent of Grupo Financiero Banamex — roughly 499 million shares — to a group of institutional investors and family offices for 43 billion pesos ($2.5 billion). The buyers include Brazil’s BTG Pactual, funds managed by Blackstone, private equity firm General Atlantic (calling it its largest growth equity investment in Mexico), the Qatar Investment Authority, insurer Chubb, Liberty Strategic Capital, and Afore Sura, the Mexican pension arm of Colombia’s Sura Asset Management.

Each buyer is capped at 4.9 percent. The price implies 0.85 times book value — slightly above the 0.80 times Chico Pardo paid in the December sale. Combined, Citi will have shed 49 percent of a bank it acquired for $12.5 billion in 2001, during the heyday of Wall Street’s emerging market expansion.

A Long Road Out of Mexican Retail Banking

The road to this point was not straightforward. Citi CEO Jane Fraser announced the exit from Mexican retail banking in January 2022. The bank separated its institutional and consumer operations in December 2024, creating two entities. It rejected a $9.3 billion offer from Grupo México in October 2025, opting instead for a gradual divestment followed by an IPO on Mexico’s stock exchange.

The buyer list is notable for its diversity. A Brazilian investment bank, an American PE giant, a Qatari sovereign fund, a Colombian-managed pension, and a global insurer — all betting on a 141-year-old institution with 1,300 branches and 20 million clients in a country that remains one of the world’s most under-banked large economies.

What Comes Next for a 141-Year-Old Bank

Citi says it anticipates no further sales this year, giving the new shareholder group “time to drive value creation.” The remaining 51 percent will be disposed of through the IPO, the timing of which depends on market conditions and regulatory approvals.

For Banamex, founded in 1884 and once the symbol of Mexican financial sovereignty, the next chapter will be written not by Wall Street — but by a coalition of global capital that believes Mexico’s banking future is worth buying into at a discount.

For more context, read Brazil’s Morning Call and the USD/BRL exchange rate report.

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