AMLO’s government would consider participating in Citigroup Inc’s sale of its retail banking unit Banamex

Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the government would consider participating in Citigroup Inc’s sale of its retail banking unit Banamex if a bid by billionaire German Larrea’s Grupo Mexico SAB fell through.

AMLO, as the president is known, spoke in response to speculation by local press that a bid by Larrea could be affected by a government seizure of a rail line owned by Grupo Mexico. At the presser, AMLO dismissed as false a tweet shared by a local business columnist on Monday that said Larrea was pulling out his bid for the bank.

The president added that the government is still in talks with Grupo Mexico and that the group’s deal with Banamex is expected to go through.

“If he is not going to buy it anymore, there is a possibility of creating a public-private association,” AMLO said at a press briefing Tuesday. “The people of Mexico would be interested in having shares and the government would put an amount to have a majority.”

TYT Newsroom