Mexico's President Considers Buying Citi's Banamex Unit

Citigroup's $7 billion sale of its Banamex unit to German Larrea's Grupo Mexico was scuttled after Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's meddling. The president's unprecedented moves spooked Larrea into privately seeking assurances that the banking industry wouldn't be next, asking whether similar moves might be attempted after the Banamex deal closed. Reassurance was slow to come, and so Larrea dragged his feet on signing a deal. Citigroup announced Wednesday it would go ahead with an initial public offering for the business, an option that was always on the table but one executives favored less because it would take longer.