Mifel continues in the bid for Banamex

Grupo Mifel, owned by banker Daniel Becker Feldman, continues -along with its allies- in the bid to take over Banamex. The final decision on the sale of the consumer and corporate banking businesses of US Citigroup is expected to be announced shortly, even this week.

Although until recently the bulk of the voices tipped the balance in favor of Grupo México, of Germán Larrea, to stay with Banamex, the truth is that Grupo Mifel never reported that it was leaving the sale process.

A source confirmed to El Economista that Mifel -which today is in 13th place among the financial groups that operate in the country- continues to participate.

In this way, these two groups are the ones that have reached the final stretch in the sale process of Citi’s consumer banking and corporate businesses, announced more than a year ago (January 11, 2022).

Although at first there were eight institutions that expressed their interest in participating (HSBC, Santander, Banco Azteca, Banorte, Inbursa, Ve por Más, Mifel and Grupo México), they have gradually abandoned the process and today only these two remain.

Until a few weeks ago, different journalistic versions profiled Grupo México as the finalist in the bid for Banamex, even recently they reported that a financing for 5,000 million dollars had been made -with different global banks- to add to their proposal that, in Total, it would be around 10,000 million dollars, when it is said that the bank is valued at around 12,000 million.

On the other hand, it was already mentioned that Grupo Mifel had abandoned the process. However, the institution headed by Daniel Becker -who today is also the president of the Bank of Mexico Association (ABM)- has never reported that it is no longer in the bid, and even more recent versions point to it as a strong competitor.

And it is that Becker himself, for months, has done hard work to achieve alliances with the most important funds such as BlackRock, and other firms such as Apollo Global and Advent, to mention just a few.

It has been mentioned that the offer of Mifel and allies would be around between 8,000 and 9,000 million dollars.

decision shortly

Citibanamex reported at the end of 2022 that the final decision on the sale of Banco Nacional de México will be announced in the first quarter of 2023 and that it is not ruled out that the disincorporation is through a public offering of shares in the Stock market.

Just this Monday in his morning conference, the President of the Republic, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, stated that things are going very well in the Banamex sale process and he hoped that the result of this operation would be announced very soon.

“(It is) very important, because it will mean giving certainty to the workers of this bank. It also means giving clients certainty, and that an important bank remains in the country, that the operation can be carried out with the participation of Mexicans, which is also important, ”he said.

Who are Grupo México and Grupo Mifel?

Grupo México, chaired by Germán Larrea, is a conglomerate of mining, transportation and infrastructure companies, with a presence in Mexico, the United States, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Spain.

It is, according to public information, the fourth largest company in the country, with a market capitalization of 17.5 billion dollars and 30,000 employees.

Meanwhile, Grupo Mifel, chaired by Daniel Becker, is the thirteenth financial group operating in the country, with assets of just over 100.5 billion pesos and a 0.8% market share, according to the most recent data.

Mifel is in the credit, investment, insurance, factoring and leasing businesses, among others.

If Banamex is acquired, Mifel would go to the top five of the financial groups that operate in the country.