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Mexican president set to meet Citigroup CEO, spokesperson says

Reuters

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MEXICO CITY, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Citigroup's Chief Executive Jane Fraser is planning to meet with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a government spokesperson told Reuters on Friday, amid the bank's attempt to finalize a deal on the sale of its local unit.

Fraser will be in Mexico in the "first week of February" during a planned visit to the country with her leadership team, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

A spokesperson for Lopez Obrador, Jesus Ramirez, said he did not have further details on the meeting, and added it was still subject to final confirmation.

Citi declined to comment.

The planned meeting comes as Citi aims to sell its Mexican unit, Banamex, as part of the company's planned withdrawal of its retail services in the country.

Two bidders, which sources told Reuters were Mexican conglomerate Grupo Mexico and Banca Mifel, are vying for the deal, Lopez Obrador said in December.

In an earnings call earlier this month, Fraser said she was bullish about institutional interest in Mexico.

"As you can imagine, in today's environment, Mexico is key for many of our corporate clients around the world for their supply chains. And we play a very important role there," she said.

Regarding the planned sale of its retail unit, she said she was "extremely pleased" with the progress being made, and reiterated the company was still pursuing the "dual tracks" of an initial public offering if no sale was agreed upon.

Citi executives previously circled January 2023 as the proposed date for finalizing the deal.

Reporting by Kylie Madry and Isabel Woodford; Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Cassandra Garrison
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