MEXICO CITY, Sept 25, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Mexican tycoon Fernando Chico Pardo has agreed to pay $2.3 billion to acquire a 25-percent stake in US banking giant Citi's Mexican subsidiary, the group said Wednesday.

"Fernando Chico Pardo will acquire 25% (~520 million shares) of Banamex's outstanding common shares" in a transaction valued at 42 billion Mexican pesos (around $2.3 billion), Citi announced.

Citi, which last year announced plans to cut 20,000 jobs, has for years been seeking to spin off its Mexican consumer banking unit.

Banamex is Mexico's fourth largest financial group, according to the company itself.

Chico Pardo has made a fortune operating ports in the United States and Latin America, as well as luxury hotels, and airports.

"This transaction represents our longstanding purpose of advancing projects that strengthen Mexico's development," he said in the statement issued by Citi.

He said he and his family were also "profoundly committed to continuing and to renew the social and cultural programs that distinguish Banamex and give access to an invaluable artistic heritage to millions of Mexicans."

The Banamex art collection includes paintings by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera among other cultural jewels.

Plans for the bank's sale had raised fears that the treasure trove might be lost to the country.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had urged Mexican investors to step in to keep them at home.