Brazil’s Itaú eyeing Citigroup’s Latin America assets

Itaú Unibanco Holding SA is interested in assets that Citigroup Inc has put up for sale in Latin America, as Brazil’s largest bank by market value seeks opportunities to expand beyond its home turf, a senior executive said on Thursday.

Any assets that Itaú could analyze for potential purchase are outside Brazil, said Ricardo Villela Marino, senior vice president in charge of Latin American operations.

Marino, who is a member of one of the families that control the São Paulo-based bank, said the bank has not entered into negotiations for any of those assets.

“We’ll take a look at every unit they put up for sale” excluding Brazil, Marino told reporters on the sidelines of an event in São Paulo.

Itaú is aiming for its operations outside Brazil to account for almost 20 percent of its total revenue by the end of the decade, up from less than 15 percent now, as part of a strategy to diversify from the recession-stricken nation.

Read the full article on Reuters.

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