MEXICO CITY - Mexico's state-owned Banco Internacional was sold to financial holding company Grupo Privado Mexicano for $47.8 million, government officials said Sunday.
The holding company's bid was led by investors Antonio del Valle, Eduardo Berrondo, Jose Juan Chelala, and Agustin Villareal and beat two other consortiums.
The winning bid, for 51% of Internacional's equity, corresponded to 2.95 times book value.
The losing, filed in sealed envelopes Friday, were from financial holding firm Grupo Financiero Multiva and a consortium linked to brokerage house Arka and construction group Protexa.
Banco Internacional, the last national bank to go on the block, had total assets in May of some $802 million.
Internacional, the country's fifth biggest bank, is the seventeenth of Mexico's 18 state-owned banks to be reprivatized.
Banco del Centro, a regional bank, comes up for auction Friday, with the result to be announced on July 5.
The government of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari has netted more than 35 trillion pesos since last year through its bank reprivatization program.
