Category: Regions

Mexican retailer Coppel has launched its banking operations in the local market after getting the go ahead from the banking regulator. Bancoppel, as the bank is called, will begin by opening five branches in Coppel’s home state of Culiacan and two in Mexico City. Coppel joins fellow retailer Famsa in the banking market and will be followed by Walmart de México and Soriana.

Mexico’s ruling PAN party led by President Felipe Calderon has suffered a defeat in the first primaries since winning last year’s elections. Although final results of the elections in Yucután province will not be known before Wednesday, preliminary figures show the opposition PRI winning with almost 50% of the votes against PAN’s 40%. PAN won control of Yucután during last year’s elections, wresting control from the PRI. A win by the PRI is seen as a positive thing by analysts who say a loss may have taken away PRI support from Calderón’s proposed tax reform bill.

Mexico’s Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASUR) is seeking participation in a $750m loan, part of which will be denominated in pesos. Proceeds are partly to finance Mexican executive Fernando Chico Pardo’s acquisition of the minority stake he doesn’t already own in the airport holding company. The rest will be used to refinance existing operating company debt. Citi is heard to be leading the deal, which will be launched at a bank meeting in Cancun, the site of one of the company’s airports, in two weeks. Pardo is paying MXP56 a share for 42.625% of the outstanding shares. ASUR is listed in New York and Mexico.

Mexican industrial conglomerate Alfa, via its subsidiary Nemak, has bought the aluminum foundry business Castech from fellow local conglomerate Grupo Saltillo (Gissa). Nemak, which operates in the high-tech aluminum autoparts industry, paid $136m for the business of which $72m will be in cash and $64m in assumed debt. Castech was formerly owned by Gissa in a joint venture with Norwegian oil and gas company Norsk Hydro. Last November, Gissa paid $50 million for Hydro’s 49.99% stake in the Mexican castings company.

Mexico’s economy expanded 2.6% in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period last year. The slowdown in growth, which has been expected by analysts, reflects the economic deceleration north of the border in the US and highlights the continuing dependence of Mexico on its northern neighbor. The slowdown in Mexico’s growth is attributed to the drop-off in exports to the US, Mexico’s largest export market, in the face of falling demand. The government has predicted growth this year of around 3.6%, compared with 4.8% registered last year.