Mexico to Sell Its Second-Largest Bank

Bancomer, Mexico’s second-largest commercial bank with $23 billion in assets, will be put on the block today, the Treasury Ministry announced.

The government’s sale of its controlling interest in Bancomer is part of the ongoing privatization of Mexico’s 18 commercial banks. Three banks have been sold, and the government is taking bids on three others, including the nation’s largest, Banamex. The banks were nationalized in 1982.

The banks sold to date have brought about three times book value (assets minus liabilities)--more than government officials had expected, they acknowledge privately. Bancomer’s book value is $305 million.

Thursday’s announcement was a surprise, because analysts had expected Bancomer to be among the last of the banks sold. Its size and a general belief that it still has large amounts of interbank loans outstanding threatened to make for a prolonged audit.

The announcement was made after the close of trading on the Mexican stock exchange, so it did not affect the price of the voteless shares that represent about one-third of Bancomer’s stock. Those shares will receive full voting rights once the government’s interest in the bank is sold.

Besides Bancomer, the government will also take bids on Banco BCH, a bank whose exchange house was rocked by an embezzlement scandal two years ago, but is now said to be among the country’s most profitable mid-size banks.