Grupo México obtains a loan of 5,000 million dollars to advance in the purchase of Banamex

Several banks, including Barclays and HSBC Holdings, have committed to providing the debt financing, they added.

The sources, who requested anonymity as the talks are confidential, warned that a deal is not guaranteed and negotiations could fall apart at the last minute.

Citi, Grupo México, Barclays and HSBC declined to comment.

In recent weeks, Larrea has emerged as the favorite to buy Citibanamex over Daniel Becker, head of Banca Mifel, the sources detailed. Becker had lined up international investors, including Apollo Global Management APO.N and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, to finance his bid for the bank.

Citi has walked away from talks with Becker to prioritize a possible deal with Larrea, according to the sources. A Mifel spokesman declined to comment.

Several other potential buyers, including Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, dropped out of the year-long process to buy the Citibanamex business, which has also attracted interest from foreign competitors with operations in Mexico such as Banco Santander.

The US banking giant is divesting the unit as part of CEO Jane Fraser’s efforts to sell off some international operations and simplify the business.

Jane Fraser met this Wednesday morning with President López Obrador, who said he greatly appreciated the meeting with the Mexican president.

In January, Citi’s chief financial officer, Mark Mason, reported that the process to divest Citibanamex was “well advanced”, although he declined to comment on the timing of any deal announcement.

Last week, a source told Reuters that the Citi CEO planned to visit Mexico this week, along with other members of the bank’s leadership.