MEXICO CITY, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Mexican mining and

transportation giant Grupo Mexico has submitted a

binding offer to purchase Citi's retail unit in the country,

known as Banamex, more than two years after it had scrapped

previous plans to do so.

Grupo Mexico said in a filing that the bid showed its

"unwavering confidence" in the country and that such a purchase

would once again make Banamex competitive among its peers.

The firm, controlled by Mexican billionaire German

Larrea, would purchase 25% of Banamex at 0.85x book value, and

the remaining 75% at 0.80x book value, it said.

Citi paid $12.5 billion for Banamex in 2001.

The offer comes a week after local billionaire Fernando

Chico Pardo, who chairs airport operator ASUR,

tied up a deal for a 25% stake for $2.3 billion.

Talks for Grupo Mexico to buy Banamex

fell through in 2023

, with sources telling Reuters that tensions with the

administration of then-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador led

the two sides to abandon the deal.