MEXICO CITY, Jan 16 (Reuters) -

U.S. credit reporting agency TransUnion ( TRU ) is buying a

majority stake in its Mexican arm, it said on Thursday, buying

out several major banks in a deal worth around $560 million.

TransUnion's ( TRU ) stake in Trans Union de Mexico will come up

to around 94%, from a current 26%, it said in a statement.

TransUnion ( TRU ) plans to tap into Mexico's rapidly expanding

consumer credit market with the purchase.

The company partly controls the major Mexican credit

bureau, Buro de Credito. The bureau's commercial credit business

will however be excluded from the deal, TransUnion ( TRU ) said.

That arm of the Buro de Credito is jointly run with Dun

& Bradstreet ( DNB ).

Carlos Valencia, TransUnion's ( TRU ) Latin America chief, added

that they planned to introduce alternative credit data, fraud

mitigation options and expand into insurance and financial

technology.

"We look forward to supporting the country's digital

transformation objectives to empower consumers with increased

economic opportunity," TransUnion ( TRU ) CEO Chris Cartwright said in a

statement.

Mexican lender Banorte, as well as the

local arms of HSBC ( HSBC ), Scotiabank and Santander

separately announced the sale of their respective

stakes in TransUnion's ( TRU ) Mexico unit.

TransUnion ( TRU ) said it had pegged around 11.5 billion pesos

($560 million) for the deal, based on an enterprise value of

16.8 billion pesos. It said it expects to close the deal by the

end of this year and fund it through cash and debt.

The deal remains subject to regulatory approvals.

($1 = 20.6160 Mexican pesos)