HSBC Holdings has lost its bid to win control of Mexico's Serfin bank, with its offer trumped by bid worth 14.64 billion Mexican peso (about HK$12.01 billion) from Spanish banking group Banco Santander Central Hispano.
Bank Santander's offer, about 20 per cent higher than HSBC's, means HSBC still has only a limited presence in Mexico, one of Latin America's largest markets.
'We are disappointed that our bid for Serfin was unsuccessful,' an HSBC spokesman said.
The bank had a 19.9 per cent stake in Serfin before the bidding began, but this will now be returned to Instituto Bancario de Proteccion al Ahorro (IPAB), the Mexican deposit guarantee agency, for US$137 million.
HSBC acquired the Serfin stake in 1997, when it received Serfin Brady bonds with a face value of US$174 million, and its holding is included in its accounts as part of its other participating interests in banks, valued at a total of US$257 million.
The HSBC spokesman said the group was grateful to IPAB for allowing it to bid for Serfin.
'We remain committed to Mexico. We have operated there for 20 years,' he said.