UPDATE 1-Brazil's Itaú eyeing Citigroup's Latin America assets

(Adds details on Itau's interest, quote from executive,
background on Brazilian banks)
SAO PAULO, April 7 (Reuters) - Itaú Unibanco Holding SA
ITUB4.SA is interested in assets that Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) C.N has
put up for sale in Latin America, as Brazil's largest bank by
market value seeks opportunities to expand beyond its home turf,
a senior executive said on Thursday.
Any assets that Itaú could analyze for potential purchase
are outside Brazil, said Ricardo Villela Marino, senior vice
president in charge of Latin American operations.
Marino, who is a member of one of the families that control
the São Paulo-based bank, said the bank has not entered into
negotiations for any of those assets.
"We'll take a look at every unit they put up for sale"
excluding Brazil, Marino told reporters on the sidelines of an
event in São Paulo.
Itaú is aiming for its operations outside Brazil to account
for almost 20 percent of its total revenue by the end of the
decade, up from less than 15 percent now, as part of a strategy
to diversify from the recession-stricken nation.
Citigroup announced in February a plan to sell retail
banking operations in Brazil, Argentina and Colombia. Citigroup,
which has been present in Brazil for over a century, is trimming
banking operations globally that have underperformed because of
mounting competition or onerous costs.
A sale of Citigroup's Brazilian unit would come after HSBC
Holdings Plc HSBA.L fetched $5.2 billion last year from a sale
of its local operations to Itaú's arch-rival Banco Bradesco SA
BBDC4.SA .
However, Marino said Itaú's main strategy in the region is
to successfully complete the acquisition and integration of
Chile's CorpBanca SA in Chile, Colombia and Perú. The deal
received regulatory approval last week.
Marino said that Itaú plans to set aside loan-loss
provisions at CorpBanca for some loan transactions, including
one with Canadian oil and gas company Pacific Exploration &
Production Corp PRE.TO . Related charges from that specific
transaction will be reflected in Itaú's second-quarter results.
Itaú's non-voting shares rose 0.5 percent to 29.65 reais on
Thursday.