Itaú Unibanco agrees to buy Citi Uruguay's retail bank unit

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Itaú Unibanco (ITUB4.SA), Brazil's largest bank by market value, said on Friday its Uruguayan unit had signed a deal to buy Citi Uruguay's retail banking operations, assuming more than 15,000 clients with more than $265 million in deposits.

The deal also involves the transfer of a credit card portfolio of $60 million that Citi has developed in Uruguay, making up about 6 percent of the market last year.

Itaú said the cost of the operation was "not significant" for the company and it would not have a relevant accounting impact on results.

Citigroup Inc (C.N) said in April it was reviewing its operations in Uruguay to "maximize efficiencies."

Under Chief Executive Michael Corbat's plans to reposition Citigroup, the bank is exiting some markets where it cannot reach the scale necessary to generate adequate return on invested capital. The plan is expected to help Citigroup save more than $1.1 billion annually beginning next year.

(Reporting by Natalia Gómez; Editing by Eric Beech)