Mexico City, May 21 (EFE).- Philip Morris International has agreed to acquire the remaining 20 percent stake in its Mexico unit from Mexican magnate Carlos Slim's Grupo Carso for roughly $700 million. In a regulatory filing Tuesday, Slim's conglomerate said the final price would be calculated on the basis of a mutually agreed formula. The price is subject to a potential adjustment that reflects Philip Morris Mexico's performance over a period of three years that will culminate two years after the transaction closes, Grupo Carso said.

Mexico's Senate on Tuesday approved legislation to open up the telecommunications industry, a sector dominated by two television channels and billionaire Carlos Slim's phone empire. The bill, already approved by the lower house, is one of the signature reforms being pushed by President Enrique Pena Nieto, who took office in December with a vow to improve the country's competitiveness.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The planned presentation on Tuesday of a reform of Mexico's banking laws has been suspended due to disagreements among the main political parties, President Enrique Pena Nieto's office said in a statement. Pena Nieto had been negotiating the banking overhaul under a pact he forged with leaders of the opposition to work together on major economic reforms, but cracks in the agreement have appeared due to a political dispute over election funding.

Mexico opened a memorial Friday honoring tens of thousands of victims of a brutal drug war, but the garden of towering steel walls has been rejected by some relatives of the dead and missing. Built with funds seized from drug cartels, the memorial was built during the administration of president Felipe Calderon, whose six-year term ended in December and was marked by an escalation of the violence. Although it was completed months ago, the $2.4 million monument was only unveiled on Friday in a park of the sprawling Mexican capital, well after Calderon left office.