Axis Bank Acquires Citigroup's India Retail Business For Rs 12,325 Crore

The private sector lender will acquire about 30 lakh customers of Citibank India and grow its credit card portfolio by 31 per cent

New Delhi: Axis Bank, India’s third-largest private sector bank, on Wednesday announced the acquisition of Citigroup's India consumer banking business, including credit card, retail banking, consumer loan, and wealth management, for Rs 12,325 crore, according to a report by the PTI.

The private sector lender will acquire about 30 lakh customers of Citibank India and grow its credit card portfolio by 31 per cent.

The deal will give it access to 7 offices, 21 branches, and 499 ATMs across 18 cities; and about 3,600 in-scope consumer employees of Citibank will be absorbed in Axis Bank, the private sector lender said in a statement.

The business comprises credit cards, retail banking, home loans, and wealth management. Citigroup has 35 branches in the country and employs about 4,000 people in the consumer banking business.

Axis Bank emerged as the buyer after beating out rivals, with factors such as job security for current Citigroup employees and competition concerns being taken into account, according to a report.

"Valuable addition of Rs 1.11 lakh crore AUM from Citi Wealth & Private Banking products to augment and reinforce Axis’ Burgundy brand, making it the 3rd largest by combined AUM in the wealth management space," said Axis Bank in a statement.

Axis Bank said its Cards balance sheet will grow by 57 per cent with an additional 25 lakh Citibank cards, making it one of the top 3 Cards businesses in the country.

Once the deal gets the necessary approvals, the sources said the balance sheet size of Axis Bank will expand and the retail segment will witness a significant jump.

However, Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser in February said the planned India retail sale is part of a restructuring to simplify the US lender, do away with its retail banking operations in 13 countries across Asia and Europe, and focus on high-growth businesses such as wealth management.

Citigroup, American banking major, in April 2021 announced its plan to exit from the retail banking business in India as part of its global strategy.

Citigroup had entered India in 1902 and started the consumer banking business in 1985.

Apart from the institutional banking business, Citigroup in India will continue to focus on offshoring or global business support rendered from centres in Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Gurugram.