Citibank may announce sale of its India consumer business to Axis Bank on March 30, CNBC-TV18 reported. Deal size is expected to be about $2 billion with milestone-linked payments, the report said. It includes Citi’s customer base of 2.6 million credit card holders.
Further, as part of the deal, Citibank will continue to service the customers during the integration period so that the transition is seamless and no one is inconvenienced.
While Citi declined to comment, Axis Bank said that it will hold a press conference on strategic business development after market hours today.
Last year, Citibank had said that it will exit its consumer franchises in 13 markets, including India, and refocus on its more lucrative institutional and wealth management businesses. Its Indian consumer banking business comprises credit cards, home loans and retail banking.
Axis Bank emerged as the lead buyer after beating rivals like Kotak, another private lender which was reportedly "more aggressive" and had submitted a bid lower than that of Axis. Other factors like job security for current Citigroup employees, competition concerns, and more were also considered before taking the final call.
The Wall Street giant has 35 branches in India and close to 4,000 employees. Its customer base is about 2.5 million account holders with 1.2 million loan accounts. Citi has been in India for decades and was among the first bank to introduce Indians to credit cards in 1987.
At 10:40am, shares of Axis Bank were trading 3.5 percent higher at Rs 763.80 apiece on the BSE, while the benchmark Sensex was at 58,554.97, up 611.32 points or 1.06 percent.
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