Citi has announced it has reached an agreement with DBS on the acquisition of Citi’s consumer banking franchises in Taiwan. The transaction includes retail banking, credit card, mortgage and unsecured lending businesses but excludes the bank’s institutional businesses. DBS Taiwan was selected by Citi following an extensive and competitive auction process.
The agreement covers all related Citi staff, with approximately 3500 consumer bank and supporting employees expected to transfer to DBS Taiwan upon close of the proposed transaction. DBS will pay Citi cash consideration for the net assets of the acquired businesses, plus a premium of approximately NTD 19.8 billion ($715m), subject to customary closing adjustments.
Upon closing, Citi expects the transaction to result in the release of approximately $800m of allocated tangible common equity. As previously announced, Citi’s exit from its consumer franchises in 13 markets across the Asia Pacific and EMEA is expected to release approximately $7 billion of allocated tangible common equity over time.
Peter Babej, Citi Asia Pacific CEO, said, “For Citi, this transaction will enable additional investment in our strategic focus areas, including our institutional businesses in Taiwan, which remains a priority market for our firm.”
