The shares of Axis Bank surged as much as 1 per cent on Thursday after it acquired Citibanks’ customer business in India for Rs 12,325 crore. At 1:48 pm, the shares of Axis Bank were up 0.8 per cent at Rs 756.
Axis bank on Wednesday had announced that it is acquiring US-based Citibank’s customer banking business.
"The transaction comprises the sale of the consumer businesses of Citibank India, which includes credit cards, retail banking, wealth management, and consumer loans. The deal also includes the sale of the consumer business of Citi’s non-banking financial company, Citicorp Finance (India) Limited, comprising the asset-backed financing business, which includes commercial vehicle and construction equipment loans, as well as the personal loans portfolio," Axis Bank had said in a regulatory filing.
The development comes almost a year after Citibank had announced in April last year, that it will exit consumer business in 13 countries including India, as part of an ongoing strategic review and in order to focus on four wealth centers in Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE, and the UK. Citibank started its operations in India in 1902 and has approximately 35 branches across the country.
As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, until March 31, 2021, the bank had loans worth Rs 68,747 crore in India and deposits of Rs 1.66 lakh crore. In February 2022, its total number of credit cards stood at 2.55 million.
