DBS acquiring Citigroup in Taiwan

Singapore’s DBS Group Holdings is acquiring the consumer banking business of Citigroup in Taiwan - Citi Consumer Taiwan - with a premium of SGD956m (USD706m). If the deal pushes through, the Singapore lender will become Taiwan’s largest foreign bank by assets. DBS will pay Citi cash or the net assets of the business plus the premium. As at end-September 2021, Citi Consumer Taiwan had an earning asset-based of SGD20.3bn and total deposits of SGD15.1bn. The DBS Group also intends to make offers of employment to all 3,500 employees of Citi Consumer Taiwan. The sale is part of Citi’s strategy to exit some of its retail operations in the Asia-Pacific region and focus more on wealth-management and institutional clients.