Singapore's Validus acquires loan portfolio of CitiBusiness

Southeast Asian SME growth financing platform Validus announced that it has agreed to acquire the loan portfolio of Citi Singapore’s small business banking unit, CitiBusiness, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition comes two months after Citigroup agreed to sell its consumer-banking businesses in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam to United Overseas Bank for about USD3.6 billion. It also takes place less than a year Citibank Singapore was reported to be closing its CitiBusiness arm, which serves small and medium enterprises. Validus said the deal marks first time that a fintech company in Southeast Asia has acquired an established bank’s loan portfolio and customer base.