Axis Bank acquires Citi's consumer business in India for $1.6 bn

The all-cash deal includes Citi's credit cards, retail banking, wealth management and consumer loan

Axis Bank, the third-largest private sector lender in the country, will buy the retail business of Citibank India in an all-cash deal for Rs 12,325 crore. This is the biggest deal in the banking space since the acquisition of ING Vysya Bank by Kotak Mahindra Bank in 2014, which was valued at Rs 15,000 crore.

The deal includes Citi’s credit cards, retail banking, wealth management, and consumer loan businesses, besides the consumer business of its non-banking financial company, Citicorp Finance (India) Limited. This, however, excludes Citi’s institutional client businesses in India, Citi said in a statement, adding that Axis Bank was