Singapore’s DBS Bank to buy Citigroup’s consumer banking business in Taiwan at US$707 million premium

‘Notwithstanding Covid-19, we believe Asia’s long-term growth trends remain intact,’ says Piyush Gupta, CEO of DBS Group

The Singaporean bank will pay cash for the assets of Citi Consumer Taiwan in a deal expected to be closed next year

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The Singaporean bank will pay cash for the assets of Citi Consumer Taiwan. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:30pm, 28 Jan 2022

DBS Bank has agreed to acquire the consumer banking business of Citigroup in Taiwan at a premium of S$956 million (US$707 million) as it expands its presence in the region.

The Singaporean bank will pay cash for the assets of Citi Consumer Taiwan. The total cost of the deal will be determined when it is closed, probably in the middle of 2023 subject to regulatory approval, DBS said in a statement on Friday.

DBS will also inject S$1.2 billion into the unit to support “incremental risk-weighted assets” and capital needs. The acquisition will be funded by excess capital, and will have no impact on DBS’ ability to pay dividends, the lender said.

“Notwithstanding Covid-19, we believe that Asia’s long-term growth trends remain intact,” said Piyush Gupta, chief executive officer of DBS Group in the statement.

“The acquisitions we have made since the start of the pandemic have given us a platform to build meaningful scale in some of our core markets. This acquisition is no exception.”

In April last year, DBS agreed to buy a 13 per cent stake in Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank Corp (SZRCB) for 5.29 billion yuan (US$814 million). In November 2020, the Singapore lender took over India’s Lakshmi Vilas Bank.

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