Taipei, Taiwan – Singaporean bank DBS has announced that it has completed the acquisition of the consumer banking business of Citi in Taiwan. The acquisition was completed over the weekend, according to the company.
With the acquisition of Citi Consumer Taiwan, DBS will become one of Taiwan’s largest foreign bank by assets. DBS Taiwan will have clear market leadership in loans, deposits, cards and investments amongst foreign players in the market. Additionally, close to 3,000 employees from Citi Consumer Taiwan have moved over to DBS.
Speaking about the acquisition, Piyush Gupta, CEO of DBS, said, “Our successful integration of Citi Consumer Taiwan with DBS continues our strategy of building meaningful scale in our core Asian markets. By bringing a prized Citi franchise into our fold, we accelerate our consumer business growth in Taiwan by at least 10 years. Overnight, revenue from the market will more than double to over SGD 1.3 billion.”
He added, “With the transaction, I am also confident that we will be able to provide more value to our customers, in particular, helping them grow their wealth through innovative products, and helping those who are business owners expand into new markets or participate in regional trade flows.”
Meanwhile, Ng Sier Han, CEO of DBS Taiwan, commented, “I am delighted to welcome our new Citi colleagues to the DBS family. Since we announced the transaction back in 2022, we have been working towards a seamless transition of the two businesses. Today marks a momentous milestone for DBS Taiwan, made doubly significant as we celebrate our 40th anniversary in the market.”
He added, “Over the years, DBS Taiwan has made significant strides with new innovations in digital banking and more recently, advancements in sustainability. Our enlarged franchise affords us greater opportunity to continue availing best-in-class products and services to our customers as we set ourselves apart as a different kind of bank – one that enables them to Live more, Bank less.”
The slew of acquisitions in Asia-Pacific also includes UnionBank acquiring the Philippine operations of Citi’s consumer banking business in 2021. This comes over two years after Citigroup announced that it is exiting its consumer businesses in 10 Asia-Pacific markets.
