Private sector lender Axis Bank is close to acquiring Citigroup's retail banking business in India and a deal is likely to be announced soon, sources said on Wednesday. According to the sources, the deal, to be valued at $2.5 billion (about Rs 18,000 crore), will be subject to regulatory approvals. In April 2021, American banking major Citigroup announced its plan to exit from the consumer banking business in India as part of its global strategy. The business comprises credit cards, retail banking, home loans and wealth management.
Ashok Vaswani, a banker with more than three-and-half decades experience in building and scaling up businesses across consumer and corporate banking and payments, will be the next managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Kotak Mahindra Bank. Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had given its approval to Vaswani's appointment. Vaswani is currently President of Pagaya Technologies, a US-Israeli artificial intelligence (AI) fintech firm, which he joined in June 2022.
PB Fintech, the parent of Policybazaar and Paisabazaar, has set a price band of Rs 940-950 apiece for its initial public offering (IPO), which will open on November 1 and close on November 3. The company may be valued at around Rs 44,000 crore, and looking to raise an amount of around Rs 5,826 crore. The IPO comprises a fresh issue of Rs 3,750 crore, along with an offer for sale (OFS) of Rs 1959.72 crore by existing promoters and shareholders.
The government has appointed 10 merchant bankers including Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, Citigroup Global Markets India, and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities India to manage the mega initial public offering of country's largest insurer LIC. Other selected bankers include SBI Capital Market, JM Financial, Axis Capital, BofA Securities, JP Morgan India, ICICI Securities, and Kotak Mahindra Capital Co Ltd, a circular on the divestment department website said. "Government has finalised the book running lead managers and some other advisors for the IPO of LIC," DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted. The divestment department had invited applications for the appointment of merchant bankers on July 15.
The government is mulling allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country's largest insurer LIC, a move which would help overseas investors take part in the company's proposed mega IPO, sources said. The proposal is under discussion between the Department of Financial Services and Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM). "Discussions have been going on for the proposal for the last few weeks. "It would also go for inter-ministerial discussions and would also require Cabinet nod," a source said.
Online auto classified platform CarTrade Tech on Tuesday said it fixed a price band of Rs 1,585-1,618 a share for its nearly Rs 2,999-crore initial public offer. The initial public offering (IPO) will open for subscription on August 9 and conclude on August 11. The bidding for anchor investors will open on August 6, the company announced. The initial share-sale will be entirely an offer for sale (OFS) of 18,532,216 equity shares.
Food ordering platform Zomato, whose Rs 9,375 crore IPO opens on July 14, is planning to launch a grocery section on its app soon, a senior company official said. The company recently invested USD 100 million (around Rs 745 crore) for acquiring a minority stake in grocery delivery platform Grofers. "It (grocery) is a large opportunity. The online grocery is nascent right now but is growing rapidly not just in India but across the world... "We are actively experimenting in that space and recently invested $100 million for a minority stake in Grofers, with the idea of getting more exposure to that space and building our strategies and plan around that business," Zomato CFO Akshant Goyal said.
Even after this sale, the founder group will continue to have a substantial shareholding in the company.
The government is likely to file draft papers for the mega initial public offering of LIC with market regulator Sebi by next week, while a portion of the issue would be reserved for anchor investors, a top official said on Wednesday.
It has been one of the weakest starts to the year since 1970 as concerns over undercapitalised financials sector companies, earnings risks, accelerated inflation and higher interest rates kept investors cautious, the world's biggest bank said. It further added that valuations indicate equities are cheap relative to history and especially cheap relative to other assets.
'MNCs now recognise India's capacity for innovation and its pivotal role in substantive contributions to global product development.'
Being a fund of funds, ING Global Real Estate does not invest directly in properties. This investment model allows it to put money in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and real estate operating companies (ROCEs).
The banks provided the 'living wills' road maps that were requested by US regulators to help the banks' liquidation in a financial crisis.
With an aim to save costs in troubled economic times, just 10 companies together have announced nearly one lakh job cuts worldwide since start of 2012 and they include giants like HP, Google and Citigroup.
Axis Bank on Wednesday said it has completed the acquisition of Citibank's retail business in India for a final cash consideration of Rs 11,603 crore. The sale excludes Citi's institutional client businesses in India. The third-largest private sector bank said the acquisition, announced first in March last year, will not necessitate any new capital requirements and stressed that the attrition numbers on customers are much better than expected.
Citibank on Wednesday joined the list of foreign banks that have exited retail banking business in India. Mumbai-based Axis Bank completed acquisition of Citigroup's consumer business for Rs 11,603 crore. Under the deal, Axis acquired consumer banking businesses of Citibank India, which includes credit cards, retail banking, wealth management and consumer loans.
Indians are increasingly rising to the top of global corporate ladders and just 10 of them are together managing business worth over $400 billion -- an amount nearly double the total exports from India in a year.
FSN E-Commerce Ventures, which runs online marketplace for beauty and wellness products Nykaa, has filed preliminary papers with markets regulator Sebi to raise Rs 3,500-4,000 crore through an initial share-sale.
World's largest asset manager Blackrock will host a global investors meet in India next year, CEO Laurence Flik conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Indian regulatory framework forced Citi to hibernate -- contrary to the claim that it never sleeps!
According to a Thomson Financial research, no Indian investment bank figures in the top ten list of the M&A deals that was struck this year, which was topped by UBS.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd has sold its stake in the shale gas asset in the US to Northern Oil and Gas Inc for USD 250 million, the firm said on Thursday.
Foreign money has been pouring into India's fast-growing e-commerce sector, with investors ranging from Japan's Softbank Corp to Singapore's Temasek Holdings.
Ajay Banga will be a 'transformative leader', who will bring expertise, experience, and innovation to the position of World Bank President, United States President Joe Biden has said after the top Indian-American business executive was confirmed as the new head of the international lender.
The task force will look at emerging markets, technology, regulatory and monetary policies, loss of trust in financial services, and financial inclusion.
InterGlobe Aviation has already raised Rs 832 crore from anchor investors.
2nd time within a few days RIL has hit the forex debt market.
Top no-frills carrier IndiGo on Tuesday approached capital markets regulator Sebi with Initial Public Offer.
These include Goldman Sachs, HSBC, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, RBS, Citigroup and JP Morgan and they have said in their respective regulatory filings that they are cooperating with the relevant authorities in the investigations.
Concerns are swirling that Japan's dream of hosting the Tokyo 2020 Olympics could be a fatality of the spread of the new coronavirus, jolting organisers, sponsors, and media firms who have spent billions of dollars in the run-up to the event. Global insurers face a hefty bill if the coronavirus forces the cancellation of the Games, with estimates of the cost of insuring the showpiece running into billions of dollars.
India Inc loves to applaud every time any businessman or executive of Indian origin makes it to the top in the developed world.
Telecom operator Reliance Jio Infocomm has arranged credit facilities worth $1.5 billion with lenders, including Bank of America and Barclays, to refinance existing loans.
In India, it is not easy to fight it out with the large banks which are nimble-footed and technology-savvy and are continuously innovating on the retail turf with newer products for customer acquisition.
A referendum will be held on Thursday, June 23, to decide whether Britain should exit (Britain's exit, hence the term Brexit) or remain in the European Union.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs International, JP Morgan Securities, Morgan Stanley, Nomura and UBS have confirmed their commitment to the FSA Rule and the supporting Code on remuneration practices. These were published in August and would come into force on January 1, 2010 (and cover payments for performance year 2009).
Issues Rs 358 crore interim dividend, 1:10 bonus and 10:1 split
The sale will be quicker if an Indian private bank buys it; it will take longer for regulatory clearances if a foreign bank or an NBFC buys it, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
