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By Alice Uribe
SYDNEY – National Australia Bank Ltd. agreed to purchase Citigroup’s Australian consumer business, paying the price of its net assets in cash plus a premium of A $ 250 million ($ 183.84 million).
Australian lender chief executive Ross McEwan said the proposed acquisition supports NAB’s growth ambitions for its personal banking business.
“The proposed acquisition of Citigroup Consumer Business brings breadth and deep expertise in unsecured loans, particularly credit cards, which remain an important means for customers to make payments and manage their cash flow. “, did he declare. “The cards and payments industry is changing rapidly and access to more payment and transaction data will help drive product and service innovation across all of our personal banking businesses and to deliver industry-leading customer experiences. “
The proposed acquisition will be fully funded from existing resources on NAB’s balance sheet, the lender said. It includes a portfolio of real estate loans as well as the areas of unsecured loans, retail deposits and private wealth management.
Citigroup’s consumer business had approximately $ 12.2 billion in credit assets and approximately $ 9.0 billion in deposits at the end of June.
As part of the proposed acquisition, senior management and approximately 800 Citigroup employees in total are expected to join NAB. It should be marginally accretive to cash profits and return on equity from completion, NAB said.
“Pre-tax cost synergies of approximately A $ 130 million per year are expected to be achieved over three years, with the majority being achieved in the first two years,” he said.
Subject to approvals, completion is expected to occur by March 2022.
Write to Alice Uribe at [email protected]
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