National Australia Bank (NAB) has reportedly emerged as a forerunner to acquire Citigroup’s consumer business in Australia.
According to a Bloomberg report, the lender is in advanced discussions to purchase the unit that may value more than $1bn.
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ANZ Banking Group and ING Bank Australia, which were also in the race, have dropped out, the publication further added quoting people familiar with the matter.
Separately, NAB has also confirmed that it is in talks with Citigroup over the potential deal.
In a statement to the ASX, NAB said: “Following media speculation, NAB confirms it is in discussions with Citigroup about the potential acquisition of its Australian Consumer business.
“NAB regularly assesses opportunities to acquire businesses that support its growth strategy in core banking markets. There is no certainty these discussions will lead to a transaction.”
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By GlobalDataAccording to Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority, Citigroup had A$3.5bn ($2.6bn) of credit card assets and A$11.6bn of loans and finance leases as of May.
Notably, Citi announced that it will exit 13 retail banking markets while reporting its first quarter results.
Apart from Australia, the markets were Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
The Australia deal is expected to be finalised in a month.
Earlier this month, NAB announced that it will invest $74.3m in branch transformation programme this year.
