Transaction Marks Completion of The First Divestiture Among 14 Consumer Exit Markets as Part of Citi’s Global Strategy Refresh
Citi today announced it had successfully completed the sale of its Australian Consumer Business to National Australia Bank Limited (hereafter “NAB”).
Citi’s Australian Consumer Business, which includes unsecured lending, residential mortgages, deposits and wealth, is being transferred to NAB with approximately 800 Citi employees today.
NAB was selected following an auction process to acquire Citi’s Consumer Business, which includes credit cards, loans, retail banking, mortgages and wealth management solutions for high net worth individuals. The bank is also a credit card provider for some of Australia’s leading brands including BOQ, Coles, Kogan, Qantas, Suncorp and Virgin Money.
Commenting on the completed sale, Citi Australia CEO Marc Luet said, “We’re delighted to have partnered with NAB on the transaction which is a very positive outcome for our customers and our consumer bank colleagues. Citi Australia will now focus its resources on the businesses where we have scale in order to deliver growth and improved returns. Our goal is to be Australia and New Zealand’s preeminent banking partner for corporate, investor and public sector clients with cross-border needs.”
Citi’s CEO of Legacy Franchises, Titi Cole, said the transaction was a significant event for the bank. “The sale marks an important milestone as the first of our completed divestitures. NAB is the optimal owner for this business and I wish our former employees and customers the best in their new environment.”
Citi Australia’s institutional business provides a comprehensive range of investment and banking services to approximately 1,500 corporates, banks, governments and institutional investors in Australia, as well as clients offshore. Services include capital markets and corporate advisory, markets and securities services, commercial banking and treasury and trade solutions.
The completed sale of Citi’s Australian consumer business is the first divestiture among the 14 consumer markets in Asia, Europe, Middle East and Mexico that Citi intended to exit as part of its strategy review. As previously announced, Citi will release approximately $800 million of allocated tangible common equity as a result of this closing. Including Australia, Citi now has signed deals for the sale of nine of these markets and is in the process of exiting one additional consumer market (Korea).
As disclosed within Citi’s first quarter 2022 Form 10-Q in Note 2 – Discontinued Operations, Significant Disposals and Other Business Exits, Citi has been reporting the Australian consumer business as Held for Sale since the third quarter of 2021. As of March 31, 2022, Citi reported the cumulative pre-tax loss on sale of approximately US$815 million recorded in Other revenue (US$680 million after-tax), subject to closing adjustments. The aggregate loss on sale primarily reflects the impact of a pre- tax US$625 million currency translation adjustment (CTA) loss (net of hedges) (US$475 million after-tax) already reflected in the Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (AOCI) component of equity. Upon closing today, the CTA-related balance will be removed from the AOCI component of equity, resulting in improvement to Citi’s Common Equity Tier 1 Capital in the second quarter of 2022.
The original Form 8-K for the announced sale can be found here.
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