Clifford Chance represented Citi on Sale of Consumer Banking Arm to Axis Bank in India
Clifford Chance represented Citi on Sale of Consumer Banking Arm to Axis Bank in India
Clifford Chance, a prominent international law firm, provided legal guidance to Citi regarding the transfer of its consumer banking business in India to Axis Bank. This deal is anticipated to generate a regulatory capital advantage of $1.4 billion for Citi.
As a component of Citi's updated strategy to allocate investments and resources to the sectors with the most significant scale and growth prospects, the agreement incorporates credit cards, retail banking, wealth management, and consumer loans. In addition, about 3,200 employees will be moved to Axis Bank.
On March 30, 2022, Citi announced that it had reached a deal with Axis Bank to divest its businesses, and the closing of the deal was subject to obtaining the necessary regulatory authorisations. The transaction was finalised on March 1, 2023. Titi Cole, Citi's CEO of Legacy Franchises, termed it a "landmark sale" and a "significant milestone" in Citi's strategy revamp.
During the transaction, Clifford Chance collaborated with Indian legal advisors AZB & Partners.
This transaction extends the firm's extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions within the financial institutions sector and reinforces its longstanding relationship with Citi in managing its account corporate deals.
The Financial Institutions Group partner, Richard Crosby, led the Clifford Chance team and was assisted by a multi-disciplinary team from various practices, including Corporate (Jessica Lambert, Imogen Ainsworth, Ayush Vijayvargiya, Beth Eyre, Kate Wilson, James Cashier, Fergus Grady, Dan Bomsztyk, and Hephzibah Adeosun, as well as Co-Head of London Corporate, Melissa Fogarty), Tech Group (Andre Duminy, Jenni Polson, and Claudia Hall), Employment (Alistair Woodland, Alistair Green), Pensions (Hywel Robinson, Matthew Preston), Tax (Nicola Hemsley, Richard Kalaher, and Nicola Griffin), and Real Estate (Alis Pay and Lena McCrae).
