may take time to finalise a buyer for its retail arms, sources inquisitive with the discussion said.
There has been no decision on a buyer or no shortlist is made, said a source.
The bank is in the process of answering all the questions raised by potential buyers. The process will then end at the end of this month, and bids will be invited in sealed envelopes. It will take at least two to six weeks for the analyst to start seriously considering a buyer, said the source, asking anonymity.
So, the question of a few being frontrunners do not arise just as yet, said the source.
Another source said virtually all are seeking details of the retail arm s books for due diligence purposes. After the window for due diligence is ending, we will not entertain a single question, said another source.
Citigroup announced on April 15 that it would exit retail banking in India and 12 other countries in Europe across Asia and parts of Asia to focus on its wealth management business, as it lacked the scale to compete in this space.
The decision to remove retail businesses from a few markets was one of the first moves by newly appointed CEO Jane Fraser after she took over the US-based bank in February.
With India, Citigroup said it would also exit its consumer franchise in India, Australia, Bahrain, China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
The consumer banking industry contributed 30.6 per cent of revenue at the end of March 2020 for in India, against 37.38 per cent in 2012 - 13 and nearly 39.19 per cent in 2009 - 10.
Citibank was the No. 1 share of the market in 2012 with 21 per cent market share. 2 credit card issuer in India, whilst expenditure per card was double the industry average and it also had a 30 per cent share in the e-commerce spend. By 2020, its market share was lowered to around 6 per cent and the position ended sixth even though average card spending remained 1.4 times higher than the industry mean.
The private customer base is also typically at the upper end of the spectrum for the bank, making it an attractive buy for India s retail focused private banking.
They are busy doing the due diligence process till the window is closed this month.