Citigroup Inc, which has been shedding some of its retail operations as part of a global revamp, is in advanced talks with Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) for a sale of its China consumer business, people familiar with the matter said.
Taipei-based Fubon has emerged as the likeliest buyer after outbidding rivals, and the two lenders are negotiating the terms of a potential transaction, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.
They are aiming to sign an agreement in the next few weeks and the assets could be valued at about US$1.5 billion, the people said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
A deal would help Fubon bolster its foothold in China, where it acquired a controlling stake in Shanghai-based First Sino Bank (華一銀行) in 2014 and later changed its name to Fubon Bank China (富邦華一銀行).
Fubon is Taiwan’s second-biggest financial holding company by assets.
Discussions are still ongoing and no final decision has been made, the people said, adding that Citigroup could still decide to enter talks with other bidders if talks with Fubon do not lead to an agreement.
Representatives for Citigroup and Fubon declined to comment.
The China assets sale is part of Citigroup chief executive officer Jane Fraser’s business restructuring that has sought to dispose of retail banking operations in 13 countries across Asia and Europe.
The lender is focusing on building out its burgeoning wealth management arm instead.
Earlier this month, the firm announced that it would exit its consumer, small-business and middle-market banking businesses in Mexico.
Last week, Citigroup agreed to sell consumer banking businesses in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam to United Overseas Bank Ltd (大華銀行) for about S$4.9 billion (US$3.6 billion).
The disposal followed the sale of its assets in the Philippines to Union Bank of the Philippines for a cash consideration plus a premium of about US$904 million last month.
On Sunday, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported that Citigroup would sell its consumer banking business in Taiwan to DBS Bank Taiwan (星展台灣), the local unit of Singapore-based DBS Group Holdings Ltd, for NT$60 billion (US$2.17 billion).
DBS Taiwan and Citibank Taiwan Ltd (花旗台灣) declined to confirm the report on Monday.
Additional reporting by Kao Shih-ching
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six