Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB), the south-based, old private sector lender, is in online pharmacy without prescription talks with Citigroup to acquire CitiFinancial Consumer Finance India, the struggling non-banking finance company which gives retail loans to low-income borrowers. LVB has hired investment bank JM Financial to carry out due diligence of CitiFinancial, which has a `9,000-crore balance sheet, 116 branches and close to 1,600 employees. “It’s an interesting move for a conservative mid-sized bank which has stayed away from acquisitions,” said a person familiar with the proposal. The LVB board recently cleared a proposal to float a wholly-owned housing finance subsidiary. This new outfit intends to acquire CitiFinancial. A Citi spokesperson declined to comment. CitiFinancial is part of Citi Holdings, which houses the non-core businesses of the global banking and financial services group. Citicorp, meanwhile, controls core divisions such as Citibank, the cheap prescription drugs without prescription investment banking arm Citigroup Global Markets and the private equity arm CVC. In early 2009, Citi took a decision to identify non-core businesses which would be hived off over time.
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Lakshmi Vilas Bank eyes ailing Citi NBFC