Citi Handlowy, a Polish banking business that is majority-owned by a Citigroup subsidiary, plans to sell its consumer banking business to VeloBank S.A., a Poland-based universal bank.
The transaction, which is expected to close by mid-2026, subject to customary conditions, is the latest of the sales and wind downs of international consumer businesses announced by Citi as part of its strategic refresh, Citi said in a Tuesday (May 27) press release.
The deal does not include Citi Handlowy’s institutional businesses, which Citi Handlowy will continue to invest in and grow, according to the release.
“This transaction enables us to deploy additional resources to our institutionally focused businesses, so we can continue to connect corporations in Poland to our global network,” Citi Head of International Ernesto Torres Cantú said in the release. “We’re proud of this significant milestone in simplifying our firm, and we’re pleased that our consumer banking colleagues in Poland are going to a buyer that will continue to invest in this great franchise.”
Citi’s last significant remaining international consumer operation is Grupo Financiero Banamex in Mexico, and the bank continues to work on a proposed initial public offering for that business, per the release.
Citi said in May 2023 that it had decided to take Banamex public after exiting the consumer banking market in Mexico in 2022.
“After careful consideration, we concluded the optimal path to maximizing the value of Banamex for our shareholders and advancing our goal to simplify our firm is to pivot from our dual path approach to focus solely on an IPO of the business,” Citi CEO Jane Fraser said at the time in a press release.
Citi announced in January 2022 that it was making changes to its business structure as part of a broader strategy to move away from global retail banking.
At that time, Citi said it was closing its Mexican retail banking arm, Citibanamex, and selling consumer banks in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. It retained its institutional businesses.
“Now, to be clear, these are terrific,” Fraser said during a January 2022 earnings call. “They’re scaled high returning franchises, but our strategic goal is to invest in businesses that are fully aligned with our core strengths.”
