(26 October 2015 – India) Singapore’s biggest lender DBS Group is in talks to buy Royal Bank of Scotland Group’s (RBS) India unit, Reuters reports.
According to sources, the deal could net the bank around US$200 million (A$277 million).
Reuters reports that South African banking group FirstRand and an Indian private sector lender is also likely to bid for the unit.
RBS, which is largely government owned following the global financial crisis, said early this year that it would refocus on its British operations. As such, the lender is pulling out of around 25 countries, and reducing its banking operations.
The India business of RBS is comprised of corporate and institutional banking, trade finance and cash management.
The takeover of RBS’s corporate banking business in India, if completed, would help the local units of foreign lenders DBS or FirstRand compete better with bigger Indian rivals, most of whom are state-owned, banking sector experts said.