US bank Citigroup announced Friday it was acquiring the eastern Europe custody services business of its Dutch rival ING. The acquisition covers assets worth 110 billion euros ($143 billion) in seven countries: Bulgaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and the Ukraine, according to statements from both banks.
The transaction, for an amount not made public, is to be finalised in the first quarter of 2014, Citigroup said. Citigroup already held $13.5 trillion in assets under custody, making it one of the world's largest providers of custody services. ING has sold a number of its operations in the past two years, as it works to pay back a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout it got in 2008 during the global financial crisis. The bank had already separated its insurance and banking operations and sold its Latin-American businesses in 2011 as well as ING Direct USA in February of this year. ING is also preparing an IPO for its US.