The German lender’s India retail and wealth management assets — with a book size of at least $2.5 billion — are now at the centre of a competitive acquisition process involving two of India’s prominent private sector banks
Deutsche Bank is in advanced talks to exit its retail and wealth management operations in India, with Kotak Mahindra Bank and Federal Bank both submitting binding offers for the portfolio, according to a Bloomberg report. The assets on the table carry a book size of at least $2.5 billion and include mortgage lending, small business loans, and wealth management services.
Negotiations are ongoing and no deal has been finalised yet. But the fact that two serious Indian private sector banks have moved to binding offer stage signals this process is well advanced.
Deutsche Bank currently runs a branch network across 16 Indian cities. The German lender has been reassessing that footprint for some time, looking to concentrate its India presence on corporate and investment banking for multinational enterprises and major local clients. Retail banking, in that context, is no longer a priority — and this sale would draw a clear line under that decision.
This is not Deutsche Bank’s first attempt to exit Indian retail. A similar effort in 2018 to sell comparable businesses to IndusInd Bank fell apart over valuation disagreements. This time, with two binding bids on the table, the process looks more serious.
For Kotak Mahindra Bank, winning this portfolio would add another acquisition to a recent run that already includes Standard Chartered’s personal loan book in India. Federal Bank, meanwhile, is in the middle of its own expansion push — backed by Blackstone, which became its largest shareholder last year through a $700 million warrant purchase. Federal Bank’s stated ambition is to grow from a regional player into a national one, and Deutsche Bank’s retail assets would be a meaningful step in that direction.
Emirates NBD had also been flagged as a potential bidder for Deutsche Bank’s Indian assets. The UAE lender ultimately chose not to submit an offer — it is now focused on closing its majority stake acquisition in RBL Bank instead.
The Deutsche Bank process is part of a broader shift playing out across India’s banking sector. Foreign institutions are either deepening their India bets or restructuring their presence entirely. SMBC announced an agreement last September to acquire an additional 4.2% stake in YES Bank, following its earlier purchase of a 20% interest in the private sector lender. MUFG Bank entered an investment agreement with Shriram Finance to acquire a 20% equity stake through a preferential share allotment. And now Deutsche Bank’s retail book is up for grabs.