Deutsche Bank sells India retail and wealth unit to Kotak Mahindra Bank

Deutsche Bank agreed on Tuesday to sell its retail banking and wealth-management business in India to Kotak Mahindra Bank for about 281.7 crore in cash, plus net funding position adjustments at closing. The unit is small by global banking standards, but the portfolio is substantial: about INR 29,000 crore in loans, INR 16,000 crore in deposits, INR 10,500 crore in assets under management, around 150,000 customers and roughly 1,000 employees.

For Kotak, the purchase adds scale in a market where affluent clients are prized for fee income, deeper relationships and cross-selling. Ashok Vaswani said the deal fits Kotak’s focus on affluent and SME clients, a combination that has become increasingly important as India’s upper-income households generate more demand for wealth products, private banking and higher-touch service. The transition will gradually move account servicing, product access and relationship management under Kotak’s umbrella.

For Deutsche Bank, the sale marks another step in a long-running effort to simplify the business and concentrate capital on areas where it can earn more durable returns. The transaction fits Deutsche Bank’s Global Hausbank strategy, which has pushed management to redeploy resources more selectively. The deal does not amount to an exit from India. Deutsche Bank has operated in the country since 1980, currently has branches in 16 cities, and opened an IFSC Banking Unit at GIFT City in 2022. In November 2024, Deutsche Bank infused INR 5,113 crore, or €571 million, into its India branch operations, lifting regulatory capital to nearly INR 30,000 crore.

Global banks have been retreating from mass-market retail in difficult emerging markets, where scale, technology spending and local competition can make branch-heavy banking expensive and slow to defend. Deutsche is keeping its Corporate Bank and Investment Bank operations in India, along with a focus on global ultra-high-net-worth clients outside India, including non-resident Indians. Kotak, by contrast, gains a local platform that can absorb the business more naturally and extend its reach among India’s rising affluent class. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions, and is expected to close by September 2027.