IndusInd Bank to buy RBS’s Indian diamond and jewellery financing business

IndusInd Bank today struck a deal to buy Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) diamond and jewellery financing business in India and related deposit portfolio.

IndusInd Bank did reveal the financial terms of the deal, but said that RBS's domestic diamond and jewellery financing loan business is part of ABN AMRO Bank N.V.'s Diamond & Jewellery Clients that is housed in RBS and operates through its Mumbai branch in India.

The RBS diamond and Jewellery financing loan book is approximately Rs4,500 crore in size.

Until ownership of the loans transfer to IndusInd Bank, day to day management of the loan portfolio will remain with RBS.

IndusInd Bank specialises in the diamond and jewellery financing and some of IndusInd Bank's senior management had been associated with this portfolio at RBS and prior to that in ABN AMRO Bank

Romesh Sobti, MD & CEO, IndusInd Bank said, ''We are happy to have come to an agreement with Royal Bank of Scotland N.V. on acquiring this business. This acquisition fits nicely into our strategy of creating scale with profitability in select business segments.''

''We like this business and have a deep insight into the industry. We are also happy to reach a Partnership Agreement with ABN AMRO Bank N.V., one of the oldest banks in Diamond and Jewellery financing,'' he added.

RBS has been hiving off non-core assets after it received £45.5 billion ($70 billion) bailout from the UK government, the biggest bailout of any bank in the world, during the global financial crisis in 2008.

It has since cut thousands of jobs, sold several assets, including its aircraft-leasing business, its Galaxy Pub Estate that had 918 pubs in the UK, a controlling 80.01-per cent interest in its credit-card unit Global Merchant Services, 318 branches in the UK and Wales among others.

In August 2013, RBS had sold its credit card business, mortgage and commercial banking business to Ratnakar Bank.