Deutsche Bank in Talks to Sell Indian Retail & Wealth Portfolio: Here Are the Contenders

German financial giant Deutsche Bank is reportedly in talks with two Indian lenders to sell its retail banking and wealth management portfolio in India. The move comes amid the German bank's ongoing restructuring exercise to improve profitability.

According to the Economic Times (ET), discussions are taking place simultaneously with Kotak Mahindra Bank and Federal Bank. Both lenders have examined the portfolios and are negotiating the pricing of the deal. The report also noted that Deutsche Bank's Indian wealth management business is estimated to have ₹25,000 crore in assets under management, while its retail business generated ₹2,455 crore in revenue in FY25, with total assets of ₹25,038 crore.

Deutsche Bank’s India wealth management arm includes debt investments linked to its corporate clients and a cluster of long-standing high-net-worth accounts.

Point to note: India remains the German bank's only retail market outside Europe, making it an outlier for the lender, which operates 17 branches across the country.

Deutsche Bank’s India profit rose 55% in FY25 to ₹3,070 crore, supported by strong income growth. The bank has built its India franchise around investment banking, corporate and transaction banking, and private wealth, supported by significant equity infusions in recent years.

This is not the first time the Frankfurt-based bank has attempted to sell parts of its Indian unit. It explored selling its retail and wealth business in 2017 but later backed out.

The ET report claims that the bank is more serious this time but noted that talks may drag on as Indian banks negotiate hard and multiple approvals are required.

For Deutsche Bank, the restructuring is tied to profitability targets set in 2022. CEO Christian Sewing aims to lift revenue to about €37 billion by 2028, from roughly €32 billion in 2025, and cut the cost-to-income ratio to below 60% by 2028. In Q3 2025, this ratio stood at 63%.

Sewing also unveiled new targets in Frankfurt, raising Deutsche Bank’s return-on-tangible-equity goal to above 13% by 2028, from 10.9% in Q3 2025.

Foreign banks in India continue to face stiff competition from larger local lenders, prompting several exits, including Citi’s 2022 sale to Axis Bank and Kotak’s purchase of Standard Chartered’s loan portfolio. Deutsche itself sold its credit card book to IndusInd Bank in 2011.