CITIGROUP Inc., which typically advises the world’s biggest companies, is hunting for smaller clients in Australia, targeting businesses with revenue of as little as A$75 million (US$53 million) to get a competitive advantage in major deals down the track.

The U.S. lender, which set up a commercial banking business in Australia in 2019, is planning to expand its team to 35 by the end of 2024 from 22 currently, according to Alex Syhanath, head of the local unit. The aim is for commercial banking, which currently comprises just 2 percent of Citigroup’s overall revenue in the country, to eventually contribute about 10 percent, he said.

It’s part of a strategy Citigroup has been pursuing across Asia, where the business of banking smaller clients across 11 markets contributes around a third of the bank’s global commercial banking revenue. CEO Jane Fraser has spoken of the importance of servicing mid-size customers globally, noting that Uber and Airbnb for example started off as clients of the bank’s commercial bank in the United States.

In Australia, Citigroup has significantly lowered the revenue threshold for companies it is advising from A$200 million.

“This space in terms of companies’ growth is much stronger than the bigger institutional space,” Syhanath said. “We have targeted companies that need help offshore because the domestic banks have limited services outside of Australia, and the idea is that we can eventually help with strategic acquisitions when they are ready.”

He notes it is an increasingly competitive market, with JP Morgan Chase & Co. also entering the space long dominated by the so-called Big Four local banks and HSBC Holdings Plc. But for Citigroup, the strategy is slowly starting to pay off after a tough first year hampered by the pandemic, he said.

(SD-Agencies)