(Bloomberg) -- DBS Group Holdings Ltd. agreed to buy Citigroup Inc.’s consumer banking assets in Taiwan, the latest of a series of deals by Southeast Asia’s largest lender to boost its presence in the region. 

DBS said it will pay cash for its net assets plus a premium of S$956 million ($707 million), according to a statement Friday. The lender secured the transaction after Taiwanese financial institutions withdrew from the bidding process.

The purchase is part of DBS’s long-standing goal of growing in large emerging markets. For Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser, the sale is part of an ongoing strategy to simplify the New York-based bank, do away with its retail banking operations in 13 different countries across Asia and Europe, and focus on high-growth businesses such as wealth management. 

Earlier this month, Citi sold its consumer assets in four Southeast Asian markets including Indonesia and Thailand to Singapore’s United Overseas Bank Ltd. for about $3.6 billion.

Other Deals  

Last year, the Singapore bank in April agreed to pay S$1.1 billion for a 13% stake in China’s Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank Corp., less than six months after it took over India’s Lakshmi Vilas Bank Ltd.

The purchase will accelerate DBS’s growth in Taiwan by at least 10 years, according to the statement. It will be funded by excess capital, DBS said. 

(Adds detail on Taiwan in fifth paragraph.)

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