Citi Securities and Fund Services Sector have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ING Group (ING) in seven Central and Eastern European markets in custody and securities services business, these business assets under custody of € 110 billion.

ING is an important hosting provider in Central and Eastern Europe, to provide services for many of the world's largest financial institutions.

The transaction is subject to regulatory permission, including ING in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine. Once the deal is implemented Citi's managed network will expand to more than 95 markets, and its proprietary managed custody network will expand to 62 markets.

Citigroup and ING expect the deal to be completed in the first quarter of 2014.