By Abigail Summerville

NEW YORK, March 3 (Reuters) - David Finkelstein, a veteran investment banker who currently heads Citigroup's C.N global consumer and retail banking franchise, is leaving the bank, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.

Finkelstein, who is based in New York, joined Citi from Bank of America BAC.N in 2018. During his stint at Citi, he worked on several large deals and high-profile situations including grocery chain Kroger's unsuccessful $25 billion takeover attempt of smaller rival Albertsons. Last year, Citi also advised family-owned candy giant Mars on its $36 billion acquisition of Pringles maker Kellanova.

Citi declined to comment. Finkelstein did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In recent years, Citi has boosted its consumer and retail dealmaking unit with top-level hires from rival banks, as part of a broader effort to win a larger share of advisory roles on the biggest transactions.

In 2023, Citi hired Stacia Schlosser Ryan as global co-head of consumer and retail banking, capital markets and advisory. Later that year, Citi tapped Barrett Frankel from Barclays to co-head consumer investment banking in North America.

Citi was ranked fourth on the list of advisers by value of deals worked on in 2024, according to data from Dealogic.

(Reporting by Abigail Summerville in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

((abigail.summerville@thomsonreuters.com;))