ABN to announce successful bidder

Source: Exec Digital USA

Date :10/5/2007 5:24:59 AM

Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland will learn on Friday which has been successful in buying ABN Amro in Europe's largest bank bid battle.

ABN shareholders must decide by this afternoon whether to accept rival offers from Barclays or a consortium led by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Analysts believe the 71bn euro (£49bn; $98.5bn) RBS offer will win the Dutch lender since it has a much larger cash element.

Either deal will create one of the world's largest banks.

Biggest banking takeover

The offer for ABN by Royal Bank of Scotland, Dutch-Belgian Fortis NV and Spain's Banco Santander SC expires at 1300 GMT, one day after a lower competing bid by Britain's Barclays.

The value of Barclays' bid, which is predominantly share based, has fallen in recent months due to global credit worries.

The deal will be the biggest banking takeover ever.

ABN AMRO which employs more than 100,000 people in 53 countries found itself facing rival suitors after an activist investor in February sent the bank a memo urging it to sell itself or break up.

Rijkman Groenink, ABN AMRO Chief Executive told employees earlier this week that the "lengthy period of uncertainty" for the bank and its employees would end soon, with the winner to become clear by October 19.

It initially favored Barclays over the consortium, which plans to break up the Dutch bank, but switched to a neutral stance after the consortium improved its bid.

October 5 2007

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