During this extension period, the Dutch Supreme Court is expected to make a crucial ruling over the sale of the Dutch group’s US subsidiary LaSalle Bank, the Financial Times revealed. The outcome of this decision is key to the takeover war between Barclays and its rival, a Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)-led consortium. While Barclays’s bid is conditional on the sale of the US bank, RBS’s bid is conditional that LaSalle remains with the Dutch lender.
According to the Financial Times, if the court decides to allow the sale to go ahead, the consortium, which also includes Fortis and Santander, is expected to make a revised offer for the Dutch finance group. At present, the consortium’s offer stands at E71 billion while Barclays’s offer stands at E66 billion.
Meanwhile, Fortis has announced that it intends to launch, together with RBS and Santander, a public offer for 100% of the issued and outstanding share capital of the Dutch group. The group will hold a shareholder meeting on August 6, 2007 to allow its shareholders to vote on the proposed offer for ABN Amro and the capital increase.
