ABN Amro declines Barclays bid offer

ABN Amro has withdrawn formal support for Barclays� �67.5 billion ($92 billion) offer, and will not recommend a competing bid of �71.1 billion ($98 billion) from a rival consortium either. Barclays� revised offer required ABN Amro�s managing and supervisory boards to recommend it, and said that it will waive this pre-condition, and make it a condition to complete the revised offer.

According to ABN, as on 27 July 2007, the Barclays offer stood at a 1.0% discount to the ABN Amro�s market price and at an 8.8% discount to the see-through value of the consortium offer. The bank stated also that it wasn�t recommending the bid �from a financial point of view.

ABN had identified certain risks in the offer from the consortium comprising Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Fortis. The risks were related to the proposed break-up of ABN Amro, shareholder approval from Fortis and Royal Bank of Scotland, and formal approvals from the Ministry of Finance and the Dutch Central Bank.

ABN Amro will interact with both the bidders, with a level playing field and minimise risks for its shareholders. According to a Reuters release, a group of unnamed hedge funds sought Barclays� assistance in resisting the RBS-led offer for ABN by asking it to purchase a stake in Fortis and then vote against raising cash for the ABN deal at a meeting on August 6, 2007.