ABN Amro Now Seeking Rival Bids for LaSalle

ABN Amro has announced it is now "actively engaged in soliciting alternative bids'' for LaSalle Bank, the Chicago-based holding it agreed to sell to Bank of America for $21 billion on April 23. It will also open its books to a three-bank consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland [RBS], which has submitted a rival bid for the Dutch bank of $98.5 billion against Barclays' earlier $91 billion offer. The sale of LaSalle to BoA, which was intended to dissuade the consortium from bidding for ABN, was agreed to without the imprimatur of ABN's shareholders. It has resulted in a demand by activist investor TCI Fund that the sale be terminated and a threat by Dutch investor group VEB to take legal action against ABN. Analysts speculate that RBS could bid up to $23 billion for LaSalle -- but BoA can likely match that offer, and other banks might enter the fray. In related news, ABN announced it will take a €365 million provision for a probe by the U.S. Department of Justice into its money transfer activities. Including this provision, Q1 net profit was restated to be up 3.2% to €1.035 billion (€0.56/share) from €1 billion (€0.53) a year earlier.

Sources: Bloomberg, Reuters
Commentary: ABN Amro Takeover: Rival Trio Tops Barclays with $98.5 Billion Bid • ABN-Barclays Merger: Rival Bidders and Investors Query LaSalle Sale • ABN Amro Agrees to Sell Itself to Barclays for $91 Billion
Stocks/ETFs to watch: ABN Amro Holding N.V. (ABN), Barclays PLC (BCS), Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc [ADR] (RBSPY), Fortis NV [ADR] (FORSY), Bank of America Corp. (BAC). Competitors: HSBC Holdings plc ADR (HBC), Deutsche Bank AG (DB), UBS AG (UBS). ETFs: First Trust Morningstar Div Leaders Idx (FDL), PowerShares Intl Dividend Achievers (PID), iShares MSCI Netherlands Index (EWN)

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