Barclays Approached by Suitors for ABN Amro's Banco Real

Several banks have contacted Barclays Bank to express interest in acquiring Banco Real, ABN Amro's Brazilian asset, if Barclays' proposed $86.45 billion purchase of ABN is completed. Barclays is vying with a Royal Bank of Scotland [RBS]-led consortium for control of the Dutch giant. Banco Real, which is in a region with growing banking demand, is widely viewed as a growth opportunity. One potential suitor is Brazil's Banco Itaú, which is 7.4% owned by Bank of America [BoA]. If Itaú buys Real, it could seal the deal for Barclays to buy ABN -- and BoA, which has inked a related deal with ABN to buy its U.S. asset LaSalle Bank, would benefit. Complicating the LaSalle sale is an order by the Dutch court obligating ABN to submit it to a shareholder vote. BoA, which considers the sale a done deal and has ruled out submitting a higher bid, filed suit against ABN on May 4 to compel completion of the transaction. In related news, a regulatory filing has shown Swiss bank UBS and some of its subsidiaries to hold 5.3% of ABN's voting rights. UBS is believed to support ABN's sale of LaSalle to BoA.

Sources: Wall Street Journal, Reuters (I, II)
Commentary: ABN Amro Opposes RBS-Led Rival Bid for LaSalle • Judge Orders Freeze of ABN Sale of LaSalle to BoA • 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), Banco Itau Holding Financeira S.A. [ADR] (ITU), Bank of America Corp. (BAC), UBS AG (UBS). Competitors: HSBC Holdings plc ADR (HBC), Deutsche Bank AG (DB). ETFs: First Trust Morningstar Div Leaders Idx (FDL), PowerShares Intl Dividend Achievers (PID), iShares MSCI Netherlands Index (EWN)

Seeking Alpha's news briefs are combined into a pre-market summary called Wall Street Breakfast. Get Wall Street Breakfast by email -- it's free and takes only seconds to sign up.