British bank Barclays has agreed to buy rival ABN AMRO for just over €67 billion as it seeks to head off rivals to clinch the world's biggest ever bank takeover. However, the Dutch bank is also talking to a rival consortium.
Barclays said this morning it would pay 3.225 new shares for each ABN AMRO share, equivalent to €36.25 a share at Friday's closing price, to create a banking giant with 47 million customers and the world's biggest institutional asset manager.
The price, which includes the declared 2006 final dividend for ABN shareholders, is slightly higher than many analysts were expecting.
ABN will sell its Chicago-based US bank LaSalle to Bank of America for $21 billion in cash, and the deal with Barclays will be conditional on LaSalle's sale, the banks said.
Barclays has been forced to pay more by rival interest for ABN from a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland.
The consortium, which includes Spain's Santander and Dutch-Belgian group Fortis, will to meet ABN's management later today.
