Dutch bank ABN Amro said last night it had extended its exclusive takeover talks with British group Barclays until Friday, but had also invited rival bidders to talks in Amsterdam next week.
The move seemed designed to put pressure on Barclays to reach an agreement in the next few days after several rival banks expressed an interest in buying the Dutch lender at the weekend.
ABN Amro said it had invited The Royal Bank of Scotland, Spain's Banco Santander and Belgian-Dutch group Fortis to talks early next week 'to seek clarification of their intentions and interests'.
Exclusive takeover talks with Barclays were extended until midnight on Friday, but ABN stressed that 'there can be no certainty that they will lead to a transaction'.
Analysts had speculated that ABN Amro was putting pressure on Barclays to pay more than €35 per share for the banking group.
