Bank of America has sued Dutch group ABN Amro, claiming it breached an agreement to sell it Chicago-based LaSalle Bank.
A day after a court in the Netherlands halted the sale of LaSalle, Bank of America filed a federal suit in New York saying ABN Amro was in 'breach of representations and warranties' in its April 22 agreement to sell the subsidiary that holds Chicago-based LaSalle Bank Corporation.
At the time of the deal, ABN Amro had announced that $21 billion was a world-class price for LaSalle.
In the heated saga of rival bids for ABN Amro, a Dutch court ruled on Thursday that ABN Amro cannot sell the LaSalle without shareholder approval, dealing a blow to ABN Amro's plans to accept a friendly takeover bid by British bank Barclays.
The decision to freeze the sale bolsters a proposed rival bid for ABN Amro by a three-bank consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland. The day the LaSalle deal was announced, ABN Amro also said it had agreed to merge with Barclays.
In court documents, Bank of America said its acquisition of LaSalle did not depend upon the Barclays deal.
