ABN Amro Bank NV does not need shareholder approval to sell its U.S. arm, a top Dutch government lawyer said Tuesday in an advisory opinion, The Associated Press and TheDeal.com reported. The news could boost ABN Amro's chances of being acquired by Barclays plc.
The adviser, Advocate-General Vino Timmerman, is urging the Hague-based court to overturn a May 3 ruling by the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court freezing the $21 billion sale of ABN Amro's LaSalle Bank Corp. Though under no obligation to act on the recommendations of their internal experts, the court does so in an estimated 80% of cases.
Barclays and a consortium of banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland plc have submitted buyout offers for ABN Amro, with Barclays offer of about $83 billion being at least 10% less than the mostly cash RBS offer. But the transactions depend on the sale of ABN's Chicago-based LaSalle Bank. Bank of America Corp. tried to buy LaSalle, but that deal was blocked by Amsterdam's Superior Court last month, bringing the takeover to a halt.
The final word from the Supreme Court is due out by mid-July. —Cheryl Meyer
See June 26 story from The Associated Press, on Yahoo.com
See June 26 story from TheDeal.com
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