Bank of America Corp. postponed plans to take ABN Amro Bank NV to court as part of the ongoing takeover battle for ABN's Chicago-based LaSalle Bank Corp. BofA filed suit against ABN on May 4, alleging that ABN is in breach of contract for not closing an agreed $21 billion sale of LaSalle to BofA. That deal was frozen in May when a Dutch court said the transaction must be put up for shareholder approval, and BofA appealed the Dutch ruling. Friday's decision to postpone its hearing in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York was made to allow the Dutch court time to hand down its decision. The New York court ruling has been pushed back to July 27, according to court documents.
The deal to sell LaSalle is the main flashpoint in a bigger takeover battle involving ABN. The bank had agreed to sell itself to Barclays plc, but was then approached by a competing bid from Royal Bank of Scotland plc, Fortis and Banco Santander Central Hispano SA. The latter bid, however, is contingent on halting the LaSalle deal with BofA. —Vipal Monga
See May 4 story about law suit from TheDeal.com
See Banking Dealwatch
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