KEY POINTS:
Both camps in the battle for ABN Amro traded blows yesterday as the race to take control of the Dutch bank descended further into bitterness.
ABN itself issued written demands requesting that the Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium seeking to buy the Dutch bank provide much more detail about the structure of its proposals.
Meanwhile, ABN also faced calls from a key investor for the resignation of its chairman Rijkman Groenink, and was hit with the threat of further legal action, this time in the United States.
ABN has become increasingly angry about a perceived lack of information from the RBS consortium, which is trying to break up an agreed deal between the Dutch bank and Barclays.
Yesterday ABN wrote to the consortium, which also includes the Belgian bank Fortis and Banco Santander of Spain, with a series of questions about the financing of its proposals, its regulatory implications and the impact on employees and investors.
They included a demand for an explanation of how the consortium plans to fund its proposed €50 billion ($90 billion) bid - in particular whether the group intends to underwrite the whole bid, or whether its proposals are dependent on Santander and Fortis raising capital or selling off existing assets. ABN's letter also requested more details of how a break-up of the group might result in capital gains tax bills for shareholders, particularly if international operations are sold to consortium members.
However, a spokesman for RBS denied that the consortium had been unhelpful to ABN.
"In the event that a formal bid is made for the question, we will of course provide full details of our funding," he said.
ABN itself received a letter from the hedge fund TCI yesterday, call-ing on the supervisory board of the bank to take control of the sale process.
TCI, one of several high-profile hedge funds involved in the battle for ABN, said Groenink should be removed from his position as chairman of the bank's managing board, because he had "no intention to negotiate in good faith with [RBS] consortium".
ABN was also attacked by a group of its American shareholders who launched a class action against it in the New York state courts, alleging that the Dutch bank's directors had breached their fiduciary duties towards investors.
Both complainants say shareholders should have been consulted on ABN Amro's plan to sell its US operation LaSalle to Bank of America for US$21 billion ($28 billion), a key part of the Barclays deal.
- INDEPENDENT
