Here’s the latest reported twist in the ABN Amro battle: the Dutch bank is cooking up a plan with its preferred suitor, Barclays, to sell its Brazilian unit, according to Holland’s Financieele Dagblad.
The report on Monday said that disposing of Banco Real would allow Barclays to improve on the €63bn it has offered for ABN, which, in turn, has been challenged by a €71bn conditional offer from the RBS-led consortium, although the newspaper did not say how.
A special ABN dividend to its shareholders, perhaps?
Jean-Pierre Lambert of Keefe, Buyette & Woods was quoted as saying that “this development is hard to resist for Barclays.”
Barclays would prefer to keep the Brazilian bank. However, Lambert said, the British bank has to avoid becoming a target for possible takeovers itself. In this context, winning the battle for ABN Amro is more important for Barclays than retaining the Brazilian market.
Earlier this month, Brazilian bank Banco Itau and Spanish banks BBVA and Santander expressed their interest in Banco Real.