Whatever will be, will be, laments Barclays.
You might be forgiven for thinking the bank has all but given up hope of their ABN Amro takeover succeeding. Barclays mastery of the lukewarm came to a head on Friday morning, in an EGM statement made by Barclays CEO John Varley – who was perhaps worried his shareholders might reject Barclays bid.
Here’s one tepid extract:
We describe our goal as being to position Barclays as one of a handful of universal banks leading the global industry.
And that’s why we decided to pursue the ABN AMRO opportunity when it presented itself. The pursuit of merger with ABN AMRO represents no change of strategy. But it does represent an unusual and large opportunity to increase the speed of strategy implementation.
That’s why it has been right for us to pursue this opportunity and that is why it’s right for us, on the right terms, to seek to conclude the merger successfully.
Note there, the past tense, and the use of the word “right” three times in that last para. If that’s not enough disambiguation, here then is a stronger dose of merger catatonia:
We’ve always been very clear that the merger terms must satisfy our economic tests, which are tough. That’s why we have been consistent in promising our shareholders that we will not lose sight of economic reality in our pursuit of the merger objective. And putting that bluntly, that means being prepared to walk away if we can’t conclude the transaction on the right terms.
Times have been tough; we’re all tired and fed up:
We are very grateful for the support that we have had from our
shareholders through the last months as we have examined and pursued the merger. We know that that support depends on trust: trust that we will honour our commitments; that we will deliver on our promises; that we will only proceed in circumstances where it is economically rational to do so.
Grateful. Support. Trust. Trust. Honour. Promises.
Well, it was enough for Barclays shareholders anyway. They’ve just endorsed the bank’s bid with overwhelming support.