85 per cent of ABN Amro shareholders accept Royal Bank of Scotland offer: Financial Times

06 October 2007

RBS, which is partnering Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis and Spain''s Santander, expected its bid to get acceptance from at least 80 per cent of ABN shareholders.

Saturday''s count means the consortium could declare its offer unconditional this week, the report said.

The consortium is expected to announce the outcome of the ABN shareholder vote early next week.

British bank Barclays had already withdrawn from its bid for ABN Amro after it received support from just 0.2 per cent of the Dutch bank''s ordinary shareholders.

RBS was, in fact, already a step closer to acquiring ABN Amro after rival bidder Barclays pulled out.

The $99 billion (£49 billion) buy-out, launched by RBS in partnership with a consortium from across Europe, will be the world''s biggest takeover once it is completed.