ClickAJob News

A consortium of European finance groups bidding against Barclays to acquire ABN Amro confirmed today that it is not upping its €71 billion (£48 billion) offer for the Dutch bank, despite the takeover target having reported a higher than expected interim dividend.

In a joint statement the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis and Spain's Santander referred to offer documentation previously issued, which had said that the consortium would consider adjusting its offer if ABN announced a payout to shareholders greater than €0.55 (£0.37).

But in second-quarter results published by ABN on July 30th, the Dutch group declared that it intended to pay investors an interim dividend of €0.58 (£0.39).

However the RBS consortium said that despite the move, it had decided not to up its offer for the bank - which is also being courted by rival bidder Barclays.

Confirming the publication of supplementary offer documentation related to its bid, the consortium stated: "The banks have determined that, despite this amount being in excess of €0.55, the consideration will not be reduced in respect of such excess."

The decision comes as the battle to take over ABN heats up between the RBS group and Barclays, which has put forward a rival €65 billion (£43.6 billion) offer for the Dutch bank.

Yesterday the three banks involved in the consortium revealed that they had built up a 3.25 per cent stake in ABN through the purchase of stock on Monday and last Friday.

The banks indicated that they might buy up further ABN shares, with analysts claiming that the takeover bidders had taken advantage of the weak markets to underline confidence in their own bid.

Meanwhile the Dutch ministry of finance announced earlier this week that it had no objection to Barclays' bid, a development which analysts claim has given the British bank a slight short-term advantage over its consortium rivals.

The RBS bidders are hoping to win consent for their offer next month.