ABN may not back Barclays takeover

DUTCH bank ABN AMRO is leaning towards dropping its support for Barclays’ €69 billion takeover offer, Dutch daily Het Financieele Dagblad reported on Saturday.

Citing sources close to the company, the paper said the difference to the €72bn offer by a consortium of Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis and Santander had become too big.

ABN AMRO declined to comment but is expected to deliver a statement on the bids tomorrow morning alongside its quarterly results.