RBS set for ABN Amro talks

A Royal Bank of Scotland-led team competing with rival Barclays to buy ABN Amro is expected to hold fresh talks with the Dutch bank over the weekend.

The RBS consortium was boosted yesterday by a Dutch legal ruling blocking ABN’s sale of US banking operation LaSalle, which is a key target of RBS.

The talks are likely to focus on the RBS team beating a $21bn (€15.5bn) offer for LaSalle by Bank of America. A “go shop” clause, which allows the bank to seek a better offer, expires at midnight on Sunday

The LaSalle sale – seen as a “poison pill” to a rival approach – was opposed by ABN shareholders group VEB, which wants a competing bid to the £45bn (€33.2bn) agreed merger with Barclays.

The Dutch Enterprise Chamber has forbidden ABN’s management from selling LaSalle without shareholder approval.