Barclays urged to end Amro bid

A New York-based activist investor has called on Barclays to drop its takeover of Dutch rival ABN Amro, it emerged today.

Atticus Capital, which holds a 1% stake in the UK bank, said it viewed the proposed £45bn (€66.3bn) deal as an offer to buy “an inferior business in an auction at inflated prices”, adding that it would seek to lobby other investors.

In its June 1 letter to Barclays chairman Marcus Agius, Atticus’s chairman Timothy Barakett said further efforts to buy ABN would “harm management’s credibility and anger shareholders”.

In response, Barclays told the Financial Times that the views expressed by Atticus were not representative of those it had received from shareholders, who it said remained supportive of its strategy.