RBS bid for bank piles pressure on Barclays

A Royal Bank of Scotland-led team today put further pressure on rival ABN Amro suitor Barclays, as the consortium tabled a formal £48.2bn (€47.7bn) offer for the Dutch Bank.

The consortium was the first off the block to put forward a formal bid.

Barclays has until August 6 to make a formal offer, after it received an extension to the original July 23 deadline.

The RBS bidding team, which also includes Spain’s Santander and Belgian-Dutch group Fortis, said the initial offer period would run from July 23 until October 5.

The offer is equivalent to €38.40 per ABN share.

The consortium has sweetened the terms of its €71.1bn offer by increasing the cash consideration to 93% in an attempt to trump Barclays’ agreed £45bn merger deal.