RBS shareholders back ABN bid

Royal Bank of Scotland’s plans to buy ABN Amro were boosted today when its shareholders overwhelmingly approved the £48bn (€70bn) takeover proposal.

The Edinburgh-based company said 94.5% of the votes cast at an extraordinary general meeting in the city were in favour of the move.

RBS described the poll result as a “significant endorsement” of the merits of the proposed transaction, which the company is carrying out in conjunction with Spain’s Santander and Fortis Bank of Belgium.

A rival proposal from Barclays, valuing the Dutch firm at around £45.5 billion, has already been sent to ABN shareholders. Despite the lower value of its proposal, Barclays maintains that its offer will provide “superior long-term value” for shareholders.

The Barclays offer is almost two-thirds shares, while the RBS-led consortium’s offer is 93% cash. As a result, Barclays will need to see the value of its shares rise in order to boost its hopes of success.

The period for acceptances of the Barclays offer began this week and will end on October 4 at 3pm Amsterdam time. The RBS offer period is due to end in the same week.

Today’s favourable RBS vote follows similar support provided by the shareholders of Santander and Fortis. The vote of the Belgium-based firm had been seen as a potential hurdle as investors were also asked to back a £8.7 billion rights issue.

The consortium plans to break up ABN if it were to win the takeover tussle. If either bidder succeeds, the deal would make history as the biggest ever financial services transaction.

RBS chairman Sir Tom McKillop said: “It is rare that an opportunity of this kind arises that fits so closely with our priorities. ABN Amro contains good businesses and customer franchises, with a presence in a lot of countries with very attractive growth prospects.”

RBS intends to acquire ABN’s global wholesale and international retail banking businesses.