LaSalle sale can go ahead: court advisor

ABN Amro does not need shareholder permission to sell its LaSalle unit to Bank of America, High Court advocate general Vino Timmermans said on Tuesday morning. The advocate general’s conclusions are adopted by the court in around 75% of cases.


The High Court was asked to rule if ABN Amro could sell its LaSalle unit to Bank of America without shareholder approval. The company court put the deal on ice at the beginning of May, saying the transaction had to be seen in the light of the takeover battle for ABN Amro. The advocate general now says that this advice should be torn up – which now clears the way for Barclays to take over ABN Amro.
The shareholders lobby group VEB says the sale was a poison pill to prevent a takeover by a consortium of three banks. One of them, Royal Bank of Scotland, wants to take over Chicago-based LaSalle itself. But ABN Amro prefers the bid from Barclays and says the sale of LaSalle is not connected to this.
The official High Court ruling is expected mid-July.

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation