Possible delays to ABN-Barclays deal: FT

Friday 13 April 2007

A number of critical issues - including regulatory oversight - still need to be settled before Barclays can 'unveil an expected bid of about €65bn' for ABN Amro, the Financial Times reports on Friday.

Both banks have agreed that the mergedconcern will fall under the supervision of the Dutch central bank (DNB) but drawing up a proposal for their current regulators is proving more difficult than expected, the FT says.

However, the paper says, agreement has been reached on the cost savings to be made - between €2.25bn and €3bn.

The aim is to have a proposal on the table for ABN Amro's April 26 shareholders' meeting. Hedge fund TCI, which wants the bank to be split up and sell off its units, wants to put its own plans to the same meeting.

Meanwhile, the Financieele Dagblad reports that TCI is threatening to take individual ABN Amro supervisory board members to court if they persist in refusing to open the door to other potential bidders alongside Barclays.

The paper quotes unnamed sources as saying the supervisory board has brought in Goldman Sachs to act as its own independent advisor.

© DutchNews.nl

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