Dutch banking unions are to hold talks on Tuesday evening with the three-bank consortium battling to take over ABN Amro to assess the implications of the bid on jobs.

The consortium, made up of Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis and Santander, made an official €71.1bn offer for ABN Amro on Tuesday morning. The trio are bidding €38.40 per share, of which 79% will be paid in cash, the rest in RBS shares.
The three banks say if they take over ABN Amro, the effect on jobs will be far less than if Barclays succeeds in its takeover efforts. The Barclays’ takeover would involve the scrapping of 12,800 jobs and shifting of over 10,000 to low-cost countries.
The consortium says its offer depends on the outcome of the legal battle over the sale of LaSalle to Bank of America. ABN Amro announced that sale the same day it said it had agreed to be taken over by Barclays.
The consortium expects the takeover of ABN Amro to deliver cost savings of €4.23bn by the end of 2010. Fortis expects the takeover to boost its earnings per share by 4.3%.
The three banks say their bid is better than that made by Barclays, pointing out it is €8.6bn higher and is a largely cash offer. The Barclays bid of €36.25 per share is a share swap. The UK bank expects cost benefits of €3.5bn by the end of 2010.