ING: no bid for ABN Amro

ING announced on Monday evening that it will not make an offer to take over ABN Amro’s Dutch operations from the troubled Dutch-Belgian financial services group Fortis.

In a statement, the bank said: ‘ING has examined the situation closely and carefully. We are mindful of the interests of all stakeholders, but recognise that the ultimate responsibility is to our shareholders.
‘ING remains committed to a disciplined approach when considering acquisitions, especially in the current extraordinary market circumstances. After careful consideration ING concluded that a transaction would not meet its financial requirements.
Rescue plan
ABN Amro’s Dutch operations are being sold as part of the rescue plan for Fortis which was partially nationalised on Monday morning by the governments of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg to save the company from collapse.
ING’s bid for part of ABN Amro’s Dutch operations at the weekend was apparently turned down by Fortis and the Belgian government as far too low, reports Tuesday’s Financieele Dagblad. No figures have been revealed, the paper says.
Deutsche Bank
Other potential buyers are France’s BNP Paribas, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Germany’s Deutsche Bank, reports the paper. Of these the latter, which has already bought a 10% stake in ABN Amro (Holland Bank Unie) is the most likely candidate, the paper says.
Fortis needs to raise €12bn.
Meanwhile, a number of Tuesday’s newspapers carry a full page advertisement from ABN Amro in which CEO Jan Peter Schmittmann says: ‘This is a bank with an independent financial position and a healthy balance which fulfils all the financial demands of the Dutch bank’.