ABN Amro and Barclays to Merge

This is a gigantic dea. ABN Amro, the Dutch mega-bank, and Barclays of Britain are going to merge in a deal worth over $90 billion. As part of the deal, ABN Amro is going to sell its LaSalle Bank unit to Bank America for $21 billion.
The story gets a little more complicated because the Royal Bank of Scotland seems interested in ABN Amro, but it needs partners to make a deal. But what the rivals probably want is Amro’s American business. In other words, LaSalle. Selling it to BofA could be a brilliant move to crush any potential partner for RBS.
Here’s the slap in the face. Amro was scheduled to meet with RBS today, but it already announced the deal with Barclays. They’re still going to meet, but Amro asked to have the meeting bumped back.
I have a feeling this isn’t over.

Posted by on April 23rd, 2007 at 8:39 am


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