Royal Bank of Scotland shareholders approve $97.24 billion bid for ABN
11 Aug 2007
Mumbai: Shareholders of Royal Bank of Scotland have approved the proposed 71 billion euro ($97.24 billion) takeover of ABN AMRO by an RBS-led consortium. The bid was approved by 94.5 per cent of RBS shareholders who voted, well above the 50 per cent needed.
The consortium has made a mostly cash offer to buy ABN, trumping a rival offer from Barclays. Shareholders of rival bidders Santander and Fortis have also approved their respective bids.
The vote by Fortis investors was regarded as most likely to fail as it needed to raise 13 billion euros ($17.8 billion) in a rights issue, but over 90 per cent of them voted for the deal.
The RBS-consortium is considered favourite to win the takeover battle for ABN Amro.
The deal was approved against a backdrop of steep falls in the share price of banks around the world as worries about exposure to US subprime housing market troubles and a turbulent credit market deepened.