CEO, board members in ABN AMRO share deal ahead of merger talks
By Our Banking Bureau | 21 Mar 2007
Mumbai: ABN AMRO Holding N.V. chief executive Rijkman Groenink bought shares in the bank five days before it disclosed that it was in exclusive talks with Barclays Plc, the third-largest U.K. bank, about a possible merger. Groenink bought 8,600 shares for 230,910 euros ($307,133) in ABN AMRO, the largest Dutch bank, on March 14, at 26.85 euros apiece, according to a regulatory filing posted on the Dutch securities watchdog AFM's Web site.
Other board members also bought shares at that price. ABN AMRO shares rose 1 cent to 31.01 euros in afternoon trade in Amsterdam. ABN AMRO stock has gained 14 per cent this week.
The Amsterdam-based bank and Barclays on March 19 said they were holding preliminary and exclusive talks about a possible merger, in the world's biggest financial-service acquisition.
The share purchases were decided on at the end of November and planned then for the second week of March, Jochem van de Laarschot, an ABN AMRO spokesman, said in an interview. The money to buy the shares came out of the annual bonus of each executive, which was determined in February, he said. ABN AMRO will publish its annual report for 2006 on March 30.
Groenink owned 85,612 shares, 55,567 options, 258,222 conditional share awards and 371,000 conditional options, according to the filing.
Others who bought shares include chief financial officer Hugh Scott-Barrett (2,793 shares) and board members Wilco Jiskoot, Joost Kuiper, Huibert Boumeester, Piero Overmars and Ron Teerlink (6,143 shares each), according to the filing.
