 Mumbai: ABN Amro Holding NV has rejected a $24.5 billion offer by a group led by Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc for its LaSalle Bank unit. LaSalle is at the center of a struggle for control of the largest Dutch bank. The bidders, grouping Royal Bank, Santander Central Hispano SA and Fortis for Chicago-based LaSalle outbid the $21 billion offer from Bank of America Corp., ABN Amro said. The offer, however, was on condition that the group buys all of ABN Amro, the Dutch banking group, based in Amsterdam, said. While Barclays Plc had agreed to buy ABN Amro for 65.3 billion euros ($88.8 billion) in stock, the Royal Bank group came up with a 72.2 billion euro cash-and-shares offer. ABN Amro, however, said it has concerns about the financing of the Royal Bank bid and the risks of carrying out the combination. ABN Amro shares fell 80 cents, or 2.2 per cent, to 35.90 euros at 1:08 p.m. in Amsterdam. The stock is up 47 per cent this year. Royal Bank's offer for ABN Amro amounts to 38.40 euros a share, the Dutch bank said, while the Barclays offer was worth 35.23 euros a share at the close of trading on May 5. ABN Amro plans to hold an extraordinary general meeting ``to enable shareholders to express their views on the alternatives available to them,'' even as the biggest takeover battle in the financial-services industry intensifies. ABN Amro's supervisory and management boards ``are of the opinion that they cannot expose their shareholders to the uncertainties and risks related to the proposal of the consortium,'' said Jochem van de Laarschot, an Amsterdam-based ABN Amro spokesman.
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