Barclays Raise Offer for ABN

THE CHINESE and Singaporean governments became major shareholders in Barclays today as the bank raised its offer for Dutch takeover target ABN Amro.

The bank, which is fighting against a Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium to land ABN, is using the funding to lift its offer to 67.5 billion euros (pounds 45.4bn).

The deal sees the China Development Bank take a 3.1% stake in Barclays, with Singaporean investment fund Temasek taking 2.1%, in a 3.6 billion euro (pounds 2.5bn) investment.

If Barclays’ bid for ABN succeeds, the duo will buy further shares worth up to 9.8 billion euro (pounds 6.6bn) in the combined business.

Barclays has previously agreed a pounds 45bn offer with the ABN board, although its Royal Bank of Scotland-led rival tabled a formal pounds 48.2bn bid last Friday.

Barclays chief executive John Varley said the Barclays proposals offered a “compelling story” to the Dutch bank’s shareholders, while allowing opportunities for further growth in Asia through the tie- ups with CDB and Temasek.

(c) 2007 Evening Gazette – Middlesbrough. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.