The way was cleared Friday for a group led by the Royal Bank of Scotland to buy ABN Amro in what is called the biggest bank deal ever.

The $98.5 billion sale also signifies the demise of the 183-year-old ABN. It sets up a formal three-way split into three pieces, with one piece going to each of the three buyers.

Britain’s Barclays dropped its bid for the Dutch bank after failing to win the backing of shareholders controlled 80 percent of ABN’s shares.

The bidding for ABN Amro started in the spring, in the midst of an mergers-and-acquisitions boom and the deal survived the sudden freezing up of credit markets in August, The Wall Street Journal said.

It took more than six months to complete and involved legal clashes that went to the Dutch Supreme Court.  // Copyright 2007 by United Press International



Publication date: 05 October 2007   

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