Barclays could recruit new partners in bid for ABN Amro

BARCLAYS may also go the semi-consortium route to try and rescue its mooted takeover of Dutch bank ABN Amro, it emerged yesterday.

Sources close to the takeover talks confirmed Barclays has received interest from American, Spanish and French banks if it wants to sell parts of the Dutch financial services giant in order to allow it to pay a higher price.

It would help Britain's third-biggest bank in its attempt to fight off an expressed interest in a possible rival bid for ABN from a Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium that also includes Santander of Spain and Fortis, the Belgo-Dutch bank. The RBS group confirmed yesterday they are due to meet officials from ABN on Monday in Amsterdam "to clarify their intentions and interests".

It is understood that banks including BBVA of Spain, Bank of America and France's BNP Paribas have approached Barclays and said they would be interested in buying parts of ABN following a successful bid.

Barclays would not comment yesterday. But a source familiar with the situation said: "Barclays' preference is to buy ABN whole, not to buy it and then pull the arms and legs off it.

"But everything has its price. If there were to be sales, they would be more likely to be piecemeal rather than wholesale."

It is believed that, if Barclays went that route, it would be most likely to sell ABN's LaSalle retail bank in the US, ironically understood to be the main target of interest for Royal Bank of Scotland in its consortium approach. Analysts have put a value of circa 20 billion on LaSalle.

Sources said Barclays would be less likely to sell ABN's Brazilian or Italian businesses, or ABN's wholesale banking arm. Barclays's own investment banking division has been one of its best performers in recent years.

Any sales would allow Barclays to pay a great part of the purchase price for the Dutch target in cash, a key demand of many of ABN's institutional shareholders.

It is uncertain whether yesterday's apparent developments will concern the Dutch regulators as much as the potential RBS formal consortium bid.

On Wednesday, the Dutch central bank, the DNB, stirred controversy by saying the consortium bid could entail "strong risks and complications".

However, it came before RBS had had its first meeting with ABN's supervisory board and the president of the DNB, Nout Wellink, was accused by some critics of advocating Dutch protectionism and acting precipitately.

Analysts at Fox-Pitt Kelton said BBVA might want ABN's Brazilian business, as its Spanish rival Santander does, as it would fill a big gap in its Latin American operation. BBVA declined to comment.

Barclays had previously been widely expected to have an unofficial ceiling on its offer of 35 a share.