Barclays tightlipped on ABN Amro takeover

Monday, 19 March 2007, 17:30 IST
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London: Britain's Barclays Bank declined to comment on reports that it was in preliminary talks with Dutch bank ABN Amro about a takeover bid reportedly worth 80 billion pounds ($155 billion). Barclays, the UK's third-largest bank, wants access to ABN's foreign businesses, in particular its Asian operations, the Financial Times reported. Barclays was presenting itself as a "white knight" that could rescue ABN Amro from break-up. A Barclays-ABN merger would create a bank with 47 million customers and 220,000 staff worldwide. According to the Financial Times, ABN Amro is valued at 35.6 billion pounds, while Barclays is worth 44.6 billion. ABN has declined comment.
Source: IANS