After receiving a boost following the Dutch court's ruling on May 3, 2007, which called for a freeze on the LaSalle sale to Bank of America, the Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium launched a conditional bid for the US subsidiary of ABN Amro. However, this proposal was rejected and was thought to be inferior to the offer from the US finance giant.
The consortium made a $24.5 billion offer for the bank’s US division, LaSalle, on the condition that it would also gain the rights for a 100% takeover of the Dutch lender. Despite this offer being higher than the $21 billion price tag it had previously agreed with Bank of America, the proposal as a whole was not considered to constitute a superior proposal and carried uncertainty and execution risks, which involve legal, regulatory and corporate taxation issues.
Furthermore, according to the Financial Times, the Dutch lender also encountered problems with the consortium when it refused to provide further financial details of its overall offer until ABN Amro indicated that it was to accept the conditional bid for LaSalle.
The Dutch bank expects to hold an extraordinary general meeting to allow the shareholders to offer their views on the current situation.