This transaction, having been conditional to Barclays’s takeover bid for the Dutch lender, ultimately boosts the UK bank’s position in what has been labeled the largest takeover battle in the world.
Cited in The Scotsman, advocate general Vino Timmerman said in a statement: The advocate general advises the supreme court to quash the commercial court’s ruling.
Although this advice is not binding, analysts cited in MarketWatch said that the court follows the advocate general’s advice in 75% to 80% of all its rulings, serving a serious blow to Barclays’s rival, a Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)-led consortium.
ABN Amro has been at the center of a takeover war since March 2007, with Barclays and a RBS-led consortium battling it out for the Dutch group. However, the battle came to a standstill when the Dutch commercial court froze the sale of LaSalle in May 2007, which was conditional of Barclays’s E66 billion offer, while RBS’s E71 billion offer was conditional that LaSalle remained with ABN Amro.
In light of this advice, according to MarketWatch, Barclays’s shares fell 1.9% while RBS’s shares rose by 1%.
