Companies

ABN given boost in investor lawsuit

The advocate general to the Dutch Supreme Court has advised that ABN Amro, the bank, can go ahead with the sale of its US LaSalle subsidiary without a shareholder vote.

The Enterprise Chamber, in response to a suit by the VEB shareholder association, had previously ruled that investor approval was necessary for the agreed sale of LaSalle to Bank of America to go ahead.

This is, however, an advisory opinion and not a judgment of the Supreme Court itself, which is not due until mid-July.
 

The decision appears to be good news for Barclays, one of two groups competing to takeover ABN. The bid of its rival, a Royal Bank of Scotland-led (RBS) consortium, is dependent on LaSalle remaining within the ABN group.

However, The Guardian’s Julia Finch (27 June) suggested this impression may be deceptive: there is no guarantee the Supreme Court will follow this advice, and RBS chief executive Fred Goodwin will not have come this far without a Plan B. The bid battle, said Finch, is on hold but not over.

July 2007