UPDATE 1-Barclays launches $89 bln ABN takeover offer

(Reuters) - The offer period will run from Aug. 7 until Oct. 4,
Barclays said in an offer memorandum published in Dutch
newspapers on Monday.




At current share prices and foreign exchange rates, the
Barclays offer is worth about 34.54 euros per share of ABN.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Barclays' ABN offer period runs until Oct 4 - filing

(Reuters) - The RBS-led consortium's offer is worth 71 billion euros
and 93 percent in cash, while Barclays
65-billion-euros offer is about 38 percent in cash.




ABN shareholders can tender shares under the Barclays offer
from Aug. 7 until Oct. 4, Barclays said in a filing to U.S.
regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission late on Friday.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Fortis seen clearing shareholder hurdle over ABN

(Reuters) - If it does not garner enough support it could spell the end not only to Fortis's ambitions of expanding in the Benelux but also the joint 71 billion euro bid of its consortium partners Royal Bank of Scotland and Spain's Santander .




Fortis will ask shareholders, who have seen their stock drop by almost 18 percent since it confirmed its approach for ABN in April, to back the planned takeover in general and its financing through Europe's second largest rights issue.


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JGBs sit tight on BOJ rate concerns, aution eyed

(Reuters) - A slide in U.S. Treasuries also discouraged investors from
picking up JGBs. On Monday, a rebound on Wall Street prompted
bond investors to sell Treasuries and take back some gains from a
bond rally last week.




"Market participants think it is getting easier for the BOJ
to hike interest rates as U.S. markets have started to
stabilise," said Tatsuo Ichikawa, chief JGB strategist at ABN
Amro.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

ABN withdraws backing for Barclays bid, profit dips

(Reuters) - The Netherlands' biggest bank, which faces a 65.6 billion-euro offer from Barclays and a 71 billion-euro offer from the consortium of RBS, Belgium's Fortis and Spain's Santander , also reported a 7.1 percent decline in its second-quarter net profit on Monday.




ABN originally backed Barclays when announcing their merger deal in April.


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Corporate Bond Risk in Australia Advances to Record, Default Swaps Show

(Bloomberg) -- The risk premium on Australian
corporate bonds surged to a record, according to traders of
credit-default swaps.

Contracts based on $10 million of debt in the iTraxx
Australia Series 7 Index of 25 companies rose $7,000 to $45,000
at 9.40 a.m. in Sydney, according to ABN Amro Holding NV. The
five-year contracts have gained $15,500, or 53 percent, since
July 17, Bloomberg Data shows.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Corporate Bond Risk Soars on Absolute Hedge Fund Loss, Failed Buyout Loans

(Bloomberg) -- The risk of owning corporate bonds
soared after a hedge fund co-owned by ABN Amro Holding NV's
Australian unit suspended withdrawals and investors shunned
buyout debt in the U.S. and Europe, credit-default swaps show.

Contracts on 10 million euros ($13.8 million) of debt
included in the iTraxx Crossover Series 7 Index of 50 European
companies rose 36,000 euros to 400,000 euros, according to
JPMorgan Chase & Co. The cost of the credit-default swaps, used
to bet of the ability of companies to repay debt, is the highest
in more than two years. The U.S. benchmark CDX Investment Grade
Index jumped $6,000 to $62,750, Deutsche Bank AG said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Barclays lifts ABN offer with China, Singapore help

(Reuters) - British bank Barclays has raised its bid for Dutch group ABN AMRO to 67.5 billion euros, helped by some of the biggest ever overseas investments by China and Singapore.

Barclays said on Monday its new bid was 42.7 billion euros in shares and 24.8 billion euros in cash, up from its previous all-stock offer of 65 billion euros but still below a rival 71 billion euro offer from a group of European banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland.


Read more at Reuters Africa

U.K. Stocks Rebound, Paced by Prudential, Resolution; Barclays Advances

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks climbed, rebounding from
last week's decline, led by Friends Provident Plc after Resolution
Plc said its in ``advanced'' talks to merge with the insurer.

Prudential Plc and Legal & General Group Plc paced the gains
after UBS AG recommended investors buy the shares. Barclays Plc
rose after the bank increased its offer for ABN Amro Holding NV.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Barclays Raises ABN Offer to $93.4 Billion With China, Singapore Funding

(Bloomberg) -- Barclays Plc, vying to buy ABN Amro
Holding NV in the biggest banking takeover, raised its offer to
67.5 billion euros ($93.4 billion) after securing investments
from the governments of China and Singapore.

Barclays's revised bid is worth 35.73 euros a share and
includes 37 percent cash, the London-based company said today,
4.3 percent more than its previous offer. The bid remains lower
than the 38.40 euro-a-share offer made last week by a trio of
banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

U.S. activist fund builds stake in UBS: paper

(Reuters) - Speculation of a possible break-up at UBS has escalated in recent months following a proposed three-way carve-up of ABN AMRO by a group led by Royal Bank of Scotland .




The Sunday Times report said Chicago-based Harris Associates had built a stake representing about 1 percent of UBS over the past three months.


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ABN works councils support merger with Barclays

(Reuters) - In many Dutch merger deals, employers are considered
stakeholders with a say in the process.




ABN said it welcomed the backing its Dutch and European
works councils, adding that it had earlier reached an agreement
with trade unions about the planned deal with Barclays.


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UPDATE 1-RLPC Maxeda loan pulled, Boots LBO loan in balance

(Reuters) - Maxeda is Europe's first leveraged loan to be put on ice in
the current market correction and was withdrawn from
syndication after concessions failed to generate additional
momentum, arrangers ABN AMRO and Citibank told Reuters Loan
Pricing Corporation.




"We are assessing our options to see when we will take the
deal back to the market," an arranger said.


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Rosneft Cancels Sale of Dollar-Denominated Bonds, Bankers Organizing Say

(Bloomberg) -- OAO Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil
producer, canceled its plan to sell dollar-denominated bonds,
according to bankers organizing the offering who asked not to be
identified because the decision hasn't been publicly disclosed.

Moscow-based Rosneft had hired ABN Amro Holding NV,
Barclays Capital, Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley to arrange
the sale, according to an e-mailed statement sent by Morgan
Stanley on July 4. BNP Paribas SA, Calyon, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. were also organizing the sale.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

European Bank Stocks Advance, Led By ABN Amro; Saipem, Technip Decline

(Bloomberg) -- European bank stocks rose, led by ABN
Amro Holding NV after Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc sweetened
its 71.1 billion-euro ($98.1 billion) offer for the Dutch lender.

ABN Amro jumped the most in three months. Oil-services
companies paced declines in energy shares after UBS AG cut its
recommendations on Saipem SpA and Technip SA following their
``strong performance.'' BT Group Plc, the U.K.'s largest phone
company, and drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc climbed after
brokerages lifted their recommendations on the shares.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

RBS-led consortium makes 38.4 euro/shr ABN offer

(Reuters) - The consortium kept its offer for ABN at 38.4 euros per share, but raised the cash component of the offer to 93 percent from about 70 percent before. It said the remaining 5 billion euros of the offer will comprise new RBS shares.



The new offer from the consortium, which also includes Spain's Santander and Belgian-Dutch Fortis , is for ABN without its U.S. unit LaSalle, after a Dutch court on Friday allowed the disputed sale of that business to Bank of America .


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U.K. Stocks Gain, Led by Royal Bank of Scotland, Vodafone, Barclays

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks advanced, led by
Vodafone Group Plc after UBS AG increased its price estimate for
shares of the world's largest mobile-phone company.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc rose after a Dutch court
cleared ABN Amro Holding NV's sale of its LaSalle Bank. The
ruling is a setback for a Royal Bank of Scotland-led bid for the
Amsterdam-based bank in the world's biggest banking takeover.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Dutch court to rule on ABN's LaSalle

(Reuters) - The court is considering whether to unfreeze the suspended sale of LaSalle Bank to Bank of America for $21 billion. The smaller bank's fate could tip the balance in a deal potentially worth nearly $100 billion which would be the biggest-ever bank takeover.




Britain's Barclays , which has offered to buy ABN for nearly 63 billion euros , is up against a consortium of three banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland which says it is willing to pay 71 billion euros .


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Iberdrola to Sell 85 Million New Shares to Pay for Energy East Acquisition

(Bloomberg) -- Iberdrola SA, the world's largest
owner of wind-power parks, plans to raise about 3.5 billion euros
($4.7 billion) in a share sale to pay for U.S. utility Energy
East Corp.

The Spanish utility will begin selling 85 million new shares
today through a so-called accelerated offering, the Bilbao-based
power producer said today in an e-mailed statement. ABN Amro
Rothschild, Credit Suisse Group and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are
managing the sale, aimed at fund managers.


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CORRECTED - Dutch VEB to continue to prevent ABN's LaSalle sale

(Reuters) - A Dutch commercial court froze the $21 billion sale of
Chicago-based LaSalle to Bank of America in May, a side
deal to ABN's agreement to be bought by Britain's Barclays
, as the deal required shareholder approval.




VEB's chairman Peter Paul de Vries said chances had
increased that LaSalle would be sold to Bank of America after a
Supreme Court adviser said the deal does not need shareholder
approval, but he added: "We will use all legal means to prevent
the ABN trick."


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