ABN advisers 'to help finance' takeover bid from RBS group

The Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium trying to wreck Barclays' all-share takeover of ABN Amro claimed yesterday that the Dutch bank's own advisers had approached it about helping to finance its bid.

The claim was made in a huge sheaf of documents that were made public yesterday at the insistence of the Dutch banking regulator, which was seeking clarity for investors.

In a letter to Rijkman Groenink, ABN's chief executive, the consortium said: "Merrill Lynch [Royal Bank's adviser] and the Banks have received numerous approaches from other major financial institutions, including some institutions currently advising you, wishing to participate in any fund raising we may do."

But yesterday ABN's advisers flatly denied that they would get involved in financing a bid their client has rejected. Morgan Stanley said: "There is a merger agreement between Barclays and ABN Amro and we have committed not to finance any competing proposal." UBS said: "In order to preserve the impartiality of our advice to ABN Amro, we would not, as a matter of operating policy, favour one potential acquirer over another by pro-actively assisting it with its acquisition financing."

The third adviser, Rothschild, does not have an underwriting business that would be able to be involved in financing such a deal while Goldman Sachs, which is advising ABN's supervisory board of non-executives, is also understood to have no involvement in financing the consortium.

When questioned, neither the consortium nor Merrill Lynch were prepared to name the bank or banks they said had approached them. ABN has questioned the financing of the consortium's proposed bid, which would require Fortis and Banco Santander, the other two members, to raise €40bn.

The consortium's letter said: "Merrill Lynch has confirmed it intends that, subject to ABN Amro entering into an acquisition proposal with the banks on or before 6 May 2007, Merrill Lynch will undertake to underwrite all such equity and tier 1 issuances on the terms of agreements to be entered into with each of the banks on 6 May 2007."

But when asked for more details, a Merrill Lynch banker said in an email to ABN that "further clarity" would only be supplied if ABN admitted that the consortium's takeover proposal for ABN's US unit La Salle was "superior". ABN is trying to sell La Salle to Bank of America; the consortium has been forced to table separate, but linked takeover proposals for ABN and La Salle.