Fortis wins initial approval for ABN purchase

(Reuters) - Fortis, Royal Bank of Scotland and Spain's Santander have offered 71 billion euros , mostly in cash, for the Netherlands' largest bank in a bidding war that has featured legal and stakeholder battles.




Approval by Fortis shareholders of its proposed purchase of ABN AMRO's Dutch operations and of a 13 billion euro rights issue needed to finance its part of the deal would give the RBS-led consortium a boost at a time when the rival Barclays bid is suffering from the decline of its share price.


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ABN, RBS consortium say to continue takeover talks

(Reuters) - "ABN AMRO and the consortium have agreed to continue the constructive dialogue to resolve any outstanding questions regarding the offer of the consortium for ABN AMRO, and to maintain a level playing field," ABN and the RBS-led consortium said in a joint statement.




RBS , together with its partners Belgian-Dutch Fortis and Spain's Santander , is battling against Barclays to buy ABN in what would be the biggest ever bank takeover. Barclays' offer is worth about 65 billion euros.


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Barclays deal would boost ABN board pay: SEC data

(Reuters) - ABN's management and supervisory board withdrew its recommendation to merge with Barclays on Monday, but ABN Chief Executive Rijkman Groenink said ABN still supported Barclays' offer.




Asked whether ABN board members were more inclined to support Barclays because of the proposed levels of pay, an ABN spokesman said: "ABN and its advisors thoroughly investigated whether a potential conflict of interest could arise but that is absolutely not the case."


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ABN AMRO reports Q2, says is neutral on bids

(Reuters) - ABN said it was currently not in the position to recommend the offers from Barclays or the RBS-led consortium, which also includes Belgian-Dutch Fortis and Spain's Santander.




ABN had a net profit of 1.13 billion euros in the second quarter, compared with 1.216 billion euros a year earlier and the 1 billion euros average forecast in a Reuters survey of five analysts.


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TREASURIES-Bonds steady after auction, watch stocks

(Reuters) - The fall in equities on credit concerns, sparked by news
that Chrysler Corp. had postponed a $12 billion auto loan deal,
could see bonds attract a flight-to-quality bid, strategists
said.




"It came slightly cheaper than expectations.
Nothing substantial at all. There's some short-term weakness at
the front of the curve over the next 24 hours because we have
5-years on sale later this week," said Adam Brown, head U.S.
Treasury trading Barclays Capital in New York.


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InterGen prices $1.875 bln high-yield bonds -source

(Reuters) - The size of the deal was reduced by $100 million, yields on
offer raised and pricing delayed from last week to Monday due to
the turmoil in the credit markets, where the benchmark Crossover
credit default swap index has risen 80 basis points in the last
week to 350 basis points.




Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank and Barclays
Capital are managing the bond sale for InterGen, which has nine
power plants with 5,235 megawatts of capacity in five countries.


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Corn, Soybeans Advance in Chicago on Overseas Demand; Wheat Futures Falls

(Bloomberg) -- Corn and soybean futures in
Chicago rose on expectation overseas buyers will increase
purchases of U.S. grains and oilseeds. Wheat futures declined.

Corn prices will ``stabilize and strengthen'' with ``the
underlying supply and demand dynamics for corn still looking
very positive'', said analysts at Barclays Capital led by Kevin
Norrish in a report yesterday, citing demand from China and
ethanol production.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Barclays Capital Raises 2008 Brent Crude Oil Price Forecast by 11 Percent

(Bloomberg) -- Barclays Capital raised its 2008
price forecasts for Brent crude oil by 11 percent, citing rising
demand and a lack of growth in non-OPEC production.

Brent will average $73.60 a barrel next year, up $7.40 from
the previous forecast, the London-based investment bank said in a
report yesterday. West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S.
benchmark grade, will average $73.90, a $6.60-a-barrel increase.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Dutch Supreme Court begins delivering ABN ruling

(Reuters) - A commercial court in Amsterdam froze ABN's agreed deal to sell LaSalle to Bank of America for $21 billion in May, a ruling that is now being appealed before the Supreme Court by ABN.




The court had ruled that ABN would have to seek shareholder approval for the LaSalle sale, which could sway the acrimonious takeover battle for ABN between Barclays and a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland .


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BBVA to Hire 240 Bankers This Year to Boost Derivatives Business Worldwide

(Bloomberg) -- Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA,
Spain's second-largest bank, is hiring 240 bankers worldwide
this year to boost its derivatives business.

BBVA recruited 151 of the bankers since January, including
Lorenzo Isla, Barclays Capital's former head of structured
credit research in London, who will run credit derivatives in
Madrid. The Bilbao, Spain-based lender will add about 100 of the
new derivatives staff in Madrid and 115 in offices including
London, Frankfurt and Mexico City, said Ricardo Laiseca, head of
global markets. A team of 25 will start an equity derivatives
business in Hong Kong.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

European Stocks May Decline, Paced by Barclays, BNP Paribas, BAE Systems

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks may decline as U.S.
equities retreated for a second day. Barclays Plc, Britain's
third-largest bank, and BNP Paribas SA, France's biggest, may
decline after their U.S.-traded securities dropped.

Iberdrola SA may be active after the Spanish power company
agreed to buy U.S.-based Energy East Corp. for $4.5 billion. Shares
of Roche Holding AG may move after the company offered to buy
Ventana Medical Systems Inc. of the U.S. for about $3 billion.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

REFILE-ING holding in ABN drops to 3.7 pct

(Reuters) - ING, along with UBS , are among the largest
shareholders in ABN, which is facing competing takeover
proposals from Barclays and a consortium led by Royal
Bank of Scotland .




Much of ING's holdings in ABN are shares that it holds on
behalf of clients, although ING legally owns the shares and can
vote with them.


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UK stocks rebound, boosted by Centrica and Barclays

(Reuters) - A jump in British utility Centrica and bank Barclays on Monday helped UK stocks regain some of the ground they lost the previous week on the prospect of higher interest rates.

At 0813 GMT, the FTSE was up 0.6 percent, having lost about 2.4 percent the previous week when the possibility of further monetary tightening drove benchmark U.S. bond yields above 5.25 percent.


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RBS not in talks with BofA, says H1 earnings ahead

(Reuters) - Britain's second biggest bank also said on Tuesday its consortium's proposed 71 billion euro takeover of ABN would result in about 19,000 job cuts, fewer than the 23,600 planned by Barclays under a rival offer.




Both estimates exclude LaSalle, which the RBS consortium wants as part of its proposed deal, but which ABN has agreed to sell to Bank of America .


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International Lease Financing sells $1.5 bln in notes

(Reuters) - The four-year notes have a coupon rate of 5.75 percent and
were priced at 101.968 to yield 5.479 percent or 0.70
percentage point more than Treasuries. With the addition of the
reopening, the total amount of notes is now $1.15 billion.




Barclays Capital, J.P. Morgan and Wachovia Bank were the
other joint lead managers of the sale.


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Barclays says expects to publish ABN offer in 6 wks

(Reuters) - Barclays said it was confident there would be no substantive
anti-trust issues to address for the deal.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Barclays not considering large ABN asset sales-CEO

(Reuters) - "Barclays has not engaged in or is pursuing discussions
relating to major asset sales in connection with its recommended
merger with ABN AMRO," Chief Executive John Varley said in a
comment provided to Reuters.




ABN AMRO and Barclays, which agreed to merge last month but
are facing a potential rival bid, are considering the sale of
ABN's Brazilian unit to lift the price of the deal Dutch
newspaper Financieele Dagblad reported on Monday.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News