Royal Bank of Scotland is holding last-ditch talks with Bank of America in an effort to reach a side deal on ABN Amro's disputed LaSalle unit that would pave the way for a formal US$71 billion ($97.7 billion) offer for the Dutch bank.
RBS, and its bidding partnersSantander of Spain and Belgium's Fortis, are required under Dutch takeover law to provide additional details of their proposed offer by tomorrow.
If the consortium declines to do so, it must withdraw from the bidding. That would clear a path for a rival US$65 billion offer from Barclays.
While it was still uncertain yesterday whether it would bid, sources close to the situation said that it was most likely that the RBS-led group would submit a formal intent to offer for the biggest bank in the Netherlands by tomorrow's deadline.
Any offer details are likely to be laced with conditions.
The biggest sticking point is the fate of LaSalle, which ABN agreed to sell to Bank of America for US$21 billion in conjunction with the Barclays deal. Under the break-up plan devised by RBS chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin and his bidding partners Jean-Paul Votron of Fortis and Emilio Botin of Santander, RBS would take control of LaSalle.
Activist shareholders were angered by the sale of LaSalle to BofA because it was seen as a poison pill preventing rival offers. RBS has since been locked in talks aimed at reaching a settlement agreeable to both it and BofA.
