Page 15 - RBS – ABN takeover
P. 15
capital
% Profit paid 40.3% 51.0% 38.6% 47.1%
as dividend
th
On the 8 October the consortium announced that its offer for ABN had been
accepted by investors owning 86% of the Dutch bank. This was well above the
80% minimum acceptance level which the consortium had made a condition of its
break-up bid.
The three consortium members now intend carving up the Dutch bank between
them in what may prove to be a highly complicated process that could lead to
20,000 European banking job cuts.
The Consortium
The takeover fight, which began in March, lasted
through the fire sale of ABN's U.S. arm, a flurry
of lawsuits, legal challenges and turmoil in global
credit markets.
RBS forecast cost savings of 1.8 billion (£1.24 billion), equivalent to nearly three
times the current pre-tax profits of the businesses it is acquiring, by 2010. That
compares with estimated savings of 1.15 billion at Fortis and 860m at Santander.
The jury however, will remain out until Sir Fred has proved that the integration
has gone smoothly. Over the previous six months RBS’ share-price fell by 15 per
cent, and more than 20 per cent since it peaked in. Furthermore, the bid price
never changed, so this bid had been won at the expense of shareholder value as
