Barclays shrugs off Hedge Fund's moves to end Amro bid

The agreed merger bid between Barclays Plc, the third-biggest U.K. bank, and ABN AMRO Holding NV, the largest Dutch bank, is proceeding satisfactorily, Barclays said in a statement Tuesday, shrugging off moves by U.S. hedge fund Atticus Capital that has urged the British banking giant to drop its planned bid on ABN Amro.

Barclays said that, in collaboration with its Dutch counterpart ABN Amro, it has made substantially all of the pre-acquisition competition and regulatory filings required to proceed with its proposed offer to ABN AMRO shareholders, and said it plans to publish its offer documentation in July.

'The progress which Barclays has made with its regulatory filings and offer documentation demonstrates the high degree of deliverability and certainty which the Barclays offer provides ABN AMRO shareholders,' the London, UK-based bank's chief executive, John Varley, said in a statement.

This year in March, the two banks agreed to some initial merger terms. And, in April, Barclays agreed to buy the Dutch bank for about $87 billion, and is driving back the competing approach by the group led by Royal Bank.

“Approval is currently pending with the relevant regulatory authorities,” the company said in a statement. In order to close the bid, consent from 107 regulatory authorities in 52 countries is required, the British bank added.

For the last few weeks, Barclays has come under pressure from some shareholders. US hedge fund Atticus Capital, which holds 1 per cent stake in Barclays, is continuously urging Barclays to drop the ABN bid and has threatened the bank that it will vote against the bid proposal if Barclays went ahead with its takeover plan.

But, Barclays said the views expressed by Atticus contradict the “feedback" it has received from shareholders. The bank claimed the bank had already met nearly 50 large stakeholders. “If other shareholders feel differently we will encourage them to engage in a dialogue with us,” Barclays said.

Nevertheless, several of Barclays’ biggest UK-based shareholders say that although they do not oppose the bid at current levels, but said they will resist the bid if the bank raises the offer price for ABN.

If the deal goes through, the merged bank would rank as the world's sixth-largest bank with a combined market value of more than $160 billion. The combined company would have $3.2 trillion of assets and 230,000 employees.

Meanwhile, Barclays revealed its plans to meet trade unions representing ABN Amro employees who may be affected by its plan to takeover the largest Dutch bank.

In an e-mailed statement today, UNI, a body of unions representing 15 million people worldwide, including employees of the banks involved, said that the meeting, which has proposed by Barclays Chief Executive Officer John Varley, has been set for June 21 in London.

Barclays shares surged by 0.41 pct to close at 736 pence, while the FTSE 100 index was up 0.06 pct.