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New bid, worth nearly $100B, made for bank

By TIMES WIRES
Published April 26, 2007

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands

One of the largest takeovers in corporate history escalated into a bidding war Wednesday as a group led by Royal Bank of Scotland said it planned a bid worth almost $100-billion for ABN Amro that tops a Barclays' offer by more than 10 percent. Shareholders immediately pressured ABN to commit to accepting the highest bid, ahead of the Dutch bank's annual shareholders' meeting today, and analysts said the key battleground is LaSalle Bank in the United States. One analyst called LaSalle the "crown jewel" of ABN's international operations. Royal Bank of Scotland PLC, Spain's Banco Santander Central Hispano SA and Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis NV said they would offer about 39 euros (or $52.95 in U.S. currency) per share for ABN Amro Holding NV - 70 percent in cash and 30 percent in RBS shares - valuing ABN Amro at roughly 72.2-billion euros ($98-billion). That compares with Barclays PLC's all-share offer of 36.25 euros announced Monday, which was endorsed by ABN's management.

WASHINGTON

Housing increase doesn't calm fears

Sales of new homes, helped by better weather, posted a modest increase in March, but the gain was less than expected and did not dispel concerns about continuing troubles in the housing industry. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that new single-family home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 858,000 units in March, an increase of 2.6 percent from February, which had been the slowest sales pace in nearly seven years. The March improvement was half what analysts had forecast.

Moderate growth seen across U.S.

Most parts of the country showed moderate economic growth in the early spring despite sluggish manufacturing largely due to the housing slump. The fresh snapshot of the national economy, released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve, found manufacturing activity slow in many areas. Overall, most regions reported "only modest or moderate expansions," the Fed said. Also, orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods rose in March at the fastest clip in three months, helped by the biggest jump in orders by businesses to expand and modernize in 2 1/2 years.

Chase, BofA sign code of conduct

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America, both leading student lenders, have agreed to abide by a code of conduct designed to protect students from questionable college lending practices.

DUBLIN, Ohio

Wendy's mulling sale of company

Wendy's International Inc. announced Wednesday that it has created a special committee of directors to consider a possible sale of the company, among other options. The nation's third-largest hamburger chain said it does not intend to make periodic announcements regarding the strategic review, which it said could mean a possible sale, merger or other business combination. Wendy's will report developments as warranted, it said.

[Last modified April 25, 2007, 23:17:28]