Editing ABN AMRO (section)

===Mid-2000s weakness, acquisition and breakup===
[[File:Fortis Bank.JPG|thumb|[[Fortis Bank Nederland]] head office in [[Utrecht]], 2008]]

ABN AMRO had come to a crossroads in early 2005. The bank had still not come close to its own target of having a [[return on equity]] that would put it among the top five of its peer group, a target that the CEO, [[Rijkman Groenink]] had set upon his appointment in 2000. From 2000 until 2005, ABN AMRO's stock price stagnated. Financial results in 2006 added to concerns about the bank's future. [[Operating expense]]s increased at a greater rate than operating revenue, and the efficiency ratio deteriorated further to 69.9%. Non-performing loans increased considerably year on year by 192%. [[Net profit]]s were only boosted by sustained [[asset]] sales.  In 2006, research findings were publicly released regarding ABN AMRO Bank N.V.'s predecessors and connections to African slavery. An examination of 200 predecessors of ABN AMRO Bank N.V. founded before 1888, determined that some had connections to African slavery, either in the United States or elsewhere in the Americas.<ref name=hai>{{cite press release| title=HAI Completes Multinational Research on ABN AMRO Connections to Slavery, Findings Released| publisher=History Associates, Inc.| date=28 April 2006| access-date=2014-05-29| url=http://www.historyassociates.com/news/april-28-2006-press-release/| archive-date=2014-05-29| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529232417/http://www.historyassociates.com/news/april-28-2006-press-release/| url-status=live}}</ref>

By 2007, ABN AMRO was the second-largest bank in the Netherlands and the eighth-largest in [[Europe]] by [[assets]]. At that time, the magazine ''[[The Banker]]'' and [[Fortune Global 500]] placed it 15th<ref name="CNN">{{cite news |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2007/industries/192/1.html |title=Fortune Global 500 by industry: Banks - Commercial and Savings |date=July 23, 2007 |publisher=CNN |access-date=26 July 2010 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100819161201/https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2007/industries/192/1.html| archive-date= 19 August 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> in the list of world's biggest banks and it had operations in 63 countries, with over 110,000 employees.

On 31 August 2007, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. Pakistan merged with [[Prime Commercial Bank Pakistan|Prime Commercial Bank]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-09-01 |title=Merger of Prime Bank completes |url=http://beta.dawn.com/news/263923/merger-of-prime-bank-completes |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502093711/https://www.dawn.com/news/263923/merger-of-prime-bank-completes |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2007-04-05 |title=ABN AMRO closes Pakistan bank acquisition |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/abnamro-primebank-idUSWEB398820070405 |access-date=2023-04-25 |archive-date=2023-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425082454/https://www.reuters.com/article/abnamro-primebank-idUSWEB398820070405 |url-status=live }}</ref> which consisted of 69 branches across 24 cities for Sale of US$227 million and formed ABN AMRO Bank ([[Pakistan]]) Limited (Which later got merged into [[Royal Bank of Scotland Pakistan]]).

On 21 February 2007, [[The Children's Investment Fund Management]] (TCI) [[hedge fund]] called to ask the Chairman of the Supervisory Board to actively investigate a merger, acquisition, or breakup of ABN AMRO, stating that the current [[stock price]] did not reflect the true value of the underlying assets. TCI asked the chairman to put its request on the [[agenda (meeting)|agenda]] of the annual [[shareholder]]s' meeting to be held in April 2007. Events accelerated on 20 March 2007, when the [[United Kingdom|British]] bank [[Barclays plc|Barclays]] and ABN AMRO both confirmed they were in exclusive talks about a possible merger.

On 28 March 2007, ABN AMRO published the agenda for the shareholders' meeting of 2007. It included all items requested by TCI, but with the recommendation not to follow the request for a breakup of the company.<ref name="Barclays">{{cite news| title=Barclays in exclusive ABN talks| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6469417.stm| date=20 March 2007| publisher=bbc.com| work=[[BBC News]] Business| access-date=2013-02-19| archive-date=2009-05-12| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090512160550/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6469417.stm| url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Image:IJsseltoren Zwolle.jpg|thumb|right|ABN AMRO Insurance headquarters at {{ill|IJsseltoren|nl}} in [[Zwolle]]]]

However, on 18 April, another British bank, the [[Royal Bank of Scotland]] (RBS) contacted ABN AMRO to propose a deal in which a consortium of banks, including RBS, [[Belgium]]'s [[Fortis (finance)|Fortis]], and [[Spain]]'s Banco Santander Central Hispano (now [[Banco Santander]]) would jointly bid for ABN AMRO and thereafter divide the components of the company among them. According to the proposed deal, RBS would receive ABN's United States operations, [[LaSalle Bank|LaSalle]], and ABN's wholesale operations; Banco Santander would take the Brazilian operations; and Fortis, the Dutch operations. The three banks set up a joint venture, RFS Holdings (with a name based on their respective initials), to execute the transaction.

On 23 April, ABN AMRO and Barclays announced the proposed acquisition of ABN AMRO by Barclays. The deal was valued at €67 [[Long and short scales|billion]] and included the sale of LaSalle Bank to [[Bank of America]] for €21 billion.<ref name="agrees">{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6582507.stm| title=Barclays agrees £45bn Dutch deal| date=23 April 2007| work=BBC News Business| publisher=bbc.com| access-date=2013-02-19| archive-date=2008-05-28| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528143135/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6582507.stm| url-status=live}}</ref>

Two days later, the RBS-led consortium brought out its indicative offer, worth €72 billion, if ABN AMRO would abandon its sale of LaSalle Bank to Bank of America. During the shareholders' meeting the next day, approximately 68 percent of the shareholders voted in favor of the breakup as requested by TCI.<ref name="woos">{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6590741.stm| title=RBS woos ABN with £49bn bid plan| date=25 April 2007| work=BBC News Business| publisher=bbc.com| access-date=2013-02-19| archive-date=2009-05-22| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090522011010/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6590741.stm| url-status=live}}</ref>

The sale of LaSalle was seen as obstructive by many: as a way of blocking the RBS bid, which hinged on further access to the US markets, in order to expand on the success of the group's existing American brands, [[Citizens Financial Group|Citizens Bank and Charter One]]. On 3 May 2007, the  Dutch Investors' Association (Vereniging van Effectenbezitters), with the support of shareholders representing up to 20 percent of ABN's shares, took its case to the Dutch commercial court in Amsterdam, seeking an injunction against the LaSalle sale. The court ruled that the sale of LaSalle could not be viewed apart from the current merger talks of Barclays with ABN AMRO and that the ABN AMRO shareholders should be able to approve other possible merger/acquisition candidates in a general shareholder meeting.
However, in July 2007, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that Bank of America's acquisition of LaSalle Bank could proceed and Bank of America absorbed LaSalle effective 1 October 2007.

On 23 July 2007, Barclays raised its offer for ABN AMRO to €67.5bn, after securing investments from the governments of China and Singapore, but it was still short of the RBS consortium's offer. Barclay's revised bid was worth €35.73 a share — 4.3% more than its previous offer. The offer, which included 37% cash, remained below the €38.40-a-share offer made the week before by the RFS consortium. The revised offer did not include an offer for La Salle Bank since ABN AMRO could proceed with the sale of that subsidiary to Bank of America. RBS would now settle for ABN's investment-banking division and its Asian Network.

On 30 July 2007, ABN AMRO withdrew its support for Barclays' offer which was lower than the offer from the group led by RBS. While the Barclays offer matched ABN AMRO's "strategic vision," the board couldn't recommend it from "a financial point of view." The US$98.3bn bid from RBS, Fortis, and Banco Santander was 9.8% higher than Barclays' offer.

Barclays Bank withdrew its bid for ABN AMRO on 5 October, clearing the way for the RBS-led consortium's bid to go through, along with its planned dismemberment of ABN AMRO. RFS formally acquired ABN AMRO on 17 October 2007. Fortis would receive ABN AMRO's Dutch and Belgian operations, [[Banco Santander]] would get [[Banco Real]] in [[Brazil]], and [[Antonveneta|Banca Antonveneta]] in [[Italy]] and RBS would get ABN AMRO's wholesale division and all other operations, including those in Asia.