MADRID - Three European banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland are preparing a hostile bid worth 80.6 billion euros (109.6 billion dollars) for Dutch group ABN Amro, the newspaper Le Razon reported here on Thursday.
The newspaper did not specify its source for the report which said that the offer would be based on 43 euros per share. Spanish bank Santander Central Hispano (SCH), a member of the consortium, was unavailable for comment.
Recent statements have suggested that the consortium was considering terms valuing ABN Amro at 71-72 billion euros which would be a world record for a banking takeover.
On Wednesday SCH had declined to comment on a British press report that the consortium, which also includes Dutch-Belgian group Fortis, was preparing a hostile bid worth 50 billion pounds or about 74 billion euros.
Meanwhile in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, ABN Amro, which has already agreed to be bought under a friendly arrangement with Barclays bank of Britain, said that its finance director Hugh Scott-Barrett would leave the company on August 1.
He would be replaced by a member of the management committee, Huibert Boumeester.
05/10/2007 08:12 GMT