SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE
14D-9
SOLICITATION/RECOMMENDATION
STATEMENT UNDER
SECTION
14(D)(4) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
ABN
AMRO HOLDING N.V.
(Name
of Subject Company)
ABN
AMRO HOLDING
N.V.
(Name
of Person(s) Filing Statement)
Ordinary
Shares, par value €0.56 per share
American
Depositary Shares, each representing one Ordinary Share of ABN AMRO Holding
N.V.
(Title
of Class of Securities)
000937102
(American
Depositary Shares)
(CUSIP
Number of Class of Securities)
Eva
Simon Thomas
Group
General Counsel
ABN
AMRO Holding N.V.
Gustav
Mahlerlaan 10, 1082 PP Amsterdam
The
Netherlands
+31
20 628 93 93
(Name,
Address and Telephone Number of Person Authorized to Receive
Notices
and
Communications on Behalf of the Person(s) Filing Statement)
With
a
Copy to:
Margaret
E. Tahyar
Davis
Polk & Wardwell
121,
avenue des Champs-Elysées
75008
Paris
France
+33
1 56 59 36 70
Item
1. Subject Company Information.
Name
and Address
The
name
of the subject company is ABN AMRO Holding N.V., a public limited liability
company organized under the laws of The Netherlands (“ABN AMRO”). The
address of the principal executive offices of ABN AMRO is Gustav Mahlerlaan
10,
1082 PP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The telephone number for ABN
AMRO’s principal executive offices is +31 20 628 93 93.
Securities
The
title
of the class of equity securities to which this Solicitation/Recommendation
Statement on Schedule 14D-9 (together with any Exhibits or Annexes hereto,
this
“Statement”) relates is ordinary shares, par value €0.56 per share of ABN AMRO
(“ABN AMRO ordinary shares”) and American Depositary Shares, each representing
one ABN AMRO ordinary share (“ABN AMRO ADSs”). As of August 6, 2007,
1,845,855,090 ABN AMRO ordinary shares were issued and outstanding.
Item
2. Identity and Background of Filing
Person.
Name
and Address
The
name,
business address and business telephone number of ABN AMRO, which is the person
filing this Statement, are set forth in “Item 1. Subject Company
Information—Name and Address” above, which information is incorporated herein by
reference.
Tender
Offer
This
Statement relates to the exchange offer (the “Barclays Offer”) by Barclays
PLC,
a public limited company organized under the laws of England (“Barclays”), to
exchange for each ABN AMRO ordinary share and ABN AMRO ADS:
|
·
|
2.13
newly issued Barclays ordinary shares and €13.15 in cash for every issued
and outstanding ABN AMRO ordinary share;
and
|
|
·
|
0.5325
Barclays American Depositary Share and €13.15 in cash (paid in US dollars)
for every ABN AMRO ADS.
|
The
Barclays Offer is described in the Offer to Exchange/Prospectus dated August
6,
2007, included in the Barclays Registration Statement on Form F-4 (as amended
and supplemented, the “Form F-4”) and Tender Offer Statement on Schedule TO (as
amended and supplemented, the “Schedule TO”), together with the exhibits
thereto, as filed by Barclays with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
“SEC”) on August 3, 2007 and August 6, 2007, respectively.
The
principal executive offices of Barclays are located at 1, Churchill Place,
London E14 5HP, United Kingdom, and the telephone number at such principal
executive offices is 011 44 20 7116 1000.
In
addition, as outlined below in “Item 4. The Solicitation or
Recommendation—Background to the Proposed Offers—Discussions between ABN AMRO
and the Consortium”, on July 21, 2007, RFS Holdings B.V. (“RFS Holdings”),
Fortis N.V., Fortis SA/NV and Fortis Nederland (Holding) N.V. (together,
“Fortis”), The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (“RBS”), Banco Santander Central
Hispano, S.A. and Santander Holanda B.V. (together, “Santander” and together
with Fortis and RBS and, if the context so requires, RFS Holdings, the
“Consortium”), launched an offer (the “Consortium Offer”) to exchange for each
ABN AMRO ordinary share and ABN AMRO ADS (i) €35.60 in cash and (ii) 0.296 newly
issued ordinary shares, nominal value £0.25 per share, of RBS (“RBS ordinary
shares”). The Consortium Offer is described in the Offer to
Exchange/Prospectus included in the
Amendment
No. 1 to the Registration Statement on Form F-4/A (the “Form F-4”) and Tender
Offer Statement on Schedule TO (the “Schedule TO”), together with the exhibits
thereto, as filed by the Consortium with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(the “SEC”) on July 23, 2007.
Item
3. Past Contacts, Transactions, Negotiations and
Agreements.
Conflicts
of Interest
Except
as
described in this Item 3, to ABN AMRO’s knowledge there are no material
agreements, arrangements or understandings and no actual or potential material
conflicts of interest between ABN AMRO or its affiliates, on the one hand,
and
either (i) ABN AMRO’s executive officers, directors or affiliates, or (ii)
Barclays or any of Barclays’ executive officers, directors or affiliates, on the
other hand.
As
of July
27, 2007, Lord Colin Sharman of Redlynch, a member of ABN AMRO Supervisory
Member, having previously advised the Chairman of ABN AMRO Supervisory Board
that in the circumstances where the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board would have to
consider both the Barclays Offer and the Consortium Offer he would consider
himself conflicted because of his position as Chairman of Aviva, is no longer
participating in the decision process relating to both offers.
Interests
of Certain Members of the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory
Board as a result of the Merger Protocol with Barclays
Outlined
below are relationships, agreements or arrangements that certain members of
the
ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board have that provide
them with interests in the proposed combination with Barclays (described in
Item
2. “Identity and Background of Filing Person—Tender Offer” above), that may be
in addition to or different from the interests of ABN AMRO’s shareholders
generally in the Consortium Offer and/or the proposed combination with
Barclays. The members of the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO
Supervisory Board were aware of these relationships, agreements and arrangements
during their respective deliberations on the merits of the Consortium Offer
and
the proposed combination with Barclays.
ABN
AMRO Managing Board Members
Under
the
Merger Protocol, as amended, with Barclays the board of directors of the
combined group is expected to include Mr. Groenink (as proposed non-executive
member of the Group Board of Directors) and Mr. Boumeester (as proposed chief
administrative officer of the combined group). As of the completion
of the Barclays Offer and combination with Barclays, the combined group will
be
managed by a group executive committee consisting of eight
members. The committee is expected to include Mr. Boumeester, Mr.
Overmars, the proposed chief executive officer of continental Europe and Asia
of
the global retail and commercial banking segment of the combined group, and
Mr.
Teerlink, the proposed chief operating officer of the global retail and
commercial banking segment of the combined group. Mr. Jiskoot is
expected to become a Vice Chairman of Barclays Capital with senior
responsibility for client relationships.
It
is
intended that Mr. Boumeester will enter into a service contract with Barclays
Bank which will be conditional upon the completion of the proposed combination
with Barclays and will come into effect on the effective date
thereof. The principal terms of the proposed service contract have
been approved by the Barclays Remuneration Committee. The service
contract will provide for a salary of £600,000 per annum and benefits in kind
including the use of a company owned vehicle or cash equivalent and medical
insurance. It is intended that he will remain in his current ABN AMRO
defined contribution pension arrangement. Mr. Boumeester will be
eligible to be considered for a discretionary annual bonus award (including
mandatory deferral into ESAS) and for annual participation in long term
incentive plan awards under the Barclays PSP. In respect of 2008 it
has been agreed he will receive a minimum bonus (including the ESAS element)
of
100 per cent of base salary (capped at 250% of annual salary) and he will be
recommended for a Barclays PSP award with an aggregate market value on the
day
of the award of £600,000. The service contract will contain
provisions for benefits payable upon termination of employment. Until
the end of 2008, in the event of termination other than on grounds of gross
misconduct or his
resignation,
Mr. Boumeester will retain his entitlement to ABN AMRO SEVP contractual
severance terms. These provide for a payment based on Mr.
Boumeester’s salary prior to becoming a member of the Management Board and
calculated by reference to age, years of service and a cantonal adjustment
factor. It has also been agreed that in those circumstances he would
be treated as a ‘‘good leaver’’ for the purpose of any outstanding long term
incentive awards under the Barclays PSP or other plans allowing him to retain
those awards within the rules of the Barclays PSP or other relevant
plan. With effect from 1 January 2009, Mr. Boumeester will be
entitled to twelve months’ notice of termination of his employment and in the
event of termination without notice (other than dismissal for cause or
resignation) will be entitled to receive one year’s contractual remuneration and
pro-rata bonus for the year in which termination occurs, medical benefits and
continuation of pension payments. Payment will be, however, subject
to a mitigation mechanism in the event alternative employment is found during
the notice period.
ABN
AMRO Supervisory Board Members
Pursuant
to the terms of the Merger Protocol, as amended, with Barclays, Mr. Martinez,
the current chairman of the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board, is expected to become
the chairman, and Mr. Kramer, Ms. Maas-de Brouwer, Mr. Ruys, Mr. Olijslager,
Mr.
Scaroni and Mr. van den Bergh are expected to become members, of the board
of
directors of the combined group. Members of the ABN AMRO Supervisory
Board who will serve on the board of directors of the combined group are
expected to be compensated for their services in accordance with Barclays’ fee
structure for non-executive directors.
Effect
of the proposed Barclays offer and the merger with Barclays on
Indemnification
Pursuant
to the terms of the Merger Protocol, as amended, with Barclays, Barclays and
ABN
AMRO have each agreed to indemnify each individual to become a member of a
board
of a company in its respective group, as of the time the Barclays Offer is
declared unconditional, for any damages, costs, liabilities or expenses incurred
by such individuals arising out of inaccuracies or material misstatements in
the
parts of the applicable disclosure documentation for which such individual
is or
was responsible solely in his capacity as a proposed member of the relevant
board with respect to the period prior to such person becoming a director to
the
same extent as available to members of the applicable board on the date of
such
documentation.
Treatment
of options and other Equity Awards
Shareholdings
of the members of the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory
Board
as at August 8, 2007 are as follows:
|
|
Number
of ABN AMRO
ordinary
shares
|
|
|
Number
of options
for
ABN AMRO
ordinary
shares
|
|
Mr.
Groenink
|
|
|
87,062
|
|
|
|
684,789
|
|
Mr.
Jiskoot
|
|
|
69,679
|
|
|
|
410,011
|
|
Mr.
Kuiper
|
|
|
72,668
|
|
|
|
410,011
|
|
Mr.
Boumeester
|
|
|
85,168
|
|
|
|
213,372
|
|
Mr.
Overmars
|
|
|
41,590
|
|
|
|
293,372
|
|
Mr.
Teerlink
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ABN
AMRO Supervisory Board
|
|
Number
of ABN AMRO
ordinary
shares
|
|
Mr.
Martinez
|
|
|
3,000
|
|
Mr.
Olijslager
|
|
|
3,221
|
|
Mr.
Pratini de Moreas
|
|
|
5,384
|
|
Mr.
van den Bergh
|
|
|
13,112
|
|
Mr.
Ruys
|
|
|
2,898
|
|
Mr.
Scaroni
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
|
|
|
|
At
the
date of this document, no options for ABN AMRO ordinary shares are held by
any
of the other members of the ABN AMRO Managing Board or the ABN AMRO Supervisory
Board.
The
Merger
Protocol contains provisions in relation to the treatment of options and awards
under the ABN AMRO Employee Share Plans, which are composed of the ABN AMRO
Stock Option Plans, the ABN AMRO Share Award Plan, the ABN AMRO Share Investment
and Matching Plan and the ABN AMRO Retention Plans. The ABN AMRO Retention
Plans
are the ABN AMRO Global Key Employee Retention Plan, the ABN AMRO Key Employee
Equity Programme with Co-Investment Plan, the ABN AMRO Key Employee Equity
Programme with Co-Investment Plan 2005, the ABN AMRO Asset Management Key
Employee Retention Plan with Co-Investment Plan, the ABN AMRO Asset Management
Key Employee Retention Plan with Co-Investment Plan 2005, the ABN AMRO BU Brazil
Long Term Incentive Plan, the ABN AMRO BU North American Long Term Incentive
Plan, and any other employee share plan or long term incentive plan adopted
or
implemented by ABN AMRO.
Barclays
and ABN AMRO are considering the proposed treatment of options and awards under
the ABN AMRO Employee Share Plans although the treatment has not, at the date
of
this Statement, been finalized.
The
following is a summary of the proposals relating to the ABN AMRO Share Award
Plan and the ABN AMRO Stock Option Plans (being those employee plans under
which
subsisting options or awards have been granted over or in respect of ABN AMRO
ordinary shares) which at the date of this document have been considered by
Barclays and ABN AMRO. The summary is without prejudice to further or
alternative proposals that Barclays and ABN AMRO may agree within the parameters
and in the context of both the Merger Protocol and the rules of the ABN AMRO
Share Award Plan and the ABN AMRO Stock Option Plans and any applicable laws.
The ABN AMRO Stock Option Plans are the ABN AMRO Top Executive Stock Option
Plan, the ABN AMRO Key Staff Stock Option Plan, the ABN AMRO UK Approved Stock
Option Plan and the ABN AMRO Equity Option Scheme. The ABN AMRO Share Award
Plan
is the ABN AMRO Performance Share Plan (also comprising the ABN AMRO Restricted
Share Plan).
The
normal
vesting dates for outstanding awards granted under the ABN AMRO Share Award
Plan, which are subject to both performance conditions and service conditions,
have not yet occurred. Barclays has proposed that awards under the ABN AMRO
Share Award Plan will be replaced, as permitted under the rules of those plans
and subject to any applicable laws, with awards over or in respect of Barclays
ordinary shares on terms satisfying the provisions of those plans and consistent
with the Merger Protocol, and ABN AMRO is considering this proposal.
Apart
from
certain options granted in 2005 under the ABN AMRO Stock Option Plans, all
subsisting options have already vested and are therefore currently exercisable
subject to any applicable laws. The intention of ABN AMRO and Barclays is that
options over or in respect of ABN AMRO ordinary shares under the ABN AMRO Stock
Option Plans which are not already exercisable shall vest and become exercisable
in full, in accordance with and to the extent permitted by the rules of the
relevant ABN AMRO Stock Option Plans, when the exchange offer becomes
unconditional. After the exchange offer becomes unconditional, options not
yet
exercised will be exercisable for a limited period after which they will lapse.
Subject to any applicable laws and the relevant terms, options to acquire ABN
AMRO ordinary shares that are exercised will be satisfied in ABN AMRO ordinary
shares.
In
relation to awards over or in respect of ABN AMRO ordinary shares under the
ABN
AMRO Share Investment and Matching Share Plan (which are not subject to
performance conditions), it is intended that, as provided for in the rules
of
that plan and subject to any applicable laws, awards will vest in full when
the
exchange offer becomes unconditional.
Barclays
and ABN AMRO have agreed that the proposals that shall be agreed between them
and made to holders of subsisting options and awards under the ABN AMRO Employee
Share Plans in due course should not have any material incremental accounting
costs for either party nor cause the €250 million cap set out in the Merger
Protocol on the amount of cash payable in respect of the cash settlement or
cancellation of options and awards over ABN AMRO ordinary shares to be
exceeded.
Agreements
between ABN AMRO and Barclays
Confidentiality,
Exclusivity and Standstill Agreement
On
March
21, 2007, ABN AMRO entered into a confidentiality, exclusivity and standstill
agreement with Barclays, a copy of which is filed as Exhibit e(1) to this
Statement and is incorporated herein by reference. In addition to
customary confidentiality provisions, this agreement provided that neither
ABN
AMRO nor Barclays would solicit any offer from a third party for all or a
significant part of their respective assets or shares until April 18,
2007. If such an offer was received in good faith from a third party,
however, the agreement provided that either the ABN AMRO Managing Board and
the
ABN AMRO Supervisory Board or the Barclays Board, as the case may be, could
enter into discussions with such third party if required to do so by their
fiduciary duties. However, the agreement permitted either party to
have contacts with a third party to understand the contents of any good faith
indication of interest by such third party. On April 17, 2007, ABN
AMRO and Barclays separately announced that they had agreed to extend the
exclusivity period.
The
Merger Protocol
The
summary of the material terms of the Merger Protocol, as amended, and the
description of the conditions of the transaction contained in the Offer to
Exchange/Prospectus included in the Form F-4 are incorporated herein by
reference. The summary of the Merger Protocol, as amended, and the
description of the conditions of the transaction are qualified in their entirety
by reference to the Merger Protocol, the Merger Protocol Letter Amendment dated
July 23, 2007, the Merger Protocol Letter Amendment dated July 30, 2007 and
the
Merger Protocol Letter Amendment dated August 3, 2007, copies of which are
filed
as Exhibits e(2), e(3), e(4) and e(5), respectively, to this Statement and
are
incorporated herein by reference.
The
Merger
Protocol, as amended, governs the contractual rights between ABN AMRO and
Barclays in relation to the Barclays Offer and the Merger. The Merger
Protocol and its amendments have been filed as an exhibit to this Statement
to
provide shareholders with information regarding the terms of the Merger
Protocol, as amended, and are not intended to modify or supplement any factual
disclosures about ABN AMRO in ABN AMRO’s public reports filed with the
SEC. In particular, the Merger Protocol and its amendments are not
intended to be, and should not be relied upon as, disclosure regarding any
facts
and circumstances relating to ABN AMRO. The representations and
warranties contained in the Merger Protocol and its amendments have been
negotiated with the principal purpose of establishing the circumstances in
which
Barclays may have the right not to consummate the Barclays Offer, or a party
may
have the right to terminate the Merger Protocol, if the representations and
warranties of the other party prove to be untrue due to a change in circumstance
or otherwise, and allocate risk between the parties, rather than establishing
matters as facts. The representations and warranties may also be
subject to a contractual standard of materiality different from those generally
applicable to shareholders.
Item
4. The Solicitation or Recommendation.
Explanation
of Dutch Law Context for US Investors
Under
Dutch law the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the Supervisory Board are obligated
to
take into account in their decision making not only the interests of the
shareholders, but the interests of the company and all other stakeholders as
well, including employees and customers. In its ruling of July 13,
2007 relating to ABN AMRO (see “—Background to the Proposed Offers” below) the
Dutch Supreme Court specifically and recently confirmed that this principle
applies to the current situation in which ABN AMRO finds itself:
“If
the
managing board abandons a stand alone-scenario and decides to pursue a merger,
it shall, in the course of discharging its duties arising from the law and
the
articles of association, act in the interest of the company and its enterprise
and the management board shall take the interests of all stakeholders (among
which the shareholders) into account in its decision-making
process.”
Dutch
law
furthermore requires the ABN AMRO Boards to disclose their reasoned opinion
(gemotiveerde standpuntbepaling) with respect to any merger or
takeover. The reasoned opinion must list the considerations including
the main pros and cons considered in reaching the opinion. The
opinion can contain a statement by the ABN AMRO Boards to support an offer,
not
to support an offer or can be neutral in view of the stakeholders’
interests. The reasoned opinion may include a recommendation to
shareholders to accept the offer, a non-recommendation or can be
neutral. There is no legal requirement that the boards recommend one
offer over another and the concept of a recommendation under Dutch law is a
statement only to shareholders not to stakeholders. Although, any recommendation
is directed solely to shareholders, in reaching the decision to make such
recommendation the interests of all stakeholders must be taken into account
by
the boards. A statement of support from a stakeholders' perspective
can be combined with a neutral position on whether shareholders should from
a
financial point of view accept the offer or not. Therefore, under
Dutch law, the boards may decide not to recommend an offer to shareholders
while
on the basis of a consideration of the stakeholder interests, it may
nevertheless support such an offer.
The
reasoned opinion (gemotiveerde standpuntbepaling) developed by the ABN
AMRO Boards at their meetings on July 26, 2007 and July 27, 2007, is contained
below in “Reasons for the Recommendation”.
Recommendation
of the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory
Board
The
ABN
AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board, in their respective
meetings on July 26 and 27, 2007, after having considered the advice of outside
legal counsels and financial advisors, acting in good faith and observing their
respective fiduciary duties, discussed the Consortium Offer and the Barclays
Offer, with a view to coming to a reasoned position on both offers, taking
into
account the best interest of ABN AMRO, its shareholders and other stakeholders,
in the context as further described in the statement contained in the press
release issued on July 30, 2007 and reflected below (see “—Reasons for the
Recommendation”).
The
ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board are not currently
in
a position to recommend either offer for acceptance to ABN AMRO’s
shareholders. ABN AMRO will further engage with both parties with the
aim of continuing to ensure a level playing field and minimizing any of the
uncertainties currently associated with the offers and with a view to optimizing
the attractive alternatives available to ABN AMRO’s
shareholders.
Background
to the Proposed Offers
Discussions
between ABN AMRO and Barclays
The
ABN
AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board have reviewed regularly
ABN AMRO’s strategic growth objectives and the means by which it may achieve
these objectives, including potential business acquisitions and
combinations. In particular, the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN
AMRO
Supervisory
Board examined how ABN AMRO might execute its strategy of becoming a top five
European bank by market capitalization. In addition to the
‘‘standalone’’ option, including growth through the acquisition of smaller
banking operations, the option of merging with another European financial
institution as large or larger than ABN AMRO has been part of the strategic
agenda of the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory
Board. In this context, the Chairman of the ABN AMRO Managing Board,
Mr. Groenink, and the Chief Executive Officer of Barclays, Mr. Varley, have
had
regular contact over the past few years.
On
March
18, 2005, Mr. Groenink and Mr. Varley met to discuss the possibility of a
business combination in connection with ABN AMRO’s continuing review of its
business and prospects. In advance of the meeting, ABN AMRO and
Barclays separately carried out an analysis which covered, amongst other things,
strategic and financial rationale for a possible combination, an impact and
contribution analysis and high level synergies. The discussions
between Mr. Groenink and Mr. Varley were continued at a meeting on November
23,
2005.
On
December 7, 2005 and January 20, 2006, Mr. Groenink and Mr. Varley discussed
the
principles under which the parties would be willing to consider a business
combination transaction. On March 3, 2006, another meeting was held
between Mr. Groenink and Mr. Varley, at which they agreed to exchange position
papers on a potential combination. ABN AMRO’s position paper was sent
to Barclays on March 24, 2006 and a paper from Barclays was received by ABN
AMRO
shortly thereafter. Following the exchange of position papers, Mr.
Groenink and Mr. Varley met on May 4, 2006 to discuss the potential strategy,
vision and culture of a combined entity.
The
Barclays Board, the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board
separately concluded that a business combination transaction between Barclays
and ABN AMRO was strategically attractive. During the ABN AMRO Supervisory
Board
annual strategy discussion on July 27 and 28, 2006, different merger of equals
options were discussed, as well as the ‘‘standalone’’ option with growth through
the acquisition of smaller banking operations and the option of combining with
another European financial institution that was as large or larger than ABN
AMRO. At the end of the discussion, the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board
determined that in the case of a merger with ABN AMRO as a junior partner,
a
combination with Barclays was one of its preferred options. During
the remainder of 2006 and first quarter of 2007, the ABN AMRO Managing Board
and
the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board continued to discuss these strategic
options. The Barclays Board also concluded that ABN AMRO was an
attractive merger partner in its strategy meeting on November 16,
2006. Mr. Groenink and Mr. Varley continued to have informal contacts
to explore the potential of a combination.
ABN
AMRO
also discussed with ING Group the possibility of a combination of their
businesses. During the period between December 2006 and March 2007,
Mr. Groenink had several discussions with Mr. Michael Tilmant, Chairman of
the
Executive Committee of ING Group on the possibility of a
transaction. Ultimately, however, the parties discontinued
discussions when a transaction became less attractive as ABN AMRO’s share price
increased significantly, while ING’s share price declined.
ABN
AMRO
initiated talks leading to the current proposed combination with Barclays when,
on February 8, 2007, Mr. Groenink and Mr. Varley met to discuss the key
principles that would guide any potential combination discussion between ABN
AMRO and Barclays. These discussions were continued on February 27,
2007.
On
February 22, 2007, the ABN AMRO Managing Board engaged Morgan Stanley & Co.
Limited (“Morgan Stanley”) to act as its financial advisor in connection with
the potential strategic options outlined above, including a possible combination
with Barclays. Subsequently, in connection with Morgan Stanley’s
engagement, the ABN AMRO Managing Board requested that Morgan Stanley evaluate
the fairness, from a financial point of view, to holders of ABN AMRO ordinary
shares (other than Barclays and its affiliates) of the exchange ratio to be
received by holders of ABN AMRO ordinary shares pursuant to the combination
solely in their capacity as ordinary shareholders of ABN AMRO.
Also,
on
February 22, 2007, UBS Limited (“UBS”) was engaged by the ABN AMRO Managing
Board as financial advisor in connection with the potential strategic options
outlined above. Subsequently, in connection with
UBS’s
engagement, the ABN AMRO Managing Board requested that UBS evaluate the
fairness, from a financial point of view, of the exchange ratio to holders
of
ABN AMRO ordinary shares, excluding Barclays and its affiliates.
The
ABN
AMRO Managing Board also engaged Lehman Brothers Europe Limited (“Lehman
Brothers”) on February 22, 2007 to act as its financial advisor in connection
with the potential strategic options outlined above. Lehman Brothers’
advisory role has centered around the synergies of the proposed combination,
potential investor and market reactions and listing considerations.
NM
Rothschild & Sons (“Rothschild”) was appointed by the ABN AMRO Managing
Board in February 2007 to advise on the viability of alternatives to a
combination with another European financial institution as large or larger
than
ABN AMRO. ABN AMRO Corporate Finance provided initial advice on the
general strategic options available to ABN AMRO. ABN AMRO Hoare
Govett was retained to act as corporate broker in connection with strategic
matters in February 2007 and subsequently in connection with the proposed
exchange offer by Barclays for ABN AMRO ordinary shares and ABN AMRO
ADSs.
Also
during February 2007, the ABN AMRO Managing Board retained Allen & Overy
LLP, Davis Polk & Wardwell and NautaDutilh N.V. to provide it with legal
advice in connection with strategic matters and subsequently retained them
to
advise on the Barclays transaction.
During
February 2007, the Barclays Board requested that JPMorgan Cazenove Limited
act
as corporate broker, and Lazard & Co., Limited act as financial advisor, in
connection with a proposed combination with ABN AMRO. In March 2007, Barclays
Capital, Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Credit Suisse Securities (Europe)
Limited, Deutsche Bank AG and JPMorgan Cazenove Limited were also contacted
to
act as financial advisors in connection with the proposed combination with
ABN
AMRO.
At
its
meeting on March 14, 2007, the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board approved the
initiation of negotiations with Barclays with a view to a potential
combination.
On
March
16, 2007, Mr. Groenink called Mr. Varley to confirm that he was available to
investigate a combination of ABN AMRO and Barclays. On March 18,
2007, senior management of ABN AMRO and Barclays, including Mr. Boumeester,
a
member of the ABN AMRO Managing Board, and Mr. Naguib Kheraj, then Group Finance
Director of Barclays met to commence exploratory discussions on the terms of
any
transaction as well as the terms of a confidentiality and exclusivity
agreement. Subsequently, Mr. Groenink informed Mr. Nout Wellink,
President of the Dutch Central Bank, about the possibility of a combination
transaction and Barclays kept the FSA informed about the status of
discussions.
On
March
19, 2007, ABN AMRO and Barclays issued a press release to confirm that they
were
in exclusive preliminary discussions concerning a potential
combination.
On
March
20, 2007, ABN AMRO and Barclays announced the principles of any potential
combination between them.
On
March
21, 2007, ABN AMRO entered into a confidentiality, exclusivity and standstill
agreement with Barclays. In addition to customary confidentiality
provisions, this agreement provided that neither ABN AMRO nor Barclays would
solicit any offer from a third party for all or a significant part of their
respective assets or shares until April 18, 2007. If such an offer
was received in good faith from a third party, however, the agreement provided
that either the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board
or
the Barclays Board, as the case may be, could enter into discussions with such
third party if required to do so by their fiduciary
duties. Additionally, the agreement permitted either party to have
contacts with a third party to understand the contents of any good faith
indication of interest by such third party.
On
March
21, 2007, the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board engaged Stibbe N.V. to provide it
with
independent Dutch legal advice.
On
March
22, 2007, representatives of ABN AMRO and Barclays together with their
respective financial advisors met to discuss the organization of the work
streams for any potential combination.
On
March
23, 2007, Mr. Groenink and Mr. Varley met to substantiate further aspects of
the
five broad principles indicated in the press release of March 20, 2007 and
to
discuss the organization of the process going forward.
On
March
24, 2007, members of the senior management of ABN AMRO met with members of
senior management of Barclays in London. The parties exchanged
information on their respective businesses and discussed the process and timing
for due diligence.
On
March
26, 2007, the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board created an ad hoc advisory
committee, composed of Mr. Martinez, Mr. Olijslager and Mr. van den Bergh in
order to advise the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board on decisions to be taken in
the
context of the discussions with Barclays or other banks, the actions of activist
shareholders and the upcoming shareholders’ meeting. In April 2007,
the ad hoc committee met several times to prepare for the ABN AMRO
Supervisory Board meetings.
From
March
26, 2007 to March 30, 2007 representatives from the various business units
of
ABN AMRO and Barclays first met to conduct due diligence, including an
examination of the potential synergies that may result from a
combination. Additional synergy validation and due diligence on
specific topics continued through April 19, 2007.
On
March
27, 2007, representatives of ABN AMRO and Barclays, together with
representatives of their respective financial, legal and tax advisors, met
in
Amsterdam to discuss the potential legal, regulatory and tax structures of
any
combination.
On
March
30, 2007, Mr. Groenink and Mr. Varley met to advance agreement on the details
of
the transaction.
On
April
3, 2007, Mr. Groenink and Mr. Varley met with representatives of the Dutch
Central Bank (“DNB”). At this meeting the parties jointly presented
their intentions for, and the anticipated benefits of, the proposed combination.
The ABN AMRO Supervisory Board also met on April 3, 2007 and April 11, 2007
to
discuss the latest developments in the negotiations with Barclays.
From
April
3, 2007 to April 16, 2007, the ABN AMRO Managing Board’s legal advisors engaged
in a number of discussions, in person in Amsterdam and London and on the
telephone, with Barclays’ legal advisors on certain terms of a draft Merger
Protocol. Several of these meetings were attended by Mr. Boumeester
and Mr. Kheraj.
Between
April 4, 2007 and April 21, 2007, representatives of ABN AMRO’s financial
advisors met with representatives of Barclays financial advisors to discuss
the
methodologies to be used in the determination of any potential exchange
ratio.
On
April
12, 2007, the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board engaged Goldman Sachs International
(“Goldman Sachs”) to undertake a study as to the fairness of any proposed
combination with Barclays.
On
April
13, 2007, Mr. Groenink and Mr. Martinez received a letter from the Consortium,
expressing their interest in making an alternative proposal for ABN AMRO and
requesting, among other things, access to the same diligence information that
Barclays had received.
On
April
15, 2007, a committee was established by the Barclays Board for the purpose
of
the transaction. During April 2007, the Barclays Board or the committee met
frequently to receive updates on the status of the discussions with ABN AMRO
from those members of the Barclays Board involved in the day-to-day
negotiations.
On
April
16, 2007, Mr. Groenink and Mr. Varley met to discuss the progress to date and
to
evaluate the necessity of extending the initial exclusivity
agreement. On April 17, 2007, ABN AMRO and Barclays
separately
announced
that they had agreed to extend the exclusivity period. The ABN AMRO
Supervisory Board also met and received an update on April 17,
2007. On April 18, 2007, Mr. Groenink and Mr. Varley met, and at this
meeting, Mr. Varley gave an update on his meetings with the ABN AMRO Managing
Board members during the course of the preceding days.
On
the
evening of April 20, 2007, Mr. Boumeester informed Mr. Kheraj of Bank of
America’s proposal to acquire LaSalle from ABN AMRO prior to a potential
combination of ABN AMRO and Barclays.
On
April
21, 2007, Mr. Groenink and Mr. Varley discussed Bank of America’s proposal to
acquire LaSalle from ABN AMRO prior to a potential combination of ABN AMRO
and
Barclays and the potential impact of this sale on any potential exchange
ratio.
Representatives
of ABN AMRO and Barclays and their respective advisors met on a number of
occasions in Amsterdam on April 21 and 22, 2007 to discuss further the draft
Merger Protocol.
On
the
evening of April 21, 2007, Mr. Groenink and Mr. Boumeester met with Mr. Varley
and Mr. Kheraj in Amsterdam to agree the terms of the proposed combination
with
Barclays, including the exchange ratio of 3.225 Barclays ordinary shares for
each ABN AMRO ordinary share.
During
March and April 2007, the ABN AMRO Managing Board met frequently and received
updates on the status of the discussions with Barclays from those members of
the
ABN AMRO Managing Board involved in the day-to-day negotiations. As
noted above, the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board and the ad hoc committee
had also held several meetings during this time frame.
During
the
course of the day on April 22, 2007 the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN
AMRO
Supervisory Board met throughout the day both together and separately to discuss
the evolving terms of the proposed transaction with Barclays, the proposed
sale
of LaSalle to Bank of America Corporation (see “—The Sale of LaSalle” below) and
the contents of the letter that had been received from the
Consortium.
During
that day, Mr. Groenink updated the ABN AMRO Managing Board on the negotiations
with Barclays several times. Representatives from NautaDutilh N.V.,
Allen & Overy LLP and Davis Polk & Wardwell were also present to brief
the ABN AMRO Managing Board members on the terms of the draft Merger
Protocol. Representatives from UBS delivered to the ABN AMRO Managing
Board an oral opinion, confirmed by delivery of a written opinion, dated April
22, 2007, to the effect that, as of that date and based on and subject to
various assumptions made, matters considered and limitations described in the
opinion, the exchange ratio of 3.225 Barclays ordinary shares for each ordinary
ABN AMRO ordinary share tendered pursuant to the offer, to be received by
holders of ABN AMRO ordinary shares, other than Barclays and its affiliates,
was
fair, from a financial point of view, to such holders. Representatives from
Morgan Stanley reviewed its financial analyses and rendered to the ABN AMRO
Managing Board its oral opinion, which was subsequently confirmed in writing
and
dated April 22, 2007, to the effect that, as of that date and based upon and
subject to the various considerations set forth in the opinion, the exchange
ratio set forth pursuant to the proposed Merger Protocol was fair, from a
financial point of view, to the holders of ABN AMRO ordinary shares, other
than
Barclays and its affiliates, solely in their capacity as ABN AMRO ordinary
shareholders. At its last meeting of the day, having considered a
number of factors, including the due diligence findings, merger benefits and
financial analysis, the ABN AMRO Managing Board resolved unanimously to
recommend to the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board to accept the offer for ABN AMRO
from Barclays and to recommend the same to ABN AMRO’s shareholders.
During
that day, the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board also met with its independent legal
and
financial advisors in an executive session to consider the terms of the proposed
combination with Barclays. At that session, they were briefed on the
terms of the draft Merger Protocol by Stibbe N.V. Representatives
from Goldman Sachs rendered an oral opinion, later confirmed in writing, to
the
ABN AMRO Supervisory Board that, as of April 22, 2007, based upon and subject
to
the factors and assumptions set forth in such opinion, the ordinary share
exchange ratio to be received by shareholders of ABN AMRO pursuant to the
combination was fair from a financial point of view to
such
holders. During the day, Mr. Groenink updated the ABN AMRO
Supervisory Board on the latest developments with Barclays and presented the
ABN
AMRO Managing Board’s decision on the Barclays
transaction. Representatives from NautaDutilh N.V., Allen & Overy
LLP and Davis Polk & Wardwell were present to answer questions on the draft
Merger Protocol. At its last meeting of the day, having considered a
number of factors, including the due diligence findings, merger benefits and
financial analysis, the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board resolved unanimously to
recommend the exchange offer for acceptance by the holders of the ABN AMRO
ordinary shares.
In
their
review and analysis of the proposed transaction with Barclays and the ‘‘no
shop’’ provisions in the draft Merger Protocol, both the ABN AMRO Managing Board
and the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board noted that the terms of the Merger Protocol,
among other things, included provisions permitting them to continue contacts
with a third party existing on April 23, 2007 and, in certain circumstances
described elsewhere in this document, would permit them to withdraw their
respective recommendations if the boards, acting in good faith and observing
their fiduciary duties under applicable law, determined an alternative offer
to
be more beneficial than the exchange offer.
On
the
evening of April 22, 2007, the Committee of the Barclays Board held two
meetings. The first meeting was held to consider, among other
matters, the Merger Protocol, due diligence findings, merger benefits, financial
analysis, and a draft press announcement. The Committee then
reconvened that same evening to consider the Merger Protocol and the press
announcement. At the end of this meeting, the Committee resolved to
enter into the Merger Protocol and approved the press announcement.
Following
these meetings, on April 22 and the early hours of April 23, representatives
of
each party together with their legal and financial advisors met again in
Amsterdam to finalize the Merger Protocol.
On
April
23, 2007, ABN AMRO and Barclays announced that agreement had been reached on
a
combination.
Contacts
with the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, Fortis S.A./N.V. and Banco Santander
Central Hispano S.A. before April 23, 2007
In
February 2005, Mr. Groenink met with Sir Fred Goodwin, Group Chief
Executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, to exchange views about
various issues affecting banking in Europe. They also discussed
whether there were any opportunities for a potential combination between the
two
companies, but nothing further came from this initial discussion.
In
the
summer of 2005, Mr. Groenink and Sir Fred Goodwin corresponded in
connection with ABN AMRO’s proposed acquisition of Banca
Antonveneta. On July 5, 2005, in reaction to market speculation
regarding Italian bank transactions, Mr. Groenink received a letter from
Sir Fred Goodwin confirming the statement of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group
PLC in its 2004 full year results that it had no interest in European
cross-border bank acquisitions at that time.
On
October
31, 2006, Mr. Groenink received a letter from Sir Fred Goodwin
regarding market speculation of a potential acquisition of ABN AMRO and seeking
to arrange a time to meet with Mr. Groenink to catch up generally.
Mr. Groenink responded the next day, and a meeting was scheduled for
January 9, 2007.
Between
January and March 2007, ABN AMRO and Banco Santander Central Hispano
S.A. engaged in preliminary discussions and negotiations regarding the possible
purchase by Santander of certain discrete businesses in different geographic
locations that ABN AMRO offered for sale. These preliminary
discussions and negotiations between ABN AMRO and Santander did not result
in the acquisition by Santander of any ABN AMRO businesses.
On
January
9, 2007, Mr. Groenink met Sir Fred Goodwin in Amsterdam, and, during a
wide-ranging conversation, the two discussed whether a combination of parts
of
ABN AMRO and certain businesses of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC could
be
attractive. The discussion related to the merits of combining the
U.S. operations of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC with ABN AMRO’s U.S.
retail and commercial banking activities. During these conversations,
Mr. Groenink disclosed to Sir Fred Goodwin that ABN AMRO
shareholder
Tosca
Holdings had met with him to recommend that ABN AMRO merge with the Royal Bank
of Scotland Group PLC. Sir Fred Goodwin confirmed that the Royal
Bank of Scotland Group PLC was not working with Tosca Holdings, or, in this
regard, with any other ABN AMRO shareholder. In this meeting Mr.
Groenink stated that the US banking operations were not for sale at the time,
but in case a major transaction in Europe would be considered, a sale of LaSalle
to fund such a transaction would be contemplated.
The
next
day, Mr. Groenink received a letter from Sir Fred Goodwin thanking him
for the meeting and welcoming Mr. Groenink’s thoughts in due
course.
On
March
8, 2007, Mr. Groenink received a telephone call from Sir Fred Goodwin,
who was calling to discuss press and market speculation regarding a potential
acquisition of ABN AMRO. During that conversation, Sir Fred
Goodwin confirmed to Mr. Groenink that the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC
was not the source of such speculation and offered to put this in writing to
Mr. Groenink. At the same time, Sir Fred Goodwin also reiterated
a continued interest in working with ABN AMRO to explore the opportunities
that
might be available by combining the U.S. operations of the Royal Bank of
Scotland Group PLC with ABN AMRO’s U.S. retail and commercial banking
activities.
Several
days later, Mr. Groenink received a letter from Sir Fred Goodwin dated
March 12, 2007 which reiterated that the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC was
interested in exploring with ABN AMRO any opportunities which might exist in
relation to the U.S. or more widely to work together to create
value. Sir Fred Goodwin also re-confirmed that the Royal Bank of
Scotland Group PLC had no involvement with Tosca Holdings.
On
April
12, 2007, Mr. Groenink and Mr. Martinez received a letter from the Consortium,
expressing their interest in making an alternative proposal for ABN AMRO and
requesting, among other things, access to the same diligence information that
Barclays had received.
By
letter
dated April 17, 2007, ABN AMRO invited the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC,
Fortis S.A./N.V. and Banco Santander Central Hispano S.A. to a meeting
on April 23, 2007 to discuss their proposals and issued an announcement
disclosing this invitation. Several days later, ABN AMRO received a
letter dated April 19, 2007 in which the Consortium accepted the invitation
of
Mr. Groenink and Mr. Martinez to meet to clarify their intentions and
interest with respect to ABN AMRO.
On
April
20, 2007, Mr. Groenink received a telephone call from Sir Fred Goodwin
to discuss the Consortium’s interest in acquiring ABN AMRO.
On April
22, 2007, there was a call between Mr. Groenink and Count Maurice Lippens
concerning the relationship between Fortis S.A./N.V. and
ABN AMRO.
The
Sale of LaSalle
As
part of
its regular review of strategic growth objectives, both the ABN AMRO Managing
Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board have repeatedly considered and
discussed the future of LaSalle (which includes LaSalle Bank Corporation and
its
subsidiaries LaSalle Bank N.A. and LaSalle Bank Midwest N.A.). In the
course of the mid-2006 review, the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO
Supervisory Board reached the view that within the next twelve to eighteen
months, LaSalle would have to either grow through an acquisition or that it
should be sold (the ‘‘up or out’’ strategy). It was decided at that
time that in light of the fact LaSalle’s profitability remained good and in
light of the current business cycle, there was no reason for an immediate
decision in this matter. The potential disposition of LaSalle was
discussed again at the ABN AMRO Managing Board meeting on February 6,
2007.
As
of
December 31, 2006, LaSalle had more than $113,000 million in tangible assets
and
a tangible book value of $9.7 billion, adjusted for businesses that will be
retained by ABN AMRO and for the previously announced sale of the mortgage
operations unit and presented on a US GAAP basis. For the year ended
December 31, 2006, LaSalle, presented on the same basis, had net income of
$1,035 million.
During
the
previous two years, Bank of America and other banks had informally approached
ABN AMRO several times regarding their interest in acquiring
LaSalle. As a result of these informal approaches, both the ABN AMRO
Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board had analyzed a range of
possible options for the sale of LaSalle and had reviewed the possible range
of
values that might be achieved.
A
potential sale of LaSalle was discussed at an ABN AMRO Supervisory Board meeting
held on April 17, 2007. Later that evening, Bank of America informed
ABN AMRO, through UBS, of its interest in acquiring LaSalle for a price of
approximately $20 billion, subject to the completion of due
diligence. Bank of America entered into a confidentiality agreement
with ABN AMRO on April 19, 2007. Over the four day period ending on
April 22, 2007, Bank of America completed its due diligence review of
LaSalle. Updates on the diligence and the negotiations with Bank of
America were discussed at ABN AMRO Managing Board meetings on April 19, 2007
and
April 20, 2007.
On
April
20, 2007, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, counsel to Bank of America,
circulated a draft purchase and sale agreement to Davis Polk & Wardwell,
counsel to ABN AMRO. On April 22, 2007, the parties agreed in
principle on consideration of $21 billion, subject to adjustment, and later
that
day reached agreement on the final terms of the purchase and sale
agreement.
The
sale
of LaSalle was discussed at both the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO
Supervisory Board meetings during the day of April 22, 2007. In an
executive session, the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board was briefed on the LaSalle
Agreement by its legal advisors and on the financial aspects of the deal by
its
financial advisors. Both boards also received advice of counsel that
under Dutch law no shareholder vote was required to consummate the
transaction. The ABN AMRO Managing Board was also briefed on the
LaSalle Agreement by its legal advisors.
Representatives
from UBS delivered to the ABN AMRO Managing Board an oral opinion, confirmed
by
delivery of a written opinion, dated April 22, 2007, as to the fairness, from
a
financial point of view, of the consideration to be received by ABN AMRO
pursuant to the LaSalle Agreement, as of such date and based upon and subject
to
the various considerations set forth in the written opinion.
Representatives
from Morgan Stanley delivered to the ABN AMRO Managing Board an oral opinion
which was subsequently confirmed in writing and dated April 22, 2007, as to
the
fairness, from a financial point of view, of the consideration to be received
by
ABN AMRO pursuant to the LaSalle Agreement, as of such date and based upon
and
subject to the various considerations set forth in the written
opinion.
Representatives
from Lehman Brothers delivered to the ABN AMRO Managing Board an oral opinion,
confirmed by delivery of a written opinion, dated April 22, 2007, as to the
fairness, from a financial point of view, of the consideration to be received
by
ABN AMRO pursuant to the LaSalle Agreement, as of such date and based upon
and
subject to the various considerations set forth in the written
opinion.
On
April
22, 2007, ABN AMRO Bank entered into the LaSalle Agreement with Bank of America
pursuant to which ABN AMRO Bank agreed to sell LaSalle (which includes ABN
AMRO’s US commercial, retail and trust banking operations and related
businesses) to Bank of America for a total consideration of $21 billion in
cash
(subject to adjustment based on the financial performance of LaSalle before
the
closing of the sale). ABN AMRO will retain its global operations and,
with limited exceptions, its other operations outside the US, as well as its
principal broker dealer, investment advisory, wholesale banking and asset
management operations in the US.
The
sale
of LaSalle is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing
conditions and its completion is an offer condition of the proposed combination
with Barclays.
Events
after April 23, 2007
The
LaSalle Agreement included a ‘‘go shop’’ provision that permitted ABN AMRO, for
a period of 14 calendar days from April 22, 2007, to enter into a purchase
and
sale agreement for LaSalle with an alternative
bidder,
provided that such alternative bidder’s
proposal was superior from a financial point of view to the LaSalle Agreement,
for cash and not subject to a financing condition. The ‘‘go shop’’
provision granted Bank of America a right to match any such superior proposal
and provided for Bank of America to receive a $200 million termination fee
if it
did not match such superior proposal.
On
April
25, 2007, ABN AMRO received an indicative proposal from the Consortium, to
acquire ABN AMRO. Following that date, ABN AMRO made repeated
requests to the Consortium to clarify the terms of their indicative
proposal.
On
April
26, 2007, Vereniging van Effectenbezitters (“VEB”) filed suit in the
Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal seeking, among other things,
a provisional injunction restraining ABN AMRO and ABN AMRO Bank from proceeding
to completion under the LaSalle Agreement without approval of ABN AMRO’s
shareholders. On that date, the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board also engaged
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP to provide it with independent US legal
advice.
On
the
evening of April 26, 2007, Mr. Martinez met with Sir Fred Goodwin during which
meeting Sir Fred Goodwin confirmed the seriousness of the Consortium’s interest
in announcing an offer for ABN AMRO.
On
April
27, 2007, ABN AMRO entered into confidentiality agreements with each members
of
the Consortium, and made available the same information regarding ABN AMRO
as
had been made available to Barclays.
On
April
27, 2007, a purported class action lawsuit relating to the sale of LaSalle
was
filed in the New York State Supreme Court for New York County against ABN AMRO,
each member of the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board
and Bank of America. The lawsuit, Halpert Enterprises v. ABN AMRO
Holding N.V., et al., generally alleges, among other things, that members
of the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board violated
their
fiduciary duties by, among other things, preventing a full and fair sale process
for the whole of ABN AMRO. The complaint also names Bank of America
as a defendant and seeks, among other forms of relief, a declaration that the
termination fee is unenforceable, a declaration that the LaSalle Agreement
was
entered into in breach of fiduciary duties and therefore is unlawful and
unenforceable, an injunction against the consummation of the LaSalle Agreement,
the imposition of a constructive trust in favor of plaintiff and the alleged
class and an award of attorneys’ fees and expenses.
On
April
28, 2007, ABN AMRO entered into a confidentiality agreement with the members
of
the Consortium, and made available the same information regarding LaSalle as
had
been made available to Bank of America.
Also
on
April 28, 2007, Mr. Martinez and Sir Tom McKillop, Chairman of the Board of
Directors of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, spoke by telephone about
the
general situation and Sir Tom McKillop assured Mr. Martinez that the financing
for the proposed offer was solidly in place.
From
April
30, 2007 to May 4, 2007, representatives from the various business units of
ABN
AMRO and the members of the Consortium met to conduct due diligence, including
business overviews and an examination of ABN AMRO’s organizational
structure.
On
May 1,
2007, Mr. Martinez spoke again by telephone with Sir Tom McKillop during which
call Mr. Martinez urged the Consortium to announce their bid as soon as possible
and assured Sir Tom McKillop that the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board would, within
the context of its contractual obligations, run a process that ensured a level
playing field between the two proposed offers.
On
May 2,
2007, Wilco G. Jiskoot, and Hugh Scott-Barrett, both members of the Managing
Board of ABN AMRO, assisted by representatives of UBS and Morgan Stanley, met
with Sir Fred Goodwin, Guy Whittaker, Group Finance Director of the Royal Bank
of Scotland PLC, Lex Kloosterman, Chief Strategy Officer of Fortis S.A./N.V.,
and Luis de Mora Gil-Gallardo, Head of Corporate Development of Banco Santander
Central Hispano S.A., together with Henrietta Baldock of Merrill Lynch, to
clarify certain aspects of the Consortium’s proposals.
On
May 3,
2007, the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal granted a
provisional injunction restraining ABN AMRO and ABN AMRO Bank from proceeding
to
completion under the LaSalle Agreement without approval of ABN AMRO’s
shareholders.
On
May 4,
2007, Bank of America filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court of
the
Southern District of New York against ABN AMRO. The lawsuit, Bank
of America Corporation v. ABN AMRO BANK N.V. and ABN AMRO Holding N.V.,
generally alleges, among other things, that ABN AMRO Bank breached its
representation in the LaSalle Agreement that no shareholder vote was necessary
regarding the sale of LaSalle. The complaint seeks injunctive relief
that ABN AMRO Bank be precluded from negotiating for the sale of LaSalle except
as provided for in the ‘‘go shop’’ provision of the LaSalle Agreement, an order
of specific performance for the delivery of LaSalle to Bank of America and
unspecified money damages.
On
the
evening of May 4, 2007, Mr. Groenink and Mr. Martinez had a dinner meeting
with
Count Maurice Lippens, Chairman of the Fortis S.A./N.V. Board of Directors,
and
Jean-Paul Votron, Chief Executive Officer of Fortis, during which they discussed
the Consortium’s interest in acquiring ABN AMRO.
On
May 5,
2007, ABN AMRO received an acquisition proposal from the Consortium, to purchase
LaSalle for $24.5 billion. This proposal was conditional on the
purchase by the Consortium of ABN AMRO for an indicative price of €38.40 per ABN
AMRO ordinary share and a number of other conditions. The considered
view of the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board, having
received advice from their respective financial and legal advisors, was that
the
Consortium’s acquisition proposal for LaSalle did not constitute an alternative
proposal that was superior from a financial point of view to the LaSalle
Agreement. This conclusion was principally based on the fact that the
Consortium’s proposal for LaSalle was dependent on the success of a potential
offer to be made for ABN AMRO and the various conditions and uncertainties
attached to that potential offer. In particular, fundamental aspects
of the potential offer for ABN AMRO, including with respect to financing,
required regulatory notifications, tax clearances, the proposed material adverse
change condition, required shareholder approvals and the pro forma financial
impact upon each of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, Fortis N.V., Fortis
SA./NV and Banco Santander Central Hispano S.A., remained unclear despite
repeated requests for clarification since April 25, 2007, the date on which
ABN
AMRO received an indicative proposal from the Consortium to acquire ABN
AMRO. Prior to making their determination on May 6, 2007, the ABN
AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board sent a detailed
information request letter seeking clarification and evidence on various aspects
of the Consortium’s potential offer for ABN AMRO which had first been requested
on April 25, 2007, but the requested information was not
provided. Without details about the Consortium’s financing and the
pro forma financial impact on each of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC,
Fortis N.V. and Fortis SA/NV and Banco Santander Central Hispano S.A., the
ABN
AMRO Supervisory Board and the ABN AMRO Managing Board were unable to assess
the
likelihood that any separate shareholder vote required by the Royal Bank of
Scotland Group PLC, Fortis N.V. and Fortis SA/NV and Banco Santander Central
Hispano S.A. would be successful, and therefore whether or not the potential
offer to acquire ABN AMRO had a reasonable likelihood of
consummation.
The
14-day
‘‘go shop’’ period expired at 11:59 pm New York time on May 6, 2007, and no
alternative agreement was entered into prior to that time. Two other
parties had signed confidentiality agreements and certain due diligence
information had been provided to them but ultimately neither submitted a bid
for
LaSalle.
On
May 15,
2007, ABN AMRO filed an appeal in the Supreme Court of The Netherlands
requesting that the Supreme Court nullify the decision of the Enterprise Chamber
of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal issued on May 3, 2007 which granted a
provisional injunction restraining ABN AMRO and ABN AMRO Bank from proceeding
to
completion under the LaSalle Agreement without approval of ABN AMRO’s
shareholders. Bank of America filed an appeal seeking similar relief
with the Supreme Court of The Netherlands also on May 15, 2007, as did
Barclays.
On
May 17,
2007, two ABN AMRO shareholders filed a lawsuit against Bank of America in
the
United States District Court of the Southern District of New
York. The lawsuit, Sadowsky v. Bank of America Corporation,
generally alleges, among other things, that Bank of America entered into the
LaSalle Agreement with knowledge
that
it
was a defensive mechanism designed to foreclose alternative proposals to
purchase ABN AMRO and that Bank of America’s lawsuit against ABN AMRO was filed
in breach of the LaSalle Agreement. The complaint seeks rescission of
the LaSalle Agreement, an injunction preventing Bank of America from enforcing
the LaSalle Agreement, including the termination fee provisions therein,
unspecified money damages and an award of attorneys’ fees and
expenses.
On
May 23,
2007, Barclays and ABN AMRO announced that they were making progress with the
key regulatory filings required to proceed with the combination and expected
to
disseminate offer documentation in July 2007.
On
May 29,
2007, the Consortium, announced a proposed offer for ABN AMRO.
On
May 30,
2007, ABN AMRO announced publicly that the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board had formed
a Transaction Committee, formed of the same members as the previously existing
ad hoc committee (Mr. Martinez, Mr. Olijslager and Mr. van den Bergh)
which would liaise with the ABN AMRO Managing Board and key staff and advisors
of ABN AMRO on all matters with respect to the Barclays Offer and with respect
to the Consortium Offer. The Transaction Committee will operate in
all respects so as to enable the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board to take on an
informed basis and with the help of its own independent financial and legal
advisors the appropriate decisions with due consideration of the interests
of
ABN AMRO and its stakeholders.
On
June 7,
2007, Mr. Votron spoke with Mr. Jiskoot, regarding valuation issues with respect
to the Consortium’s proposed offer and the role of ABN AMRO’s Transaction
Committee.
On
June
11, 2007, at the joint request of Bank of America and ABN AMRO, the United
States District Court for the Southern District of New York adjourned the
initial conference in the lawsuit filed by Bank of America against ABN AMRO
until July 27, 2007 in view of the pendency of the appeals filed by ABN AMRO
and
Bank of America to the Dutch Supreme Court from the decision of the Enterprise
Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal dated May 3, 2007.
On
June
12, 2007, Barclays announced publicly that, in collaboration with ABN AMRO,
it
had made substantially all of the pre-acquisition competition and regulatory
filings required to proceed with the proposed combination and expected to
publish the offer documentation in July 2007.
On
June
12, 2007, Barclays also announced publicly that it had filed the draft
documentation in relation to the exchange offer with regulators in The
Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (including
the
draft registration statement on Form F-4 containing the preliminary version
of
the Offer Document/Prospectus).
On
June
12, 2007, Mr. Groenink and Sir Fred Goodwin met in Amsterdam to further discuss
the terms of the proposal by the Consortium.
On
June
13, 2007, Mr. Jiskoot, together with representatives of UBS and Morgan Stanley,
met with Mr. Whittaker, Gilbert Mittler, of Fortis S.A./N.V. and Jose Antonio
Alvarez, of Banco Santander Central Hispano S.A., together with a representative
of Merrill Lynch, to clarify the Consortium’s proposed offer for ABN AMRO with
the understanding that ABN AMRO would not consider or facilitate any offer
that
did not preserve the rights and obligations under the LaSalle
Agreement.
On
June
26, 2007, the Advocate General to the Supreme Court of The Netherlands published
a recommendation to the Supreme Court to nullify the decision of the Enterprise
Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal issued on May 3, 2007. This
recommendation was independent legal advice issued to the Supreme
Court.
On
June
28, 2007, four trade unions joined the investigation proceedings initiated
on
April 26, 2007 by VEB at the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of
Appeal. The trade unions have put forward certain additional
objections and requested that the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court
of
Appeal order an investigation into certain affairs of ABN AMRO in respect of
the
offer process.
On
July 4,
2007, Mr. Votron and Mr. Jiskoot met to discuss the merits of the Consortium’s
proposed offer, valuation issues and the impact of a transaction between the
Consortium and ABN AMRO on clients and others.
On
July 9,
2007, ABN AMRO filed a statement of defense in response to the request of VEB
to
order an investigation into certain affairs of ABN AMRO in respect of the offer
process.
On
July
10, 2007, VEB requested that the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court
of
Appeal, in the context of the investigation proceedings initiated by it on
April
26, 2007, appoint three independent members of the ABN AMRO Supervisory
Board. The request was revoked prior to the hearing, which was then
cancelled.
Also
on
July 10, 2007, as a follow-up to the meetings on June 13, 2007, Mr. Groenink
wrote to Sir Fred Goodwin and, referring to interim discussions between advisors
regarding the possible division of the Dutch operations between RBS and Fortis,
clarified certain facts relating to the organization of those operations and
the
related financial implications and indicated further important information
could
be shared in the interests of clarification. In this letter, Mr.
Groenink also expressed his concerns about figures used by the Consortium in
relation to ABN AMRO wholesale business. On July 11, 2007, Sir Fred
Goodwin responded with a letter requesting such information and expressing
willingness to schedule a further meeting.
On
July
13, 2007, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands upheld the appeals filed by
ABN
AMRO, Bank of America and Barclays on May 15, 2007 against the decision of
the
Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal issued on May 3,
2007. The Supreme Court nullified the decision of the Enterprise
Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal and irrevocably dismissed the request
of VEB for a provisional injunction restraining ABN AMRO and ABN AMRO Bank
from
proceeding to completion under the LaSalle Agreement without approval of ABN
AMRO’s shareholders.
On
the
same day, Mr. Groenink called Sir Fred Goodwin to seek clarification of the
Consortium’s position following the Supreme Court’s ruling. Sir Fred
Goodwin confirmed that the Consortium would clarify its position
shortly. During a subsequent telephone conversation, Sir Fred Goodwin
advised Mr. Martinez that the Consortium intended to make a revised offer which
would be materially higher than Barclays’ proposed offer and that it would be a
condition of that revised offer that ABN AMRO did not make any further disposals
of a material part of its business or assets. Mr. Martinez confirmed
that ABN AMRO would treat any revised offer by the Consortium for ABN AMRO,
without LaSalle, on a level playing field with Barclays’ proposed
offer. There was a subsequent follow up call between Mr. Groenink and
Sir Fred Goodwin.
Later
that
day, the Consortium wrote to Mr. Martinez and Mr. Groenink confirming that
they
intended to bid for ABN AMRO, that their bid would be conditional, amongst
other
things, upon there being no further disposals by ABN AMRO of a material part
of
its business or assets, and that it remained the Consortium’s preference to work
with the ABN AMRO Boards to secure their recommendation for the Consortium’s
proposals. The Consortium also issued a press release confirming
their intention to proceed with a revised bid for ABN AMRO excluding
LaSalle.
On
July
15, 2007, during separate telephone conversations with each of Mr. Martinez
and
Mr. Groenink, Sir Fred Goodwin confirmed that the Consortium would be making
a
revised proposed offer at €38.40 per ABN AMRO ordinary share. Mr.
Martinez and Mr. Groenink, each reconfirmed that this revised proposed offer
would be treated on a level playing field with Barclays’ proposed offer and that
ABN AMRO had no intention of making any major assets disposals at the current
time.
On
July
16, 2007, the Consortium announced its intention to make an offer to acquire
ABN
AMRO for approximately $98 billion, through a combination of cash and newly
issued shares of RBS.
Also
on
that day and further to the correspondence between Mr. Groenink and Sir Fred
Goodwin on July 10 and 11, 2007, representatives of RBS and Fortis met with
ABN
AMRO representatives to discuss and share limited historical management
accounting information for periods in 2005 and 2006 relating to ABN AMRO’s
business units.
On
the
evening of July 18, 2007, Mr. Varley informed Mr. Groenink that the AFM had
granted Barclays an extension so that an announcement of its formal offer
documentation being available could be made on or before August 6,
2007. Mr. Varley also informed Mr. Groenink that Barclays was
considering possible alternative offer structures, including the introduction
of
a partial cash consideration element into its offer.
On
the
same day, during telephone conversations between Mr. Groenink and Sir Fred
Goodwin, Mr. Groenink confirmed that the Consortium’s revised proposed offer
would be assessed in a fair and transparent manner and that ABN AMRO had no
intention of making any major asset disposals at that time.
On
July
19, 2007, Barclays announced it was considering possible alternative offer
structures, including the introduction of a partial cash consideration element
into its offer but that no decision had yet been taken.
On
the
evening of July 19, 2007, during a telephone conversation between Mr. Groenink
and Mr. Varley, Mr. Varley outlined further details about the
revised offer for ABN AMRO that Barclays was considering.
On
July
20, 2007, the Central Works Council of ABN AMRO provided positive
advice in respect of the proposed combination with
Barclays.
On
the
evening of July 20, 2007, ABN AMRO received a letter from
Barclays outlining the terms and conditions of its revised offer for ABN
AMRO.
On
July 21
and 22, 2007, representatives of ABN AMRO and Barclays discussed and agreed
the
provisions of an amendment to the Merger Protocol dated April 23, 2007, to
accommodate ABN AMRO review of the revised proposal from Barclays and to
facilitate Barclays public announcement of its revised proposal on 23 July
2007.
On
July
23, 2007, Barclays announced the revised terms of its offer for ABN
AMRO.
On
July
24, 2007, Mr. Groenink wrote to Sir Fred Goodwin inviting the Consortium to
make
a presentation about its offer on July 25, 2007. On the same day, Sir
Fred Goodwin declined the invitation, stating that it would not be feasible
to
have the presentation the next day, but suggesting that the parties find
another date for such a presentation.
On
July
25, 2007, Mr. Varley sent a letter to Mr. Groenink and Mr. Martinez to restate
the key points underlying Barclays revised proposal and why the ABN AMRO Boards
should continue to recommend this proposed exchanged offer to ABN AMRO
shareholders.
Also
on
July 25, 2007, Mr. Martinez called Sir Fred Goodwin noting that the ABN AMRO
Supervisory Board would be meeting on July 26 and July 27, 2007 and asking
if
Sir Fred Goodwin had any message or information that he would like to have
passed on to the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board. Sir Fred Goodwin
responded that all of the relevant information had been previously communicated
or was in the offer.
On
July
26, 2007, Barclays filed with the SEC an amendment to its draft registration
statement on Form F-4 containing a revised draft of its offer
document/prospectus.
On
the
morning of July 26, 2007, the ABN AMRO Managing Board met to consider the
revised terms of the Barclays proposed exchange offer and the terms of the
Consortium Offer.
Later
on
the same day, the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board
held a joint meeting to discuss the two competing proposals and received a
combined presentation from members of the ABN AMRO Managing Board, outside
legal
counsel and financial advisors and members of the management, followed by a
Q&A session.
On
the
evening of July 26, 2007, Mr. Varley made a presentation to the ABN AMRO
Supervisory Board and Mr. Groenink.
During
the
course of the day on July 27, 2007, the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN
AMRO
Supervisory Board met throughout the day both together and separately, in
executive sessions and with outside legal counsels and financial
advisors. As a result of these meetings, each of the ABN AMRO
Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board, after having considered
the
advice of outside legal counsel and financial advisors, acting in good faith
and
observing their fiduciary duties resolved to make the statement contained in
the
press release issued on July 30, 2007 and also reflected in Item 4 below (see
“—Reasons for the Recommendation”).
On
the
evening of July 27, 2007, Mr. Groenink and Mr. Varley agreed in principle that
neither ABN AMRO, nor Barclays, wished to terminate the Merger Protocol and/or
to claim payment, at that time, of the break fees contemplated
therein.
On
July
27, 2007, the lawsuit filed in the United States District Court of the Southern
District of New York against ABN AMRO by Bank of America on May 4, 2007, was
dismissed without prejudice.
During
the
course of the day on July 28, and July 29, representatives of ABN AMRO and
Barclays, and their respective advisors, worked on the second amendment to
the
Merger Protocol, dated July 30, 2007.
On
July
31, 2007, Mr. Groenink was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as having said
that
“We continue to support the Barclays offer because we believe overall it is
to
the benefit of shareholders and stakeholders”. This quotation is based on a
press conference and was taken out of context. Immediately
thereafter, Mr. Groenink expressly said that the ABN AMRO Board recognized
that
the value to the shareholders of the Barclays Offer was inferior to what
the
Consortium was offering and that therefore, at this point, the Board could
not
recommend the Barclays Offer to shareholders. This message, which was
part of an extended discussion on the level playing field and the requirements
of Dutch law was intended to be, and when read in its full context was, in
line
with the position of the ABN AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory
Board, as reflected in the July 30, 2007 press release, that “notwithstanding
their support of the strategic benefits of the combination with Barclays,
they
are not currently in a position to recommend either the Consortium Offer
or the
Barclays Offer for acceptance to ABN AMRO shareholders” (see “—Reasons for the
Recommendation” below).
On
August
2, 2007, a hearing will was held at the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam
Court of Appeal in respect of the requests of VEB and four trade unions to
order
an investigation into certain affairs of ABN AMRO in respect of the offer
process. In relation thereto, ABN AMRO has committed to continue to
update investors in accordance with all applicable laws and
regulations.
On
August
3, 2007 ABN AMRO filed an amendment to its Form 20-F.
On
August
3, 2007, Barclays filed with the SEC the third amendment to its draft
Registration Statement on Form F-4 containing a revised draft of its offer
document/prospectus, followed, after discussions with the SEC on August 3,
2007
by the filing of the fourth amendment. At 5:30 pm Eastern Standard
Time on August 3, 2007, the Barclays Form F-4 was declared effective by the
SEC.
On
August
3, 2007, Mr. Groenink was reported by the Het Financiale Dagblad, a Dutch
financial newspaper, to have recommended Fortis shareholders vote against the
rights issue contemplated by Fortis. He was quoted as having said
“Shareholders would do well to vote against the takeover. If it goes ahead the
Fortis share price will fall further”. Mr. Groenink’s position is
that he was misquoted.
On
August
3, 2007, Mr. Martinez received a call from Sir Fred Goodwin who expressed his
concern with respect to the press reports about Mr. Groenink’s purported
comments on the Fortis shareholders vote and raised questions about whether
such
comments were meant to question the existence of a real level playing
field. Mr. Martinez reaffirmed the position of the ABN AMRO
Supervisory Board to maintain a level playing field and his belief that Mr.
Groenink had been misquoted. Later on the same day, Mr. Martinez
conveyed the same message during a telephone conversation with Sir Tom
McKillop.
On
August
4, 2007, Mr. Jiskoot called Mr. Votron to discuss the media reports about the
Fortis shareholder vote. Also on August 4, 2007, Mr. Martinez and Sir
Fred Goodwin had a separate telephone conversation during
which
they
agreed that ABN AMRO and the Consortium should issue a joint statement about
the
fact that Mr. Groenink had been misquoted and to acknowledge on the
part of both the Consortium and the ABN AMRO Supervisory and Managing Boards
that a level playing field was being maintained.
On
the
afternoon of August 5, 2007, ABN AMRO and the Consortium issued a joint
press-release in which the Consortium accepted the assurances by ABN AMRO that
Mr. Groenink was misquoted as having given advice how to vote to Fortis
shareholders and ABN AMRO and the Consortium confirmed that there was no dispute
about the profitability of the Business Unit The Netherlands. ABN
AMRO and the Consortium further announced that they had agreed to continue
the
constructive dialogue to resolve any outstanding questions regarding the
Consortium Offer, and to maintain a level playing field.
On
August
6, 2007 Barclays launched the Barclays Offer in the Netherlands, the United
Kingdom, the United States and certain other jurisdictions.
Also
on
August 6, 2007, the Consortium Offer was approved by the Fortis
shareholders.
During
the
week of August 6, 2007, ABN AMRO’s financial advisors had several telephone
conversations with financial advisors to the Consortium and on August 9,
2007 business principals from the members of the Consortium along with their
financial advisors and business principals from ABN AMRO along with their
financial advisors met in London at a meeting where various diligence and
business information was discussed and in which it was agreed that
further discussions would take place.
Reasons
for the Recommendation
Reasoned
Opinion (gemotiveerde standpuntbepaling) from the ABN AMRO
Boards
The
ABN
AMRO Supervisory and the ABN AMRO Managing Board (the “ABN AMRO Boards”), in
their respective meetings on July 26 and 27, 2007, discussed the Consortium
Offer and the proposed Barclays offer (the “Barclays Offer”, together with the
Consortium Offer, the “Offers”, and each of the Offers, an “Offer”) with a view
to coming to a reasoned position on both Offers taking into account the best
interest of ABN AMRO’s shareholders and other stakeholders. In doing so, the ABN
AMRO Boards assessed each Offer in the context of the following
elements:
|
1.
|
Interest
of shareholders and other
stakeholders:
|
|
·
|
Shareholders:
the current value of the Offers, the mix of consideration, the degree
of
sensitivity, as appropriate, of the value of the offers to the offerors’
share prices, proposed synergies and ABN AMRO’s strategic
vision;
|
|
·
|
Employees:
career opportunities, commitments, any proposed gross and net redundancies
and the formal advice and opinions of, as well as views expressed
by,
employee representative bodies;
|
|
·
|
Customers:
service quality and continuity with regard to product offerings and
business model;
|
|
·
|
Creditors:
financial strength and long-term ratings of the ongoing
businesses.
|
The
ABN
AMRO Boards would anticipate that the De Nederlandsche Bank (“DNB”) and other
regulators, in performing their roles and making their final determinations,
will discipline and monitor both offerors in the best interest of customers,
creditors, the financial system and society at large.
|
2.
|
Risks
associated with each proposed
transaction:
|
|
·
|
Execution
risks, including the likelihood and timing of regulatory and
shareholder approvals, the wording of the “Material Adverse Change” clause
and other pre-offer and offer conditions or fiduciary outs of each
offer;
|
|
·
|
Post–acquisition
risks: where relevant, break-up and integration risks, capital
adequacy and funding, legal and compliance risks and business integrity
risks.
|
|
·
|
Where
relevant, Headquarter location, Board structure and representation,
likely
distribution of senior and middle management
positions.
|
Barclays
announced on July 23, 2007 the proposed revised terms of the Barclays of its
Offer. Barclays expects to launch such Offer as soon as practicable,
subject to, inter alia, regulatory approval for the Barclays Offer to be
made.
The
revised Barclays Offer includes amended offer terms and has introduced a
significant cash element, together with a mix-and-match alternative. The value
of this Offer, however, remains highly dependent on the share price performance
of Barclays.
The
ABN
AMRO Boards note that the proposed merger with Barclays is consistent with
ABN
AMRO’s previously articulated strategic vision. In addition, the strategic
cooperation with China Development Bank should further enhance the growth
opportunities of a potential combined Barclays/ABN AMRO group in the attractive
Asian market and could result in creation of additional longer-term value for
ABN AMRO shareholders.
The
proposed transaction with Barclays is understood to be well on track to receive
the required regulatory approvals and generally has acceptable and manageable
post-acquisition risks.
The
ABN
AMRO Boards also took into account the positive opinion of the European Staff
Council and the positive advice of the Central Works Council in respect of
the
proposed combination with Barclays received by ABN AMRO as part of the
consultation process. The ABN AMRO Boards also noted the commitments made to
employees and trade unions in respect of employee’s rights and respecting of
existing agreements.
The
approval of the shareholders of Barclays is still outstanding and is currently
expected at the earliest mid-September 2007. The outcome of that vote
remains uncertain at this stage.
As
at
market close on July 27, 2007, the Barclays Offer was at a 1.0% discount to
the
ABN AMRO market price and at an 8.8% discount to the see-through value of the
Consortium Offer.1
The
ABN
AMRO Boards are therefore, notwithstanding their support of the strategic
benefits of the combination with Barclays, not currently in a position to
recommend from a financial point of view the Barclays Offer for acceptance
to
ABN AMRO shareholders.
The
Consortium formally launched its Offer on July 21, 2007. The tender
offer period, if not extended, is expected to end on October 5,
2007.
The
current value of the Consortium Offer, with its high cash component, is
attractive to ABN AMRO shareholders. As at the market close on July
27, 2007, the Consortium Offer was at a premium of 8.5% to the ABN AMRO market
price and of 9.6% to the Barclays Offer’s implied value.2
The
ABN
AMRO Boards welcome the efforts made by the Consortium in establishing a
dialogue with the ABN AMRO employee representative bodies and the commitments
made to ABN AMRO employees with respect to redundancy procedures.
1
As of the European market close on August 10, 2007, the Barclays
Offer was
at a 1.7% discount to the ABN AMRO market price and at a 12.6% discount
to the
see-through value of the Consortium Offer.*
2
As of the European market close on August 10, 2007, the Consortium Offer
was at
a premium of 12.4% to the ABN AMRO market price and of 14.4% to the Barclays
Offer’s implied value.*
*
Percentages
have been determined using the exchange rate of GBP 1.00 = EUR 1.4810,
as
published by the Financial Times on August 10,
2007.
The
ABN
AMRO Boards have identified a number of significant risks to the Consortium
Offer:
|
1.
|
Whereas
sources of integration risks are broadly similar to those identified
for
the Barclays Offer, the ABN AMRO Boards have significant unresolved
questions about the proposed break-up of ABN AMRO and the proposed
methodology of the Consortium to implement such a break-up (as also
explained to the Consortium on May 5, 2007 and included in our press
release dated May 14, 2007);
|
|
2.
|
Whereas
Santander shareholders have already approved the proposed transaction,
approvals of the shareholders of Fortis and RBS are still outstanding
and
expected at the earliest on, respectively, August 6 and August
10. The outcome of those votes remains uncertain at this
stage;
|
|
3.
|
The
approval of the proposed transaction by the Ministry of Finance and
the
views of the Dutch Central Bank in this respect remain uncertain,
including as to timing and associated conditions of any such approval,
particularly in view of the proposed
break-up;
|
|
4.
|
The
broadly defined “Material Adverse Change” clause as it is currently worded
in the Consortium Offer is more onerous and uncertain than the proposed
equivalent Barclays clause.
|
Taking
the
above factors into account, the ABN AMRO Boards are not currently in a position
to recommend the Consortium Offer for acceptance to ABN AMRO
shareholders.
In
light
of the above, the ABN AMRO Boards are not currently in a position to recommend
either Offer for acceptance to ABN AMRO shareholders. ABN AMRO will
further engage with both parties with the aim of continuing to ensure a level
playing field and minimizing any of the uncertainties currently associated
with
the Offers and with a view to optimizing the attractive alternatives available
to ABN AMRO’s shareholders.
The
ABN
AMRO Boards note the approval of the Consortium Offer by the Fortis
shareholders and the RBS shareholders. The ABN AMRO Boards have not
changed the conclusion they reached on July 26 and 27, 2007 and will
continue to engage with both parties as described above. Depending on
further developments, the ABN AMRO Boards may re-evaluate their position
and will inform the ABN AMRO shareholders accordingly.
Item
5. Person/Assets Retained, Employed, Compensated or
Used.
As
outlined above in “Item 4. The Solicitation or Recommendation—Background to the
Proposed Offers—Discussions between ABN AMRO and Barclays”, the Managing Board
of ABN AMRO engaged four external financial advisors, Morgan Stanley, UBS,
Lehman Brothers and Rothschild, due to the significance of the transaction
to
ABN AMRO and the familiarity of each of the advisors with ABN AMRO and its
business. It also used the services of ABN AMRO Corporate Finance and
ABN AMRO Hoare Govett. The Supervisory Board of ABN AMRO engaged
Goldman Sachs as its external financial advisor.
Morgan
Stanley & Co. Limited
Under
the
terms of its engagement letter with Morgan Stanley, ABN AMRO agreed to pay
Morgan Stanley a transaction fee of approximately €39.0 million if a combination
transaction occurs on or prior to December 31, 2007 and €50.7 million if the
combined transaction occurs after December 31, 2007. If a combination
transaction has not been completed by March 31, 2008 and there is no reasonable
prospect that a combination transaction can complete, the transaction fee shall
be €12.5 million. In addition, ABN AMRO agreed to pay Morgan Stanley
a flat fee of €2.0 million in connection with the sale of
LaSalle. ABN AMRO has also agreed to reimburse Morgan Stanley for
certain expenses incurred in performing its services. In addition,
ABN AMRO has agreed to indemnify Morgan Stanley and its affiliates, their
respective directors, officers, agents and employees and each person, if any,
controlling Morgan Stanley or any of its affiliates against certain liabilities
and expenses, including certain liabilities under the U.S. federal securities
laws, related to or arising out of Morgan Stanley’s engagement.
In
the
ordinary course of its trading, brokerage, investment management and financing
activities, Morgan Stanley or its affiliates may at any time hold long or short
positions, and may trade or otherwise effect transactions, for its own account
or the accounts of customers, in debt or equity securities or senior loans
of
ABN AMRO or any other company or any currency that may be involved in the
transaction. In the past, Morgan Stanley and its affiliates have
provided financial advisory and financing services, including
engaging in transactions concerning securities and other instruments, to ABN
AMRO and certain of its affiliates unrelated to the transaction, for which
services Morgan Stanley and its affiliates have received compensation, including
the receipt of underwriting fees related to the issue of commercial mortgage
backed securities with respect to LaSalle Bank in the aggregate amount of $7.5
million. Except for such underwriting fees and the remuneration
payable by ABN AMRO to Morgan Stanley in connection with the transaction and
the
sale of LaSalle (as described in the paragraph above), Morgan Stanley and its
affiliates have not had any material engagements with ABN AMRO and its
affiliates within the past two years for which Morgan Stanley or its affiliates
have received remuneration.
UBS
Limited
Under
the
terms of its engagement letter with UBS, ABN AMRO agreed to pay UBS a
transaction fee of approximately €39.0 million if a combination transaction
occurs on or prior to December 31, 2007 and €50.7 million if the combined
transaction occurs after December 31, 2007. If a combination
transaction has not completed by March 31, 2008 and there is no reasonable
prospect that a combination transaction can complete, the transaction fee shall
be €12.5 million. In addition, ABN AMRO has agreed to reimburse UBS
for its expenses, including fees, disbursements and other reasonable charges
of
counsel, and to indemnify UBS and related parties against liabilities, including
liabilities under U.S. federal securities laws, relating to, or arising out
of,
its engagement.
UBS
and
its affiliates in the past have provided services to ABN AMRO and certain of
its
affiliates, unrelated to the transaction, for which services UBS and its
affiliates have received compensation, including having acted as financial
advisor to ABN AMRO in its sale of LaSalle, financial advisor to ABN AMRO in
connection with its disposal of Bouwfonds to Rabobank and SNS REAAL in December
2006; financial advisor to ABN AMRO Asset Management in the restructuring of
its
China Joint Venture Fund Management Company in May 2006; financial advisor
to
ABN AMRO in the disposal of its US mutual fund business in April 2006;
counterparty to a structured transaction on behalf of LaSalle in February 2007;
and performing certain asset management activities for ABN AMRO. The
aggregate compensation received by UBS and its affiliates in connection with
the
above transactions was approximately €14.6 million. Additionally, in
September 2006, UBS AG purchased ABN AMRO’s Global Futures and Options Business
for a cash consideration of $386 million plus net tangible
assets. UBS and its affiliates regularly engage in transactions
concerning securities and other instruments with ABN AMRO and certain of its
affiliates, for which, or in which, UBS and its affiliates have received or
may
receive compensation. In the ordinary course of business, UBS, its
successors and affiliates may hold or trade, for their own accounts and the
accounts of their customers, securities of ABN AMRO, and, accordingly, may
at
any time hold a long or short position in such securities.
Goldman
Sachs International
Pursuant
to an agreement dated April 16, 2007, ABN AMRO agreed to pay Goldman Sachs
a fee
of €4.0 million payable upon delivery of the opinion referred to above (see
“Item 4. The Solicitation or Recommendation— Background to the Proposed
Offers”). In addition, pursuant to an agreement dated May 5, 2007,
ABN AMRO agreed to pay Goldman Sachs a fee of €15.0 million payable upon the
earlier of the proposed Barclays exchange offer or a substitute transaction
becoming unconditional or withdrawn. In addition, ABN AMRO has agreed
to reimburse Goldman Sachs’ expenses and indemnify Goldman Sachs against certain
liabilities arising out of its engagement. Further, Goldman Sachs
shall receive €2.0 million per opinion for any further opinion
delivered.
Goldman
Sachs and its affiliates, as part of their investment banking business, are
continually engaged in performing financial analyses with respect to businesses
and their securities in connection with mergers and acquisitions, negotiated
underwritings, competitive biddings, secondary distributions of listed and
unlisted securities, private placements and other transactions as well as for
estate, corporate or other purposes. In addition, Goldman Sachs has
provided certain investment banking services to ABN AMRO from time to time
and
may do so in the future. In connection with the above-described
investment banking services Goldman Sachs has received, and may receive in
the
future, compensation. The investment banking business of Goldman
Sachs has not had any material engagements with ABN AMRO and its affiliates
within the past two years for which it has received
remuneration. During the past two years, Goldman Sachs and its
affiliates have received aggregate fees from ABN AMRO and its affiliates for
services unrelated to the transaction of approximately $13.0
million.
Goldman
Sachs and certain of its affiliates are full service securities firms engaged,
either directly or through their respective affiliates, in securities trading,
investment management, financial planning and benefits counseling, risk
management, hedging, financing and brokerage activities for both companies
and
individuals. In the ordinary course of these activities, Goldman
Sachs and its affiliates may provide such services to ABN AMRO and its
affiliates, may actively trade the debt and equity securities (or related
derivative securities) of ABN AMRO for their own account and for the accounts
of
their customers and may at any time hold long and short positions of such
securities.
Lehman
Brothers
Under
the
terms of its engagement letter with Lehman Brothers, ABN AMRO agreed to pay
Lehman Brothers a flat fee of €1.0 million, a fee of €9.0 million payable upon
announcement of the terms of the Barclays exchange offer and a further €10.0
million upon the completion of that transaction or of another transaction
recommended by the ABN AMRO Managing and Supervisory Boards, provided that
such
events occur during the term of Lehman Brothers’ engagement or within 12 months
of the termination of the agreement by Lehman Brothers with cause or by ABN
AMRO
without cause. Furthermore, Lehman Brothers was engaged by the
Managing Board of ABN AMRO to render a fairness opinion to the Managing Board
of
ABN AMRO in respect of the sale by ABN AMRO of LaSalle. ABN AMRO
agreed to pay Lehman Brothers a flat fee of US $2.0 million in connection with
the sale of LaSalle. ABN AMRO has agreed to reimburse Lehman Brothers
for certain of its expenses incurred in performing its services, including
fees,
disbursements and other reasonable charges of counsel, and to indemnify Lehman
Brothers and its affiliates, against certain liabilities arising out of the
engagement.
Lehman
Brothers is a full service securities firms engaged, either directly or through
its affiliates, in securities trading, investment management, financial
planning, risk management, hedging, financing and brokerage activities,
investment banking activities for both companies and individuals and private
equity. In the ordinary course of these activities, Lehman Brothers
and its affiliates may provide such services to ABN AMRO and its respective
affiliates, may actively trade the debt and equity securities (or related
derivative securities) of ABN AMRO for their own account and for the accounts
of
their customers and may at any time hold long and short positions of such
securities.
In
the
past Lehman Brothers and its affiliates have undertaken several services,
including investment banking, brokerage, asset management and private banking
services, for ABN AMRO and certain of its affiliates, unrelated to the proposed
exchange offer, for which services Lehman Brothers has received
compensation. In addition to
Lehman
Brothers’ involvement in the proposed exchange offer by Barclays for ABN AMRO
ordinary shares and ABN AMRO ADSs and the intended sale of LaSalle to Bank
of
America, Lehman Brothers acted as financial advisor to ABN AMRO in connection
with its the acquisition of Banca Antonveneta, the sale by ABN AMRO of its
US
mortgage activities and the offering of ordinary shares by ABN AMRO to partially
finance the acquisition of Banca Antonveneta. The aggregate
remuneration of the aforementioned activities totaled approximately €66 million
over the past two years.
NM
Rothschild & Sons
Pursuant
to an agreement dated April 19, 2007, ABN AMRO agreed to pay Rothschild a flat
fee of €1.0 million, a fee of €9.0 million payable upon announcement of the
terms of the Barclays exchange offer and a further €10.0 million upon the
completion of that transaction or of another transaction recommended by the
ABN
AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board, provided that such
events occur during the term of Rothschild’s engagement or within 12 months of
the termination of the agreement by Rothschild with cause or by ABN AMRO without
cause. ABN AMRO has agreed to reimburse Rothschild’s expenses and
indemnify Rothschild against certain liabilities arising out of the
engagement.
Rothschild
and certain of its affiliates are full service securities firms engaged, either
directly or through their respective affiliates, in securities trading,
investment management, financial planning and benefits counseling, risk
management, hedging, financing and brokerage activities for both companies
and
individuals. In the ordinary course of these activities, Rothschild
and its affiliates may provide such services to ABN AMRO and its affiliates,
may
actively trade the debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities)
of ABN AMRO for their own account and for the accounts of their customers and
may at any time hold long and short positions of such securities. In addition,
David Baron de Rothschild, a member of the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board, also
serves in a number of managing and supervisory capacities at various Rothschild
companies, including NM Rothschild & Sons.
During
the
past two years Rothschild Group and its affiliated businesses (including its
participation in the ABN AMRO Rothschild joint venture) have undertaken
predominantly investment banking activities for ABN AMRO. During this period,
in
addition to Rothschild's involvement in the proposed exchange offer by Barclays
for ABN AMRO ordinary shares and ABN AMRO ADSs, Rothschild advised ABN AMRO
on
the following significant transactions (i) the acquisition of Banca Antonveneta
by ABN AMRO, and (ii) ABN AMRO Capital's sale of Röntgen Technische
Dienst. During the past two years, Rothschild Group and its
affiliated businesses have received aggregate fees from ABN AMRO and its
affiliates for services unrelated to the transaction of approximately €21
million.
Item
6. Interest in Securities of the Subject
Company.
Other
than
as set forth below, no transactions in shares have been effected during the
period from June 8, 2007 through August 6, 2007 by ABN AMRO or, to the knowledge
of ABN AMRO, any executive officer, director, affiliate or subsidiary of ABN
AMRO.
Share
Buy-Back Program
On
February 8, 2007, ABN AMRO announced a share buy-back program of €1 billion in
addition to the neutralization of the 2006 final stock dividend. See
“—Dividend” below. As and from the interim dividend for 2007, all
dividend payments will be in cash.
The
share
buy-back program of €1 billion started on February 12, 2007 and ABN AMRO
announced on June 15, 2007 that the program has been completed. A
total number of 31,646,434 shares were bought at an average price of
€31.60.
The
repurchases of shares during the period from June 8, 2007 through August 6,
2007 by ABN AMRO listed in the table below refer to repurchases under both
the share buy-back program of €1 billion and the neutralization of the 2006
final stock dividend.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
June
8 2007
|
|
|
250,000
|
|
|
|
35.20856
|
|
|
|
8,802,140.00
|
|
June
8 2007
|
|
|
51,137
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
1,789,795.00
|
|
June
8 2007
|
|
|
37,500
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
1,317,375.00
|
|
June
11 2007
|
|
|
250,000
|
|
|
|
35.3208
|
|
|
|
8,830,200.00
|
|
June
11 2007
|
|
|
51,137
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
1,789,795.00
|
|
June
11 2007
|
|
|
37,500
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
1,317,375.00
|
|
June
12 2007
|
|
|
250,000
|
|
|
|
35.1899
|
|
|
|
8,797,475.00
|
|
June
12 2007
|
|
|
75,000
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
2,634,750.00
|
|
June
12 2007
|
|
|
51,137
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
1,789,795.00
|
|
June
13 2007
|
|
|
250,000
|
|
|
|
35.3316
|
|
|
|
8,832,900.00
|
|
June
13 2007
|
|
|
37,500
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
1,317,375.00
|
|
June
13 2007
|
|
|
51,137
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
1,789,795.00
|
|
June
14 2007
|
|
|
250,000
|
|
|
|
35.5487
|
|
|
|
8,887,175.00
|
|
June
14 2007
|
|
|
51,137
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
1,789,795.00
|
|
June
14 2007
|
|
|
37,500
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
1,317,375.00
|
|
June
15 2007
|
|
|
200,000
|
|
|
|
35.711
|
|
|
|
7,142,200.00
|
|
June
15 2007
|
|
|
51,137
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
1,789,795.00
|
|
June
15 2007
|
|
|
37,500
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
1,317,375.00
|
|
June
18 2007
|
|
|
200,000
|
|
|
|
35.7189
|
|
|
|
7,143,780.00
|
|
June
18 2007
|
|
|
51,137
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
1,789,795.00
|
|
June
18 2007
|
|
|
37,500
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
1,317,375.00
|
|
June
19 2007
|
|
|
200,000
|
|
|
|
35.644
|
|
|
|
7,128,800.00
|
|
June
19 2007
|
|
|
51,137
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
1,789,795.00
|
|
June
19 2007
|
|
|
37,500
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
1,317,375.00
|
|
June
20 2007
|
|
|
51,137
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
1,789,795.00
|
|
June
20 2007
|
|
|
37,500
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
1,317,375.00
|
|
June
21 2007
|
|
|
51,137
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
1,789,795.00
|
|
June
21 2007
|
|
|
37,500
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
1,317,375.00
|
|
June
22 2007
|
|
|
126,136
|
|
|
|
35.077
|
|
|
|
(4,424,545.00 |
) |
June
25 2007
|
|
|
177,274
|
|
|
|
35.055
|
|
|
|
(6,214,340.00 |
) |
June
26 2007
|
|
|
177,274
|
|
|
|
35.055
|
|
|
|
(6,214,340.00 |
) |
June
27 2007
|
|
|
177,274
|
|
|
|
35.055
|
|
|
|
(6,214,340.00 |
) |
June
28 2007
|
|
|
177,274
|
|
|
|
35.055
|
|
|
|
(6,214,340.00 |
) |
June
29 2007
|
|
|
177,274
|
|
|
|
35.055
|
|
|
|
(6,214,340.00 |
) |
July
2 2007
|
|
|
75,000
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
(2,634,750.00 |
) |
July
2 2007
|
|
|
102,274
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
(3,579,590.00 |
) |
July
2 2007
|
|
|
300,000
|
|
|
|
34.032
|
|
|
|
(10,209,600.00 |
) |
July
3 2007
|
|
|
75,000
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
(2,634,750.00 |
) |
July
3 2007
|
|
|
102,274
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
(3,579,590.00 |
) |
July
3 2007
|
|
|
300,000
|
|
|
|
34.0484
|
|
|
|
(10,214,520.00 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
July
4 2007
|
|
|
75,000
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
(2,634,750.00 |
) |
July
4 2007
|
|
|
102,274
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
(3,579,590.00 |
) |
July
4 2007
|
|
|
400,000
|
|
|
|
34.3026
|
|
|
|
(13,721,040.00 |
) |
July
5 2007
|
|
|
75,000
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
(2,634,750.00 |
) |
July
5 2007
|
|
|
102,274
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
(3,579,590.00 |
) |
July
5 2007
|
|
|
200,000
|
|
|
|
34.5295
|
|
|
|
(6,905,900.00 |
) |
July
6 2007
|
|
|
75,000
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
(2,634,750.00 |
) |
July
6 2007
|
|
|
102,274
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
(3,579,590.00 |
) |
July
6 2007
|
|
|
200,000
|
|
|
|
34.7152
|
|
|
|
(6,943,040.00 |
) |
July
9 2007
|
|
|
75,000
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
(2,634,750.00 |
) |
July
9 2007
|
|
|
102,274
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
(3,579,590.00 |
) |
July
9 2007
|
|
|
400,000
|
|
|
|
34.7173
|
|
|
|
(13,886,920.00 |
) |
July
10 2007
|
|
|
75,000
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
(2,634,750.00 |
) |
July
10 2007
|
|
|
102,274
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
(3,579,590.00 |
) |
July
10 2007
|
|
|
400,000
|
|
|
|
34.5552
|
|
|
|
(13,822,080.00 |
) |
July
11 2007
|
|
|
75,000
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
(2,634,750.00 |
) |
July
11 2007
|
|
|
102,274
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
(3,579,590.00 |
) |
July
11 2007
|
|
|
300,000
|
|
|
|
34.4266
|
|
|
|
(10,327,980.00 |
) |
July
12 2007
|
|
|
51,137
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
(1,789,795.00 |
) |
July
12 2007
|
|
|
37,500
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
(1,317,375.00 |
) |
July
12 2007
|
|
|
300,000
|
|
|
|
35.07673987
|
|
|
|
(10,523,021.96 |
) |
July
13 2007
|
|
|
51,137
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
(1,789,795.00 |
) |
July
13 2007
|
|
|
37,500
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
(1,317,375.00 |
) |
July
18 2007
|
|
|
300,000
|
|
|
|
35.07673987
|
|
|
|
(11,089,585.88 |
) |
July
19 2007
|
|
|
300,000
|
|
|
|
37.1125
|
|
|
|
(11,133,750.00 |
) |
July
20 2007
|
|
|
450,000
|
|
|
|
36.8431
|
|
|
|
(16,579,395.00 |
) |
July
23 2007
|
|
|
300,000
|
|
|
|
36.8851
|
|
|
|
(11,065,530.00 |
) |
July
24 2007
|
|
|
300,000
|
|
|
|
36.9558
|
|
|
|
(11,086,740.00 |
) |
July
25 2007
|
|
|
370,000
|
|
|
|
36.5378
|
|
|
|
(13,518,986.00 |
) |
July
25 2007
|
|
|
51,137
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
(1,789,795.00 |
) |
July
25 2007
|
|
|
37,500
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
(1,317,375.00 |
) |
July
26 2007
|
|
|
2,050,000
|
|
|
|
35.6152
|
|
|
|
(73,011,160.00 |
) |
July
26 2007
|
|
|
51,137
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
(1,789,795.00 |
) |
July
26 2007
|
|
|
37,500
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
(1,317,375 |
) |
July
27 2007
|
|
|
1,600,000
|
|
|
|
35.0484
|
|
|
|
(56,077,440.00 |
) |
July
27 2007
|
|
|
75,000
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
(2,634,750.00 |
) |
July
27 2007
|
|
|
102,274
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
(3,579,590.00 |
) |
July
30 2007
|
|
|
75,000
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
(2,634,750.00 |
) |
July
30 2007
|
|
|
51,137
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
(1,789,795.00 |
) |
July
31 2007
|
|
|
1,082,381
|
|
|
|
35.2892
|
|
|
|
(38,196,359.59 |
) |
July
31 2007
|
|
|
51,137
|
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
|
(1,789,795.00 |
) |
July
31 2007
|
|
|
37,500
|
|
|
|
35.13
|
|
|
|
(1,317,375.00 |
) |
Dividend
On
April
26, 2007, the ABN AMRO General Meeting of Shareholders approved the ABN AMRO
2006 annual accounts. Following this approval, the dividend for the
2006 financial year was set at €1.15 per ordinary share of €0.56 nominal
value. When the €0.55 interim dividend issued on August 30, 2006 is
deducted, a final dividend of €0.60 remains. It was determined that
the final 2006 dividend would be payable, at shareholders’ option, either wholly
in cash or wholly in ordinary shares of €0.56 value chargeable to the share
premium reserve. On May 29, 2007, ABN AMRO issued, as part of the
2006 final stock dividend payment, 18,204,058 shares at a price of
€35.40. The ABN AMRO share buy-back program incorporates the
neutralization of the 2006 final stock dividend. See “—Share Buy-Back
Program” above.
Exercise
of Options
During
the
past 60 days and in the ordinary course, ABN AMRO has issued shares to holders
of options upon the exercise of such options by the holders. During
June 2007, ABN AMRO issued 392,247 shares pursuant to the exercise of stock
options at strike prices ranging from €14.45 to €23.14 and at an average strike
price of €18.55.
During
July, 2007, ABN AMRO issued 1,496,766 shares pursuant to the exercise
of stock options at strike prices ranging from €14.45 to €23.14 and at an
average strike price of €19.04. During the period from August 1
through August 6, 2007, ABN AMRO issued 703,039 shares pursuant to the
exercise of stock options at strike prices ranging from €14.45 to €23.14 and at
an average strike price of €17.59.
Transactions
by Members of the ABN AMRO Managing and Supervisory Boards.
To
the
knowledge of ABN AMRO no transactions in shares have been effected during the
past 60 days by any member of the ABN AMRO Managing Board or the ABN AMRO
Supervisory Board.
Approvals
for Certain Purchases of ABN AMRO Shares Before and During the
Offer
Barclays,
ABN AMRO and their respective financial advisors applied have to the SEC for
exemptive relief from the provisions of Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
The
SEC granted the requested relief on April 24, 2007, with the relief taking
effect retroactively on April 23, 2007. Rule 14e-5, among other things,
prohibits a person making a cash tender offer or exchange offer for an equity
security, as well as any person acting, directly or indirectly, in concert
with
such person (or certain advisors or dealer-managers of such person), from
purchasing, directly or indirectly, or making any arrangement to purchase such
security or any related security except pursuant to such tender offer or
exchange offer, or pursuant to the exceptions set forth in Rule
14e-5.
The
relief
granted permits, subject to certain enumerated conditions as set forth in the
relief letter, (i) Barclays, any of its subsidiaries or subsidiary undertakings,
Lazard & Co., Limited and Lazard Frères & Co. LLC, Citigroup Global
Markets Limited, Credit Suisse Group, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Deutsche Bank
AG and any other advisor, broker or financial institution acting as an advisor
to Barclays and their respective affiliates and separately identifiable
departments (collectively with such affiliates and departments, the ‘‘Barclays
Prospective Purchasers’’) and (ii) ABN AMRO, any of its subsidiaries or
subsidiary undertakings and Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Rothschild,
and Goldman Sachs and any other advisor, broker or financial institution acting
as an advisor to ABN AMRO and their respective affiliates and separately
identifiable departments (collectively with such affiliates and departments,
the
‘‘ABN AMRO Prospective Purchasers’’ and, collectively with the Barclays
Prospective Purchasers, the ‘‘Prospective Purchasers’’), to conduct certain
trading activities involving ABN AMRO ordinary shares and ABN AMRO ADSs and
various related derivative securities prior to and during the conduct of, but
outside of the terms of, the Barclays Offer in the ordinary course of their
businesses (including certain activities related to Barclays iShares business
in
the United States), none of which will be undertaken for the purpose of
promoting or otherwise facilitating the Barclays Offer.
The
relief
also permits ABN AMRO to continue repurchases under its share repurchase
program. The relief granted further permits, subject to certain enumerated
conditions as set forth in the letter, the Barclays Prospective Purchasers
to
purchase or arrange to purchase ABN AMRO shares for their own account outside
of
the Barclays Offer in accordance with Dutch law.
Item
7. Purposes of the Transaction and Plans or
Proposals.
Except
as
set forth in this Statement under “Item 2. Identity and Background of
Filing Person—Tender Offer” and under “Item 4. The Solicitation or
Recommendation—Background to the Proposed Offers”, ABN AMRO is not engaged in
any negotiation in response to the Barclays Offer which relates to or would
result in:
|
·
|
a
tender offer for or other acquisition of ABN AMRO’s securities by ABN
AMRO, any subsidiary of ABN AMRO or any other
person,
|
|
·
|
an
extraordinary transaction, such as a merger, reorganization or
liquidation, involving ABN AMRO or any subsidiary of ABN
AMRO,
|
|
·
|
any
purchase, sale or transfer of a material amount of assets by ABN
AMRO or
any subsidiary of ABN AMRO or
|
|
·
|
any
material change in the present dividend rate or policy, or indebtedness
or
capitalization of ABN AMRO.
|
Except
as
set forth above, there are no transactions, resolutions of ABN AMRO’s Managing
Board or Supervisory Board, agreements in principle or signed contracts in
response to the Consortium Offer that relate to one or more of the events
referred to in the preceding paragraph.
Item
8. Additional Information.
The
information in all of the exhibits to this Statement is incorporated by
reference in its entirety.
ABN
AMRO Extraordinary General Meeting
Under
Dutch law, although neither the Barclays Offer, nor the Consortium Offer are
required to be submitted to an ABN AMRO shareholder vote, an informative
extraordinary general meeting of the ABN AMRO shareholders is required to be
held within 8 days before the end of the offer period of the Barclays
Offer. On August 6, 2007, ABN AMRO announced its intention to hold
such an informative extraordinary general meeting on September 20, 2007 at
10.30
am Central European Summer Time in ‘de Doelen’ in Rotterdam to discuss the
Barclays Offer and the Consortium Offer. Subject to further
amendments, the agenda items for that meeting will include a background to
the
Barclays Offer and the Consortium Offer, and the reasoned opinions of the ABN
AMRO Managing Board and the ABN AMRO Supervisory Board on those offers and
the
alternatives considered. The definitive agenda and notes thereto will
be published around the time of formal convocation of such extraordinary
shareholders meeting.
Item
9. Exhibits.
The
following Exhibits are filed with this Statement:
Exhibit
No.
|
Description
|
|
|
(a)
(1)
|
Offer
to Exchange/Prospectus dated August 6, 2007 (incorporated herein
by
reference to the Barclays Registration Statement on Form F-4 filed
on
August 3, 2007).
|
|
|
(a)
(2)
|
Letter
of Transmittal (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 99.2
to the
Barclays Registration Statement on Form F-4 filed on August 3,
2007).
|
|
|
(e)
(1)
|
Confidentiality
Agreement between ABN AMRO and Barclays dated as of March 21,
2007.
|
|
|
(e)
(2)
|
Merger
Protocol, dated April 23, 2007, between ABN AMRO and Barclays PLC
(incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 2.1 to Amendment No.
2 to the
Registration Statement on Form F-4 filed by Barclays on July 26,
2007 and
referred to in the Form 6-K filed by Barclays Plc and Barclays Bank
Plc on
June 12, 2007).
|
|
|
(e)
(3)
|
Merger
Protocol Amendment Letter, dated July 23, 2007 (incorporated herein
by
reference to Exhibit 2.1 to Amendment No. 2 to the Registration Statement
on Form F-4 filed by Barclays on July 26, 2007).
|
|
|
(e)
(4)
|
Merger
Protocol Amendment Letter, dated July 30, 2007 (incorporated herein
by
reference to the Merger Protocol Amendment Letter as filed by ABN
AMRO
pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act of 1933 on July 30,
2007).
|
|
|
(e)
(5)
|
Merger
Protocol Amendment Letter, dated August 3, 2007 (incorporated herein
by
reference to the Merger Protocol Amendment Letter referred to in
the Form
6-K filed by ABN AMRO on August 7,
2007).
|
SIGNATURES
After
due
inquiry and to the best of our knowledge and belief, we certify that the
information set forth in this statement is true, complete and
correct.
ABN
AMRO HOLDING N.V.
|
|
|
|
|
|
By:
|
/s/
Arthur Martinez |
|
|
Name:
|
Arthur
Martinez
|
|
|
Title:
|
Chairman
of the Supervisory Board
|
|
|
|
By:
|
/s/
Rijkman Groenink
|
|
|
Name:
|
Rijkman
Groenink
|
|
|
Title:
|
Chairman
of the Managing Board
|
|
31