Barclays finds allies in bid for ABN AMRO-report

(Reuters) - At stake is the the biggest-ever bank takeover, which would value ABN at more than 66 billion euros .

ABN and Barclays entered merger talks last month after ABN came under pressure from investors, including British hedge fund TCI, to consider a sale or breakup to boost shareholder returns after several years of underperformance.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

S.African c.bank chief Mboweni criticises Barclays - FT

(Reuters) - South Africa's central bank governor has criticised the 2005 takeover by Barclays Plc of South African retail bank Absa, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni called the British bank's stewardship of Absa "discouraging", the newspaper said.


Read more at Reuters Africa

ABN AMRO rejects TCI shakeup plan but allows vote

(Reuters) - By Reed Stevenson

AMSTERDAM, March 28 - ABN AMRO said on Wednesday it would let shareholders vote on proposals by hedge fund TCI for a shake-up of the bank, but recommended against the measures as it looks at a potential merger with Barclays .


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Barclays says in strong position on ABN

(Reuters) - "We are in a strong position," said Bob Diamond, head of Barclays' investment banking and a key figure in the talks. "We feel terrific that we have a period of exclusivity, and we have a lot of work to do," he said.

Barclays and ABN last week outlined a framework to create a bank listed in London, headquartered in Amsterdam and with its two top jobs split. Analysts said that leaves price as the key issue to be resolved.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

European Stocks Rise on Takeover Outlook; ABN Amro Paces Gain

European stocks rebounded from last week's losses on speculation ABN Amro Holding NV will be acquired and Imperial Tobacco Group Plc will raise its bid for Altadis SA.

ABN Amro surged to a record after a person familiar with the situation said Barclays Plc is in talks about buying the largest Dutch bank. Altadis jumped, leading tobacco stocks higher. TUI AG, Europe's largest tour company, had the biggest gain in more than three years on plans to buy First Choice Holidays Plc.

Read more at Bloomberg.com

Absa to 'maximise potential'

Apart from the all-round improvement in results, two things stand out from the Absa preliminary report for the year to December, the first full year since the Barclays takeover: synergies from the takeover are coming through faster than expected, and the bank is a major beneficiary of the battle for increased share of the competitive credit card market.

Absa had hoped to reap synergistic gains of R300m by December 2006: it achieved R753m, already ahead of the target for December 2007, with associated costs of R640m - R30m less than expected by now - in spite of the slower than hoped merger with Barclays' interests in the rest of Africa.

Read more at FIN24.co.za

Barclays 2006 profits jump 35 pct on BarCap boom

Barclays Plc, Britain's third biggest bank, beat expectations with a 35 percent jump in annual profits on Tuesday, as growth in investment banking and fund management countered a steep rise in bad debts.

Barclays reported record pretax profit of 7.14 billion pounds for 2006, up from 5.28 billion a year earlier and above an average forecast of 7.01 billion based on 18 analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.

Barclays said its bad-debt charge was 2.15 billion pounds last year, up 37 percent from 2005, as UK borrowers struggled to pay back loans at its Barclaycard credit card unit.

Read more at Reuters South Africa

Absa to place R1-2 bln in pref shares

South African biggest retail bank Absa Bank Ltd will place between 1-2 billion rand in preference shares to maintain its Tier I capital base, the bank said on Tuesday.

Absa Bank, a unit of Absa Group Ltd majority owned by Britain's Barclays Plc., said it intended to place the preference shares to selected investors at an effective 74 percent of prime interest rate.

Read more at Reuters South Africa

Absa banks 24% more earnings

South African banking group, Absa, increased annual headline earnings per share by 24% but said earnings growth may slow due to tight monetary conditions and household indebtedness.

Absa, majority-owned by Britain's Barclays Plc, said on Tuesday headline EPS rose to 1 181.8 cents per share while headline earnings increased by 25% to R7.87bn.

Read more at FIN24.co.za

Bain bid for Edcon should succeed

We’ll take the money but the price is not that generous say fund managers.
Bain Capital’s R25bn offer for Edcon is likely to be accepted by all shareholders said fund managers after the offer was announced earlier today.

In the biggest private-equity deal in SA so far, Bain Capital will pay R46 cash for each share, in its bid to acquire the fashion retailer’s entire share capital. If the offer succeeds, Edcon will be delisted from the JSE.

The transaction will be funded by a combination of long-term debt and equity and Barclays Plc and Absa Capital are providing the debt financing.

Read more at Moneyweb.co.za