Mega Deal Gets Mega-er with Rival $98 billion Bid for ABN Amro

And now, it gets good.  Like, gladiator, blood-n-guts good.

On Monday, insideARM.com covered Barclay’s $91 billion bid for ABN AMRO.  The deal would have been one of the biggest cross-border deals in European history.  Plus, as an added bonus, Bank of America got to get in on the excitement: both banks have agreed to sell ABN AMRO’s U.S. bank presence, LaSalle, to Bank of America for $21 billion.

Then, of course, the Royal Bank of Scotland has to come along and throw some haggis into the works.

ABN AMRO spent today explaining to shareholders – angry shareholders, actually – why they were pursuing the Barclay’s bid over RBS’s substantially higher bid of $100+ billion.  RBS’s bid is part of a consortium of banks that also include Spain's Banco Santander Central Hispano SA and Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis NV.

"Price isn't the only thing that counts," Chief Executive Rijkman Groenink told the shareholders. "As human being and responsible citizens...we have the obligation to look farther than the last quarter."

Though the Barclays bid is lower – Groenink, among others, sees it as the more responsible choice for growth and longevity.  The shareholders, though, aren’t convinced.  They’d also like that extra $9+ billion, thankyouverymuch.  The agenda for today’s shareholder meeting also included a proposal that the company liquidate itself due to poor performance, selling its four main businesses off to the highest bidder.

Another difference between the Barclays bid and the RBS consortium: how many pieces ABN AMRO will be in once all is said and done.  While the Barclays deal has room at the table for Bank of America to waltz off with LaSalle, the RBS consortium wants to cut the company up like a wedding cake.  RBS is interested in purchasing ABN's U.S. operations, Fortis wants its Dutch base, while Santander would take businesses in Brazil and Italy.

According to an Associated Press story, regulatory authorities have not said if they see a problem with a combination of the country's largest and fourth-largest retail banks; the Netherlands' central bank has said it is "closely monitoring" events -- leaving it unstated that a hostile takeover could have unpredictable side effects.