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RBS sets sights on ABN Amro

            Royal Bank of Scotland and its consortium of investors plan to launch a hostile bid to take over ABN Amro, a couple of weeks after a Dutch bank blocked the sale of ABN Amro's Chicago-based LaSalle Bank to Bank of America.

            Offering 71.1 billion ($95.5 billion) euros for ABN Amro, the offer tops a previous offer from Barclays Plc, rumored to be between $70 billion and $80 billion and is contingent on the cancellation of the LaSalle sale to Bank of America.

            In terms of securitization, LaSalle Bank's considerable CMBS underwriting business would be a valuable asset to Bank of America. On the other hand, a takeover by Barclays is seen as a chance for the British bank to streamline ABN Amro's investment banking business, effectively repeating a transformation that it had undergone years ago.

            Either way, reports the Associated Press, a sale of ABN Amro would be the financial industry's largest ever.

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