|
Royal Bank wins battle
|
 |
February 15, 2000: 4:41 a.m. ET
Obtains 60% of NatWest stock; Shareholders to vote on deal Feb. 28
|
LONDON (CNNfn) - Royal Bank of Scotland took a giant step closer to victory Monday in a long-running takeover battle for National Westminster Bank after a final tally of votes confirmed that the Scottish suitor had secured the crucial support of a majority of NatWest shareholders.
Royal Bank said it had captured 60 percent of NatWest shares, catapulting it over the 50-percent threshold needed to prevail over rival suitor Bank of Scotland, which was yet to unveil its final vote tally.
Royal Bank shareholders are slated to vote to approve the deal Feb. 28.
Monday's vote count merely added an official seal of approval to a Royal Bank triumph that has been all but a foregone conclusion since Friday. That is when NatWest effectively threw in the towel in its five-month fight to remain independent by recommending that shareholders accept Royal Bank's 21 billion pound ($33.6 billion) bid.
In a concession statement issued Friday, NatWest said that with Royal Bank having apparently garnered majority support for its offer, "it would not be in shareholders' interests to remain as a minority in a company that was no longer independent."
The move paves the way for a new behemoth in the British banking sector, second only to HSBC Holdings. The enlarged entity will be Britain's second largest in terms of assets, and seventh biggest in Europe. RBS has promised to lop off 1.2 billion pounds, or 19 percent, from the combined company's expense sheet, which will include 18,000 job cuts. RBS also plans to sell NatWest's Gartmore fund management unit, but retain Northern Ireland-based Ulster Bank.
Such pledges were viewed by analysts as instrumental in securing market support for the Royal Bank bid, which came to be seen as a panacea to perceived weaknesses in NatWest's management.
Rival Edinburgh-based suitor Bank of Scotland conceded defeat last Thursday after it became clear that NatWest's five largest shareholders had thrown their support behind Royal Bank. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
