Fortis won’t harm deal, RBS tells investors
ROYAL Bank of Scotland moved to reassure investors yesterday following the collapse and partial nationalisation of Fortis.
The Belgian bank was one of RBS’s partners in the £45billion takeover of Dutch giant ABN Amro last year.
Fortis had been trying to sell its ABN assets but has so far failed to find a buyer after a proposed deal with Dutch group ING fell through.
RBS shares were hit yesterday on fears that the bank’s own ABN assets might be overvalued and on the failure of the US government to get its $700billion (£380billion) banks bail-out plan through the US House of Representatives.
There were also worries that Fortis’s failure would somehow hit RBS’s gains from the deal.
At one point the bank’s shares fell as far as 23.5p to 157.5p before closing down 2p at 179p as hopes rose that the US rescue package would succeed in some form.
In a statement, RBS said: “RBS confirms the sale of Fortis interests would not affect the integration benefits envisaged by RBS, nor would it affect the businesses to be retained by RBS.
“Fortis has already paid in full in cash and, should it sell this holding, the financial consequences would lie with Fortis.”
Analysts said the assets bought by the two banks were very different.
