ABN AMRO

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ABN Amro Holding NV
Image:ABNAMROlogo.jpg
Founded 1991 through merger
Headquarters Brussels, Belgium; Utrecht, Netherlands
Key People CEO Mark Fisher
Web site http://www.abnamro.com/com/homepage.jsp

Dutch banking giant ABN Amro had become one of Europe's largest banks through a string of acquisitions at home and abroad until it was bought in 2007 for around $94 billion by a group including two rival European banks. ABN Amro is now being dismembered and either sold or incorporated by its new owners.

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Contents

History

ABN Amro Holding NV was officially created in 1991 when Amro Bank, founded in 1964 through the merger of Amsterdamsche Bank and Rotterdamsche Bank, joined ABN Bank, also formed in 1964 through the merger of Twentsche Bank with Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij.[1] ABN Amro then pushed agressively into the U.S. market by acquiring a bank in Illinois and another two in Michigan that it subsequently merged.

ABN Amro in 2007 had 102,566 employees worldwide and recorded almost $63.9 billion in revenue, $10 billion less than the figure a year earlier.[2] By contrast, next-door German giant and competitor Deutsche Bank racked up sales of $101 billion in 2007 with 33,000 fewer employees.

The Sale

ABN Amro first announced in April 2007 that it had agreed to be purchased by British bank Barclay's for €67 billion (91 billion).[3] But a rival consortium of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Spain's Banco Santander Central Hispano and Fortis, Belgium's largest financial-service group, successfully bid up the price to €72 billion, making it the largest business deal in Europe's history. The three are now breaking up ABN Amro and laying claim to its operations by region: Santander the Brazilian and Italian, Fortis the Dutch and RBS the Asian and North American banking arms.[4]

Key People

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Most analysts assume that new ABN Amro Chairman and CEO Mark Fisher, appointed in October 2007, has been brought in from co-owner RBS to oversee ABN Amro's anticipated break-up.[5] The 47-year-old Fisher, a former employee of British bank NatWest who survived its hostile takeover in 2000 by RBS, had been chief executive of manufacturing at RBS before taking the top job at ABN Amro and had served as an executive director at RBS since 2006.[6] Before joining RBS Fisher was COO of retail banking for NatWest, where he also oversaw systems and staff.


Latest News

Fortis announced in June, 2008 that it would auction off the 49% stake in a Chinese fund manager it acquired during the ABN buyout last year.[7] That could net Fortis $200-$250 million, although one potential buyer in Seoul set a maximum price of $200 million. Fortis paid €24 billion ($37 billion) for its stake in ABN Amro but has since suffered €6.6 billion in asset writedowns and needs to replenish its capital.

References

  1. ↑ Timeline. ABN Amro. Retrieved on June 21, 2008.
  2. ↑ ABN AMRO Income Statement. Hoovers.com. Retrieved on June 21, 2008.
  3. ↑ ABN Amro to Be Acquired for $91 Billion. New York Times. Retrieved on June 21, 2008.
  4. ↑ ABN AMRO Company Description. Hoovers.com. Retrieved on June 21, 2008.
  5. ↑ Born to the task of breaking up. Financial Times. Retrieved on June 21, 2008.
  6. ↑ Mark Fisher FCIBS. BusinessWeek. Retrieved on June 21, 2008.
  7. ↑ Fortis to Sell Stake in ABN Amro China Fund Venture. Bloomberg. Retrieved on June 21, 2008.

External links

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