LASALLE BANK SALE TO BANK OF AMERICA STILL ON TRACK?

Dutch parent ABN entered into an agreement to sell Chicago-based LaSalle Bank to Bank of America Sunday (some reports list Monday), but that deal may be in jeopardy now that Royal Bank of Scotland has formed a consortium that offered $98.58 billion for all ABN banking assets, which is considerably higher than the $88.35 billion offered by Barclays. In an unusually restrictive contract clause ABN's sale of LaSalle to Bank of America will become permanent on May 7 and cannot be reversed, making consideration of the RBS offer an urgent matter.

From SunTimes.com:

The uncertainty centers on whether ABN Amro's surprise move Monday to sell LaSalle Bank Corp. to Bank of America Corp. for $21 billion, as part of its deal with Barclays, can be undone.

ABN Amro said Wednesday other banks have 14 days to submit superior bids for LaSalle. If any does, Bank of America then has five days to match that bid; if it fails to do so, it will receive a $200 million breakup fee.

WSJ.com