20/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 20 October 2009, Deutsche Bank announced that it has signed an agreement in principle with the Dutch government to buy up ABN Amro assets, which is a precondition for ABN Amro's merger with Fortis Banque Pays-Bas. In September 2010, Deutsche Bank announced that it was giving up on its plans to buy up some of ABN Amro. The deal covers the commercial bank's work for companies Hollandsche Bank-Unie (HBU) and ABN Amro's Dutch subsidiary, IFN Finance. Their sell-off is required by the European Commission for the merger of ABN Amro and the Dutch arm of Fortis, nationalised by the Dutch government in October 2008. Following the failure of the del with Deutsche Bank, the European Commission granted the Netherlands more time, until midnight on Monday, extended on Monday night by a further 24 hours. (O.L.)