25/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - The race to take control of the Dutch bank ABN Amro - in which the British Barclays Bank is set against a consortium of three European banks (Royal Bank of Scotland of the UK, the Spanish Banco Santander and the Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis) - reached an additional stage on Wednesday 25 April, with the consortium bidding above the offer tabled by parties on Monday (see EUROPE 9412). The three European banks have proposed to buy the largest bank of the Netherlands for a sum in excess of €72 billion, compared to the €67 billion offered by Barclays. They are also asking that ABN Amro give up on its plans to separate from the American bank LaSalle, which appears to be of great interest to the Royal Bank of Scotland. Estimated at a level in excess of €15 billion, this sale is planned into the Barclays offer, to the profit of the Bank of America. On Wednesday, the hedge fund “The Children's Investment Fund” gave its backing to the offer of the three European banks. The board meeting of ABN Amro takes place this Thursday 26 April. (mb)