19th Jul 2007 07:01
Barclays PLC19 July 2007 This document shall not constitute an offer to sell or buy or the solicitationof an offer to buy or sell any securities, nor shall there be any sale orpurchase of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation orsale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under thesecurities laws of any such jurisdiction. The availability of Barclays offer topersons not resident in the United States, the Netherlands and the UnitedKingdom may be affected by the laws of the relevant jurisdictions (the"Restricted Jurisdictions"). Such persons should inform themselves about andobserve any applicable requirements. 19th July 2007 BARCLAYS PLC Barclays Recommended Merger with ABN AMRO - Update on Offer In their announcement of 2 July 2007, Barclays PLC ("Barclays") and ABN AMROHolding N.V. ("ABN AMRO") indicated that an announcement on the availability ofthe formal Barclays' offer documentation was to take place on or before 23 July2007. Good progress continues to be made in relation to the pre-conditions,documentation and regulatory change of control approvals. Since the regulatoryreview processes relating to the documentation, including with the SEC, are notyet completed, the AFM has agreed an extension so that an announcement on theformal offer documentation being available can be made on or before 6 August2007. Launch of the Barclays' offer will be subject to the satisfaction of thepre-conditions referred to in the original press release dated 23 April 2007. Inrelation to the offer, Barclays is considering possible alternative offerstructures, including introduction of a partial cash consideration element intothe Offer. No decision has yet been taken but Barclays will make furtherannouncements as, if and when due under applicable rules and regulations. If anychanges to Barclays' offer were made they would be consistent with its priorpublic statements regarding the strict financial criteria it applies to mergerand acquisition transactions and ensuring that the terms of any transaction arein the interests of its existing shareholders. This is an announcement within the meaning of article 9b paragraph 1 of theDutch Securities Market Supervision Decree (Besluit toezicht effectenverkeer1995). Enquiries: ANALYSTS AND INVESTORSMark Merson +44 20 7116 5752James S Johnson +44 20 7116 2927 MEDIAStephen Whitehead +44 20 7116 6060Alistair Smith +44 20 7116 6132 Other InformationThis document shall not constitute an offer to sell or buy or the solicitationof an offer to buy or sell any securities, nor shall there be any sale orpurchase of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation orsale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under thesecurities laws of any such jurisdiction. The availability of Barclays offer topersons not resident in the United States, the Netherlands and the UnitedKingdom may be affected by the laws of the relevant jurisdictions (the"Restricted Jurisdictions"). Such persons should inform themselves about andobserve any applicable requirements. The offer will not be made, directly or indirectly, in any RestrictedJurisdiction unless by means of lawful prior registration or qualification underthe applicable laws of the Restricted Jurisdiction, or under an exemption fromsuch requirements including, in the case of the US, except by means of aprospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the US Securities Act of1933, as amended. Accordingly, copies of this announcement are not being, andmust not be, mailed or otherwise distributed or sent in, into or from suchRestricted Jurisdiction. Persons receiving this announcement (including, withoutlimitation, custodians, nominees and trustees) must not distribute, mail or sendit in, into or from any Restricted Jurisdiction, and so doing may render anypurported acceptance of the offer invalid. SEC Filings and this Filing: Important InformationIn connection with the proposed business combination transaction between ABNAMRO and Barclays, Barclays has filed with the SEC a Registration Statement onForm F-4 ("Form F-4"), which includes a preliminary version of the Barclaysoffer document/prospectus. The Form F-4 has not yet become effective. Barclaysexpects that it will also file with the SEC a Statement on Schedule TO and otherrelevant materials. In addition, ABN AMRO expects that it will file with the SECa Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 and other relevant materials.Following the Form F-4 being declared effective by the SEC, Barclays intends tomail the final offer document/prospectus to ABN AMRO shareholders. Such final documents, however, are not currently available. INVESTORS ARE URGEDTO READ THE FINAL OFFER DOCUMENT/PROSPECTUS AND ANY DOCUMENTS REGARDING THEPOTENTIAL TRANSACTION IF AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE, BECAUSE THEY WILLCONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors will be able to obtain a free copy of the Form F-4, the final offerdocument/prospectus and other filings without charge, at the SEC's website (www.sec.gov) if and when such documents are filed with the SEC. Copies of suchdocuments may also be obtained from ABN AMRO and Barclays without charge, if andwhen they are filed with the SEC. Forward Looking StatementsThis document contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning ofSection 21E of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section27A of the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended, with respect to certain of ABNAMRO's and Barclays plans and their current goals and expectations relating totheir future financial condition and performance and which involve a number ofrisks and uncertainties. Barclays caution readers that no forward-lookingstatement is a guarantee of future performance and that actual results coulddiffer materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Theseforward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relateonly to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements sometimes usewords such as 'aim', 'anticipate', 'target', 'expect', 'estimate', 'intend','plan', 'goal', 'believe', or other words of similar meaning. Examples offorward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding theconsummation of the business combination between ABN AMRO and Barclays withinthe expected timeframe and on the expected terms (if at all), the benefits ofthe business combination transaction involving ABN AMRO and Barclays, includingthe achievement of synergy targets, ABN AMRO's and Barclays future financialposition, income growth, impairment charges, business strategy, projected costsand estimates of capital expenditure and revenue benefits, projected levels ofgrowth in the banking and financial markets, the combined group's futurefinancial and operating results, future financial position, projected costs andestimates of capital expenditures, and plans and objectives for futureoperations of ABN AMRO, Barclays and the combined group and other statementsthat are not historical fact. Additional risks and factors are identified in ABNAMRO and Barclays filings with the SEC including ABN AMRO and Barclays AnnualReports on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2006, which areavailable on ABN AMRO's website at www.abnamro.com and Barclays website atwww.barclays.com respectively, and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Any forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date they aremade. Barclays does not undertake to update forward-looking statements toreflect any changes in expectations with regard thereto or any changes inevents, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. Thereader should, however, consult any additional disclosures that ABN AMRO andBarclays have made or may make in documents they have filed or may file with theSEC. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Barclays