Britain's Barclays Bank conceded defeat in the seven-month battle for ABN Amro yesterday, as a trio of rivals led by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) moved in to clinch the world's biggest bank takeover.

The outcome of the fight for The Netherlands' biggest bank was widely expected after a fall in the Barclays share price saw its bid slip behind the €71.8 billion mostly cash offer from the RBS-led team.

The offer from the consortium - which also includes Dutch-Belgian Fortis and Spain's Santander - closed yesterday, but the banks are not expected to make an official statement until shares are counted over the weekend.

The trio could publish the results as early as Monday, although it has until the end of next week to declare the bid unconditional, a key step before it seals the deal.

Barclays officially withdrew its bid after receiving just 0.2 per cent of ABN shares by the time its offer ended on Thursday.

The bank said it had stuck to its promise not to overpay - feeding a debate over the cost of the RBS-led victory in turbulent markets. "We have been absolutely clear in terms of the discipline we bring to this opportunity. It goes with that that we should be in a position where we could walk away," Barclays chief executive John Varley said.

"I feel a sense of disappointment, of course I do, because I would like us to have merged with ABN Amro. But it is disappointment - not despondency and not dependency."

Barclays was originally the preferred suitor as it planned to keep the business whole, but ABN switched to a neutral stance after the gap between the two bids widened.

Barclays will receive a €200 million "break fee" from ABN, which it said significantly exceeded the cost of its bid.

Analysts had speculated that failure would make Barclays a takeover target itself, but the recent logjam in loan markets has seen such talk fade, and Mr Varley dismissed any concern.

"I have complete confidence in the independent future of Barclays."

Attention will now turn to the consortium's mammoth task of breaking up ABN, which has more than 4,500 branches across 53 countries, integrating its businesses and delivering cost savings to prove it has not overpaid.

The deal is seen by many as an example of the excesses of the merger boom, when bankers were confident they could carry off increasingly complex deals, and progress is likely to be viewed as test case for international banking takeovers. - (Reuters)