British bank Barclays's hopes of taking over Dutch rival ABN Amro got a boost today when a court adviser said ABN could sell its US arm without a shareholder vote.
The surprise opinion from Advocate General Vino Timmerman is an indication of how the Supreme Court will rule on the $21 billion (€15.62 billion) sale of ABN's Chicago-based bank LaSalle to Bank of America.
Barclays's agreed all-share offer for ABN, worth €63 billion, is conditional on the LaSalle sale going through. A rival consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland has offered €71 billion for ABN, but this is conditional on it also buying LaSalle.
The Supreme Court - which follows the advocate general's opinion in eight out of 10 cases, according to analysts - is due to rule in mid-July.
The banks involved have a week to reply to the latest opinion, which reversed a ruling by a commercial court in May, which said ABN shareholders should vote on the LaSalle deal.
The Supreme Court's ruling will put either Barclays or the consortium in pole position to win the battle for ABN, but it will not seal a deal as analysts said it is likely either would return with a revised offer.