British bank Barclays has raised its bid for Dutch group ABN Amro to 67.5 billion euros ($93 billion), helped by some of the biggest ever overseas investments made by China and Singapore.
Barclays said on Monday its new bid was 42.7 billion euros in shares and 24.8 billion euros in cash, up from its previous all-stock offer of 65 billion euros but still below a rival 71 billion euro offer from a group of European banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland.
Either offer would be the biggest ever bank takeover.
ABN had agreed to Barclays' original takeover, but its management has come under pressure to switch support and said on Monday it was now assessing the offers.
"I hope and expect we will have that recommendation but for the time being there will be no recommendation until they see how the stock price performs," Barclays Chief Executive John Varley told Reuters, adding its offer was conditional on getting such a recommendation.
Barclays shares rose 2.4% to 731 pence in early trading -- lifting the value of its offer to 69 billion euros -- aided by the investment of up to 13.4 billion euros by China Development Bank and Singapore state investor Temasek.
An initial investment from the pair of 3.6 billion euros will be used by Barclays to buy back shares during the takeover process, which analysts said would lend support.
"This finally explains why Barclays management have been so confident for so long, despite having a seemingly inferior offer on the table," said Pali International analyst Bruce Packard.
The remainder of the investment from China and Singapore, almost 10 billion euros, will be made if Barclays wins ABN.
Biggest China Investment