RBS trio doubles ABN stake to over 8 pct: report

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A group led by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has doubled its stake in ABN AMRO AAH.AS to more than 8 percent, cutting the cost of its takeover bid for the bank by about 1 percent, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

The group, which includes Belgian-Dutch group Fortis (FOR.BR: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Spain's Santander (SAN.MC: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), built up a stake of more than 4 percent of ABN's share capital, on top of its existing 4 percent stake via a series of derivatives trades, the newspaper reported.

The group is seeking to acquire ABN, with its offer currently worth about 37.76 euros per ABN share versus a rival offer of about 31 euros per ABN share from Britain's Barclays (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz). Either bid would be the world's biggest bank takeover.

ABN shares ended at 36.7 euros on Tuesday.

The share trading is thought to have in effect reduced the purchase price of ABN by 600 million euros-700 million euros ($844.7 million-$985.5 million) or about 1 per cent of the total consideration, the Financial Times said.