TIMELINE: Key events in the battle for ABN AMRO

(Reuters) - Dutch bank ABN AMRO AAH.AS withdrew its recommendation of a takeover by Barclays (BARC.L) on Monday, leaving it with a neutral stance on the British bank's 66 billion-euro ($89.6 billion) offer and the rival Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) consortium's 71 billion-euro offer.

Following are key events in the battle for ABN.

March 20, 2007 - Barclays and ABN outline the plan for a potential merger.

April 13 - Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) (RBS.L), Spain's Santander (SAN.MC) and Belgian-Dutch group Fortis (FOR.BR) say they have approached ABN, inviting it to talks and asking for access to its books.

April 17 - Barclays and ABN extend merger talks.

April 23 - Barclays agrees to buy ABN in a recommended all-share deal, offering 3.225 shares for each ABN share -- $88 billion at current prices. ABN says separately it will sell U.S. bank LaSalle to Bank of America (BAC.N) for $21 billion.

April 25 - RBS, Santander and Fortis propose a cash-and-share offer for ABN worth about $98 billion, if ABN scraps its planned sale of LaSalle.

- After talks, ABN agrees to open its books to the consortium, but subject to a confidentiality clause that blocks an unsolicited bid for 12 months.

April 26 - ABN investors vote in favor of a motion to break up or sell the bank to maximize shareholder value.

May 3 - A Dutch court rules that ABN must freeze its $21 billion sale of LaSalle to Bank of America, opening up the possibility of a rival bid. The next day Bank of America sues ABN and seeks an injunction to block any moves to sell LaSalle to anyone else.

May 5 - RBS and its partners make an indicative offer worth $24.5 billion for LaSalle, conditional on them also buying the rest of ABN.

May 7 - ABN rejects the RBS consortium offer for LaSalle.

May 29 - The RBS-led consortium unveils a bid for ABN valued at 38.40 euros per share, worth a total $95.7 billion, or 71.1 billion euros.

July 13 - The Dutch Supreme Court allows ABN to proceed with its sale of LaSalle.

July 16 - The RBS-led consortium improves its bid for ABN, offering more cash. The consortium has kept its offer at 38.4 euros per share, 10 percent above an all-share offer from Barclays currently worth about 35 euros per share, but raises the cash component to 93 percent from 79 percent before.

July 20 - The RBS-led consortium formally launches its 71.1 billion-euro ($98.2 billion) bid for Dutch bank ABN AMRO.