ANALYSTS VIEWS-Dutch court freezes ABN's LaSalle sale

LONDON/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch court has frozen ABN AMRO's AAH.AS sale of U.S. unit LaSalle to Bank of America (BAC.N), clearing the way for a consortium of suitors led by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) to scupper ABN's agreed takeover by Barclays (BARC.L).

The following are some market reactions, with most recent comments on top.

JEAN-PIERRE LAMBERT, ANALYST AT KEEFE, BRUYETTE & WOODS:

"Today's ruling by a Dutch court on the sale of LaSalle was clearly in favor of consulting shareholders. This means the RBS-Santander-Fortis consortium can bid for the whole of ABN, which we believe was its preferred option.

"We expect an offer by the consortium tomorrow, Friday 4 May, and would be surprised if the offer price was higher than the previously indicated 39 euros.

"The Barclays deal is effectively under threat because the sale of LaSalle is a condition of the transaction (...) However, we do not believe that Barclays would have entered this process without having a 'plan B' to offset a counter-bid. This is likely to emerge next week, in our view, once the details of the consortium offer are available."

ANTONY BROADBENT, ANALYST AT SANFORD BERNSTEIN:

"Effectively, the sale of LaSalle represented a poison pill for any other potential bidder interested in ABN.

"Today's court ruling is likely to open the way to the RBS-Santander-Fortis consortium offer for the whole of ABN including LaSalle in the next few days, possibly tomorrow. In addition, it may well attract other bidders for ABN.

"As the decision opens the way for an offer from the Consortium or from other bidders, this reduces Barclays' chances of completing a deal with ABN. Given the dilutive impact that we think a potential deal with ABN would have on Barclays' shareholders, we view the court decision as a positive for Barclays and expect the stock to trade up."

SIGRID BAAS, ANALYST AT ING:

"The ruling is definitely in favor of the consortium. It is not a complete surprise, given the spirit of the transaction. It creates a lot of uncertainties -- what it will do to the CEO, how the consortium will react.

"The sale process will be a lengthier process than originally assumed."

ALEX POTTER, ANALYST AT COLLINS STEWART:

"This is a damning indictment of ABN management.

"It would appear that the decision-making process of the bank rested on the fact Dutch law says you don't have to put this to a vote until it's 30 percent (of the company), which is a very legalistic way of addressing shareholder rights.

"If that is the fault squarely of (ABN Chief Executive Rijkman) Groenink, he does not seem fit to continue. The best case for him is if Barclays still win this, but that now seems very unlikely.

"This buys RBS as much time as they want."

TANIA GOLD, ANALYST AT DRESDNER KLEINWORT:

"There is still a chance someone could outbid the RBS group, but RBS should definitely come out with something higher than Barclays as it can get more synergies.

"I'm pretty sure (ABN) shareholders will say they're not happy with LaSalle being sold to Bank of America.

"The pressure (for the consortium) to do something tomorrow has now been alleviated somewhat.

"The (rise in ABN shares) is taking into account that RBS proposed 39 euros a share last week, and it would expect something like that. Barclays is up 4 percent. It wasn't the greatest deal for them, and people weren't sure on the cost synergies."

GERT JAAP KRAAN, ANALYST AT THEODOOR GILISSEN BANKIERS:

"It is a positive for the consortium and ABN shareholders. It gives the consortium more time to do due diligence on ABN and LaSalle.

"It is really difficult for Barclays right now. There is an opportunity for Barclays to form a consortium, maybe with Bank of America and a third party."

JAN LEROY, FUND MANAGER AT PETERCAM ASSET MANAGEMENT:

"In my opinion, it will be beneficial for the consortium. Since the LaSalle deal is now blocked, they can come up with a formal bid where LaSalle can be one of the assets they can acquire. It clearly removes the first hurdle for a formal bid."

UNNAMED LONDON EQUITY ANALYST:

"The ABN acts of association are fairly clear - any transaction which changes the character of the business must be put to shareholders. They were banking on the fact LaSalle is less than a third of the business.

"To a certain extent it was all fairly academic. RBS were going to put a bid on the table no matter what, this just buys them more time ... This will be heaven for lawyers."