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.