Barclays Rejected Hedge Funds' Plan To Block RBS Deal -Report

August 08, 2007, 1:04 a.m. EDT 1 Min Read

LONDON (Dow Jones)--A group of hedge funds approached Barclays PLC (BCS) toask it to help scupper Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC's (RBS.LN) bid to buy ABN Amro (ABN), The Sunday Times said.

The hedge-fund plan, which Barclays rejected, involved Barclays buying sharesin Fortis (FORSY), the Belgian bank that is part of RBS' consortium. The planhad called for Barclays to then use the shares to vote against a proposed GBP8.7billion rights issue by Fortis to finance its share of the takeover, thenewspaper said, citing a Barclay's spokesman.

Barclays was not available for comment.

Newspaper Web site: http://www.timesonline.co.uk

-London Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9320

(END) Dow Jones Newswires 07-29-07 0944ET Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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