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Fortis denies it paid too much for ABN Amro assets

Fortis, a member of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc-led consortium set to buy ABN Amro Holding NV, is not overpaying for the assets of the largest Dutch bank, chief financial officer Gilbert Mittler said.

"We don't think the valuation of the assets we are buying has been hurt by the credit crisis," Mittler said yesterday at an investor event in Antwerp, Belgium. "Retail banking, private banking and asset management are very stable activities. We are sure we won't find any skeletons in the closet."

Fortis's joint bid with Royal Bank of Scotland and Banco Santander SA, valued at 71.8 billion euros (US$101.6 billion) is about 10 billion euros higher than the rival offer Barclay's Plc abandoned on Friday after investors failed to back it. Barclays chief executive officer John Varley said on Saturday the trio were "overpaying," in an interview with the Times newspaper.

"By any standard, this is a very expensive transaction for them," Varley said, according to the London-based newspaper.

The RBS-led banks will announce the results of their offer, which expired at 3pm yesterday, today or tomorrow, Mittler said. Fortis's 13.4 billion euro share sale to existing investors to fund its part of the bid ends at 5pm.

Mittler also said Fortis plans to maintain its dividend yield at 5.3 percent based on the share price before the announcement.
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