AMSTERDAM/LONDON- British hedge fund TCI believes Dutch bank ABN AMRO is significantly undervalued and should be broken up.
ABN should explore all options to merge, sell or spin off some of its assets or potentially the whole business, TCI Fund Management said in the letter to ABN.
“We believe that this strategy would not only create significant shareholder value but also would best serve all the stakeholders who otherwise would suffer over the long term from the structurally declining competitive position of ABN AMRO,” the hedge fund said in a letter obtained by Reuters.
Shares in ABN AMRO rose as much as 5.9 percent to a 6-year high of 27.45 euros and were at 27.36 by 9:52 a.m. British time.
TCI, which said it owns more than 1 percent of ABN AMRO, asked shareholders to vote on its proposals at a shareholder meeting scheduled for April 26.
ABN, the Netherlands biggest bank, said it had not yet received TCI’s letter but was aware of its contents.
