THE HAGUE, April 14: ABN Amro, which is in exclusive talks with Britain's Barclays Bank about a takeover deal, confirmed press reports that Bank of Scotland together with Fortis and Banco Santander also approached the Dutch bank about a possible acquisition.

“ABN AMRO confirms that it has received a letter today from Royal Bank of Scotland, Banco Santander and Fortis in which they invite ABN AMRO to start exploratory talks,” the bank said in a press release.

ABN Amro said it would consider the letter “carefully” but stressed it was in exclusive talks with Barclays.

In a separate press release Dutch-Belgian bank and insurance company Fortis said it has submitted a letter to ABN Amro on Thursday together with the other banks “to express the banks' interest in putting forward a proposal for the acquisition of ABN Amro and their preference to work with ABN Amro to make an offer to ABN Amro shareholders”.—AFP