April 26 (Bloomberg) -- ABN Amro Holding NV, the target in the largest-ever financial-services takeover battle, is seeking more offers for LaSalle Bank, the Chicago-based unit it agreed to sell to Bank of America Corp. three days ago for $21 billion.

ABN Amro, based in Amsterdam, said today it's ``soliciting alternative bids'' for LaSalle. The unit lies at the center of a struggle for control of the Dutch lender between Barclays Plc and a trio of banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.

Royal Bank, Santander Central Hispano SA and Fortis said yesterday they would pay 72.2 billion euros ($98.6 billion) for ABN Amro, making their bid dependent on a reversal of the LaSalle sale. Their proposal came two days after ABN Amro agreed to be bought by Barclays for 67 billion euros, and to the related purchase of LaSalle by Bank of America.

Barclays is the ``ideal partner,'' for the largest Dutch bank, ABN Amro Chief Executive Officer Rijkman Groenink told investors at the company's annual general meeting today. He defended the sale of LaSalle to Bank of America, while saying he hopes ``another bidder will come along'' for the U.S. unit, and that he ``wouldn't mind if it's Royal Bank of Scotland.''

Break Up?

Groenink, 57, and ABN Amro's board have favored Barclays because the U.K. bank plans to keep the company mostly intact. The Royal Bank-led group intends to break up the 183-year-old Dutch bank if its bid succeeds.

TCI Fund Management, a London-based hedge fund that urged ABN Amro in February to consider splitting up the company, said at the meeting today the bank should hold a shareholder vote on the sale of LaSalle, a move Groenink said is unnecessary. About 68 percent of shareholders today backed the hedge fund's motion to have the board consider a break up of the Dutch bank.

Shareholders are taking sides on which takeover proposal is best. Alex Otto, who controls 1 percent of ABN Amro shares as chief investment officer at Delta Lloyd Asset Management NV, said he favors an acquisition by Barclays and would vote against the proposal to split the bank apart.

Helmut Hipper, who helps oversee $184 billion at Union Investment in Frankfurt and owns ABN Amro shares, said the Royal Bank offer looks better. ``Its a higher price,'' he said. ``It's quite simple and for me it's quite clear. We are backing RBS.''

More Bidders?

Fred Goodwin, Royal Bank's CEO, said yesterday that LaSalle is a ``major part'' of the ABN Amro takeover proposal.

Royal Bank would probably hold on to ABN Amro's Asian, North American and corporate-banking business, Stephen Andrews, an analyst at UBS AG in London, wrote in a note April 16. The LaSalle unit would fit with Royal Bank's Citizens U.S. unit.

Santander would probably take the Latin America and Italian units and Fortis the Dutch operations, Andrews said.

Royal Bank ``could pay up to $23 billion for LaSalle,'' ING analysts including Sigrid Baas said in an e-mailed report today. ``But as Bank of America could match this, while others such as JPMorgan Chase could enter the arena, too, chances of RBS getting its hands on LaSalle are modest.''

Alexandra Buxton, a London-based spokeswoman at JPMorgan Chase & Co., declined to comment today.

For Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America, LaSalle would fill one of the few holes in the most extensive U.S. branch network. The existing sale agreement permits ABN Amro to accept a higher price for LaSalle during a two-week period, and Bank of America would have an opportunity to match any offer.

Bank of America said in a statement yesterday that it expects its legal contract to buy LaSalle ``to be fulfilled under its current terms.''

`Stark Contrast'

ABN Amro spoke with the Royal Bank group yesterday, and said it would provide the banks with the same information Barclays received, subject to confidentiality agreements. The Royal Bank group today asked ABN Amro to drop a so-called standstill provision that would prevent the banks from making an offer for 12 months without the written consent of the Dutch lender.

Barclays CEO John Varley told investors there is a clear difference between the bank's agreement to buy ABN Amro and the potential rival bid from the Royal Bank group.

``What Barclays offers, and what the consortium offers, stand in stark contrast: on the one hand a decision by the boards of Barclays and ABN to build, through merger, one of the best banks in the world,'' Varley said at Barclays's annual meeting in London today. ``On the other, the deconstruction, into heaven knows how many parts, of one of the biggest banks in Europe.''

Shares of ABN Amro rose 9 cents to 36.30 euros in Amsterdam. Barclays shares slipped 5.5 pence, or 0.8 percent, to 718.5 pence in London, while Royal Bank's stock slipped 28 pence, or 1.4 percent, to 1,970 pence ($39.21).

Probe Provision

ABN Amro and Barclays disclosed their negotiations on March 19. The Royal Bank-led group said April 13 that it asked for ``exploratory talks.'' Three days ago, ABN Amro agreed to Barclays's offer of 3.225 new shares for each share of ABN Amro, amounting to about 34.51 euros a share based on today's closing prices. Shareholders may also qualify for Barclays's final dividend for 2007.

ABN Amro today adjusted first-quarter profit after setting aside 365 million euros related to a U.S. probe of its dollar- clearing business. Net income rose to 1.04 billion euros, or 56 cents a share, from 1 billion euros, or 53 cents, a year earlier, ABN Amro said. The bank initially published results on April 16, when Barclays and Royal Bank sought financial information.

To contact the reporter on this story: Martijn van der Starre in Amsterdam vanderstarre@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 26, 2007 14:29 EDT