British mortgage lender Abbey National said today it had posted details of Spanish Santander Central Hispano's £8 billion sterling bid to its shareholders.
Santander is using a scheme of arrangement rather than a simple offer document to bid for Abbey, because under a scheme it would win 100 per cent ownership of Abbey once 75 per cent of Abbey shareholders approved the bid.
Under a regular takeover offer, a bid only needs 50 per cent shareholder approval but if less than 90 per cent of shareholders approve it, there is a risk the bidder will not get full control.
On Wednesday, Santander claimed victory in the race for Abbey after British bank HBOS backed out.
