Royal Bank of Scotland today sensationally gatecrashed Barclays' planned takeover of ABN Amro by launching a £49 billion counterbid for the Dutch bank.

RBS and its bid partners, Santander and Fortis, revealed that they were willing to offer €39 a share, trumping the €36.25 a share deal agreed between Barclays and ABN on Monday.

But ABN Amro chief executive Rijkman Groenink reportedly said last night that the RBS team would have to make two separate bids - one for its US bank LaSalle, which it has agreed to sell to Bank of America for £10.5 billion and one for the remainder of ABN Amro.

The RBS consortium had insisted that its approach hinged on ABN pulling the plug on the £10.5 billion sale of LaSalle.

Sources today said executives from the two sides were set to hold a conference call later tonight after Royal Bank of Scotland's annual general meeting in Edinburgh.

Under the terms of the LaSalle deal, any rival bank wanting to bid for the American business has two weeks to table an alternative offer.

But even then, Bank of America has the right to match the new bidder’s proposal during the next five business days.

ABN Amro has to pay $200 million if Bank of America does not match a rival offer.

ABN's rebel shareholder, the hedge fund TCI said the Dutch bank should recommend RBS's bid. “The board of ABN Amro must recommend the RBS consortium offer, subject to the diligence condition being met,” it said.

But Ian Poulter, a Teather & Greenwood analyst, said it was too early to tell who will win because of the LaSalle deal.

“Unless there is a way ABN can pull out of the Bank of America agreement it’s quite difficult to see how the RBS offer can proceed," he said.

The RBS-led consortium said its offer price represented a 13 per cent premium and “superior” value for ABN shareholders.

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