Barclays’ hopes that its €67.5 billion (£45.8 billion) offer for ABN Amro would triumph were dealt a blow yesterday when the rival consortium also chasing the Dutch bank won approval for a vital €13 billion rights issue.

Shareholders in Fortis confounded expectations by emphatically voting through a capital raising by the Belgian bank, one of three in a consortium that is offering €71.1 billion for ABN. If the rights issue had not gone through, the consortium would have been forced to find alternative funding for its bid, putting Barclays ahead in the race for ABN. Royal Bank of Scotland, which is leading the consortium, said that, with the uncertainty of the Fortis vote out of the way, it would concentrate on its own extraordinary meeting to be held on Friday, where it will ask shareholders to approve the issue of five billion new shares.

Barclays launched its own formal offer for the Dutch bank yesterday, giving ABN shareholders until October 4 to accept the 37 per cent cash bid.

Despite the Fortis vote, John Varley, Barclays chief executive, continued to insist that his offer would “deliver more value to ABN’s shareholders, with a low degree of risk and a high degree of certainty”.

Barclays shares closed up 2p to 681p as investors opposed to the acquisition were buoyed by the prospect that the bank would lose the takeover battle. Fortis received approval ratings of more than 90 per cent for its rights issue. It had needed at least 75 per cent approval at two shareholder meetings.

Despite speculation that activist investors were agitating for shareholders to defy Fortis management and vote “no”, the meetings in Brussels and Utrecht passed peacefully. Fortis is expected to raise the cash in September, in time for the October 5 closure of the consortium’s offer.

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