Barclays won shareholder support yesterday for its €62 billion (£42 billion) bid to acquire ABN Amro, the Dutch bank, but said that it was not committed to a deal at any price.

The British bank is competing with a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) that has offered €71 billion for ABN Amro.

John Varley, the chief executive of Barclays, said that a deal would create continuing growth for the bank, but added: “The merger terms must satisfy our economic tests, which are tough.

“We have been consistent in promising our shareholders that we will not lose sight of economic reality in our pursuit of the merger objective.” He said that the bank was “prepared to walk away if we can’t conclude the transaction on the right terms”.

Addressing shareholders before the key vote, Mr Varley conceded that the Barclays bid trailed that of the rival consortium by some €5.5 a share. The shortfall is largely due to movements in Barclays’ share price in recent months.

However, he noted that the RBS-led consortium also faced uncertainties. “The current value of ABN Amro shares stands at an 8 per cent discount to the consortium offer. So the stock market, which is seldom wrong about these things, is indicating at the moment that the outcome is far from certain.”

At the extraordinary general meeting yesterday, 90 per cent of shareholders voted in favour of the ABN deal.

Commenting on the high equity content in its bid, Mr Varley said: “As the valuation of banks around the world has fallen in response to market turbulence, so, too, has the see-through value of our offer to ABN Amro shareholders.”

He said that Barclays shareholders had a “significant degree” of protection from overpaying for ABN Amro because of the high equity content.

ABN Amro’s management initially backed the Barclays offer, but since then has adopted a neutral stance on the bids. Shareholders in the Dutch group will meet on Thursday to discuss the two rival offers.

Mr Varley emphasised yesterday that Barclays’ future was not dependent on completing a big deal: “Good businesses should be capable of benefiting from mergers and acquisitions, but they should not be dependent on mergers and acquisitions for development and growth.”

In an update on trading, Mr Varley said that Barclays’ liquidity “remains strong”. The company’s capital ratios were also in line with internal targets.

Separately, Bank of America yesterday won approval from the US Federal Reserve for its proposed $21 billion (£10.4 billion) acquisition of LaSalle, ABN Amro’s Chicago bank.

Times Recommends

• Minister in talks with Saudis to protect creditors
• Premier Inn hits back in £29-a-room row
• Bankers hit back at 'populist' bonus supertax