Fortis shares jumped more than 3 per cent yesterday after the Belgian bank in pursuit of ABN Amro announced details of a deeply discounted rights issue.

Fortis gained 3.19 per cent, climbing to €27.46 per share before closing flat at €26.62 as a combination of interest in the rights issue and funds closing off short positions in the company took effect. In the world’s largest equity offering, shareholders will be able to buy two new shares in Fortis for €15 each for every three shares they own, a discount of almost 44 per cent to Thursday’s closing price.

The cash raised will be used to fund part of Fortis’s contribution to a Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium’s €71.1 billion (£49.5 billion) bid for ABN Amro, the Dutch bank.

Despite a whispering campaign that the rights issue would be pulled, sources said that there had been a good reaction from shareholders. The fundraising will close on October 5. Merrill Lynch is the sole bookrunner and has underwritten the fund raising.

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