ABN Amro CEO recovering from surgery

Rijkman Groenink, the chief executive of ABN Amro _ at the center of the largest takeover in the history of the banking industry _ is recovering after an emergency operation on his appendix, a company spokesman said Friday.

Groenink's fell ill just as the fight for ABN Amro approaches its resolution, with competing takeover bids by Barclays PLC of Britain and a consortium of banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland PLC due to expire on Oct. 4th and 5th, respectively.

Groenink, 58, was taken to a hospital Sunday and underwent surgery for acute appendicitis, spokesman Neil Moorhouse said, adding that Groenink was recovering, but it was too early to say when he will be fit to return to work.

"Other members of the managing board have temporarily assumed his duties," Moorhouse said.

RBS is seen as the likely victor as its cash bid is worth 37.90 euros ($53.57) per ABN Amro Holding NV share, or 70.2 billion euros ($99.2 billion) at closing prices Thursday. That's 18 percent more than Barclays' mostly share bid of 59.4 billion euros ($84.0 billion).

Groenink, who favored the Barclays bid, has conceded it was unlikely to prevail. At a shareholders meeting Sept. 20 _ three days before his hospitalization _ he said he couldn't endorse the RBS bid because it amounted to a "carve up" of ABN Amro.

Among the consortium, Fortis NV of Belgium wants ABN's Dutch operations, Banco Santander Central Hispano SA of Spain wants its Brazilian and Italian arms, and RBS wants the rest, including ABN's investment banking arm.

ABN Amro shares closed at 36.90 euros ($52.15) Thursday, far enough below the RBS offer price to suggest that investors have some concern the deal could unravel at the last moment.

Groenink said on Sept. 20 that ABN's managing board has offered to remain with ABN Amro for at least several months if RBS wins. Some could remain with the new organization permanently _ but he would not, even in the unlikely event he were asked to do so, he said.

"In any case, I won't be the one who leads the transition and (merger of Dutch operations with) Fortis in the breakup scenario," he said.

The consortium has not said which of ABN's managers and board members it would retain or for how long, though it must meet various minimums set by Dutch financial authorities to preserve continuity and stability at the bank.

Separately Friday, the consortium said again that it reserves the right to purchase shares tendered to its bid even if it receives less than 80 percent of shares, the threshold specified in its offer.