Barclays extends takeover talks

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Exclusive takeover talks between Barclays and Dutch bank ABN Amro have been extended until Friday, the two firms said in a joint statement.

Yet ABN Amro also announced it would meet with its rival suitors next week if no deal was reached with Barclays.

The rivals to buy ABN Amro are Royal Bank of Scotland, Belgium's Fortis and Spain's Santander.

While Barclays wants to merge its operations with ABN Amro, the other three wish to divide up the Dutch bank.

'Deal uncertain'

Barclays period of exclusive talks with ABN Amro, which was first announced last month, was originally due to run out on Wednesday of this week.

While no details have been revealed, it is thought that Barclays is only willing to go as high as 35 euros ($47; £24) a share for the Dutch firm, while the rival consortium could afford as high as 40 euros.

Barclays has already offered concessions to ABN Amro, such as moving the headquarters of any combined company to Amsterdam.

The two companies said their "discussions ... are progressing, but there can be no certainty that they will lead to a transaction or the form it will take".