BofA says it will seek to buy LaSalle, despite court ruling

Eager to fill one of the few holes in its coast-to-coast business, Bank of America Corp. hinted Thursday that it wasn’t likely to back down without a fight after a Dutch court blocked its purchase of LaSalle Bank Corp.

“We have a binding contract and intend to take all necessary steps to protect our legal rights,” said Bank of America spokesman Scott Silvestri, a few hours after a court in the Netherlands ruled that ABN Amro, that country’s largest bank, must receive shareholder approval before completing the $21-billion cash deal.

But such determination might not matter. The bank’s deal for LaSalle is one piece of a much larger transaction, in which Britain’s Barclays would buy the rest of ABN Amro’s assets for $91 billion. Thursday’s ruling appears to increase the chances that a rival $98.5-billion offer for ABN from a three-bank consortium, led by Royal Bank of Scotland, will win out.

“The Dutch court’s decision seems to keep the sale of LaSalle linked to the bidding process for ABN Amro,” wrote CreditSights analyst David Hendler in a research note. “As a result, we think the decision tips the ‘jump ball’ for ABN in favor of the Royal Bank of Scotland consortium.”

Silvestri said the bank did not have any further comments beyond his statement. Bank of America shareholders appeared indifferent to the news, pushing company stock up 22 cents to $51.23.

LaSalle, which has $113 billion in total assets and is one of the top 20 banks in the U.S., has long been coveted by Bank of America Chairman and Chief Executive Ken Lewis for its large share of customers in the Chicago area, the nation’s third-largest financial services market.

In the last four years, Bank of America has increased its retail presence in Chicago from a single financial center to 56 locations. But when combined with LaSalle’s 141 Chicago area offices, Bank of America would have more than 14% of the deposit market share in Chicago and move past JPMorgan Chase & Co. to become the largest bank in the area.

The deal also would expand Bank of America’s presence in Michigan, where the bank had only 25 ATMs and not a single branch office at the end of 2006.