Amsterdam, April 23:

Barclays PLC said on Monday it will acquire ABN Amro NV for euro67 billion ($91.16 billion) in the largest takeover in financial services, capping negotiations to create a global banking giant and to prevent the splintering of the Netherlands’ biggest bank.

As part of the deal, ABN announced it is selling its US unit LaSalle Bank to Bank of America Corp. for $21 billion (euro15.45 billion) in cash.

The proposed chief executive of the new group, Barclays CEO John Varley, called the deal “the largest merger ever in global financial industry,” and said it holds out the promise of growth at a rate twice as fast as global GDP.

Despite the agreement, ABN said it will go ahead with meetings with representatives from Royal Bank of Scotland PLC, Spain’s Banco Santander Central Hispano SA and Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis NV, which invited ABN to enter talks earlier this month.

Those talks would be aimed at splitting up ABN and selling off parts of its operations to each, which could be more lucrative for shareholders.

Under the deal, Barclays offered euro36.25 ($49.25) for each ABN share, slightly below Friday’s closing price of euro36.29 ($49.38). Varley said the deal was worth euro67 billion ($91.16 billion), a 33 percent premium from ABN’s share price when talks began last month.

ABN Amro shares rose 1 percent to euro36.66 ($49.88) after initially surging to euro37.15 ($50.45). Barclays shares fell 2 percent to 735 pence ($14.70).

“The proposed merger of ABN Amro and Barclays will create a strong and competitive combination for its clients with superior products and extensive distribution,” the banks said in a statement. “The merged group is expected to generate significant and sustained future incremental earnings growth for shareholders.”

For each share, ABN Amro shareholders will be offered 3.225 ordinary shares in the new group, to be called Barclays PLC. The companies said the deal would create a single bank, based in Amsterdam, with 47 million customers worldwide.