Barclays has formally launched its 65bn euro ($89bn; £43.6bn) takeover bid for Dutch bank ABN Amro
Barclays is hoping its offer will beat a 71bn euro bid tabled by a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland.
ABN Amro has refused to back either offer, in order to ensure "a level playing field" between the bidders.
The news comes as Fortis investors in Belgium voted overwhelmingly to back the Belgian-Dutch bank's participation in the RBS-led bid.
Dutch investors in the bank will vote on the decision later.
Their backing is seen as pivotal to whether the RBS consortium will win out in the battle for ABN.
At the meeting in Brussels, Fortis investors also backed plans for the bank to issue 13bn euros in shares to fund its part of the deal.
Bidding war
The RBS-led group - which also involves Spanish bank Santander - sweetened its offer last month, upping its cash element from 71% to 93% in an effort to win over shareholders.
A bidding war for ABN Amro broke out between the two UK group's earlier this year.
ABN had originally supported the Barclays offer, a stance which was viewed as a crucial factor in Barclays winning the fight against RBS, but withdrew its backing last month.
Under Barclay's current proposed cash and share offer, ABN investors will receive 13.15 euros in cash and 2.13 new Barclays shares for each ABN share.
The offer period runs from 7 August to 4 October, Barclays said.
First published on the BBC Website|
Barclays has been battling to takeover ABN since early this year