LONDON (AP) — Barclays PLC chief executive John Varley said yesterday that the British bank was confident it had an "agreed merger" with ABN Amro NV, despite the Dutch bank opening its books to higher bid from a consortium led by the Royal Bank of Scotland.Varley told reporters after Barclay's annual general meeting in London that there was a "stark contrast" between the two approaches — Barclays planned to "build on one of the best banks in the world", while the RBS consortium "planned the deconstruction of one of the biggest banks in Europe".

Barclays' offer valuing ABN at [EURO]63.6 billion ($86.4 billion) would keep the Dutch bank mostly intact, while the RBS-led offer worth nearly [EURO]73.6 billion (nearly $100 billion) would see the consortium — which also includes Spain's Banco Santander Central Hispano SA and Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis NV — divide the bank's assets among itself.

Varley declined to comment in detail on the consortium's bid, but said that ABN had informed Barclays that it planned to open its books for due diligence to the group.

"I can understand why ABN regarded that as a responsibility," Varley told reporters. "We have an agreed offer," he added.

Varley earlier reassured shareholders at the meeting, where there were numerous questions about the proposed deal.

In response to one investor's query about the price and Barclay's ability to afford it, Varley said that the board's members "have our feet on the ground and our shareholders in mind.

"We are absolutely clear that it is the interests of our shareholders and we are determined to proceed," he said.

Varley added that the merger would also bring Barclays favourable exposure to emerging markets.

"The merger of Barclays with ABN Amro would, in my opinion, get us to the optimal business portfolio a great deal sooner than we could otherwise achieve it," he said.

Shareholders were pressuring ABN to commit to accepting the highest bid ahead of the Dutch bank's annual shareholders' meeting yesterday, but management has resisted — with ABN chief executive Rijkman Groenink telling Dutch television that the bank's break-up was too risky.