Quick Take: Who Wins in the ABN Deal?

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Well, it looks like the record-making squabble for ABN Amro (NYSE: ABN) is all over but the crying.

After the expiration of Barclays' (NYSE: BCS) offer for ABN Amro shares, which failed to cull the 80% of shares needed, Barclays withdrew its offer for the company. This means, of course, that the consortium of RBS, Fortis, and Banco Santander is on track to move in for the kill.

But in this case, to the victor go ... well, a lot of question marks. The consortium went on the warpath for ABN before serious market turmoil set in, and major LBO deals made people accept this as a relatively logical deal. Now, the market looks questionable, the price looks iffy at best, and the three "winners" face the challenge of carving up a massive global bank and integrating it into their respective businesses.

If that's winning, then count me out.

So is anybody smiling here? You betcha. All of the investment banks working on the deal stand to take home a pretty penny when this deal officially closes. Among this group of beneficiaries are Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Rothschild, UBS, and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), all of which are advising ABN, and Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER), Greenhill, and Fox, Pitt Kelton, all of which are advising the RBS consortium.

And don't lose sleep over the fate of the bankers that advised Barclays on its losing bid -- they are expected to take home more than $400 million in fees even without closing the deal. This group includes Citigroup (NYSE: C), Credit Suisse, and Deutsche Bank, among others.