Barclays will walk away with a €200m ($282m) break fee from ABN Amro as it looks to turn a profit from its unsuccessful pursuit of the Dutch bank, after failing to garner enough backing for its bid and admitting defeat in the record takeover battle this afternoon.

Barclays, whose offer for ABN Amro closed yesterday, said in a statement released at noon today it failed to attract the minimum 80% of the Dutch bank's shares needed to push through its offer, and has withdrawn the bid "with immediate effect".