Before long the firm had to fend off a takeover bid from Oberthur.

ECONOMIST: The business of printing money thrives on financial crises

Barclays has been bitterly trying to fend off a rival bid to control ABN from a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland, which sweetened its offer last month, upping its cash element from 71% to 93% in an effort to win over shareholders.

BBC: NEWS | Business | Share falls weaken Barclays' bid

If this deal fails it would just give a bigger edge to Google, which has already offered to step in and help Yahoo fend off Microsoft's bid.

NPR: Yahoo Says 'Not So Fast' to Microsoft