North Fork Pressuring Dime to Accept Its Hostile Bid

North Fork (NFB Quote) CEO John Kanas used a conference call Wednesday to increase pressure on Dime's (DME Quote) management to accept his bank's $1.85 billion hostile takeover bid.

As well as criticizing Dime Chief Executive Lawrence Toal and the thrift's earnings power, Kanas restated his belief that no other banks are interested in making a counterbid for Dime. In an attempt to show how confident he is of this, North Fork released FleetBoston (FBF Quote) from a legal agreement that had prevented Fleet from making an offer for Dime while North Fork is trying to take it over. Fleet, often mentioned as possible buyer of Dime, is still agreeing to provide North Fork with $250 million to fund the cash element of North Fork's offer for Dime. Fleet is still prevented by the agreement from making a bid for North Fork.

In a press statement about the North Fork conference call, Fleet didn't say whether it was interested in acquiring Dime, and a spokeswoman for the bank declined to comment on the matter.

Fleet's finance chief, Eugene McQuade, said: "We continue to support North Fork in its tender offer for the Dime Savings Bank. The agreement we have with North Fork to provide $250 million of financing and to purchase 17 branches, if they are successful in their acquisition of Dime, remains intact. We believe it's now in the best interest of all involved for Dime and North Fork to reach a conclusion in this matter." ...