British bank Barclays Plc received strong support from its shareholders on Friday for its proposed 58 billion euro ($80.5 billion) takeover of Dutch rival ABN AMRO.

Barclays said 90 percent of shareholders who voted approved the deal, well above the 50 percent level needed.

Barclays' offer is expected to be beaten by a rival consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland. The RBS consortium's mostly cash offer is worth just over 70 billion euros, leaving it well above Barclays' mostly share offer, which has been hit by a recent slump in bank stock prices.

Royal Bank of Scotland ABN Amro Barclays