Barclays, the UK banking group, has made a tentative takeover approach to ABN Amro as the embattled Dutch bank attempts to fight off a campaign by activist investors.

Barclays, which has long viewed ABN Amro as a potential merger partner, has been studying a bid since the Dutch bank last month came under attack from The Children’s Investment Fund, the activist hedge fund. Barclays’ approach, which is understood to have been highly preliminary, is designed to help the bank present itself as a “white knight” that could rescue ABN Amro from being broken up.