A&L deal gains shareholder approval
A big majority of Alliance & Leicester (A&L) shareholders have approved the firm's takeover by Santander.The £1.5 billion merger was voted for by around 85 per cent of the investors at an extraordinary general meeting in Birmingham yesterday.Only High Court approval, scheduled for early next month, now stands in the way of the deal.Santander, a Spanish financial services group, already owns mortgage lender Abbey in the UK.It is currently unclear whether or not A&L will retain its branding after the takeover.Roy Brown, the mortgage firm's acting chairman, said: "We welcome our shareholders approval of the offer from Santander, which was unanimously recommended by the Board of Alliance & Leicester. "The economic outlook and continuing uncertainty in financial markets have reinforced the Board's view that this transaction is in the best interests of shareholders, customers and other stakeholders."
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