Lloyds TSB shareholders vote in favour of HBOS takeover
Lloyds TSB shareholders voted today on the proposed takeover of Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) with 95.98% voting in favour of the deal.
Shareholders also approved proposals to raise £5.5 billion by issuing new shares and special preference shares.
The takeover will create a new banking giant called Lloyds Banking Group, which will comprise almost 150,000 staff and 3,000 branches.
HBOS investors are to vote on the deal on 12 December.
However, not everyone has been in favour of the proposed takeover. The deal is expected to result in 30,000 job losses and members of the Unite union protested outside the venue in Glasgow today.
Unite general secretary, Derek Simpson, said the protesters had been demanding that Lloyds TSB shareholders do not merely consider the financial rewards of a takeover of HBOS, but the wider social and employment implications.
Shareholders travelled as far as Devon to Glasgow to make their points and fired questions at the bank’s chairman Victor Blank.
The event, which took place at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, was scheduled to last two hours but overran as the board were quizzed about the deal.
Furthermore, Sir George Mathewson, former chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland and Sir Peter Burt, former chief executive of Bank of Scotland, were trying to convince HBOS shareholders earlier this month they will not benefit from the deal, arguing that HBOS could survive independently.
Meanwhile, shareholders in Royal Bank of Scotland are to vote tomorrow with regard to raising £20 billion of capital.
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