SANTANDER, Spain (AFP) - Shareholders of Spain's largest bank, Banco Santander Central, approved the 8.5-billion-pound (12.3-billion-euro, 15.3-billion-dollar) takeover of British mortgage bank Abbey National.
At a meeting in the northern city of Santander the shareholders agreed to 1.51 billion new shares being issued to set in motion an operation leading to the creation of the world's tenth-largest bank.
The move came a week after two thirds of Abbey shareholders gave the proposed deal the go-ahead.
The European Commission approved the proposed takeover of Abbey by Spain's biggest bank last month.
Abbey first announced in late July that it had accepted a takeover bid from SCH under which the Spanish bank would offer one new SCH share and a special cash dividend of 31 pence for each Abbey share.
The link-up, the largest ever in European retail banking, is set to go ahead by November 12, SCH estimated.
SCH had speeded up the operation after British rival HBOS expressed interest in making a counter bid in August before ultimately deciding not to proceed.
"Abbey will continue to be a British bank, run by an essentially British team," said SCH chairman Emilio Botin.
"But we will bring to it our business model, the Santander model."
Botin added that the bank would look to secure a London listing in the coming three to six months.
SCH withdrew its London listing last year after 18 years owing to low trading liquidity.
Analysts say a dual listing in London and Madrid could assuage fears of some Abbey shareholders who see the cash element of the offer as too low and who are reluctant to hold euro-denominated paper.
At an SCH general assembly meeting on Thursday Botin said that Abbey's current financial general director, Francisco Gomez Roldan, would be named Abbey National's general director once the deal had been processed.
Botin added that Abbey chairman Terence Burns would remain in his current post.
Gomez Roldan, 51, will replace Luqman Arnold, who, according to SCH sources will act as advisor to Botin.
SCH chief executive Alfredo Saenz meanwhile said the bank would not rule out competing on prices in the British banking sector.
Saenz told shareholders the bank's "initial priorities will be to optimise Abbey's commercial potential, using all its distribution networks, simplifying and improving its range of products and, when it's necessary, compete on prices."
10-21-2004, 16h49