The long running merger of British broadcasters Carlton and Granada to form a new television giant, to be called ITV, was formally approved by shareholders from both companies today
At a morning meeting in London, Carlton shareholders voted 99.9% in favour of the merger, which is due to take effect on February 2.
Shareholders of Granada, by far the bigger partner, voted for the deal by a similar margin at a separate meeting later in the day, leaving only a formal court approval at the end of January to finalise matters.
Although the companies got the go-ahead from the government last October to form the independent television heavyweight, the deal was delayed when the merged group's chairman-to-be, Michael Green, was forced to step down after Granada withdrew its backing for him.
The two companies are together worth about £4 bn( €5.8 bn) and sell 52% of all commercial TV advertising in Britain.
