Shareholders in Metlifecare have approved the retirement village operator's $216 million expansion plan, paving the way for a merger with two other businesses.
The resolution, put to shareholders today at a special meeting, was approved by a 79 per cent majority.
The deal will see the NZX-listed Metlifecare merge with two unlisted retirement village operators, Vision Senior Living (VSL) and Private Life Care (PLC), thereby creating a retirement village operator big enough to challenge market leader, Ryman Healthcare.
Last-minute changes were made to sweeten the deal for major institutional investors.
John Hawkins of the Shareholders Association said after the meeting that a third deal put forward just before the NZX opened this morning was a distinct improvement on the previous two.
