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Wesfarmers will take control of retailer Coles Group in Australia's largest corporate takeover, after Coles' shareholders voted overwhelmingly for the A$19.7 billion ($23.5 billion) deal.
Coles said in a statement yesterday that 99.25 per cent of votes were cast in favour of the takeover, ending a 15-month saga for control of the country's second-largest supermarket chain.
Wesfarmers, a conglomerate which runs Australia's largest hardware chain Bunnings, faces an uphill task to overhaul the supermarkets, where sales have stalled and Coles has lost significant market share to larger rival Woolworths.
"It's a big job, but we are hopeful the Wesfarmers management will be up to it," said Argo Investments Managing Director Rob Patterson. Argo voted its A$41 million worth of shares in favour of the deal.
The combined group will become Australia's largest retailer with revenues of A$44 billion, and the largest private-sector employer with some 200,000 staff.
Wesfarmers has said the turnaround will likely take three to five years.
- Reuters
