Travis Perkins (TP) plc’s shareholders have approved the company’s £950m acquisition of Wickes Ltd at an extraordinary general meeting in London.

Shareholders overwhelmingly voted in favour of the takeover (TTJ January 8/15), leaving clearance from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) as the only remaining barrier to the deal.

TP says it expects OFT permission in the coming days, with a view to completing the acquisition on or about February 11.

The purchase will give the company 172 Wickes stores, access into the lucrative DIY market and move it closer to its medium-term target of an 18-20% share of the UK builders merchant market. Its branch total would be 772.

TP will finance the takeover with a new £1.2bn bank facility and a flotation of five million new ordinary shares, which will raise £75m.