Calliden shareholders have voted to support a takeover bid from broker cluster group Steadfast.

At today’s scheme meeting in Sydney, 93.82% of shareholders backed the bid, which had the unanimous support of the Calliden board.

Steadfast will acquire 100% of Calliden ordinary shares at 46.5 cents per share, comprising 41.5 cents in cash and a five-cent fully franked dividend.

Steadfast MD and CEO Robert Kelly says the vote marks a significant milestone in the acquisition process.

“These agencies will complement our existing mix of specialised agencies and make Steadfast one of the largest agency groups in Australia, with annual gross written premium of more than $335 million.”

A second court hearing to approve the shareholder vote will take place on Thursday.

If approval is given, Calliden shares will be suspended from trading on the Australian Securities Exchange on Friday, with the takeover to be completed on December 23.

Steadfast will then immediately sell on Calliden’s general insurance operations and part of the agency operations to Munich Re.