Health House International (HHI) shareholders have voted in favour of the company's acquisition by Creso Pharma, with the transaction expected to be finalised before the end of the month.
Support at yesterday's shareholder meeting was near-unanimous, with just 4% of votes cast in opposition.
The deal still requires ratification by the Supreme Court of Western Australia, with a hearing scheduled for tomorrow, though that step is widely expected to be a formality.
If the court approves the arrangement, HHI shares will be suspended from the ASX at the close of trading on Friday, with an "implementation date" of May 16.
The shareholder vote comes nine months after Creso Pharma launched its A$4.6 million offer for the Australian distribution company.
That bid followed an earlier attempt by Zelira Therapeutics to purchase HHI, which was ultimately abandoned.
Creso chief executive William Lay has said bringing HHI into the fold would deliver meaningful advantages for the business by "significantly strengthening its global distribution capabilities and unlocking a number of new markets across the UK, Europe and Australia".
Lay also said in an interview that Creso needed an Australian operation on its books.
“I’ve always thought that Creso, as an Australian publicly listed company, should have real operations in Australia. Not just corporate functions, but a real operating business,” he said last year. “That adds to Creso, not just from a strategic position but from the investor perspective.”
HHI chief executive David Attwood, who described the transaction as a "merger", said it would create an "extended global organisation" that would give shareholders exposure to three continents, including North America.
