GSK shareholders approve Novartis deal
British drug-maker GlaxoSmithKline said its shareholders have given the green light to a deal with Swiss firm Novartis, which will see the two groups trade over £12.7bn of assets.
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The agreement, which was originally unveiled in April, will see GSK buy Novartis' vaccines business, while Novartis will purchase GSK's cancer drugs and the two groups will merge in consumer healthcare.
On Thursday, the company said the transaction had been approved by an overwhelming majority and that it expected the deal to be completed within the first six months of 2015.
European Union antitrust regulators will decide by 14 January whether to approve the deal, while US antitrust regulators sanctioned the agreement in November, after Novartis agreed to sell its nicotine business Habitrol.