LONDON (AFP) - Shareholders of British media group Reuters voted in favour of a takeover by Canadian peer Thomson Corporation, the London-based company said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Reuters shareholders vote in favour of acquisition by The Thomson Corporation," the company said in a brief statement to the London Stock Exchange after an extraordinary general meeting on the deal.

All resolutions regarding the takeover were passed by the vast majority of shareholders, Reuters said. They voted in favour "to implement the acquisition of the Company by the Thomson Corporation," it added.

Shortly after the news, Thomson Corp. announced in a separate statement on Wednesday that its shareholders had also backed the Reuters takeover.

"Thomson and Reuters will each now seek court approvals in Canada and the United Kingdom, respectively," Thomson said in a release issued from its operations headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.

Thomson agreed last year to buy Reuters for 8.7 billion pounds (11.5 billion euros, 17 billion dollars), creating a combined business called Thomson Reuters that will be led by Reuters' current chief executive Tom Glocer.

The Thomson-Reuters deal received regulatory approvals last month and is expected to be completed on April 17.

The takeover will create the biggest provider of financial information to trading rooms, overtaking current market leader and US rival Bloomberg.

Along with the privately held US group Bloomberg, Thomson and Reuters currently dominate the market for providing financial data to banks, investment funds and other financial services firms.

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