First Active shareholders to vote on merger

First Active shareholders will get their say on the proposed takeover of the bank by Royal Bank of Scotland at an extraordinary general meeting on Thursday.

First Active only requires the backing of 75% of those voting at the egm to secure the vote.

The merged mortgage business will be second largest in the Irish mortgage market, coming behind only Irish Life & Permanent.

It will have a 15% market share and be the third largest bank, with over 260 branches serving more than 1.3m personal and business customers on both sides of the border. Each company will operate under their own brand.

RBoS, also Ulster bank's parent company, bolstered its Direct Line insurance business in June this year with the acquisition of Churchill Insurance for £1.1bn(€1.5bn) to become Britain's third largest general insurer.