Alliance & Leicester shareholders meet over Spanish takeover

Shareholders in Alliance & Leicester will gather today to cast their final votes on the mortgage lender’s proposed £1.3bn (€1.6bn) takeover by Spanish banking giant Santander.

An extraordinary general meeting called by A&L, which saw its share price fall by more than 6% yesterday amid the market turmoil sparked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, will begin at Birmingham’s International Convention Centre this morning.