Nov 27 Reuters Metro Bank shareholders on Monday backed the lender39;s proposed 325 million pound 404.98 million capital raise and 600 million pound debt refinancing, clearing the final hurdle in a rescue plan that won bondholder approval in October.

After urgent talks to bolster Metro39;s balance sheet, 92.73 of the total votes cast at the challenger bank39;s general meeting were in favour of the plan.

The deal hands majority shareholder control to its biggest investor, Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski. It would entail a hit for bondholders, who would then switch into higher interestpaying bonds.

Metro was launched in 2010 to challenge the dominance of Britain39;s big banks, but hit a string of setbacks in recent years, such as accounting errors, leadership departures and delayed regulatory approval for key capital relief plans.

Shares in the company were up 6.4 at 41.5 pence by 1345 GMT.

1 0.8025 pounds

Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath

Source Reuters