The biggest gold acquisition in nearly a year is a step closer to reality after investors backed the US$4.8 billion takeover of Yamana Gold Inc.

Shareholders of both Yamana and Pan American Silver Corp. voted in favor of the cash-and-stock deal at separate meetings in Toronto and Vancouver. The takeover will see Pan American acquire Yamana’s Latin American assets while Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. gets the company’s Canadian operations.

The acquisition would be the largest gold deal since Agnico’s $12.2 billion (US$9.6 billion) takeover of Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. last February. The transaction will give Agnico full control over the Canadian Malartic mine in Quebec while Pan American becomes a major precious metals producer in Latin America.

The joint offer topped an earlier bid by South Africa’s Gold Fields Ltd., which had faced investor resistance due to its structure and premium. The transaction, which is expected to close by the end of March, still requires approvals from Ontario’s superior court and the Mexican Federal Economic Competition Commission, according to Yamana.

“I have every confidence that the combination between Yamana, Pan American Silver and Agnico Eagle will be a success,” Yamana chairman Peter Marrone said at the Toronto meeting.