JLT shareholders in London have voted overwhelmingly in favour of Marsh & McLennan’s takeover of the business.

There are still regulatory hoops to jump through, but Marsh President and CEO Dan Glaser says last week’s vote, securing 99.9% backing, is an important milestone.

“Planning the future of Marsh & McLennan and JLT together now begins in earnest,” he said.

“Upon closing, the combined firm will have the deepest pool of talent in the industry, the broadest industry expertise and the greatest capability to invest in data, analytics and digital solutions. We will meet our clients’ greatest challenges with innovation and thought leadership.”

The deal will create a global giant and the largest insurance broker in Australia.

Nobody knows exactly what the merger will bring in Australia, but early indications suggest a 2-5% headcount reduction across a global workforce of 75,000.

Mr Glaser has named Australia a “top-six” country for his global company and says “JLT is quite large and significant there too, so I love the idea of how that combines”.

What he did not say is that JLT in Australia is significantly larger than Marsh in one key measurement – profit. Nobody disputes the two companies are a good fit in this market: there is not much crossover and JLT’s dominance in prime niche sectors such as local government complements Marsh’s strength in the large corporate space.

The transaction remains subject to additional antitrust, financial regulatory and UK High Court approvals.