Shareholders of Toluna have agreed to sell the online panel and research technology provider to ITWP, a firm set up by Belgian investor Verlinvest to oversee and manage the deal.

The arrangement, which is valued at £161m ($259m), was announced in February, when Belgian family-owned firm Verlinvest – currently Toluna’s third-largest shareholder - agreed to fund the acquisition from its own assets.

Verlinvest first took a stake in Toluna to support its acquisition of Greenfield Online in 2009.

At a general meeting held this morning, the scheme was approved by Toluna shareholders, although completion of the transaction remains subject to conditions set out in the scheme document.

A court hearing to sanction the agreement is scheduled to take place on 13 April. It is expected that the final day for trading in Toluna shares on AIM will be the following day, and that the scheme will become effective on 18 April.

Once the deal is approved, Toluna founder and CEO Frédéric-Charles Petit (pictured) will become a director of ITWP and will continue to lead Toluna’s management team.

Web site: www.toluna-group.com .

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