Shareholders voted 2 to 1 for Batus...

Shareholders voted 2 to 1 for Batus Inc. to acquire Farmers Group, a Los Angeles insurance holding company, in a $5.2-billion deal that will become the biggest purchase ever of a California firm. Nearly 65% of Farmers’ shareholders approved the merger at a price of $75 a share, agreed on last Aug. 24 after a stormy courtship by the Kentucky company, a subsidiary of BAT Industries of the United Kingdom. “This strategic investment . . . complements the group’s major financial services business in the U.K. and Canada,” Patrick Sheehy, Batus’ chief executive, told shareholders at the Beverly Hilton. The deal will officially close on Friday.