Australia's Tatts moves closer to Tabcorp deal with shareholder nod

(Reuters) - Tatts Group Ltd <TTS.AX> cleared one of the last hurdles in its takeover by horse race-betting firm Tabcorp Holdings Ltd <TAH.AX> with the lottery owner getting the green signal from its shareholders on Tuesday.

Tatts has applied to the Supreme Court of Victoria for approval of the scheme at a hearing scheduled for Dec. 13, it said in a statement.

Earlier this month, Australia's competition watchdog had dropped its opposition to the $4.7 billion takeover offer, clearing the regulatory path for a long-pending deal.

The deal has been mired in uncertainty since Tabcorp and Tatts announced their plans 13 months ago, their third such attempt after having failed twice since 2006.

The takeover, which is being done through a scheme of arrangement, required approval of 75 percent of Tatts shareholders.

Meanwhile, the Brisbane-based Tatts' net profit after tax from continuing operations for 5-months (before significant items)ended Nov. 30 rose 17.7 percent, Chief Executive Robbie Cooke said in a statement at the Annual General Meeting.

Tatts will pay a fully franked special dividend of 16 Australian cents per Tatts share, subject to the scheme becoming effective.

(Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)