What now for engineering firm GKN after takeover battle?

But now the war of words between engineering firm GKN and turnaround specialist Melrose is finally over after the hostile takeover bid lasting more than two months came to a conclusion.

GKN shareholders have voted to accept the offer from Melrose Plc.

Melrose went directly to shareholders of the FTSE 100 engineering firm after its board snubbed the turnaround specialist's initial advances.

The shareholders had until 1pm yesterday to cast their ballots – with the bitter war of words between the two companies ringing in their ears.

Melrose, which specialises in the turnaround of good but under-performing companies, believes GKN has under-performed for a number of years, missing profit targets and misdirecting investment.

It blames poor management and corporate culture, slow decision-making and a focus on growing sales, rather than profits, for this – and has argued it could run GKN's various businesses better.

But GKN – a company with roots going back to the Industrial Revolution – had claimed its own path, which includes the sale of its Driveline auto business, would deliver better value for investors in the long term.

GKN has a site in Telford where it employs 350 people as well as other factories in the Midlands with around 1,000 workers.

Following the decision by shareholders of GKN to accept the offer from Melrose, mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, said: “The result of the vote by the shareholders of GKN is now known, however the real decisions on the future of the company are still to be made.

“Therefore, I’m asking the new owners for an early meeting to ensure their commitments to the West Midlands are honoured.

“That means protecting current jobs, pensions and future investment in research and development. This will ensure GKN continues to be a long-term success story in the region.”

But what now for GKN following its shareholder's decision? Many people have argued that GKN has been poorly run for a long time, its financial health has been neglected, and to thrive it needs the kind of changes that Melrose has promised to deliver.

Melrose executives have said they treat the businesses they buy "as if they were going to own them forever" and have as good a record of investing in good assets as disposing of bad ones. But they don't own them forever and they will be looking to move on in a few years' time to a new target.

Melrose has stressed its commitment to improving "not only GKN, but the UK economy", committing to keeping the firm listed in London and headquartered in the UK as part of a five-year pledge.

It revealed it had been asked by the business secretary Greg Clark to make a series of binding pledges to ensure GKN remained in the UK and that it would continue to spend money on developing new technology.

Melrose’s chief executive Simon Peckham also reassured Mr Clark that it would ensure a majority of its directors are resident in the UK and that the aerospace and driveline divisions retain the rights to the GKN name.

But Melrose's takeover will spark fears for jobs after Airbus, GKN's largest customer, earlier warned it could not give any new business to the firm if the deal with the turnaround specialist went ahead.

Melrose's pursuit of GKN is the first hostile takeover bid to go the distance for nearly a decade.

The Melrose bid has met a wealth of concern from GKN customers, unions and politicians – worried it will mean the loss of jobs and investment cash, and that it will hit pensions.

Both companies upped the ante in the 24 hours before yesterday's 1pm deadline for investors to cast their ballots on the controversial deal.