The shareholders of Union Bankshares Co., the parent company of Union Trust Co. bank, on Thursday overwhelmingly approved its acquisition by Camden National Corp.

Camden National, parent company of Camden National Bank and Acadia Trust, announced in August its plans to acquire Union Bankshares for approximately $72.5 million in cash and stock.

At a Union Bankshares shareholder meeting, 75 percent of shareholders voted in favor of the merger while 1 percent voted against. The remaining 24 percent of voters abstained.

The companies also announced that because of the holidays, the Dec. 20, 2007, deadline for merger consideration elections has been extended about a week, to Dec. 26.

Materials regarding merger consideration elections were mailed to Union Bankshares shareholders beginning on Nov. 19, 2007.

Union Trust will maintain its name in Hancock and Washington counties as a division of Camden National. The combined organization would have more than $2.3 billion in assets and $1.5 billion in deposits. Camden National currently operates 27 branch locations and Union Trust has 13.

The proposed merger is expected to close in January.