LONDON (AP) — British mortgage lender Alliance & Leicester urged shareholders yesterday to accept a $2.4 billion takeover offer from Spain's Banco Santander as the best protection for their investment amid extreme financial market turbulence and the deteriorating outlook for the domestic economy.

A&L said that "significant external risks" remained and that the value to shareholders "of the greater certainty provided by being part of a larger organisation is considerable."

Shareholders are due to vote on the plan on September 16.

If the £1.3 billion pound stock deal goes ahead as planned, A&L will be merged with Banco Santander's existing British subsidiary, the Abbey, to create a much larger bank with 959 branches and 10 percent of Britain's current accounts.

Investors are being offered one Santander share for three A&L shares.

The offer values each A&L share at 317 pence ($5.90) as of August 8.