The merger with Whitehaven received shareholder approval in April, later followed by court approval on April 18.

Following approval, Whitehaven acquired unlisted exploration and development company Boardwalk Resources, which owns four coal exploration assets across New South Wales and Queensland.

As part of the merger implementation, eligible Aston shareholders have been issues with 1.89 Whitehaven shares for each Aston share they hold.

The new Whitehaven shares will begin trading on Monday.

Holders of Whitehaven shares, as at April 26, are entitled to receive a fully franked special dividend of 50c per share which is scheduled to be paid on May 4.

A shuffle to Whitehaven’s board of directors has been made following the implementation of the merger, including the appointment of Mark Vaile who will assume the role as Whitehaven’s new non-executive chairman.

Vaile, a former Nationals party leader, was removed as Aston’s chairman last November, with Nathan Tinkler taking on the role.

Meanwhile, John Conde, the current chairman of Whitehaven, will remain on the board as deputy chairman.

Outgoing directors of Whitehaven include Neil Chatfield, Alex Krueger and Andy Plummer who have resigned from the board.

They will be replaced by Philip Christensen, Paul Flynn and Rick Gazzard who will join the board as non-executive directors.

Haggarty will continue as the managing director of Whitehaven.

The merger of the three companies has created a coal company with saleable production of 6 million tonnes per annum of coal in the 2012 financial year.

It is expected to increase to 25Mtpa by the FY2016 and will lead to a commanding position in the growing Gunnedah Basin of New South Wales.