Medtronic shareholders approve imminent Covidien takeover

Medtronic has announced that its forthcoming takeover of Covidien has now been approved by its shareholders.

Based on preliminary vote results, the proposal to adopt the transaction agreement and approve the merger was ratified by shareholders controlling 95.66 percent of the company that voted at the meeting, as well as by around 75.18 percent of the outstanding Medtronic shares as of the record date.

The final vote results will be filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission by the end of this week. It comes after Covidien's shareholders also gave the go-ahead to the multi-billion-dollar deal.

Omar Ishrak, chairman and chief executive officer of Medtronic, said: "We are convinced that the addition of Covidien's people and technologies will allow us to expedite our strategic initiatives and will allow us to treat more people, in more ways and in more places around the world."

The transaction is now expected to close in the last week of January or early February, subject to approval by the High Court of Ireland. It has already been approved by regulators in the US and EU, provided that Medtronic agrees to sell off Covidien's drug-coated balloon business.