FLASH: Covidien shareholders approve Medtronic merger

Covidien (NYSE:COV) said this morning that shareholders voted to approve its pending, $43 billion merger with Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) at a meeting in Ireland.

It’s a penultimate step in consummating the union, announced last summer, as Medtronic shareholders are also slated to meet today for a vote on the deal.

Covidien said its stockholders overwhelmingly approved the merger with Medtronic at the Irish High Court-mandated meeting, and at its own extraordinary general meeting.

"The Covidien shares voted in favor of and against the proposal represented 78.69% and 0.18%, respectively, of the 452,731,347Covidien shares outstanding as of the record date and entitled to vote at the court meeting," according to a press release.

Mansfield, Mass.-based Covidien said its shareholders approved all 6 proposals at the extraordinary general meeting, with all but 1 proposal approved by more than 99%. The exception, a non-binding proposal to approve "specified compensatory arrangements between Covidien and its named executive officers relating to the transaction," saw nearly 5% of Covidien shareholders voting against it, according to the release.