Shareholders Approve Symantec-Veritas MergerShareholders Approve Symantec-Veritas Merger

As expected, the shareholders of Symantec Corp. and Veritas Software Corp. overwhemingly approved the merger of the two companies today at special meetings of their respective stockholders.

Of the 76 percent of outstanding Symantec shares that were voted, nearly 95 percent were cast in favor of the merger. Of the 73 percent of outstanding shares of Veritas that were voted, 98 percent were cast in favor of the merger. Accordingly, each share of Veritas common stock will be exchanged for 1.1242 shares of Symantec common stock, per the terms of the $13 billion deal that the vendors first agreed to last December.

Approval had been widely expected. Yesterday, Symantec executives touted the benefits of the merged entity, noting its ability to deliver a "comprehensive set of security, storage, availability and performance solutions, and complementary services."

The merger is expected to close on July 2. Separately, Symantec stockholders approved an increase in the authorized number of shares of Symantec common stock to 3 billion shares.