EMC Shareholders Approve Dell Merger With 98 Percent of Votes

(Bloomberg) -- EMC shareholders approved the merger with Dell with 98 percent of the votes, clearing a key hurdle on the way to finalizing the largest technology merger in history.

EMC, the maker of storage products, said nearly all shareholders voted in favor, based on a preliminary tally unveiled at a special meeting to decide the deal, according to a company statement. The merger is on track to close under the original terms, EMC said. Previously EMC said the deal would close by October. It’s still subject to regulatory approval from China.

"The board evaluated numerous alternatives to enhance shareholder value with an eye on execution and certainty and concluded that our proposed merger with Dell is by far the best outcome," Joe Tucci, EMC chairman, said during the meeting, which was webcast.

EMC agreed to be bought by Dell for $67 billion, an agreement that will bring together two of the largest tech hardware companies in the world. EMC company has been facing a challenging climate for storage machines because more companies are avoiding its expensive devices to warehouse information in their own data centers and are signing up with companies like Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to store their data in the cloud.