Shareholders of MCI, the telecom firm that emerged from failed giant WorldCom, voted "by an overwhelming margin" to approve the $8.5 billion sale to Verizon Communications, the company said Thursday.
MCI was the subject of an intense bidding war earlier this year between Qwest Communications and Verizon.
Some MCI stockholders tried to derail the Verizon deal in hopes of receiving a higher offer from Qwest, but that longshot effort fizzled last week after Qwest ended speculation by saying it didn't plan to get reinvolved.
"Today's vote brings us an important step closer to completing the MCI transaction," Verizon chief executive Ivan Seidenberg said in a statement.
Verizon and MCI still await federal approval for their deal. Antitrust regulators are examining whether sufficient competition would exist in the business market after the two companies combine.
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