The deal, announced in January, faced criticism from Bristol-Myers shareholders from the start. In February, Hedge funds Wellington Management and Starboard came out against the deal, arguing it required Bristol-Myers shareholders to assume too much risk. Starboard eventually ended its fight against the deal.
More than 70 percent of eligible shareholders voted to approve the deal April 12.
Together, the companies will have nine products with more than $1 billion in annual sales, including two top-selling cancer drugs. In the first nine months of 2018, Celgene’s myeloma drug, Revlimid, had $7.1 billion in sales, and Bristol-Myers’ lung-cancer treatment, Opdivo, had $4.9 billion in sales.
The drugmakers said that their combined pipeline includes six near-term product launches, which could generate more than $15 billion in revenue.
The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.
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