Red Hat Shareholders Overwhelmingly Approve IBM Acquisition Deal

Red Hat shareholders held a meeting Wednesday in which they approved by an overwhelming margin the company's proposed acquisition by IBM.

In a show of support for the $34 billion blockbuster deal, the 8k filing with the SEC records only a miniscule percentage of represented shares voting against approval. More than 80 percent of the company's outstanding common stock was represented in the vote.

IBM is buying open-source software developer in a bid to become a market leader for hybrid cloud systems.

[Related: Partners of IBM Competitors Not Sweating The Red Hat Deal]

The two companies announced the deal in November of last year. The agreement stipulated IBM would acquire all issued and outstanding common shares of Red Hat for $190.00 per share—a significant premium above the $116.68 price at which Red Hat was trading at the time.