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Life Tech Shareholders Approve Acquisition by Thermo Fisher

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – More than 98 percent of Life Technologies' voting shareholders have approved the company's pending $13.6 billion acquisition by Thermo Fisher Scientific, Life Tech announced after the close of the market on Wednesday.

The voting took place at a special shareholders' meeting on Wednesday, and the 98 percent of votes cast in favor of the deal represents more than 72 percent of all outstanding shares, Life Tech said.

In a document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Carlsbad, Calif.-based firm said that about 125.7 million votes were in favor of the deal, while 225,981 votes were against it. There were 1.4 million abstained votes, and 25,377 broker non-votes.

Shareholders also approved a non-binding advisory proposal related to compensation to Life Tech's executives following the anticipated completion of the Thermo Fisher deal. About 85.7 million votes were in favor of the proposal while 37.2 million votes were against it. There were almost 4.4 million abstained votes and 25,376 broker non-votes.

Life Tech said in its definitive proxy statement that Chairman and CEO Greg Lucier could receive $38.1 million in total compensation if the acquisition is completed by Jan. 13, 2014, while President and COO Mark Stevenson is in line to receive $22.0 million in total compensation.

The acquisition was announced in April and is expected to close in early 2014 following anticipated regulatory approvals.

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