By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Oct. 9 -- Texaco Inc. and Chevron Corp. said their stockholders approved the $35 billion merger of their companies, which was completed later Tuesday.
Texaco said as of Oct. 8, the shares voted were 98.3% in favor of the merger, representing 71.9% of the total shares outstanding.
Chevron said more than 99% of its stock voted, or 441 million shares, favored the merger. And 68% of the stock voted approved the name change to ChevronTexaco Corp.
Glenn Tilton, Texaco chairman and CEO, said, "Our new company, ChevronTexaco Corp., will rank among the largest energy companies in the world with the resources necessary to create greater value for our shareholders."
Dave O'Reilly, Chevron chairman and CEO, said, "Our goal is to be No. 1 in total stockholder return among our industry competitors. With this merger, two companies with a long history of partnership will join together to create greater value for our stockholders and put us on the path to our goal."
The merger was announced a year ago and has been approved by the US Federal Trade Commission, the European Union, and other federal and state regulatory authorities (OGJ Online, Sept. 7, 2001).
Under the terms of the merger, Texaco stockholders will receive 0.77 shares of ChevronTexaco stock for each Texaco share. ChevronTexaco will be headquartered in San Francisco until mid-2002, when the company will move its corporate staff of 200 persons to San Ramon, Calif.