Cooper Tire shareholders approve sale to Apollo Tyres

REUTERS - Cooper Tire and Rubber Co said its shareholders approved its sale to Apollo Tyres , bringing the tire makers one step closer to completing their $2.5 billion deal.

About 96 percent of the shares that were voted at a shareholder meeting on Monday were in favor of the merger. The company said about 78 percent of Cooper's outstanding common shares were voted at the shareholder meet.

Cooper shares were up 1 percent at $31.10 in late morning trading on Monday, well below the offer price of $35.

(Reporting by Mridhula Raghavan in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)