Shareholders of TXU Corp. approved the sale of the largest power generator in Texas for $32 billion on Friday in one of the biggest private buyouts ever.
Investors led by private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and TPG, formerly Texas Pacific Group, hope to get the last regulatory approval and complete the deal in the next few weeks.
There may not be many more deals this size for a while, as banks have become reluctant to finance big takeovers. KKR and TPG locked up their financing at the height of the buyout binge earlier this year.
More than 95 percent of the shares that were voted favored the merger. Under Texas law, TXU needed approval from the holders of two-thirds of its shares to go ahead with the sale.
Analysts said approval was virtually assured after TXU's largest shareholder, fund manager Franklin Resources Inc., switched from opposition to supporting the sale last week.
The major services that advise institutional investors on voting matters also recommended that TXU shareholders accept the KKR-TPG bid of $69.25 per share. Like Franklin, they said a tightening of credit markets made it unlikely anyone could finance a better offer.