Shareholders of grocer Safeway Inc. in late July approved a merger with rival grocer Albertsons, which is owned by private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management and other investors.
The deal first announced in March, is worth $9 billion. If all government approvals come through, the merger would create a food retailer with more than 2,400 stores and 250,000 employees nationwide.
Shareholders at Safeway's annual meeting also rejected a proposal to label products containing genetically-engineered ingredients, the Wall Street Journal reported.