Nokia shareholders approve $7.2 billion Microsoft buyout

It’s official: Nokia’s shareholders have signed off on the $7.2 billion acquisition of the company’s handset division by Microsoft. The Financial Times reports that 99.7% of the investors at a general meeting in Helsinki voted in favor of the deal. The investors who approved the deal hold nearly four-fifths of Nokia’s total shares. The meeting is expected to continue for quite some time, however, “as various small Finnish shareholders vent their anger over the deal” and Stephen Elop’s hefty payday. Ever since the deal was announced, Nokia has been on something of a rebound, surpassing Motorola to become the fourth-largest smartphone vendor in the U.S. and moving a record number of Lumia smartphones. Once the venting has ended and the meeting adjourns, Nokia will be one step closer to becoming a subsidiary of Microsoft.