Cooper Tire Shareholders Approve Sale to Apollo Tyres

Shareholders representing more than 74% of outstanding shares in Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. have voted in favor of the company's proposed $2.5 billion sale to India's Apollo Tyres Ltd.

Apollo agreed in June to buy the Findlay, Ohio-based company, thus gaining access to the American tire aftermarket. The Indian company estimates that the deal would make it the world's seventh-largest tiremaker, a goal it has said it wants to achieve by 2016.

But the acquisition has faced challenges from the start from investors and labor groups in the U.S. and Asia. In mid-September an arbiter blocked Cooper Tire from including two U.S. factories in the sale because workers at the plant were not consulted about the plan.