Sun Microsystems shareholders have formally approved Oracle's takeover bid at a special meeting, with 62 per cent of Sun stock owners voting yes to the deal.

Earlier this week, Sun announced that fourth quarter revenue for 2009 is expected to be almost a third down on the 2008 figure of $3.78bn (£2.3bn).

Oracle will now acquire Sun for $7.4bn (£4.5bn), or $5.6bn (£3.4bn) net, after taking Sun's cash and debt into account.

Although anti-trust scrutiny by the US Department of Justice centred on Java licensing concerns could still derail the deal, Oracle expects the acquisition to be completed before the end of the summer.