Hewlett-Packard (HP) says it has won approval for its $20 billion merger with Compaq Computer by a 2.8 per cent margin.
That margin would be enough to prevail even if a court review of a challenge throws out votes opponents claim HP bought.
HP said it could close the merger, the biggest-ever in the technology industry, within two weeks. But a spokesman for dissident board member Mr Walter Hewlett said he would challenge the preliminary count and urge a judge to call a new vote.
The figures come less than a week before a trial is set to begin over Mr Hewlett's allegations that HP coerced or bought votes, especially some 17 million votes by Deutsche Bank Asset Management. HP and Deutsche both deny the allegations.
Out of 1.63 billion shares voted, only 45 million votes, fewer than the stakes of some large shareholders, separated the two sides. HP said 837.9 million shares were voted in favour of the deal and 792.6 million shares were voted against it.
HP called the figures preliminary but said only an "insignificant number" of votes remain unresolved. A source close to HP put that at about 1 million.
But a source close to Mr Hewlett said that even if he loses on the planned challenge to the preliminary tally, merger opponents would almost certainly ask for a court injunction barring the deal from closing until the trial is resolved.
Mr Hewlett has asked the court to order a new shareholder vote or to declare the merger defeated.