AirTouch-Vodafone Merger

Shareholders of San Francisco-based AirTouch Communications Inc. are expected today to approve the company’s proposed $62-billion merger with Britain’s Vodafone Group. Under terms of the deal announced in January, AirTouch shareholders will receive 0.5 of a Vodafone American depositary receipt and $9 cash for each AirTouch share--a value of $97 per share when the deal was announced. The merger of the wireless phone service companies is expected to close in late June or early July. European regulators, Vodafone shareholders and U.S. antitrust officials have approved the deal. The firms are awaiting approval from the Federal Communications Commission and a court in Britain. On the New York Stock Exchange, AirTouch shares fell $2.75 to close at $99.50, while Vodafone’s ADRs closed down $5.88 at $190.44.