Xstrata shareholders voted Tuesday to merge with Glencore International, but in another rebuke to Xstrata's board favoured a deal that doesn't include retention payments to senior managers.

The vote means the greatest hurdle has been cleared in the creation of a natural-resources juggernaut with a market capitalisation of around $70bn and assets including coffee, grains, zinc, nickel, copper, coal, oil and shipping. The deal still needs regulatory approval from the European Union and China to close, but analysts and investors expect Glencore to make any necessary concessions in order to secure antitrust approval.