NEW YORK, July 7 (Xinhua) -- NYSE Euronext shareholders on Thursday approved the company's about 9.53 billion U.S. dollars takeover by Deutsche Boerse AG.

With 96 percent of the shares voted favoring the combination, the takeover may make the two exchange the world's biggest exchange group.

The deal now is still pending as it needs approval from 75 percent of Frankfurt-based Deutsche Boerse shareholders by July 13.

NYSE Euronext Chief Executive Duncan Niederauer said on Thursday that the approval gave NYSE Euronext a lot of confidence in the next few years. He also expressed his confidence of approval from Deutsch Boerse shareholders.

In February, Deutsche Boerse announced that it will purchase NYSE Euronext in an all-stock deal. According to the statement, each NYSE Euronext share will be converted into 0.47 of a share of the new company.

The group will have dual headquarters in both New York and Frankfurt, with its main businesses and infrastructure located in Paris, London, Luxembourg and other important financial cities.