Breitburn Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ: BBEP) and QR Energy LP (NYSE: QRE) announced Nov. 18 that the unitholders of QR Energy have approved the proposed merger of the companies.

At a special meeting held Nov. 18 by Houston's QR Energy, about 97% of votes cast by QR Energy unitholders were in favor of the merger.

In July, Breitburn announced the agreement to purchase QR Energy in a unit-for-unit exchange worth up to $3 billion. A merger would make Breitburn, headquartered in Los Angeles, the largest oil-weighted upstream oil and gas MLP with a combined enterprise value of about $7.8 billion.

Breitburn said it expects the transaction to close in the coming days.