The Financial Post reports in its Thursday edition that Whitecap Resources is on track to join forces with Veren next week after shareholders of both companies gave their blessing for the $15-billion deal. A Canadian Press dispatch to the Post says both companies held virtual shareholder meetings to vote on the transaction, each lasting about five minutes. In a news release, they say 88.7 per cent of Whitecap investors voted to issue Whitecap shares to Veren shareholders under the deal. Veren shareholders, meanwhile, voted 99.8 per cent in favour of the combination. The Court of King's Bench is to hear an application to approve the deal on Thursday, with closing slated for Monday and Veren shares to be delisted on Tuesday. The Calgary-based companies announced a friendly deal in March that they say will create the seventh-largest Canadian oil company by production. The combined company will continue operating under the Whitecap name and management. Whitecap is to become the biggest landholder in the Montney and Duvernay shale regions in western Alberta and the second-largest oil producer in Saskatchewan. Chief executive officer Grant Fagerheim warned that some staff will not keep their jobs in the new company.