DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's Elan (>> Elan Corporation, plc) won approval from shareholders on Monday to complete the sale of the company to U.S. drugmaker Perrigo (>> Perrigo Company), clearing the way for the deal to be completed by the end of the year.

Perrigo agreed to buy the Dublin-based group for $8.6 billion (5.3 billion pounds) in July in a deal that will hand it tax savings from being domiciled in Ireland and royalties from blockbuster multiple sclerosis treatment Tysabri.

The deal ended a bitter takeover battle in which Elan rejected three lower bids from U.S. investment firm Royalty Pharma .

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by Keiron Henderson)

Stocks treated in this article : Elan Corporation, plc, Perrigo Company