Nov 13 (Reuters) - Frontier Communications

shareholders have approved a $9.6 billion sale to Verizon

, the company said on Wednesday, even as a number of large

investors sought to get a higher price.

Shareholders had until Wednesday to cast their votes on a

deal that Verizon's CEO Hans Vestberg called a "strategic fit"

that would allow the company to be more competitive in

additional markets.

The deal will take 18 months to close.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru and Svea

Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)