MILAN, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Shareholders in Italy's

Saipem approved on Thursday a planned merger with

Norwegian rival Subsea7, paving the way to the

creation of a leading global player in offshore energy services.

All the investors attending the meeting, who accounted for

62.15% of the share capital with voting rights, backed the

tie-up that was announced earlier this year.

The combined group, to be renamed Saipem7, will have an

order backlog of 43 billion euros, revenue of about 21 billion

euros, and core earnings of more than 2 billion euros ($2.4

billion), the two companies said earlier this year.

($1 = 0.8514 euros)