The majority of Sprint Nextel Corp. shares elected to receive cash when Japan's SoftBank Corp. takes control of the company.

About 53 percent of Sprint's outstanding shares voted to take money in a July 5 preliminary election over the merger, Sprint and SoftBank said on Monday.

Shareholders that elected to take cash will receive $5.65 in cash and 0.26174408 shares of new Sprint common for each common share owned.

About 3 percent of shares elected to receive shares of Sprint common stock, while 44 percent of outstanding shares that did not vote will receive cash.

The voting is one of the final steps in a long, drawn out battle between SoftBank and Dish Network Corp. over the No. 3 U.S. mobile telephone provider.

Sprint shareholders voted in favor of the $21.6 billion deal that will give SoftBank 78 percent ownership when the merger closes on July 10.