AT&T; Holders OK Tracking Stock

AT&T; Corp. shareholders, looking to tap investor appetite for cellular stocks, approved creating shares to track the performance of the company’s wireless operations, the largest in the U.S. AT&T;, also the No. 1 U.S. long-distance telephone company, said about 97.6% of the shares voted at a Parsippany, N.J., investors meeting approved the tracking stock. That represented 65.5% of all shares outstanding. Analysts expect the sale to raise as much as $10 billion--the largest U.S. initial public stock offering--giving New York-based AT&T; shares to acquire wireless companies. Tracking stocks let investors value the performance of an individual unit separate from the parent, without ownership in the entire company. AT&T; shares rose 38 cents to close at $53 on the NYSE.