Altice Europe shareholders approve buyout by founder Drahi -union

AMSTERDAM, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Altice Europe' shareholders approved a buyout by founder and majority owner Patrick Drahi to take the telecoms and cable company private, a representative for Dutch shareholders union VEB said on Thursday.

Altice Europe's shareholders met in Amsterdam on Thursday to vote on a series of items, including Drahi's bid, which initially drew heavy criticism from several minority shareholders, prompting the Franco-Israeli tycoon to raise his offer per share to 5.35 from 4.11 euros.

"They were all passed," said David Tomic of the VEB, referring to the resolutions put forward by Altice. "I don't have the exact numbers but they will be published on the company website in the course of today."

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; writing by Mathieu Rosemain; editing by Jason Neely)