Delaware Corporate Law Bulletins Category
CHANCERY COURT DECLINED TO APPLY BLASIUS “COMPELLING JUSTIFICATION” STANDARD IN SUSTAINING BOARD’S REJECTION OF OPPOSITION SLATE UNDER “COMMONPLACE” ADVANCE NOTICE BYLAW
May. 12, 2022—Robert S. Reder & Gabrielle M. Haddad | 75 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 195 (2022) | Under § 141(a) of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”), “the business and affairs of every corporation . . . shall be managed by or under the direction of a board of directors . . . .” In light of this sweeping grant of authority to...
CHANCERY COURT PROVIDES ADDITIONAL CLARITY ON DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR ESTABLISHING CORWIN DEFENSE
May. 12, 2022—Robert S. Reder & Stanley N. Medlin | 75 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 187 (2022) | At the other end of the spectrum, as explained by Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III in Galindo v. Stover, CA No. 2021-0031-SG (Del. Ch. Jan. 26, 2022) (“Galindo”), “directors need not provide exhaustive information in seeking a stockholder...
THE WORDS MEAN WHAT THEY SAY: CHANCERY COURT ADHERES TO PLAIN MEANING OF TYPICAL CONTRACT TERMS
May. 12, 2022—Robert S. Reder & Paul W. d’Ambrosio | 75 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 179 (2022) | In Yatra Online, Inc. v. Ebix, Inc., C.A. No. 2020-0444-JRS (Del. Ch. Aug. 30, 2021), Vice Chancellor Joseph R. Slights III ruled that a merger agreement provision stating “there shall be no liability on the part of any...
CHANCERY COURT APPLIES “WELL-WORN FIDUCIARY PRINCIPLES” TO ADDRESS “NOVEL ISSUES” PRESENTED BY SPAC DISCLOSURE LITIGATION
May. 12, 2022—Robert S. Reder | 75 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 167 (2022) | In In Re MultiPlan Corp. S’holders Litig., 268 A.3d 784 (Del. Ch. 2022) (“MultiPlan”), the Delaware Court of Chancery (“Chancery Court”) confronted—for the first time—litigation over one of the most popular devices currently available to privately-held businesses seeking “to access the public...
MFW FRAMEWORK REQUIRES MAJORITY-OF-MINORITY STOCKHOLDER APPROVAL EVEN WHEN CONTROLLER STRUCTURES TRANSACTION TO AVOID STATUTORY STOCKHOLDER VOTE
May. 12, 2022—Robert S. Reder | 75 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 157 (2022) | In Berteau v. Glazek, C.A. No. 2020-0873-PAF (Del. Ch. June 30, 2021) (“Berteau”), Vice Chancellor Paul A. Fioravanti, Jr. of the Delaware Court of Chancery (“Chancery Court”) confronted a “novel,” but ultimately “unpersuasive,” theory concerning the judicial standard of review applicable to...
“NECESSARY BUT NOT SUFFICIENT”: CHANCERY COURT CLARIFIES ROLE OF ENHANCED SCRUTINY IN ASSESSING DAMAGES CLAIMS AGAINST CORPORATE ACTORS IN REVLON TRANSACTIONS
Apr. 11, 2022—Robert S. Reder & Connor J. Breed | 75 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 145 (2022) | Also explains that preliminary steps taken by self-interested corporate officers to tilt playing field for benefit of favored bidder may invite application of Revlon principles several months before board approval of sale transaction. PDF Download Link AUTHORS: Robert...
SUPREME COURT ─ FINDING SELLER’S RESPONSES TO COVID-19 VIOLATED ORDINARY COURSE COVENANT, DESPITE LACK OF “MAE” ─ UPHOLDS CHANCERY DECISION ALLOWING BUYER TO ABANDON SIGNED TRANSACTION
Apr. 11, 2022—Robert S. Reder & Erin N. Embrey | 75 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 133 (2022) | Disregarding similar measures taken by other industry participants in response to pandemic, Court finds that seller’s failure to obtain buyer’s consent to drastic (albeit reasonable) measures as required by sale agreement violated Ordinary Course Covenant. PDF Download Link...
“TOO MUCH DYNAMITE”: BUYER’S FRAUDULENT INDUCEMENT CLAIM SURVIVES SELLER’S DEFENSE BASED ON CONTRACTUAL LIMITATIONS ON POST-CLOSING LIABILITY
Apr. 11, 2022—Robert S. Reder & Zachary R. Ryan | 75 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 123 (2022) | Chancery Court permits buyer to challenge allegedly fraudulent representations in purchase agreement, despite “remarkably robust” contractual provisions designed to shield seller and its affiliates from post-closing liability. PDF Download Link AUTHORS: Robert S. Reder Zachary R. Ryan
Defusing the “[N]uclear [W]eapon of [C]orporate [G]overnance”: Chancery Court Enjoins “Extreme, Unprecedented” Poison Pill Adopted to Defend Against Hypothetical Stockholder Activism
Apr. 11, 2022—Robert S. Reder & Lisa Orucevic | 75 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 109 (2022) | Chancery Court confirms that boards must justify adoption of an “extreme” form of stockholder rights plan based on actual threats perceived at the time of adoption, not on the possibility of “hypothetical future threats.” PDF Download Link AUTHORS: Robert...
CHANCERY COURT EMPLOYS REVLON ANALYSIS IN ASSESSING WHETHER CORPORATE SALE PROCESS WAS REASONABLE
Apr. 11, 2022—Robert S. Reder & Connor J. Breed | 75 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 97 (2022) | The court carves out role for enhanced scrutiny review while recognizing that personal liability requires defendant-by-defendant analysis. PDF Download Link AUTHORS: Robert S. Reder Connor J. Breed
“THERE MOST CERTAINLY WAS A ‘TOMORROW’”: CHANCERY COURT FINDS REVLON REVIEW NOT TRIGGERED WHEN ACQUIRER STOCK CONSTITUTED 58% OF MERGER CONSIDERATION
Apr. 11, 2022—Robert S. Reder & Connor J. Breed | 75 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 87 (2022) | Opinion also indicates that technical noncompliance with DGCL § 203 will not trigger supermajority voting requirements for a negotiated transaction not subject to “abusive takeover tactics.” PDF Download Link AUTHORS: Robert S. Reder Connor J. Breed
Chancery Court Refuses To Dismiss Aiding and Abetting Claim Against Target Company Financial Advisor, but Grants Dismissal to Outside Counsel and Buyer
Sep. 6, 2021—Robert S. Reder & Katherine H. Monks | 74 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 445 (2021) | In a search for deep-pocketed defendants in M&A-related stockholder litigation, plaintiffs often add aiding and abetting claims against financial advisors, outside counsel, and buyers to the underlying breach of fiduciary duty claims. Consider, for example, RBC Cap. Mkts.,...
Neutralizing the “800-[P]ound [G]orilla”: Chancery Court Denies Motions To Dismiss Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims Against Controlling Stockholder Engaged in Conflicted Transaction and Special Committee Members
Sep. 2, 2021—Robert S. Reder & Lisa Orucevic | 74 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 431 (2021) | The Delaware Court of Chancery (“Chancery Court”) generally is suspicious of a transaction involving a corporation and its controlling stockholder “where the controller indisputably stands on both sides” (quoting Viacom Litigation here and throughout the piece unless otherwise noted)....
Pleading-Stage Dismissal via Corwin Denied to 34.8% Stockholder Alleged To Control Both Sides of Challenged Transaction
Sep. 2, 2021—Robert S. Reder & John K. Neal, Jr. | 74 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 419 (2021) | Under the Delaware Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Corwin v. KKR Fin. Holdings LLC, 125 A.3d 304 (Del. 2015) (“Corwin”), a transaction “approved by a fully informed, uncoerced vote of the disinterested stockholders” will attract business judgment...
Chancery Court Again Refuses Preliminary Dismissal due to Well-Pled Allegations that Sale Process Orchestrated by Target Company Fiduciary Failed To Satisfy Revlon Standards
Sep. 1, 2021—Robert S. Reder & Victoria D. Selover | 74 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 407 (2021) | Several recent decisions of the Delaware Court of Chancery (“Chancery Court”) have considered the interplay between two iconic Delaware Supreme Court decisions rendered in the corporate sale context: Revlon, Inc. v. MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, Inc., 506 A.2d...
MFW’s Ab Initio Requirement Not Satisfied When Controlling Stockholder Negotiated with Minority Stockholder Before Acceding to “[D]ual [P]rotections”
Aug. 31, 2021—Robert S. Reder & Connor J. Breed | 74 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 397 (2021) | In In re HomeFed Corp. S’holder Litig., No. 2019-0592-AGB, 2020 Del. Ch. LEXIS 235 (Del. Ch. July 13, 2020) (“HomeFed”), the Delaware Court of Chancery (“Chancery Court”) denied pleading-stage dismissal of claims challenging a controlling stockholder-led buyout. In...