Following other recent decisions addressing the applicability and scope of Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corp. (“MFW”), including In re Match Group Inc., Derivative Litigation and Tornetta v. Musk, on May 1, 2024, the Delaware...more
In another impactful decision, the Delaware Court of Chancery in Sjunde AP-Fonden v. Activision Blizzard Inc. again stressed the importance of the statutory text of the DGCL to dismiss claims by the plaintiffs alleging that...more
In Channel Medsystems, Inc. v. Boston Scientific Corporation, the Delaware Court of Chancery rejected an attempt by Boston Scientific to terminate and thus avoid consummating a merger agreement with Channel on the grounds...more
1/8/2020
/ Boston Scientific ,
Bright-Line Rule ,
Business Expenses ,
Business Litigation ,
Contract Termination ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equity ,
FDA Approval ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Fraud ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Letters of Intent ,
Material Adverse Effects ,
Materiality ,
Medical Devices ,
Merger Agreements ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Pre-Termination Notice ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Remediation
In Vintage Rodeo Parent, LLC v. Rent-A-Center, Inc., C.A. No. 2018-0928-SG (Del. Ch. Mar. 14, 2019), Vice Chancellor Glasscock of the Delaware Court of Chancery found that Rent-A-Center, Inc. (“Rent-A-Center”) properly...more
On October 1, 2018, the Delaware Court of Chancery found in Akorn, Inc. v. Fresenius Kabi AG, et al. that Fresenius was entitled to terminate its merger agreement with Akorn. ...more
On December 14, the Delaware Supreme Court released a long-awaited opinion in Dell Inc. v. Magnetar Global Event Driven Master Fund Ltd. that reversed and remanded a high-profile appraisal case decided by the Delaware Court...more
On June 9, 2016, a divided New York Court of Appeals in a much-anticipated ruling held that the attorney-client privilege can only be maintained for communications involving third parties in situations where litigation is...more
6/16/2016
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Bank of America ,
Banking Crisis ,
Banking Sector ,
Common-Interest Privilege ,
Confidential Communications ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Countrywide ,
Disclosure ,
Litigation Privilege ,
Merger Agreements ,
Mortgages ,
Popular ,
Third-Party Relationships ,
Young Lawyers
In a recent decision in an appraisal action, the Delaware Chancery Court reaffirmed the Court’s reluctance to substitute its own calculation of the “fair value” of a target company’s stock for the purchase price derived...more
In an October 1st decision (In re Zale Corporation), the Delaware Chancery Court dismissed claims that Zale Corporation’s directors breached their fiduciary duties in connection with Zale’s agreement to merge with Signet. ...more
10/14/2015
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Aiding and Abetting ,
Bad Faith ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Duty of Care ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Adviser ,
Financial Institutions ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merrill Lynch ,
Professional Liability ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Revlon Standard ,
Stocks
In an October 2, 2015 decision, Corwin, et al. v. KKR Financial Holdings LLC., et al., the Delaware Supreme Court clarified that once a merger closes, as long as it has been approved by a fully informed vote of the...more
10/6/2015
/ Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Fairness Standard ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Holding Company ,
Merger Agreements ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Revlon Standard ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Stock-for-Stock Merger ,
Stockholder Agreements
In its August 27th post-trial opinion, In re Dole Food Co., Inc. Stockholder Litigation, the Delaware Chancery Court held Dole executives David Murdock and Michael Carter personally liable for $148 million in damages for...more
8/31/2015
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Breach of Duty ,
Buy-Out Agreements ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Dole Food ,
Fairness Standard ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Adviser ,
Independent Director ,
Merger Agreements ,
MFW ,
Minority Shareholders ,
Popular ,
Private Offerings ,
Stocks
A recent Delaware Chancery Court opinion highlights the risk to sellers and their advisors that pre-closing communications could become evidence in a post-closing lawsuit related to the transaction. The opinion, Great Hill...more
Two recent Delaware Chancery Court opinions, issued on October 25 and November 9, 2013, illustrate the high bar that buyers and sellers must clear to escape an unfavorable deal or obtain a court order requiring a deal to...more