News & Analysis as of

Minority Shareholders Breach of Duty

Venable LLP

Fiduciary Liability Limitations Under Nevada Law Trigger Entire Fairness Review of Conversion from Delaware Due to Controlling...

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The Delaware Court of Chancery, in Palkon v. Maffei, et al., C.A. No. 2023-0449-JTL (Del. Ch. Feb. 20, 2024), determined that a reduction in the liability exposure of a fiduciary due to the conversion of a Delaware...more

Conyers

King Bun Limited and Others v. Lau Man Sang, James and Others - Claim No. BVIHC (COM) 2017/086

Conyers on

Nov 2023 In August 2021, the BVI Commercial Court handed down judgment on liability in favour of the Claimants against seven directors of Vanway for carrying out a fraud on the minority shareholders, in selling the assets of...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Bad Things Can Happen When You Steal a Business from a Minority Co-Owner

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Occasionally, we come across court cases in which the majority owners so egregiously mistreated their minority co-owners that it’s difficult not to write about it — if only as a lesson in what not to do to separate oneself as...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

The Delaware Chancery Court Finds That an Unfair Process Resulted in a Fair Price

Vinson & Elkins LLP on

Executive Summary- A recent Delaware Court of Chancery post-trial decision, In re Straight Path Communications, is another example of: • “fair price” immunizing “unfair process” in the “entire fairness” analysis, and - •...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Eastland Redux: Do Close Corporation Shareholders Have a Direct Claim Against Directors For Taking Disguised Distributions?

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Earlier this year, using as a springboard the Maryland intermediate appellate court’s decision in Eastland Food Corp. v Mekhaya, I posted about a topic on which there’s little or no New York law, viz., whether a complaint for...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Post-Trial Oracle Ruling Provides a Roadmap for Navigating Transactions With an Influential Fiduciary on Both Sides of the Deal

The mere potential for a prominent, highly respected officer, director and minority holder to influence a board’s decision to approve a deal where the minority holder sits on both sides is insufficient to confer controller...more

Robson & Robson, P.C.

The Hazards of 'Weaponizing' Capital Call and Dilution Provisions

Robson & Robson, P.C. on

There are many ways that an owner of a closely-held business can use their superior financial resources to gain an advantage over their co-owners in a dispute. One common way is the use of a capital call provision to dilute...more

ArentFox Schiff

Minority Owners May Be Able to Obtain Privileged Company Documents in Ownership Disputes

ArentFox Schiff on

When corporate management requests or obtains legal advice from corporate counsel, management expects those communications to be protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege, and usually they are. But there are...more

A&O Shearman

The last word on good faith?

A&O Shearman on

Last autumn, the Court of Appeal held that actions taken by majority shareholders of a company, asking directors to resign, were not unfairly prejudicial to the minority shareholders. In doing so, the court made some...more

Robson & Robson, P.C.

Pennsylvania’s Alternative Path For Minority Shareholders Who Can’t Pass Federal Rule Of Civil Procedure 23.1’s “Adequate...

Robson & Robson, P.C. on

When shareholders of a company believe the leaders of the company have breached their fiduciary duties to it, they can bring a lawsuit against those leaders in one of two ways. Shareholders can bring the suit in their own...more

Dechert LLP

Securities and Derivative Litigation: Quarter 3 2022 Update

Dechert LLP on

In this edition of Dechert’s Securities & Derivative Litigation Quarterly Update, we examine: (1) the Delaware Court of Chancery’s latest post-trial decision showing how the special committee process is critical in the...more

Winstead PC

Presentation: Minority Investor Rights in Private Companies: Buy-Sell Agreements, Court-Ordered Buyouts, Breach of Fiduciary Duty

Winstead PC on

David F. Johnson co-presented “Minority Investor Rights in Private Companies: Buy-Sell Agreements, Court-Ordered Buyouts, Breach of Fiduciary Duty” for a nationwide audience for Stafford Webinars on January 20, 2021. David...more

Hogan Lovells

In re Tilray, Inc. Reorg. Litigation: DE court finds founding members to be control group - Corporate / M&A Decisions update...

Hogan Lovells on

In In re Tilray, Inc. Reorganization Litigation (C.A. No. 2020-137-KSJM (Del. Ch. June 1, 2021)), the minority shareholders of Tilray, Inc. alleged that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties by entering a...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Appellate Ruling Puts Pappas v. Tzolis to the Test

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

The New York Court of Appeals’ 2012 opinion in Pappas v Tzolis, decided in the wake and spirit of that court’s rulings the year before in the Centro Empresarial v America Movil and Arfa v Zamir cases, raised the bar for...more

Goodwin

A Win for Deal Certainty, Delaware Court of Chancery Orders Closing of Cake Supplier Acquisition

Goodwin on

A Win for Deal Certainty, Delaware Court of Chancery Orders Closing of Cake Supplier Acquisition; Under Armour to Pay $9M to Settle SEC Charges Involving Disclosure Failures; First Circuit Upholds Decision Applying Federal...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

The Money’s There But Out of Reach for the Minority LLC Member

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Of late I’ve been ruminating on New York’s membership in the shrinking pool of states that don’t recognize oppression of an LLC minority member by the controlling members or managers as ground for judicial dissolution....more

Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLC

Rights of Minority Shareholders in a Closely-Held Corporation

What is a Close Corporation? Under Ohio law, a “close corporation” is defined as a corporation with a relatively small number of shareholders, whose shares are generally not traded on national securities exchanges or...more

Winstead PC

Navigating Safe Harbors: Review of the Protections Provided to Governing Persons by the Texas Interested Party Statute and the...

Winstead PC on

Under Texas law, when the owners of closely held companies have co-investors, they need to exercise care in managing their business. This need for caution is due in large part to a Texas statute that makes it easier for...more

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Dismisses Claim of Aiding and Abetting Against a Minority Stockholder

Morris James LLP on

A claim for aiding and abetting a breach of fiduciary duty fails if a plaintiff cannot allege an underlying breach. In that circumstance there is no breach to aid and abet. Where a plaintiff sufficiently alleges a breach,...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Court Rejects Oppressed Shareholder’s Bid for Dissolution or Buy-Out, Finds Money Damages Sufficient

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

A minority shareholder petitioning for dissolution under BCL § 1104-a must establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the majority shareholders have engaged in “illegal, fraudulent or oppressive actions,” (BCL §...more

Winstead PC

Court Held That Manager Owed Limited Liability Company Fiduciary Duties And That A Derivative Action Could Still Be Pursued After...

Winstead PC on

In Katz v. Intel Pharma, LLC, a minority member of a limited liability company sued a former manager for breach of fiduciary duty in a derivative action. No. H-18-1347, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120389 (S.D. Tex. July 9, 2020)....more

Gray Reed

Minority Members’ Contractual Blocking Rights Can Result in the Imposition of Fiduciary Duties

Gray Reed on

In Skye Mineral Investors LLC v. DXS Capital (U.S.) Limited, et al., the Delaware Court of Chancery (the “Court”) denied defendants’ motion to dismiss, finding that plaintiffs had sufficiently pled a breach by the members...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Buy Out at Fair Value - Current Issues in Closely Held Businesses Series: Part 5

Holland & Knight LLP on

The prior discussion, Determining a Remedy After Oppression or Breach of Fiduciary Duty (Part 4), presented a listing of the potential remedies on a finding of a breach of duty and oppression. Frequently, the animosity among...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Dismisses Claims that Minority Stockholders who Rolled Over Equity in a Controlling Stockholder Merger Joined a “Control...

Morris James LLP on

Gilbert v. Perlman, C.A. No. 2018-0453-SG (Del. Ch. Apr. 29, 2020) - Delaware law imposes fiduciary duties upon controlling stockholders who use their power to control the corporate machinery. For that reason, determining...more

Ward and Smith, P.A.

NC Business Court Clarifies Exception to Rule that LLC Members Do NOT Owe Fiduciary Duties to One Another

Ward and Smith, P.A. on

One of the hallmarks of limited liability companies ("LLCs") is that members of an LLC ordinarily do not owe fiduciary duties to each other or to the company itself.  Generally speaking, a fiduciary duty is an obligation...more

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