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Minority Shareholders Fiduciary Duty

A&O Shearman

Delaware Supreme Court Holds MFW Is Applicable To Controlling Stockholder Transactions Even Outside Of Freeze-Out Context

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On April 4, 2024, in an opinion authored by Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz, Jr., the Supreme Court of Delaware sitting en banc held that the framework articulated in Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corp., 88 A.3d 635 (Del. 2014)...more

Jones Day

Controlling Stockholder Exercising Voting Power as Stockholder to "Change the Status Quo" Owes Fiduciary Duties

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The Background: After unsuccessfully trying to convince the special committee not to implement a plan to liquidate a business line, which the controlling stockholder believed would destroy value, the controlling stockholder...more

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

Dechert LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Identifies Fiduciary Duties and Standard of Review for Controlling Stockholder

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In a landmark decision, In re Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores, Inc. Stockholder Litigation,1 the Delaware Court of Chancery held that a controlling stockholder did not breach his fiduciary duties when he amended company bylaws...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Ministerio de Comercio introduce cambios al régimen de conflictos de interés en Colombia

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El Ministerio de Comercio de Colombia ha expedido el Decreto 0046 de 2024 (decreto), que reemplaza lo pertinente del Decreto 1074 de 2015, dedicado a los conflictos de interés de los administradores de sociedades. Este nuevo...more

Conyers

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

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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

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Driving Between the Lines: As a Private Company Majority Owner, What Are the Rules for Dealing with Minority Business Partners

The one who has the gold often makes all the rules, but the majority owner of a private company who has minority partners in the business does not have complete freedom, because majority owners owe duties that apply to their...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

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

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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

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Canadian Mergers & Acquisitions: A Guide for Investment Banks, Bidders and Boards, 10th edition

Davies’ Canadian Mergers & Acquisitions guide draws on our substantial cross-border M&A experience to offer guidance on both the legal framework and practical aspects of Canadian mergers and acquisitions, including critical...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

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

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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

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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

Robson & Robson, P.C.

Demystifying Individual And Derivative Claims In Closely Held Corporate Disputes

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You represent a minority shareholder of a closely-held corporation and the company is having an off year. The majority shareholder is the sole member of the board and serves in every officer position. She draws significant...more

ArentFox Schiff

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

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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

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Enforces Partnership Agreement’s Unambiguous Exculpation Provision Waiving Fiduciary Duties and Presuming...

On December 19, 2022, Chief Justice Seitz issued an opinion for a unanimous Delaware Supreme Court, sitting en banc, reversing and remanding the Delaware Court of Chancery’s decision in Bandera Master Fund LP v. Boardwalk...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...

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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

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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

Fox Rothschild LLP

Minority Shareholders can “Follow the Money” Linked To Alleged Diversions by Majority for Phantom Salaries and Benefits

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The minority shareholders of a podiatry practice felt like they had been kicked around by the alleged financial misadventures of two colleagues who together controlled an 80 percent interest....more

Winstead PC

Texas Supreme Court Holds That A Director Of A Corporation Cannot Hold An Informal Fiduciary Duty To A Stockowner

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In In re Estate of Poe, shortly before his death, Dick, who was the sole director of Poe Management, Inc. (PMI), authorized the corporation to issue new shares that he bought for $3.2 million. No. 20-0178, 2022 Tex. LEXIS 544...more

ArentFox Schiff

When Do Minority Shareholders Owe Fiduciary Duties? What Jurisdictions Across the Country Say

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This post explains when minority shareholders may owe fiduciary duties and steps that shareholders can take to eliminate any fiduciary duties they might owe....more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

But What of the Equitable Accounting?

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I can’t say what the number is, but my own experience tells me that a significant percentage of lawsuits by a minority owner of a closely-held company against those in control of the company include a demand for an...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

The Minority Shareholder’s Arrows Are Still Sharp in the Quiver: Claims Available to Oppressed Minority Shareholders under Texas...

The seven-year anniversary of the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Ritchie v. Rupee has come and gone, and the court’s holding from 2014 remains the law: Minority shareholders in Texas private companies do not have a cause...more

Winstead PC

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

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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

Clark Hill PLC

Is Arizona Putting a Chill on Freeze-Out Mergers?

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Dealing with – or being – a minority shareholder can be problematic, and friction between majority and minority owners is not uncommon. The majority owner may find itself hamstrung in its efforts to conduct business by the...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Holds That Dilution Claims Against a Controller Are Solely Derivative, Overruling Prior Precedent

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On September 20, 2021, the Delaware Supreme Court took the highly unusual step of overruling its prior decision in Gentile v. Rossette. An oft-criticized precedent from 2006, Gentile created an exception allowing minority...more

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