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Shareholders Entire Fairness Standard

Jones Day

Court of Chancery Grants Rare Motion to Dismiss Suit Governed by Entire Fairness Standard

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The electric vehicle company Canoo went public in a de-SPAC transaction in December 2020. After its stock price fell, a stockholder in the SPAC who chose not to redeem his stock sued the SPAC board and its controller for...more

Lathrop GPM

Delaware Supreme Court Clarifies Standard of Review for Conflicted Stockholder Transactions with In re Match Group Opinion

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On April 4, 2024, the Delaware Supreme Court issued its opinion in In re Match Group, Inc. Derivative Litigation, clarifying that the heightened entire fairness standard of review applies to judicial review of any transaction...more

Jones Day

Court of Chancery Applies Entire Fairness Standard to Conversion of Delaware Corporation to Nevada Corporation

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TripAdvisor and its controlling corporation, both publicly traded Delaware companies, announced plans to convert to Nevada corporations. Shareholders sued to enjoin the conversions, alleging that the boards of directors had...more

Morgan Lewis

Delaware Corporation’s Nevada Move Subject to Entire Fairness

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In the case of TripAdvisor Inc., the Delaware Court of Chancery held that the corporation’s decision to reincorporate in Nevada is subject to the entire fairness standard. The court found that, based on the facts pled,...more

BCLP

Tesla’s Super-charged Equity Award to Elon Musk Unplugged by Delaware Court Cautionary Tale for Boards and Executives

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The Delaware Chancery Court invalidated a substantial equity award to Elon Musk – the largest in history. It applied the entire fairness test instead of the more deferential business judgment rule, finding that Musk...more

Fishman Haygood LLP

A Brief Look at Direct SPAC Cases

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Special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”) have been in the litigation spotlight recently. As SPAC disputes play out in courts nationwide, one especially interesting field of play is in the Delaware Chancery courts where...more

Morris James LLP

Controlling Stockholder Avoids Liability Despite Overreach Into Special Committee Brokered-Settlement

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Triggering Delaware’s entire fairness review in stockholder litigation was once considered outcome determinate, but that view has waned. Numerous decisions have shown that defendants can overcome the unified fair process and...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Applies Schnell and Blasius Review and Upholds Deadlock-Breaking Stock Issuance

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Diamond Fortress Techs., Inc. v. Everid, Inc., C.A. No. N21C-05-048 PRW CCLD (Del. Super. Ct. Apr. 14, 2022) - Plaintiff Diamond Fortress contracted with the defendant company to provide its software to develop a trading...more

Morris James LLP

The Parable of the Tesla and SolarCity Deal

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The Delaware Court of Chancery’s April 27 Tesla Motors opinion likens some decisions to “parables”—stories that illustrate important lessons. In the words of presiding Vice Chancellor Joseph R. Slights III, the story of Tesla...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

Delaware Court Applies Entire Fairness Standard to MultiPlan de-SPAC

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The decision adopts enhanced scrutiny of director fiduciary duties for de-SPAC transactions, but suggests dismissal may be appropriate when stockholders exercise redemption rights on a fully informed basis. On January 3,...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Delaware Chancery Court Signals Heightened Scrutiny of SPAC Boards and Sponsors

The Delaware Chancery Court has issued a decision with major implications for sponsors and directors of Delaware incorporated special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).  In re MultiPlan Corp. Stockholders Litigation is a...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Applies Entire Fairness Review in Novel SPAC Lawsuit

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A year ago, as the SPAC wave continued to build, we wrote that lawsuits challenging de-SPAC transactions would likely pose a question that had thus far received little attention from courts or commentators: is a de-SPAC...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Court of Chancery Issues SPAC-Related Decision of First Impression

On January 3, 2022, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a novel decision arising from a challenge to a transaction involving a special purpose acquisition company, commonly referred to as a SPAC, in In re MultiPlan Corp....more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

A Brief Response Regarding Stakeholder Governance

The recently published “The Friedman Essay and the True Purpose of the Business Corporation” defends a view of stakeholder governance that reflects the following two basic flaws...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

What's New in Corporate Governance and Securities Law - October 18, 2019

Corporate Governance and Securities Law Developments - Directors Can Be Held Liable for Failure to Oversee “Mission Critical” Regulatory Compliance - On October 1, the Delaware Court of Chancery refused to dismiss a...more

Snell & Wilmer

Director Compensation Update

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The following is an update to an important Delaware case relating to the applicable standard of review for challenged actions involving the setting of director compensation. ...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Delaware Corporation Law: Trends Impacting M&A and Corporate Litigation in 2019

On February 20, 2019, Skadden held a webinar titled “2019 M&A and Corporate Litigation Trends.” The panelists were litigation partner and Delaware litigation practice leader Edward Micheletti and litigation counsel Jenness...more

Morris James LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Affirms 'MFW' Dismissal; Clarifies Ab Initio Requirement

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In 2014, the Delaware Supreme Court in Kahn v. MFW held that the business judgment standard could apply to review of a controlling stockholder merger if at the outset the controlling stockholder conditioned the squeeze-out...more

Morris James LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Explains the Ab Initio Requirement of MFW

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Flood v. Synutra Int’l, Inc., C.A. No. 101, 2018 (Del. Oct. 9, 2018) - Under Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corp., 88 A.3d 635 (Del. 2014), commonly referred to as MFW, a controller may gain the benefit of business judgment review...more

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Validates Cure of Defective Corporate Acts Affecting Herman Miller’s Acquisition of DWR

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Charles Almond Trustee v. Glenhill Advisors LLC, C.A. No. 10477-CB (Del. Ch. Aug. 17, 2018)- Sections 204 and 205 of the DGCL permit corporations to cure and validate defective corporate acts under the right circumstances....more

Morris James LLP

Court Of Chancery Explains When Claim Is Direct And Survives A Merger

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In re Straight Path Communications Inc. Consolidated Stockholder Litigation, C.A. No. 2017-0486-SG (Del. Ch. June 25, 2018) - When a merger closes, stockholders of the acquired company generally lose standing to pursue...more

Locke Lord LLP

The “Stockholder Ratification” Defense and Investors Bancorp: What Are “Meaningful Limits” in Proposing Director Discretionary...

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On December 13, 2017, the Delaware Supreme Court issued In re Investors Bancorp, Inc. Stockholder Litigation, Case No. 169. The holding of this case could be particularly impactful to Delaware corporations because of its...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Imposes New Limits on Stockholder Ratification Defense In Connection With Equity Incentive Plans

In In re Investors Bancorp, Inc. Stockholder Litigation, No. 169, 2017, 2017 WL 6374741 (Del. Dec. 13, 2017), the Delaware Supreme Court limited the ability of directors to assert the stockholder ratification defense when...more

Morris James LLP

When a Pro Rata Dividend Triggers Entire Fairness

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In IRA Trust FBO Bobbie Ahmed v. Crane, Consol. C.A. No. 12742-CB, the Court of Chancery dismissed a stockholder challenge to a reclassification implemented through a pro rata dividend to all stockholders. In addressing the...more

Morris James LLP

Court Of Chancery Applies Corwin And Test For Control

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Peter Van Der Fluit v. Yates, C.A. No. 12553-VCMR (Nov. 30, 2017) - Briefly, under Corwin, the informed vote of a majority of the disinterested stockholders subjects a transaction to the business judgment rule when the...more

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