On November 30, 2020, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a post-trial decision addressing contractual issues related to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sale of a collection...more
On August 13, 2020, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an opinion, JUUL Labs, Inc. v. Grove, C.A. No. 2020-0005-JTL (Del. Ch. Aug. 13, 2020), holding that a stockholder of a Delaware corporation headquartered in California...more
Last week, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an important decision upholding the validity of "Federal Forum Provisions" in corporate charters requiring that claims under the Securities Act of 1933 (the "'33 Act") be brought...more
Earlier today the Delaware Supreme Court issued an important en banc decision1 upholding the right of Delaware corporations to adopt forum-selection provisions in their charters requiring claims under the Securities Act of...more
On December 18, 2019, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a 119-page post-trial memorandum opinion 1) rejecting a buyer's argument that the target company had breached representations and warranties in the parties' merger...more
1/7/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Breach of Contract ,
Buyers ,
Contract Termination ,
Corporate Governance ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Fraudulent Inducement ,
Material Adverse Effects ,
Merger Agreements ,
Mergers ,
Popular ,
Representations and Warranties ,
Sellers
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently denied two books and records demands made by stockholders of Facebook, Inc. that sought to investigate alleged wrongdoing surrounding Facebook's executive compensation practices at a...more
In a 137-page post-trial opinion, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled that an activist stockholder of PLX Technology (PLX) had acted through a principal who served on the PLX board of...more
10/25/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Activist Investors ,
Aiding and Abetting ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Mergers ,
Sale of Assets ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders
In a 246-page post-trial decision issued this week, the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled that a buyer could terminate a $4.75 billion public company acquisition because of material adverse effects that had occurred at the...more
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently addressed important issues concerning the information rights of directors designated by a significant stockholder, as well as a board committee's ability to withhold information from...more
In another significant M&A decision from the New York Supreme Court, the controlling stockholder of a Delaware corporation failed to obtain judicial deference under the so-called "MFW" framework for its merger with the...more
In late 2017, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an important decision rejecting a post-closing challenge to the sale of a venture capital-backed public company. The decision, van der Fluit v. Yates,1 by Vice Chancellor...more
On December 14, 2017, the Delaware Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated opinion in the Dell appraisal case, Dell, Inc. v. Magnetar Global Event Driven Master Fund Ltd., affirming in part, and reversing in part, the...more
On December 11, 2017, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a decision that will be important for companies looking to implement measures to extend or make changes to dual-class voting structures and for companies with...more
On November 13, 2017, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a short but potentially important opinion in Jack Wilkinson v. A. Schulman, Inc., an action to inspect books and records brought under Section 220 of the Delaware...more
On August 1, 2017, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an en banc opinion in DFC Global Corporation v. Muirfield Value Partners, L.P., et al., reversing the Delaware Court of Chancery's decision regarding the fair value of DFC...more
Two recent appraisal decisions from the Delaware Court of Chancery provide additional guidance on when the court will defer to the merger price as evidence of fair value. In the first decision, In re Appraisal of PetSmart,1...more
On November 30, 2015, the Delaware Supreme Court issued its long-anticipated opinion in the stockholder litigation over the sale of Rural/Metro Corporation (Rural). In a unanimous opinion, the court affirmed the Delaware...more
On May 14, 2015, the Delaware Supreme Court issued its decision in In re Cornerstone Therapeutics Inc., S'holder Litig., clarifying that damages claims against independent directors can be dismissed where: (1) an applicable...more
On September 4, 2014, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued two lengthy post-trial opinions, both authored by Vice Chancellor John W. Noble, finding that recapitalization or restructuring transactions did not satisfy the...more