In this issue, we explore ongoing corporate law issues involving controlling stockholders, with significant decisions anticipated from the Delaware Supreme Court in 2025; the rise in litigation over earnout provisions in...more
In re Columbia Pipeline Grp. Inc. Merger Litig., Consol. C.A. No. 2018-0484-JTL (Del. Ch. May 15, 2024) - In this post-trial decision, the Court addressed an acquirer’s responsibility for damages suffered by a stockholder...more
Urvan v. AMMO, Inc., Consol. C.A. No. 2023-0470 PRW (Del. Ch. Feb. 27, 2024, corrected Mar. 14, 2024) - It is an axiom of Delaware law that a corporation acts through its human agents. This principle informs the causes of...more
In a case of first impression, the Court of Chancery held recently that officers, like directors, owe their companies a duty of oversight, although the scope of that will vary with their responsibilities. Two other Chancery...more
In re Mindbody Inc., Stockholder Litigation, C.A. No. 2019-0442-KSJM (Del. Ch. Mar. 15, 2023), the Delaware Court of Chancery held that a CEO breached his fiduciary duties by taking steps the court found tilted a merger sale...more
In a previous alert, we discussed the Delaware Court of Chancery’s decision in In re Mindbody, Inc. Stockholders Litigation. In the decision, the court declined to dismiss breach of fiduciary duty claims against the chief...more
SCOTUS Vacates Class Certification In Suit Against Goldman Sachs And Clarifies Appropriate Scope Of Price Impact Evidence; Stockholders Strike $110 Million Settlement In Suit Alleging Breaches Of Fiduciary Duties By Former...more
In re Pattern Energy Grp. Inc. Stockholders Litig., C.A. No. 2020-0357-MTZ (Del. Ch. May 6, 2021) - This decision mostly denying a motion to dismiss examines several important issues in post-closing M&A fiduciary duty...more
This issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between October 2019 and January 2020. ...more
On February 26, 2020, Chancellor Andre G. Bouchard of the Delaware Court of Chancery denied a motion to dismiss breach of fiduciary duty claims brought by former shareholders of AmTrust, Inc., challenging the take-private...more
On December 30, 2019, Vice Chancellor Joseph R. Slights III of the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed breach of fiduciary duty claims brought by former stockholders of Essendant Inc. after it was acquired in a tender offer...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini examined a case in which a group of shareholders alleged the company and two individual defendants breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders, and an investment bank aided and...more
On July 15, 2019, Vice Chancellor Joseph R. Slights III of the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed an aiding and abetting claim asserted against a private equity buyer and its principals in a stockholder class action...more
On June 21, 2019, Vice Chancellor Kathaleen S. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an opinion addressing a number of significant issues relating to the proper conduct of an M&A process. In denying all...more
On March 11, 2019, Vice Chancellor Kathaleen S. McCormick enjoined a stockholder vote to approve the proposed combination of Medley Management, Inc. (“Medley Management”) with two affiliates it advised, Medley Capital...more
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between September 2018 and October 2018. ...more
Over the last few years, significant developments in Delaware law and practice have changed the traditional M&A litigation landscape. These developments resulted in a dramatic reduction in pre-closing applications for...more
Two decisions from the Court of Chancery — Dieckman v. Regency GP LP, C.A. No. 11130-CB (Del. Ch. Feb. 20, 2018) and Mesirov v. Enbridge Energy Co., C.A. No. 11314-VCS (Del. Ch. Aug. 29, 2018) — emphasize a significant...more
On October 16, 2018, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a post-trial opinion in In re PLX Technology Inc. Stockholder Litigation, a dispute arising from the August 2014 merger between...more
The Situation: A Delaware court recently found that a board breached its fiduciary duties by bowing to activist pressure and engaging in a sale rather than continuing the business as a going concern. The Case: In re PLX...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
In Flood v. Synutra Int’l, Inc., No. 101, 2018, 2018 Del. LEXIS 460 (Del. Oct. 9, 2018), the Delaware Supreme Court (Strine, C.J.) held that a controlling stockholder who pursues a merger with the controlled company will have...more
On July 13, 2017, Vice Chancellor Tamika Montgomery-Reeves of the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed a former stockholder’s breach of fiduciary duty claims against the former directors of Diamond Resorts International...more
On May 26, 2017, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery granted plaintiffs’ request to sever and stay fiduciary duty breach claims settled with directors of Good Technology Corporation (“Good”) and...more
In Weisfelner v. Blavatnik (In re Lyondell Chemical Company), 2017 BL 131876 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Apr. 21, 2017), the bankruptcy court presiding over the chapter 11 case of Lyondell Chemical Company ("Lyondell") handed down a...more