Litigation developments: fundamental shareholder rights.
Episode 10: The Marketability Discount Revisited: Interview with Greg Barber
In In re GGP Stockholder Litigation, 2022 WL 2815820 (Del. July 19, 2022), an M&A transaction split the merger consideration into two parts: an oversized pre-closing dividend totaling over $9 billion, followed by a nominal...more
On July 19, 2022, in an opinion authored by Justice Gary F. Traynor, a majority of the Supreme Court of Delaware sitting en banc affirmed in part and reversed in part the dismissal of breach of fiduciary duty claims against...more
For the purposes of a statutory appraisal under Delaware law, a corporation’s fair value is determined “on the date of the merger” ― in other words, at closing, not signing. However, deal terms, including price, are typically...more
The Delaware Supreme Court recently decided that an agreement (sometimes referred to as a “drag along”) to waive prospectively statutory appraisal rights is fully enforceable against the common stockholders who made such...more
In Manti Holdings, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed a decision that a corporation can enforce an advance waiver of appraisal rights against its stockholders. In a stockholders agreement, the petitioners agreed to “refrain...more
In Manti Holdings, LLC v. Authentix Acquisition Co., Inc., decided Sept. 13, 2021, the Delaware Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that common stockholders’ statutory right to a court determination of the fair value of...more
Fir Tree Value Master Fund, L.P. v. Jarden Corp., No. 454, 2019 (Del. July 9, 2020) - Adding to its appraisal jurisprudence, the Supreme Court of Delaware recently affirmed the use of the unaffected trading price of a...more
This issue focuses on important, developing areas of Delaware corporation law and deal litigation, including recent trends in Delaware corporate disclosure law, the Delaware Supreme Court’s important ruling in Marchand v....more
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between May and August 2019....more
The decision makes clear that deal price is an appropriate indicator of fair value even where there is only one bidder. In Verition Partners Master Fund, Ltd. v. Aruba Networks, Inc., the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a...more
On April 16, 2019, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a significant appraisal decision from the Court of Chancery in Verition Partners v. Aruba Networks, Inc., holding that the Chancery Court abused its discretion in using...more
On April 16, 2019, the Delaware Supreme Court, in a per curiam decision, held that Aruba Networks, Inc.’s (“Aruba”) fair value in an appraisal action was $19.10 per share, reversing the Court of Chancery’s valuation of $17.13...more
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
In the second half of 2018, the Delaware courts once again produced decisions that will guide M&A transactions in the future. Three cases affecting US M&A stood out in 2018....more
The development of Delaware appraisal law has continued with the Delaware Supreme Court’s highly anticipated December 2017 appraisal opinion in Dell, Inc. v. Magnetar Global Event Driven Master Fund Ltd. In Dell, the court...more
Delaware litigation seeking statutory appraisal of a target company’s value for purposes of determining the fair value of dissenting stockholders’ shares has virtually become the norm following a merger transaction. Such...more
On February 15, 2018, in the statutory appraisal proceeding of Verition Partners Master Fund Ltd. v. Aruba Networks, Inc., the Delaware Court of Chancery decided that the “most persuasive evidence” of Aruba Networks’ fair...more
In a recent appraisal decision, Verition Partners Master Fund Ltd. v. Aruba Networks, Inc. (Aruba Networks), the Delaware Court of Chancery awarded 30% less to the shareholders than they would have received had they not...more
Developments in appraisal law, the application of Corwin v. KKR Financial Holdings LLC in post-closing damages actions and the potential expansion of Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corporation (MFW) — a case examining the standard of...more
What is the most significant recent development in Delaware, from a litigation standpoint? The most significant recent development impacting deal litigation in Delaware is the continuing evolution of the Corwin doctrine,...more
We are pleased to share with you the inaugural issue of Insights: The Delaware Edition, a periodic publication addressing significant Delaware deal litigation and corporation law developments. In This Issue: - Q&A...more