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
In what represents a victory for private equity and venture capital investors, on Sept. 13, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a decision in Manti Holdings LLC v. Authentix Acquisition Co., confirming the enforceability of...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
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
In Manti Holdings, LLC v. Authentix Acquisition Co., Inc., C.A. No. 2017-0887 SG (Del. Ch. Aug 14, 2019), the Delaware Court of Chancery (the “Court”) held that Contractual agreements limiting or waiving future appraisal...more
Manti Holdings, LLC v. Authentix Acquisition Co., Inc., C.A. No. 2017-0887 SG (Del. Ch. Aug 14, 2019). In Manti Holdings, LLC v. Authentix Acquisition Co., Inc., the Court of Chancery held that a contract provision...more
Venture capital and private equity arrangements often include contractual provisions limiting the rights of investors, including drag-along provisions in connection with future transactions approved by controlling...more
Exposure to claims for appraisal can be a significant risk in merger and acquisition transactions in which dissenter’s appraisal rights are available. This risk has increased in recent years as aggressive investors realized...more
On May 15, 2019, Vice Chancellor Slights of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a ruling addressing important issues related to private company deal litigation. Specifically, the decision addressed when a release of claims...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
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
The Delaware Court of Chancery in Manti Holdings LLC v. Authentix Acquisition Company recently confirmed that a stockholder agreement may contractually restrict the exercise of statutory appraisal rights. Although the court...more
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently delivered the latest in a line of decisions refining the application of statutory stockholder appraisal rights in M&A transactions. In City of North Miami Beach General Employees’...more
The ability of stockholders to seek and recover statutory appraisal of the value of their shares when dissenting from the consideration offered in a merger transaction has been restrained by recent amendments to the Delaware...more
In response to the growing practice of “appraisal arbitrage,” in 2016 Delaware’s General Assembly amended the state’s appraisal statute, Section 262 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. The amendment to Section 262(h)...more
On April 19, 2018, the Executive Committee of the Delaware State Bar Association approved proposed amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL). This year’s amendments would provide for the application of the...more
Since its adoption in 2013, parties have been using a two-step merger structure facilitated by §251(h) of Delaware’s General Corporation Law (the DGCL) as a means of avoiding the requirement of calling a special meeting 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
Significant changes in Delaware merger litigation and settlement practice in 2016, as well as noteworthy case law developments and trends, will continue to affect merger parties and litigants in 2017 and beyond....more
There is a general perception that statutory appraisal challenges have been on the rise over the past several years. The Delaware Court of Chancery has issued a number of opinions during that time that use the merger price...more
SEC/CORPORATE - 2016 Amendments to Delaware General Corporation Law Highlight Two-Step Mergers and Appraisal Rights - On August 1, a number of amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) went into...more
Effective August 1, 2016, the appraisal rights of dissenting stockholders in mergers and certain other transactions under the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) have been modified in two principal respects...more
In the event that you missed it, on June 16, 2016, Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed House Bill 371 into law, thereby amending the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) in numerous significant respects. Also, on...more
On June 16, 2016, Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed into law House Bill No. 371, which makes a number of noteworthy changes to the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”). The most significant 2016 amendments to the...more