News & Analysis as of

Board of Directors Proxy Contests

Troutman Pepper

Delaware Supreme Court Strikes Down Unintelligible and Inequitable Bylaws

Troutman Pepper on

In Kellner v. AIM ImmunoTech Inc., the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the Delaware Court of Chancery’s closely watched ruling, which invalidated several provisions in the bylaws of AIM ImmunoTech...more

Venable LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Strikes Down Advance Notice Bylaws as "Unintelligible" or Adoption with an Improper Purpose on a "Cloudy...

Venable LLP on

In a much-anticipated decision, the Delaware Supreme Court echoed the Court of Chancery's pronouncement that advance notice bylaws adopted amid an approaching proxy contest are reviewed through the lens of enhanced judicial...more

Morris James LLP

Application of a Voting Limitation in the Company’s Charter to Invalidate Stockholder Votes in a Proxy Contest Was Improper

Morris James LLP on

Under Delaware law, director actions are twice-tested: first for legal authorization under a company’s organizational documents or positive law, and second under equitable fiduciary principles. A company’s organizational...more

Goodwin

Agencies Approve Final Rule: Computer-Security Incident Notification

Goodwin on

In This Issue. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (together, the Agencies) issued a final rule...more

Goodwin

New Rules for Proxy Contests: SEC Adopts Mandatory Universal Proxy Rules

Goodwin on

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved mandatory “universal proxy” on November 17, 2021. The final rules will apply to contested director elections at shareholder meetings held after August 31, 2022. The...more

Allen Matkins

Why Do Boards Get To Spend Money In Proxy Contests

Allen Matkins on

Recently, UCLA Law School Professor posed the question "Why do boards get to spend corporate money to fight off proxy contests?"  His answer is answer "because the courts say so".   In California, it is because the...more

A&O Shearman

Federal Reserve Board Adopts Final Control Regulation

A&O Shearman on

On January 30, 2020, the Federal Reserve Board (the “Board”) adopted final rules (the “Final Control Regulation”) to provide increased transparency and consistency around determining when an investor company has “control”...more

White & Case LLP

Federal Reserve Finalizes Rule Updating Controlling Influence Framework

White & Case LLP on

On January 30, the Federal Reserve released a highly anticipated final rule that substantially updates and clarifies the agency's regulatory framework for determining when an investor exercises a controlling influence over a...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Delaware Supreme Court Reverses the Court of Chancery and Upholds the Enforceability of Clear and Unambiguous Advance Notice Bylaw...

On January 13, 2020, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an opinion addressing deadlines and supplemental information requirements under advance notice bylaws. In the opinion, BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust v. Saba...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Recent Trends in Books and Records Litigation

Recently, the frequency of stockholder demands to inspect corporate books and records pursuant to Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law has increased. In turn, the case law concerning Section 220 demands is...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Holds that a Stockholder’s Disagreement with a Board’s Business Judgment and Intent to Pursue a Proxy...

In High River Limited Partnership v. Occidental Petroleum Corp., C.A. No. 2019-0403-JRS, 2019 WL 6040285 (Del. Ch. Nov. 14, 2019) (Slights, V.C.), the Delaware Court of Chancery held that a stockholder’s mere disagreement...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Recent Trends in Shareholder Activism

Shareholder activism remains pervasive in the corporate landscape, as many companies continue to face new, and sometimes more sophisticated, activist situations. Recent activism-related trends indicate that the landscape is...more

Jones Day

Universal Proxy Card Delivers Win to Challengers in EQT Proxy Fight

Jones Day on

The Background: An insurgent won control of the board of directors of EQT Corporation in a proxy contest using a so-called "universal proxy card." The Issue: While the merits of universal ballots remain subject to debate,...more

Dechert LLP

Federal Reserve Proposes Revisions to its Control Framework: Implications for Asset Managers and Other Bank Investors

Dechert LLP on

The Federal Reserve Board (FRB) recently issued a proposed rule that would codify and clarify when a company is presumed to have a controlling influence over the management and policies of a second company (Proposed...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Class Action Proxy Litigation Highlights Need for Corporate Defense Strategies in Closed-End Funds

On June 4, 2019, a hedge fund managed by Saba Capital Management L.P. filed lawsuits in Delaware Chancery Court and in Maryland Circuit Court against three BlackRock-managed registered closed-end funds, the trustees/directors...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

New York and Washington Courts Issue Important Decisions Relating to M&A and Stockholder Nominations of Directors

Two courts recently issued significant corporate law decisions that are meaningful for corporations and investors navigating an M&A transaction or a proxy contest. Interestingly, both decisions arose outside of Delaware,...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Navigating the Current Landscape of Shareholder Activism

On March 28, 2018, Skadden hosted the webinar “Navigating the Current Landscape of Shareholder Activism,” the fifth and final program in the 2017-18 SEC Reporting & Compliance and Corporate Governance Series. The panelists...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

M&A Update: Delaware Court of Chancery Enforces Oral Agreement to Settle Proxy Contest

In a December 8th decision (Sarissa Capital Domestic Fund LP, et. al. v. Innoviva, Inc.), the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled in favor of Sarissa Capital Domestic Fund LP and certain of its affiliates in concluding that...more

Morris James LLP

Court Of Chancery Enforces Oral Agreement To Add Directors

Morris James LLP on

Sarissa Capital Domestic Fund LP v. Innoviva Inc., C.A. 2017-0309-JRS (December 8, 2017) - This is a great explanation of when a director is authorized to enter into an oral agreement that is enforceable, here to add two...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Activists at the Gate: Court of Chancery Weighs In on Claims Involving Activist Stockholders

Several recent decisions applying Delaware law offer helpful insight about the impact that activist investor involvement has on board decision-making leading to a transaction and how those decisions will be reviewed by the...more

Jones Day

Red Light for New Activist Strategy

Jones Day on

Earlier this month, General Motors ("GM") won a decisive victory in a proxy contest waged by Greenlight Capital, the activist fund headed by David Einhorn. Greenlight claimed that GM's shares, which were trading at a price...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

SEC Proposes Universal Proxies in Proxy Contests

On October 26, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released proposed rules that would require the use of “universal” proxies in connection with contested elections of directors. If adopted, these rules would...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

"Activist Investing in Europe: A Special Report (September 2016)"

This report offers an overview of the state of activism in Europe, as well as country-specific profiles for the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, including information and commentary on noteworthy...more

Dechert LLP

Financial Services Quarterly Report - Second Quarter 2016: What Fund Investors Should Know About US Bank Control Rules

Dechert LLP on

Many private equity, hedge and mutual funds constantly have to confront the complex control rules that may impact even the smallest of investments in banks or bank holding companies (BHCs). The issue may be as simple as...more

Bennett Jones LLP

Taseko Mines Defeats Raging River in Proxy Contest: Important Lessons for Boards Facing a Dissident Attack

Bennett Jones LLP on

After a lengthy, acrimonious and costly proxy contest to remove three directors of Taseko Mines Limited (“Taseko”) and elect its own nominees, in early May, 2016, activist investor Raging River Capital LP (“Raging River”)...more

36 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 2

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide