News & Analysis as of

Breach of Duty Mergers

Hogan Lovells

Solak v. Mountain Crest Capital: fiduciary duties claims abound for SPAC sponsors and directors

Hogan Lovells on

In Solak v. Mountain Crest Capital, the Delaware Court of Chancery found that a stockholder plaintiff pleaded a viable breach of fiduciary duty claim based on an alleged failure of the board of directors of a SPAC to disclose...more

Cooley LLP

In Rare Dismissal of Up-C Reorganization Case, Chancery Court Holds That Claim Is Derivative, Not Direct 

Cooley LLP on

On April 10, 2025, the Delaware Court of Chancery granted a motion to dismiss in a breach of fiduciary duty action arising from BGC’s conversion from an Up-C corporation to a traditional full C corporation. While multiple...more

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Applies the American Rule and Denies Attorneys’ Fees Despite Fiduciary Breach

Morris James LLP on

In re Straight Path Commc’ns Inc. Consol. S’holder Litig., C.A. No. 2017-0486-SG (Del. Ch. Oct. 29, 2024) - The Court of Chancery in this stockholder class action refused to award attorneys’ fees where the Court found the...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Finds Sufficiently Pled Fiduciary Duty Claims Relating to De-SPAC Transaction

Morris James LLP on

Solak v. Mountain Crest Capital LLC, et al., C.A. No. 2023-0469-SG (Del. Ch. Oct. 18, 2024) - The Court of Chancery found that the plaintiff stated legally-sufficient claims in connection with a merger transaction against...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Finds Merger Validly Amended LLC Agreement and Effectively Removed the LLC’s Manager

Morris James LLP on

Campus Eye Management Holdings LLC v. DiDonato, C.A. No. 2024-0121-LWW (Del. Ch. Aug. 30, 2024) - This case arose out of a dispute between an optometrist who sold a majority stake in his company to a private equity buyer,...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Insights: The Delaware Edition - December 2024

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

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

Delaware Supreme Court Affirms Breach of Fiduciary Duty Judgment Against CEO but Reverses Bidder’s Aiding and Abetting Liability

In a recent decision by the Delaware Supreme Court sitting en banc in In re Mindbody, Inc., Stockholder Litigation, the court affirmed the Court of Chancery’s determination that Mindbody’s CEO had breached his duties of...more

Hogan Lovells

Q2 2024 Quarterly Corporate / M&A decisions updates

Hogan Lovells on

Below is our Corporate / M&A decisions update covering decisions in the second quarter of 2024. Decisions from the Delaware Court of Chancery this quarter included further development of the jurisprudence around the validity...more

Hogan Lovells

Delaware Court of Chancery dismisses “De-SPAC” merger claims at motion to dismiss stage

Hogan Lovells on

In In re Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. IV Stockholder Litigation, the Delaware Court of Chancery for the first time dismissed breach of fiduciary duty claims against directors involved in a merger with a special purpose...more

Morris James LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Reverses MFW Dismissal Due to Inadequate Disclosures Regarding Special Committee’s Advisors’ Material...

Morris James LLP on

City of Sarasota Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Inovalon Holdings Inc., No. 305, 2023 (Del. May 1, 2024). The Delaware Supreme Court’s decision in Khan v. M & F Worldwide Corp. (“MFW”) established a cleansing process for a...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Seventh Circuit Clarifies Parties’ Rights to a Jury Trial When Pursuing Equitable Aiding and Abetting Breach of Fiduciary Duty...

Foley & Lardner LLP on

The Seventh Circuit recently analyzed when a party has a right to a jury trial for claims of aiding and abetting breaches of fiduciary duties arising out of a merger. The Court acknowledged that the Delaware-law claims at...more

Cooley LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Finally Dismisses a de-SPAC Complaint

Cooley LLP on

Since Vice Chancellor Lori Will’s seminal decision in In re MultiPlan Corp. Stockholders Litigation in January 2022, the Delaware Court of Chancery has seen a wave of lawsuits accusing special purpose acquisition companies...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Addresses Acquirer’s Request For Joint Tortfeasor Settlement Credit

Morris James LLP on

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

Morris James LLP

Chancery Grants Motion to Dismiss Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims Against Officers in Controlling Stockholder Transaction Subject...

Morris James LLP on

Kormos v. Playtika Hldg. UK II Ltd., C.A. 2023-0396-SG (Del. Ch. May 3, 2024) - In this decision involving breach of fiduciary duty claims against two officers, the Court granted the individual defendants’ motions to...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Reviews SPAC Precedents and Dismisses Complaint for Failure to Show Impairment of Stockholders’ Redemption Rights

Morris James LLP on

In In re MultiPlan Stockholders Litigation, the Delaware Court of Chancery reasoned that common special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) governance and compensation structures create potential conflicts between on the one...more

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Dismisses Aiding And Abetting Fraud Claim Against Corporate Officers And Directors On Grounds That A Corporation...

Morris James LLP on

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

A&O Shearman

New York Court Of Appeals Clarifies Application Of Internal Affairs Doctrine But Reverses Dismissal Of Fiduciary Duty Breach...

A&O Shearman on

On May 23, 2024, the New York Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of breach of fiduciary duty claims brought by former shareholders of a fantasy sports company (the “Company”) against its directors and other defendants...more

Hogan Lovells

2024 Securities, Shareholder, and M&A Litigation Outlook

Hogan Lovells on

2023 was a busy year, with both the Delaware courts and others, including the U.S. Supreme Court, weighing in on shareholder and M&A litigation issues. The Delaware Court of Chancery issued several notable decisions on issues...more

Proskauer - Corporate Defense and Disputes

SEC Wins Insider-Trading Suit Alleging “Shadow Trading”

A federal jury in California agreed with the SEC that a corporate official engaged in insider trading when he purchased securities of a company based on material nonpublic information (“MNPI”) about a different company. The...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Evaluates Supplemental Disclosures to Determine the Corporate Benefit and Awards Plaintiffs a Proportional Fee

Morris James LLP on

Allen v. Harvey, C.A. No. 2022-0248-MTZ (Del. Ch. Oct. 30, 2023) - Delaware cases provide guidance on the standard for evaluating the “corporate benefit” from supplemental disclosures in advance of a stockholder vote – and...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Awards Mootness Fee Applying Recently Adopted Standard

Morris James LLP on

Assad v. Botha, et al., C.A. No. 2022-0691-LWW (Del. Ch. Oct. 30, 2023) - Here, Vice Chancellor Will awarded a $100,000 mootness fee for “material—and unremarkable—disclosures” following the recently heightened mootness...more

Morris James LLP

2023 Delaware Corporate and Commercial Case Law Year in Review

Morris James LLP on

This top ten list summarizes significant decisions of the Delaware Supreme Court and the Delaware Court of Chancery over the past calendar year. Our criteria for selection are that the decision either meaningfully changed...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Declines to Defer to the Deal Price in Appraisal Proceeding Involving a Controller Squeeze-Out Subject to MFW Protections

Morris James LLP on

HBK Master Fund L.P. v. Pivotal Software Inc., C.A. No. 2020-0165-KSJM (Del. Ch. Aug. 14, 2023) - The Delaware Court of Chancery engages in an independent valuation process when determining the fair value of petitioners'...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Upholds Claims Against LLC Officers and Others Arising from Squeeze-Out of Minority Unitholders

Morris James LLP on

Cygnus Opportunity Fund, LLC v. Washington Prime Group, LLC, C.A. No. 2022-0718-JTL (Del. Ch. Aug. 9, 2023) - An Indiana corporation reorganized via bankruptcy into a Delaware LLC, and a senior note holder negotiated for...more

Hogan Lovells

Q3 2023 Quarterly Corporate / M&A decisions updates

Hogan Lovells on

The Delaware courts issued a range of decisions this quarter, addressing topics from mootness fees to demand futility. Two key opinions addressed compliance with Delaware statute and court orders. In Seidman, the court...more

243 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 10

"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