Litigation developments: core M&A and corporate governance doctrines
Compliance Perspectives: Due Diligence and Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO)
On March 13, 2025, the Delaware Senate unanimously approved proposed amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law, which would, among other things, provide a new safe harbor for “interested” transactions involving...more
The annual DGCL amendments this year carry a little more urgency than before. SB21 was rushed through to the Delaware Senate in mid-February, bypassing the normal process that involves recommendation by the Council of the...more
Recent decisions in the Delaware courts have prompted many corporate groups to re-evaluate if Delaware is the best domicile for their operations. Delaware has been the first choice US jurisdiction for incorporating corporate...more
On March 3, a committee of the Delaware State Bar Association (DSBA) announced revisions to Senate Bill 21 (SB 21) aimed at paring back some of the proposed protections seen as too controller-friendly....more
On January 21, 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Chancery’s decision in In re Oracle Corp. Derivative Lit., finding that a less than 50% stockholder does not owe fiduciary duties absent evidence of either...more
If enacted, the amendments would significantly impact the risk-benefit considerations for public and private companies contemplating reincorporation or going public in a different jurisdiction. ...more
On February 17, 2025, Senate Bill No. 21 was introduced in the Delaware State Senate to amend the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL)....more
Proposed amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) introduce safe harbors for liability from transactions involving directors, officers and controlling stockholders and define and limit a stockholder’s right...more
On Monday, Delaware State Senator Bryan Townsend introduced Senate Bill 21 which would, among other things, statutorily define "controlling stockholder" and substantially change the rules governing the "cleansing" of...more
On February 17, 2025, Delaware’s legislative leaders and Governor announced landmark legislation and initiatives that would, if enacted into law, result in welcome and much-needed amendments to Delaware corporate law to...more
On January 28, 2025, Skadden hosted a webinar on recent developments in Delaware corporate law. Skadden partners Howard Ellin (Mergers and Acquisitions/New York), Ed Micheletti (Litigation/Wilmington) and Jenness Parker...more
Controlling stockholders owe fiduciary duties to other stockholders that minority stockholders do not. A holder of over 50% of a corporation’s voting power is clearly a controlling stockholder. As a consequence, transactions...more
Yesterday's post concerned the Delaware Supreme Court's decision that the business judgment rule applied to TripAdvisor's decision to reincorporate in Nevada. Maffei v. Palkon, 2025 WL 384054 (Del. Feb. 4, 2025). This...more
On Friday, the SEC announced settled charges against Vince McMahon, founder, controlling shareholder and former Executive Chair and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, for “knowingly circumventing WWE’s internal accounting...more
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
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently dismissed a “hybrid” of Malone1 false disclosures and Caremark oversight claims brought by two stockholder plaintiffs. In In re FibroGen, Inc. Derivative Litigation,2 Vice Chancellor...more
In 2024, Delaware courts continued to address important areas of corporate law, particularly regarding controlling stockholders. Several of those high-profile decisions were decided at the trial level and are now on appeal....more
On April 4, 2024, the Delaware Supreme Court held in In re Match Group Inc., Derivative Litigation that the entire fairness standard of review applies to all controlling stockholder transactions in which a controller receives...more
On August 31, 2024, California’s legislature passed Assembly Bill 3129 (“AB 3129”), which will be enacted if approved by California Governor, Gavin Newsom. AB 3129 would establish a mandatory approval process for a broad...more
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
On July 2, 2024, the Delaware Chancery Court in Sciannella v. AstraZeneca dismissed stockholder claims in connection with the $3 billion merger of Viela Bio and Horizon Therapeutics in 2021. The merger was approved by Viela’s...more
In May 2023, Florida became among the first states to limit select persons from "foreign countries of concern" from directly or indirectly owning, having a controlling interest in or acquiring an interest in Florida real...more
Last month, the SEC announced another enforcement action emphasizing the need for early disclosure of cybersecurity events. In the recent action, the company had taken three weeks to act on internal alerts of malware on its...more
The new reforms to the UK listing regime (Listing Rules) published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) came into force on Monday 29 July 2024, marking the most significant change to the UK’s listing regime in 40 years as...more
In Kahn v. M&F Worldwide, 88 A.3d 635 (Del. 2014) (MFW), the Delaware Supreme Court ruled that a controlling stockholder transaction involving a freeze-out merger, which is structured to include approval by a well-functioning...more