News & Analysis as of

Controlling Stockholders Entire Fairness Standard

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

Hogan Lovells

Delaware Supreme Court clarifies entire fairness standard for controlling stockholder transactions

Hogan Lovells on

In In re Match Group Deriv. Litig., the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the lower court’s decision on the appropriate standard of review and the application of Kahn v. M & F Worldwide Corp., 88...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Expands MFW Applicability in Conflicted Controller Transactions

On April 4, 2024, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a much-anticipated decision, In re Match Group Derivative Litigation (“In re Match Group”), extending the MFW doctrine more broadly to all conflicted controller...more

Mayer Brown

In re Match Group, Inc.: Delaware Supreme Court Clarifies Standard of Review for Controlling Stockholder Transactions

Mayer Brown on

In a recent decision, the Delaware Supreme Court clarified the proper standard to apply to a non-freeze-out merger transaction involving a controlling stockholder. Litigators who practice in the Delaware Court of Chancery are...more

Troutman Pepper

Delaware Supreme Court Confirms Dual MFW Protections Are Needed Outside of the Freeze-Out Merger Context for Application of...

Troutman Pepper on

In In re Match Group, Inc. Derivative Litigation, the Delaware Supreme Court held that the dual procedural protections announced in the seminal case of Kahn v. M & F Worldwide Corp. (MFW) are required in order to shift the...more

Lathrop GPM

Delaware Supreme Court Clarifies Standard of Review for Conflicted Stockholder Transactions with In re Match Group Opinion

Lathrop GPM on

On April 4, 2024, the Delaware Supreme Court issued its opinion in In re Match Group, Inc. Derivative Litigation, clarifying that the heightened entire fairness standard of review applies to judicial review of any transaction...more

Morgan Lewis

Delaware Supreme Court Holds MFW Doctrine Applies to Any Controlling Stockholder Transaction Resulting in Non-Ratable Benefit

Morgan Lewis on

In a case with implications for companies with controlling stockholders, the Delaware Supreme Court held that the MWF Doctrine applies to any transaction involving a controlling shareholder receiving a non-ratable benefit,...more

Jones Day

Court of Chancery Applies Entire Fairness Standard to Conversion of Delaware Corporation to Nevada Corporation

Jones Day on

TripAdvisor and its controlling corporation, both publicly traded Delaware companies, announced plans to convert to Nevada corporations. Shareholders sued to enjoin the conversions, alleging that the boards of directors had...more

Venable LLP

Fiduciary Liability Limitations Under Nevada Law Trigger Entire Fairness Review of Conversion from Delaware Due to Controlling...

Venable LLP on

The Delaware Court of Chancery, in Palkon v. Maffei, et al., C.A. No. 2023-0449-JTL (Del. Ch. Feb. 20, 2024), determined that a reduction in the liability exposure of a fiduciary due to the conversion of a Delaware...more

Morgan Lewis

Delaware Corporation’s Nevada Move Subject to Entire Fairness

Morgan Lewis on

In the case of TripAdvisor Inc., the Delaware Court of Chancery held that the corporation’s decision to reincorporate in Nevada is subject to the entire fairness standard. The court found that, based on the facts pled,...more

Jones Day

Delaware Court Applies Traditional Entire Fairness Standard to Very Large Stockholder-Approved, Performance-Based Equity Award

Jones Day on

The Case: A Tesla stockholder sued Tesla's board of directors to rescind a performance-based stock option grant awarded to Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO. The option award was worth a total of $56 billion and offered the opportunity...more

Goodwin

Delaware Court of Chancery Rescinds Elon Musk’s $55.8 Billion Compensation Package in Cautionary Tale About Director Independence...

Goodwin on

On January 30, 2024, the Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery struck down the $55.8 billion compensation plan that Tesla, Inc.’s board of directors had granted to Tesla’s well-known CEO, Elon Musk, finding that the...more

Morris James LLP

Controlling Stockholder Avoids Liability Despite Overreach Into Special Committee Brokered-Settlement

Morris James LLP on

Triggering Delaware’s entire fairness review in stockholder litigation was once considered outcome determinate, but that view has waned. Numerous decisions have shown that defendants can overcome the unified fair process and...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Finds SPAC’s Sponsor and Board Potentially Violated Fiduciary Duties by Depriving Public Stockholders of the Information...

Morris James LLP on

Delman v. GigAcquisitions3 LLC, C.A. No. 2021-0679-LWW (Del. Ch. January 4, 2023) - Delaware law establishes that fiduciaries of a corporation cannot be exempted from "their loyalty obligation and the attendant equitable...more

Morris James LLP

The Parable of the Tesla and SolarCity Deal

Morris James LLP on

The Delaware Court of Chancery’s April 27 Tesla Motors opinion likens some decisions to “parables”—stories that illustrate important lessons. In the words of presiding Vice Chancellor Joseph R. Slights III, the story of Tesla...more

Dechert LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Finds Tesla’s Acquisition of SolarCity “Entirely Fair”

Dechert LLP on

The Delaware Court of Chancery issued its decision in In re Tesla Motors, Inc., on April 27, 2022, rejecting claims that Tesla, Inc. CEO Elon Musk breached his fiduciary duties to Tesla’s stockholders as a director and an...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

Delaware Court Applies Entire Fairness Standard to MultiPlan de-SPAC

Latham & Watkins LLP on

The decision adopts enhanced scrutiny of director fiduciary duties for de-SPAC transactions, but suggests dismissal may be appropriate when stockholders exercise redemption rights on a fully informed basis. On January 3,...more

Gray Reed

IN THE NEWS: Franchi v. Multiplan Corp., et al. – SPACs and Potential Conflict Issues

Gray Reed on

The recently filed complaint in Franchi v. Multiplan Corp., et al. is one to watch because it alleges breach of fiduciary duties by the directors and controlling shareholders of Churchill Capital Corp. III (Company), a...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Upholds Fiduciary Duty Claims Arising Out Of Deal Involving an Alleged Control Group That Included Non-Stockholders and a...

Morris James LLP on

In re Pattern Energy Grp. Inc. Stockholders Litig., C.A. No. 2020-0357-MTZ (Del. Ch. May 6, 2021) - This decision mostly denying a motion to dismiss examines several important issues in post-closing M&A fiduciary duty...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Recent MFW-Related Developments in Delaware Courts

In 2014, the Delaware Supreme Court’s landmark Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corp.1 (MFW) decision established that the deferential business judgment standard of review could apply to controlling stockholder “squeeze-out” mergers...more

Gray Reed

Controlling Shareholder’s Discussions with Minority Stockholders Results in Application of Entire Fairness Standard

Gray Reed on

The Delaware Court of Chancery (the Court) in In re Homefed Corporation Stockholder Litigation chronicles a controlling stockholder’s failed attempt to use the protections outlined in Kahn v. M & F Worldwide Corp. (MFW) to...more

Morris James LLP

Entire Fairness Standard Applies Where Controller Has Substantive Discussions with Minority Stockholders before Agreeing to MFW...

Morris James LLP on

In re HomeFed Corporation Stockholder Litigation, C.A. 2019-0592-AGB (Del. Ch. July 13, 2020) - This case illustrates that the Court of Chancery will apply the entire fairness standard to review a squeeze-out merger by a...more

Troutman Pepper

Ab Initio 2.0: Even Without a Controller, Special Committees Must Be Formed Before Economic Negotiations Begin

Troutman Pepper on

On February 27, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued important guidance to boards of directors seeking to utilize special committees of disinterested and independent directors to insulate themselves from fiduciary liability...more

Troutman Pepper

Delaware Standards of Review

Troutman Pepper on

In the context of an M&A transaction, practitioners are routinely left to navigate the various standards of review that are applied by the Delaware courts to evaluate whether a Delaware corporation’s directors have complied...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Insights: The Delaware Edition - November 2019

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

64 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 3

"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