News & Analysis as of

Controlling Stockholders Entire Fairness Standard Business Judgment Rule

Hogan Lovells

Delaware Supreme Court clarifies entire fairness standard for controlling stockholder transactions

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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

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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

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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

Venable LLP

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

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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

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

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

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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...

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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

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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

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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

Jones Day

Chancery Court Requires Entire Fairness Review of Tesla CEO Compensation

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The Background: A shareholder challenged an extraordinary and extremely lucrative incentive-based compensation package awarded by Tesla to its chair, CEO, and controlling shareholder, claiming a breach of fiduciary duties. ...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

What's New in Corporate Governance and Securities Law - October 18, 2019

Corporate Governance and Securities Law Developments - Directors Can Be Held Liable for Failure to Oversee “Mission Critical” Regulatory Compliance - On October 1, the Delaware Court of Chancery refused to dismiss a...more

Dechert LLP

Electricity in the Air: Court Decides that Stockholder Ratification Not Enough to Insulate Tesla CEO’s $55.8 Billion Compensation...

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The Delaware Chancery Court rejected an attempt by Tesla’s Board of Directors to dismiss a challenge to CEO Elon Musk’s “extraordinary” 2018 compensation package. Because Musk is also Tesla’s controlling stockholder, the...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Allows Claims to Proceed Against Stockholder Subjecting It to Entire Fairness Review

Morris James LLP on

An “allegation that a transaction involves a controlling stockholder who stands on both sides is a serious one because it imposes fiduciary duties on the controlling stockholder and potentially strips directors of the...more

Morris James LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Explains MFW’s Timing Requirement

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When challenged, transactions involving a corporation and its conflicted controlling stockholder invoke Delaware’s rigorous form of judicial scrutiny, known as entire fairness review. But not always. With the right...more

Dechert LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Clarifies When “Substantive Economic Negotiations” Begin under MFW Framework

Dechert LLP on

In the latest Delaware decision to expound MFW and the structuring of controller transactions, the Delaware Supreme Court clarified the requirement for a controlling stockholder to condition its offer “up front” on MFW’s dual...more

Locke Lord LLP

Controlling Stockholder Transactions: Delaware Supreme Court Clarifies When It Is Too Late for Business Judgment Review

Locke Lord LLP on

In Olenik v. Lodzinski, the Delaware Supreme Court found that the conditions required for business judgment review of a controlling stockholder transaction under the MFW standard were not in place “at the outset” of the...more

Morris James LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Rejects MFW Defense Because of Delay in Safeguards

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Olenik v. Lodzinksi, No. 392, 2018 (Del. Apr. 5, 2019). Under Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corp., 88 A.3d 635 (Del. 2014), deferential business judgment review governs mergers between a controlling stockholder and the controlled...more

Dechert LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Rules Controlling Stockholder Gave Implied Consent to Personal Jurisdiction in Delaware on Basis of...

Dechert LLP on

In a decision with potentially far-reaching implications for private equity sponsors and other controlling stockholders, the Delaware Court of Chancery expanded the potential for liability for foreign-based controllers by...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Delaware Corporation Law: Trends Impacting M&A and Corporate Litigation in 2019

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

White & Case LLP

Peak performance: US M&A in 2018: Deal changing decisions from Delaware

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In the second half of 2018, the Delaware courts once again produced decisions that will guide M&A transactions in the future. Three cases affecting US M&A stood out in 2018....more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Skadden's 2019 Insights: Key Delaware Corporation Law Developments

The Delaware courts issued a number of significant decisions in 2018 that are likely to have ripple effects throughout 2019. Among them were a series of cases that further developed the parameters of the Corwin and MFW...more

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