Fairness & Solvency Opinions Shouldn't Be Overlooked Amid Restructuring Wave
Episode 1: Chris Mercer Interview on Marketability Discount: Part 1
Episode 11: Mediating Business Valuation Disputes: Conversation with Arthur Rosenbloom
About 40 years ago, a son and his mother first teamed up to invest in purchasing and managing over a dozen buildings in New York through 4 co-owned entities, each owned on a 50/50 basis. Fast forward several decades and the...more
What Happened? The lender and consumers reached a settlement in an appraisal bias case, Nathan Connolly and Shani Mott v. Shane Lanham, 20/20 Valuations, LLC, and loanDepot.com, LLC, filed in Maryland District Court, that...more
The fair value and fair market value appraisal standards applicable in contested buyout and dissenting shareholder valuations cut across state lines, which is one of the main reasons I occasionally highlight significant court...more
Please join Alston & Bird's consumer finance attorneys and an economist from Charles River Associates as they discuss new legal and practical approaches to fair lending, fair valuations, and fair servicing. This program will...more
Manti Holdings, LLC, et al. v. Authentix Acquisition Co., Inc., No. 354, 2020 (Del. Sept. 13, 2021) - This decision arose out of the acquisition of Authentix Acquisition Company, Inc. and a subsequent appraisal proceeding...more
Reversing the trial court, the Delaware Supreme Court has held that an appraisal proceeding does not constitute a “Securities Claim” under a D&O policy. In re Solera Insurance Coverage Appeals, Nos. 413,2019 and 418,2019...more
JPMorgan Asset Management released their 2020 proxy guidelines in April, and, like many other investors we have covered, the guidelines support appraisal rights. ...more
In my business divorce travels occasionally I encounter instances in which shareholder distributions are made in the period between the valuation date for an elective buyout of a minority shareholder who sued for dissolution...more
Previously, we reported an important ruling of first impression by the Delaware Superior Court that a shareholder appraisal action against Pillsbury’s client Solera Holdings Inc. was a “Securities Claim” under Solera’s...more
Pillsbury secured an important victory for its client, Solera Holdings Inc., when Delaware Superior Court Judge Abigail LeGrow held—in a matter of first impression anywhere in the country—that a shareholder appraisal action...more
In a decision as notable for its criticisms of the trial court judge as its contributions to Delaware appraisal jurisprudence, the Delaware Supreme Court in Verition Partners Master Fund Ltd. v. Aruba Networks, Inc. reversed...more
Over the last few years, significant developments in Delaware law and practice have changed the traditional M&A litigation landscape. These developments resulted in a dramatic reduction in pre-closing applications for...more
Predicting the price likely to result from a judicial appraisal of an acquired company’s shares continues to vex acquirers and stockholders alike. The principles for determining appraisal values received a lot of attention...more
The Virginia General Assembly recently enacted legislation to expand access to virtual-only meetings of corporations. Effective July 1, 2018, Virginia nonstock corporations have the option to hold their meetings of members...more
On July 30, 2018, Chancellor Andre Bouchard of the Delaware Court of Chancery determined that the deal price minus synergies was the best evidence of the fair value of Solera Holdings, Inc. (“Solera”) in an appraisal action...more
Blueblade Capital Opportunities LLC v. Norcraft Cos. Inc., C.A. No. 11184-VCS (Del. Ch. July 27, 2018) - This is an important appraisal decision because it examines, post-Dell and DFC, when the market price and deal price...more
On May 21, 2018, the Delaware Court of Chancery denied Petitioners’ motion for reargument in the Aruba Networks appraisal litigation, styled as Verition Partners Master Fund Ltd. v. Aruba Networks Inc., C.A. No. 11448-VCL...more
On May 21, 2018, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery reaffirmed the Court’s earlier ruling that the best evidence of the fair value of Aruba Networks, Inc. (“Aruba”) for purposes of appraisal in...more
Case Spotlight: In Re ExamWorks Group, Inc. Stockholder Appraisal Litig., 2018 WL 1008439 (Del. Ch. Feb. 21, 2018) (Laster, V.C.) - ExamWorks Group, Inc. (the “Company”) is a Delaware corporation with its principal place...more
The recent decision of In re Appraisal of AOL Inc., C.A. No. 11204-VCG (Del. Ch. Feb. 23, 2018) constitutes yet another Delaware Court of Chancery appraisal decision in which fair value of the corporation fell below the deal...more
Verition Partners Master Fund Ltd. V. Aruba Networks Inc., C.A. 11448-VCL (February 15, 2018) - This appraisal case adopts the target’s market price as its fair value....more
On August 1, 2017, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an en banc opinion in DFC Global Corporation v. Muirfield Value Partners, L.P., et al., reversing the Delaware Court of Chancery's decision regarding the fair value of DFC...more
The premiere episode of Business Divorce Roundtable starts out with a bang or, more accurately, Part One of a two-part interview with one of the nation’s leading business appraisers, Chris Mercer, discussing the controversy...more
Mediation has grown in popularity as a means of resolving legal disputes in lockstep with the rising costs and delays attendant to litigation and arbitration, including business divorce cases. This episode features an...more
In a recent decision out of the Delaware Court of Chancery—Merion Capital L.P. v. Lender Processing Services, Inc., C.A. No. 9320-VCL (Del. Ch. Dec. 16, 2016) ("LPS")—Vice Chancellor Laster strayed from several of the Court...more