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Mergers Board of Directors Breach of Duty

Morris James LLP

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

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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

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Chancery Addresses Acquirer’s Request For Joint Tortfeasor Settlement Credit

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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

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

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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

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

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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

Hogan Lovells

2024 Securities, Shareholder, and M&A Litigation Outlook

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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

Morris James LLP

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

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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

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Chancery Awards Mootness Fee Applying Recently Adopted Standard

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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

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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

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

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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

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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

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

The Delaware Court of Chancery Confirms that Duty of Oversight Claims Against Corporate Officers Are Subject to the Same High...

In Segway Inc. v. Hong Cai, 2023 Del. Ch. LEXIS 643 (Del. Ch. Dec. 14, 2023), the Delaware Court of Chancery (Will, V.C.) dismissed a claim for breach of fiduciary duty brought by Segway Inc. (the “Company”) against its...more

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Covenant Not to Sue for Loyalty Breaches in an Agreement Among Stockholders May Operate Within the Space for Fiduciary Tailoring

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The fiduciary duty of loyalty may be modified or eliminated in the LLC context, where freedom of contract is paramount. For corporations governed by the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL), however, many Delaware...more

Cooley LLP

Keeping Up With M&A Case Law – Spotlight on Recent Delaware Decisions

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The mergers & acquisitions market may wax and wane, but one thing in M&A is consistent from year to year: The Delaware courts issue opinions that impact M&A dealmaking. And this year is certainly no exception – Delaware...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Clarifies Heightened Standard for Recovery of Attorneys’ Fees in Disclosure-Based Deal Litigation

In Anderson v. Magellan Health, Inc., No. 2021-0202, — A.3d —-, 2023 WL 4364524 (Del. Ch. July 6, 2023) (McCormick, C.), the Delaware Court of Chancery addressed the circumstances under which the Court will award a...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Insights: The Delaware Edition - June 2023

In a case of first impression, the Court of Chancery held recently that officers, like directors, owe their companies a duty of oversight, although the scope of that will vary with their responsibilities. Two other Chancery...more

Hogan Lovells

Q1 2023 Quarterly Corporate / M&A decisions updates

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M&A and shareholder litigation is off to a busy start in 2023, with Delaware courts issuing several interesting opinions. The Delaware Supreme Court reversed a Delaware Court of Chancery decision, finding that the “maximum...more

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In re Mindbody Inc., Stockholder Litigation: Court finds unfair sale process

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In re Mindbody Inc., Stockholder Litigation, C.A. No. 2019-0442-KSJM (Del. Ch. Mar. 15, 2023), the Delaware Court of Chancery held that a CEO breached his fiduciary duties by taking steps the court found tilted a merger sale...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Revlon Liability Resurrected: Undisclosed Conflicts Lead to Sizable Damages

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In a rare finding of Revlon liability, the Delaware Court of Chancery recently sided with the plaintiffs and awarded damages post-trial in In re Mindbody, Inc., Stockholder Litigation, C.A. No. 2019-0442-KSJM....more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Delaware Chancery MFW Framework Does Not Require Best Deal

As Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corp. (MFW) establishes, the Business Judgment Rule must be applied to a transaction involving a controlling shareholder, if the deal is conditioned upon the approval of: (1) an independent special...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Court Of Chancery Dismisses Breach Of Fiduciary Duty Claims Against Special Committee Defendants For Failure To Plead...

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On November 30, 2022, Vice Chancellor Glasscock of the Delaware Court of Chancery granted a motion to dismiss claims asserted against directors who served as members of the special committee (the “Special Committee”) of...more

A&O Shearman

New York Appellate Court Dismisses Breach Of Fiduciary Duty Claims Under Foreign Law, Clarifying That The Internal Affairs...

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On October 13, 2022, a five-judge panel of the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court, First Department, unanimously reversed a trial court decision and dismissed a breach of fiduciary duty action brought by...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Addresses Fiduciary Duty Claims Involving Activist Investor

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Goldstein v. Denner, C.A. No. 2020-1061-JTL (Del. Ch. May 26, 2022) - In this case, an activist investor and director was alleged to have concealed an eventual acquiror’s expression of interest while he leveraged that...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Supreme Court Reverses Dismissal Of A Post-Merger Suit For Alleged Breach Of Fiduciary Duty Related To Disclosures On...

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On July 19, 2022, in an opinion authored by Justice Gary F. Traynor, a majority of the Supreme Court of Delaware sitting en banc affirmed in part and reversed in part the dismissal of breach of fiduciary duty claims against...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Court Of Chancery Denies Motion To Dismiss Breach Of Fiduciary Duty Claim Against Director Who Abstained From Merger Vote

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On May 25, 2022, Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III of the Delaware Court of Chancery denied a motion to dismiss a stockholder derivative claim against a director of Fat Brands Inc. (the “Corporation”) for alleged breach of...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Dismisses All Claims in Stockholder Challenge to Cash-Out Merger Transaction

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Harcum v. Lovoi, C.A. No. 2020-0398-PAF (Del. Ch. Jan. 3, 2022) - In Harcum, the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed all claims brought in a stockholder suit alleging fiduciary breaches in connection with the $1 billion...more

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