The Line Between Speculation and Expectation in Damages: Delaware Court of Chancery Weighs in on Damages for Fraud in M&A Transaction

In a recent decision, Vice Chancellor Will refused to award expectation damages based on a buyer’s “speculative” synergistic cash flow resulting from a merger.  The opinion demonstrates the rigorous approach that the Delaware Court of Chancery takes to calculating damages related to M&A transactions even with strong evidence of fraud, and offers valuable insight to companies calculating damages from lost synergies in M&A transactions.

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Beware “Lite” Reasoning: Delaware Vice Chancellor Refuses to Disturb Arbitration Ruling Despite Concerns About Flawed Reasoning and Outcome

A recent Delaware Court of Chancery decision offers an important lesson on the limits of court review of an arbitration award, particularly when parties forego a fully reasoned award. Even though Vice Chancellor Glasscock found that “[t]he arbitration proceeding and the resulting award [were] flawed,” the court refused to overturn the award that appeared to find a contractual nonparty jointly and severally liable for breaches of the representations and warranties in a purchase agreement. The risk parties sometimes take when they contract for arbitration, the court found, is “receiving an arbitral decision that is questionable under the law and facts, but that is nonetheless—not coming within the narrow window of judicial oversight—not reviewable.”

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Delaware Chancery Court Clarifies What Constitutes a Sale of “Substantially All” Assets

In a recent decision, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Chancery Court examined what constitutes a sale of “substantially all” of a selling company’s assets for purposes of Section 271 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL), granting a company’s motion to dismiss a stockholder’s lawsuit alleging that a sale of the “crown jewel” of the company amounted to a sale of substantially all of its assets and accordingly required stockholder approval. Altieri v. Alexy, No. 2021-0946-KSJM (Del. Ch. May 22, 2023).

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A Small Phantom Is Still a Phantom: Chancery Declines To Imply Materiality Requirement When the Parties Have Not Done So

In a recently issued opinion in HControl Holdings v. Antin Infrastructure Partners, Chancellor McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery allowed a buyer to avoid closing on a transaction based on the failure of a closing condition related to the capitalization representation.

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Getting the Deal Through – Corporate Governance 2023

Holly Gregory and Claire Holland have authored the United States chapter of Getting the Deal Through – Corporate Governance 2023, an annual summary of key corporate governance practices in 19 jurisdictions worldwide. Topics addressed in the chapter include: sources of governance rules and practice, shareholders’ rights, duties and liability, anti-takeover devices, board structures, legal duties of the board, and disclosure and reporting requirements. Holly Gregory has served as the contributing editor since 2015.

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Potential Control Does Not Equal Actual Control: Business Judgment Rule Protects Oracle-Netsuite Transaction

In a May 12, 2023 opinion following trial and post-trial argument, the Delaware Court of Chancery found for defendants Oracle founder Larry Ellison and CEO Safra Catz in In re Oracle Derivative Litigation, 2017-0337-SG, a shareholder derivative litigation case arising out of Oracle’s US$9.3 billion acquisition of NetSuite.  The 10-day bench trial took place in July and August 2022 before Vice Chancellor Glasscock, and included two days of testimony by Catz and one day of testimony by Ellison, among other witnesses.  The Court’s decision comes several months after plaintiffs’ voluntary dismissal, following the post-trial argument, of then-defendant Renée James, the Chair of a Special Committee of the Oracle Board overseeing the acquisition.

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Good Fences Make Good Neighbors and Preserve Attorney-Client Privilege in the Boardroom: A Word of Caution for Boards Navigating Potential Disputes Among Directors or With Funds They Manage

The boardroom frequently presents attorney-client privilege and work product protection issues. The Delaware Court of Chancery’s recent decision in Hyde Park Venture Partners Fund III, LP v. FairXchange, LLC, C.A. No. 2022-0344-JTL (Del. Ch. March 9, 2023), provides a reminder of the importance of vigilance in considering when and how to limit a director’s access to privileged materials in circumstances where directors’ interests may diverge – particularly where directors manage, or are affiliated with, investment funds owning stock of the Company.

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Charlotte Newell Participates in PLI’s “Delaware Law Developments 2023: What All Business Lawyers Need To Know”

On May 1, 2023, Sidley partner Charlotte Newell participated in “Delaware Law Developments 2023: What All Business Lawyers Need to Know,” a program presented by the Practising Law Institute.  The annual program provides updates on Delaware law matters, offering insights from leading Delaware corporate law practitioners and jurists.

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Procedure Prevails When Applying MFW Framework to Interested Merger

The Delaware Court of Chancery recently issued an opinion that reminds controlling stockholders they can successfully implement a going private merger even when a competing bidder makes an offer that is substantially higher than that offered by the controlling stockholder. The court dismissed a lawsuit brought by former Eidos Therapeutics, Inc. stockholders against Bridgebio Pharma, Inc. and three of its directors over a merger in which Bridgebio, as Eidos’s controlling stockholder, acquired the remaining minority shares of Eidos stock. Smart Loc. Unions & Councils Pension Fund v. BridgeBio Pharma, Inc., No. 2021-1030-PAF, 2022 WL 17986515 (Del. Ch. Dec. 29, 2022).

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Indirect Transfers May Not Include Upstairs Entities

The decision in The American Bottling Company v. BA Sports (“American Bottling”)[1] demonstrates that in the context of anti-assignment or change of control provisions, prohibitions against “indirect transfers” (such as those occurring at an entity’s great-grandparent level) are not necessarily triggered by changes at the parent level.  This ruling from the Delaware Superior Court, which applied Illinois law, tracks similar rulings applying Delaware law.[2]

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