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Business Judgment Rule Mergers

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Don’t Call It a Comeback: A Decade Later, the Corwin Doctrine Still Packs a Knockout Punch

The Delaware Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Corwin v. KKR Financial Holdings LLC1 reshaped the landscape of merger and acquisition litigation by establishing a powerful defense for Delaware companies. Under the Corwin...more

Morris James LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Applies Business Judgment Rule, Dismisses Stockholder Claims Arising from TripAdvisor’s Nevada...

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On an interlocutory appeal from a decision denying a motion to dismiss, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed, holding that stockholder challenges to TripAdvisor’s decision to reincorporate in Nevada were governed by the...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Delaware Chancery Court Dismisses Claims Subject to Entire Fairness

On May 9, 2025, in Roofers Local 149 Pension Fund v. Fidelity National Financial, Inc. et al., the Delaware Court of Chancery granted a pre-trial motion to dismiss, even though the claims alleged a conflicted controller...more

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Holds that Stockholder is Not a Controller When Plaintiff Fails to Allege Specific Facts Regarding its Alleged...

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Turnbull v. Klein, C.A. No. 2023-1125-BWD (Del. Ch. Jan. 31, 2025) - One way a plaintiff can rebut the business judgment rule is by pleading a conflicted controller transaction....more

Allen Matkins

Court: Nevada Allows Controllers To Vote In Their Own Interest

Allen Matkins on

Yesterday’s post concerned the recent decision by U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Eskridge in Rowe v. Doris, 2025 WL 963590 (S.D. Tex. Mar. 31, 2025).  The case involved claims arising from the merger of two Nevada...more

Allen Matkins

This Texas Case Illustrates Why Delaware Corporations Are Choosing Nevada

Allen Matkins on

Bright-eyed Athena, the goddess of wisdom, was not birthed of a woman.  Rather, she sprang from the head of Zeus after he swallowed Metis, the pre-Olympian goddess of wisdom...more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Delaware Enacts Sweeping Changes to the Delaware General Corporation Law

The Delaware Legislature passed, and Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer signed on March 25, 2025, the landmark Senate Bill 21. Senate Bill 21 amends the Delaware General Corporation Law (the "DGCL") in significant ways, with broad...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

In re Oracle Corporation Derivative Litigation: Delaware Supreme Court Affirms Chancery Court Decision Not to Impose Fiduciary...

On January 21, 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Chancery’s decision in In re Oracle Corp. Derivative Lit., finding that a less than 50% stockholder does not owe fiduciary duties absent evidence of either...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Insights: The Delaware Edition - June 2024

In this issue, we discuss Delaware court developments, including the first-ever dismissal of a SPAC disclosure complaint, as well as rulings pertaining to financial advisor conflict and disclosure law, state laws involving...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Under Control: Recent Delaware Decisions on Controller Transactions, Standards of Review and Disclosure Obligations

The first half of 2024 has been a watershed moment for the development of controller law in the Delaware courts. Among the highlights, the Delaware Supreme Court reexamined and confirmed that transactions involving a...more

Lathrop GPM

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

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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

McGuireWoods LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Clarifies Application of Entire Fairness Review

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On April 4, 2024, the Delaware Supreme Court issued its decision in In re Match Group, Inc. Derivative Litigation, holding that the MFW framework established in Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corp. (MFW) applies to all controlling...more

Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

M&A in Brief: Q1 2024

In a letter ruling, the Delaware Chancery Court held that where neither the target nor the acquiror was a Delaware entity, the transaction documents between the parties could not confer jurisdiction in the Chancery Court...more

Morgan Lewis

Delaware Reconsiders Scope of the MFW Doctrine in Match.com Case

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The Delaware Supreme Court heard oral argument on December 13, 2023 in a case that will decide whether transactions involving controlling stockholders outside of the merger context may be subject to deferential business...more

Hogan Lovells

Joseph Lawrence Ligos v. Isramco, Inc.: Court dismisses breach of fiduciary duty claims

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In Joseph Lawrence Ligos v. Isramco, Inc., et al., C.A. No. 2020-0435-SG (Del. Ch. Nov. 30, 2022), the Delaware Court of Chancery granted a motion to dismiss a shareholder class action complaint alleging that the members of...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

Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

M&A in Brief: Q4 2022

Headlines - - Tax Issues for F Reorganizations in M&A Transactions - Presidential Executive Order Places Heightened Importance on National Security Risks and Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States...more

Opportune LLP

The Case For A Second Opinion On Certain Fairness Opinions

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Before trying to decide if it makes sense to get a second opinion on a fairness opinion, it’s necessary to understand why fairness opinions started and how they have evolved over the years. Fairness opinions are closely tied...more

Hogan Lovells

In re Tesla: fair price may ameliorate procedural defects under entire fairness review - Corporate / M&A Decisions update series

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Tesla Motors Stockholder Litigation arises out of Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity, a market leader in manufacturing and installing solar energy generation systems. On two occasions in 2015 and 2016, Elon Musk suggested to...more

Goodwin

Delaware Chancery Court Clears Musk of Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claim

Goodwin on

On April 27, 2022, the Delaware Court of Chancery in In re Tesla Motors Stockholder Litigation rendered a post-trial verdict finding for Elon Musk, co-founder and CEO of Tesla Motors, Inc., on claims that Musk breached his...more

BCLP

Delaware Chancery Court Decision Highlights Risks of Liability for Directors in SPAC Deals

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A recent Delaware Chancery Court decision highlights the liability risks faced by directors and sponsors of special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”) and the importance of robust disclosure in protecting against those...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Presidio Shines Light on Key Delaware Deal Litigation Trends and Topics

In Firefighters’ Pension System of the City of Kansas City, Missouri Trust v. Presidio, Inc., Vice Chancellor Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed claims against directors of Presidio, Inc. (Presidio) and...more

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

Structured and Leveraged Buyout May Breach Fiduciary Obligations

Most mergers and acquisitions and bankruptcy practitioners are well aware of the ever-increasing use of leveraged buy-out ("LBO") by publicly traded companies and private equity groups alike in highly structured liquidation...more

Morris James LLP

Delaware Corporate and Commercial Case Law Year in Review: 2020

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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

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Insights: The Delaware Edition - December 2020

This issue covers important, developing areas of Delaware corporation law and deal litigation, including an increased focus on officer-related actions in merger litigation, the treatment of Caremark claims after Marchand and...more

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