June 1, 2012
Delaware Supreme Court Affirms in Vulcan/Martin Marietta
In his blog, Francis Pileggi gives us this news – repeated below:
Vulcan Materials, Inc. v. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., No. 254, 2010 (Del. May 31, 2012). This is a Delaware Supreme Court ruling after oral argument on May 31, 2012 involving the penalty imposed on a hostile bidder for breach of a confidentiality agreement entered into during amicable negotiations.
We previously highlighted the 138-page Chancery opinion decided on May 4, 2012. Today, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled, in an expedited appeal, as reported by Bloomberg, that the Chancery decision was correct, and that Martin Marietta would be barred from bidding for Vulcan Materials due to Martin Marietta’s breach of a confidentiality agreement that was signed while the companies were discussing a “friendly deal”, before it became a hostile bid. It is noteworthy that all the briefing and the oral argument on this appeal were done is less than 30 days and a decision by Delaware’s High Court was provided at oral argument.
Courtesy of Frank Reynolds of Thomson Reuters we have the Opening Brief and Answering Brief in the expedited appeal.