DealLawyers.com Blog

Francis Pileggi recently blogged about Vice Chancellor Laster’s decision in Woods v. Sahara Enterprises, (Del. Ch.; 7/20).  He characterizes the opinion as “must reading,” noting that it provides “warmly welcomed clarity about important nuances of DGCL Section 220 with eminently quotable passages for practitioners who need to brief these issues.”  This excerpt from the blog provides some of the key takeaways from the decision:

– A consequential aspect of this jewel of a decision is the instruction by the court that there is no basis in Delaware law to require a stockholder demanding corporate records under Section 220 to explain why the stockholder wants to value her interest in the company–in order to satisfy the recognized proper purpose of valuation. See Slip op. at 11; and 14-15.

– The court provided an extremely helpful list of many recognized “proper purposes” needed to be shown to satisfy Section 220. See Slip op. at 8-9.

– The court also recited several examples of what showing is recognized as sufficient to satisfy the “credible basis requirement” to investigate mismanagement pursuant to Section 220. See Slip op. 18-19.
An always useful recitation of the basic elements of the fiduciary duty of directors of a Delaware corporation and the subsidiary components of the duty of loyalty and care, are also featured. See Slip op. at 20.

–  The court categorized the specific requests for documents in this case as follows: (i) formal board materials; (ii) informal board materials; and (iii) officer-level materials. Then the court expounds on the different focus applicable to each category.

While this particular blog provides an overview of the decision, Francis has another blog on the case that takes a much deeper dive.

– John Jenkins