California Corporate & Securities Law

In Revlon, Inc. v. MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, Inc.,506 A.2d 173, 182 (1986), the Delaware Supreme Court famously held that when the sale of a corporation becomes inevitable, the board of directors' duty changed from the preservation of the...

California Corporations Code Section 1312(a) provides:

Last Friday, John Jenkins wrote about another momentous ruling by Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick.  In Sjunde AP-Fonden v. Activision Blizzard, Inc., 2024 WL 863290 (Del. Ch. Feb. 29, 2024), she ruled:

Writing in DealLawyers.com, Meredith Ervine highlights one Delaware corporation's proposal to amend its certificate of incorporation to designate the corporation as the agent of its stockholders to pursue damages in the event that specific...

In a recent post, Professor Ann Lipton noted a proposed charter amendment intended to address the so-called "Con Ed" problem.   In Consol. Edison, Inc. v. Ne. Utilities, 426 F.3d 524 (2d Cir. 2005), the stockholders of Northeast Utilities sued...

Anyone planning to buy a loaf of bread or head of lettuce next year will need to plan ahead.  Last weekend, Governor Newsom signed AB 853 into law.  This bill provides that "[n]o person shall acquire, directly or indirectly, any . . . assets of a...

Merger and acquisition agreements almost invariably include a promise by the seller to continue to operate the business in the "ordinary course". This promise is typically included to provide assurance to the buyer that the business will not change...

In California practice, a merger reorganization will typically involve two agreements - one short, the other not.  The Corporations Code refers to the shorter agreement as the "agreement of merger".   At a minimum it must include all of the following:

Last May, I wrote with some incredulity about AB 853 (Maienschein) which is ostensibly directed at mergers and acquisitions of grocery and drug stores.  The bill, however, appears to be progressing toward enactment.   As a reminder, the bill provides: