Delaware Business Litigation Report

Court Of Chancery Clarifies Standing For Appraisal Rights

Merion Capital LP v. BMC Software, Inc., C.A. 8900-VCG (January 5, 2015) and In Re Appraisal Of Ancestry.com Inc., C.A. 8173-VCG (January 5, 2015) both deal with appraisal arbitrage and resolve who is entitled to file an appraisal action. The basic issues these two decisions address is whether a buyer of stock after a merger is announced must prove the stock to be appraised did not vote for the merger. So long as the depository in whose name the  stock is listed did hold more stock than voted for the merger, the Court holds the new buyer need not trace his ownership to specific stock. Of course, the stock sought to be appraised must be less in number than the stock who did not vote for the merger. Share