[The following is a guest post from Vinod Kothari of Vinod Kothari & Co. He can be contacted at [email protected]] The trail of litigation in Newcastle International Airport Limited vs. Eversheds LLP [2013] EWCA Civ 1514 , decided by the Court of Appeal on 28 November 2013, may be interesting for more than reason. One is quite obvious – a litigation that might have cost the plaintiff...
Alternative Business Forms
The current issue of the Economist has two interesting pieces (here and here) detailing forms of business that are acquiring prominence in the US markets and posing a challenge to the dominance of corporations (or companies) as the main form of business vehicle. Referring to this phenomenon as “distorporation”, it primarily alludes to the master limited partnership (MLP). The details are...
Directors’ Right to Information
Earlier this month, the Delaware Chancery Court ruled on the extent to which a director of a company can seek to obtain information from the company in order to discharge applicable duties. In Kalisman v. Friedman, the court was concerned whether Jason Kalisman, a director of Morgans Hotel Group Co., was entitled to certain information regarding the company. Kalisman was a representative of OTK...
Interpreting Reps and Warranties in M&A Deals
Although clauses such as representations and warranties have become quite ubiquitous in M&A transactions involving sale and purchase of assets, business or shares, there has hardly been any litigation in India involving the technicalities of such representations and warranties. The reps and warranties also constitute some of the major sticking points in negotiations that take up a substantial...
Delaware Court on Going Private Transactions
Transactions such as mergers between a company and its controlling shareholders are subject to close scrutiny by courts. Such transactions give rise to conflict of interest as they are carried out between related parties and therefore require close supervision. Moreover, mergers with controlling shareholders may also be utilised to force out minority shareholders of a company if the non...
Miscellaneous
1. Exemption from Takeover Regulations for Gift of Shares to Family Trust SEBI has granted an exemption to an acquirer from making an open offer under the SEBI Takeover Regulations in the case involving Gujarat Organics Limited (the company). In that case, the promoter Mr. Ashwin S. Dani, owns 71.15% shares in the company, and proposes to transfer...
CSR and Global Supply Chains
The tragic building collapse in Bangladesh has brought to the fore corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues involving global supply chains as the building is said to have housed factories employing workers manufacturing apparel for well-known global brands. Apart from the focus on local regulations and their enforcement in Bangladesh, the spotlight is now also thrown on the role of the...
Shareholder Activism Enters the Boardroom
Over the last month or so, an interesting debate has surfaced that takes shareholder activism to the next level. As the Deal Professor column notes, two hedge funds have initiated proposals whereby they have promised to pay their nominees, if elected to the board of the investee company, director compensation linked to the profitability of the company as if they were executives. The promised...
Competition Law Risks: Non-Compete Clauses in M&A Transactions – Part 2
[The following post is contributed by Soumya Hariharan, who is a Foreign Lawyer at Rodyk & Davidson LLP’s Corporate & Competition Law Practice in Singapore. Soumya obtained her BSL.LLB degree from ILS Law College and has an LL.M degree (Corporate & Financial Services Law) from the National University of Singapore. She can be reached at [email protected]. These views are...
Competition Law Risks: Non-Compete Clauses in M&A Transactions – Part 1
[The following post is contributed by Soumya Hariharan, who is a Foreign Lawyer in Rodyk & Davidson LLP’s Corporate and Competition Law Practice in Singapore. Soumya obtained her BSL.LL.B degree from ILS Law College and has an LL.M degree (Corporate & Financial Services Law) from the National University of Singapore. These views are personal. In this first part, Soumya provides a broad...
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