Number of M&A deals challenged in state venues more than doubled, as Trulia impact stabilizes.
San Francisco—Shareholders of public target companies challenged 82% of merger and acquisition deals valued over $100 million in 2018, consistent with the previous year, according to a new Cornerstone Research report released today. A total of 142 proposed deals valued over $100 million had associated lawsuits in 2018, compared to 115 in 2017, reflecting a parallel rise of M&A activity and shareholder lawsuits during the year.
The report, Shareholder Litigation Involving Acquisitions of Public Companies—Review of 2018 M&A Litigation, also found that the impact of the Delaware Court of Chancery’s decision in 2016 in In re Trulia Shareholder Litigation appears to have stabilized. Increased judicial scrutiny of proposed settlements of stockholder merger litigation culminated in the 2016 decision, which diminished the acceptability of disclosure-only settlements in merger objection cases.
In the years before Trulia, shareholders litigated around 90% of M&A deals valued over $100 million. In 2016, the year of the Chancery Court’s decision, that rate declined to 71%. In 2017 and 2018, however, the litigation rate rebounded to 82%, but still was below pre-2015 levels.
The lower propensity to challenge M&A deals still prevails, according to the report. The number of lawsuits per challenged M&A deal has remained around three since Trulia, compared to the 2009 to 2015 average of 4.7 lawsuits per deal.
In terms of litigation outcomes, the rate of resolution prior to deal closing has declined steadily from 68% in 2012 to a 10-year low of 33% in 2018. Also, 70% of M&A litigation was voluntarily dismissed in 2018, down slightly from 72% in 2017. Between 2009 and 2015, the annual rate of voluntary dismissal was 30% or lower.