Activision Blizzard, Inc., et al. v. Hayes, et al.

The issue before the Supreme Court in this case was an interlocutory appeal by the Court of Chancery of a preliminary injunction halting consummation of a stock purchase agreement under which Vivendi, S.A. would have divested itself of its controlling interest in Appellee Activision Blizzard, Inc., and an Activision stockholder. Appellees convinced the trial court that the company’s charter required that a majority of the public stockholders vote in favor of the transaction. The relevant provision applied to "any merger, business combination, or similar transaction" involving Vivendi and Activision. The trial court held that Activision's purchase of its own stock would be a business combination because significant value would be transferred to Vivendi in exchange for Activision's acquisition of a newly-formed Vivendi subsidiary that held Vivendi's Activision stock. In October 2013, the Supreme Court reversed, and this opinion set forth the basis for its decision. View "Activision Blizzard, Inc., et al. v. Hayes, et al." on Justia Law