Cláusula MAC en Delaware

Hace unas semanas me advirtieron (gracias) de esta noticia reseñando este importante hito en la historia de las M&A: Drafting Considerations from the MAC Decision.

El resumen In Akorn v. Fresenius (Oct. 1, 2018), the Delaware Court of Chancery found for the first time ever that a target company had suffered a “material adverse effect” (MAC) between the signing and closing of a merger agreement, which entitled the acquiror to terminate the agreement.

No me dio tiempo por razones diversas a hacer algún comentario al respecto. No hay mal que por bien no venga, porque ahora tenemos noticias nuevas, o mejor dicho, se ratifican las anteriores: Material Adverse Effect Clauses and the Delaware Supreme Court

[On December 7,] the Delaware Supreme Court issued a three-page order in Akorn, Inc. v. Fresenius Kabi AG, No. 535, 2018 (Del. Dec. 7, 2018), affirming the Court of Chancery’s 246-page opinion finding that Fresenius Kabi AG validly terminated its merger with Akorn, Inc., based on the existence of a material adverse effect (MAE). The affirmance confirms Fresenius’s ability to walk away from its announced $4.3 billion merger with Akorn based on the first court-approved MAE in Delaware history.

La decisión de la Delaware Supreme Court ratifica la decisión previa, como puede verse lo hace de manera breve. Por tanto, me parece importante recordar las cuestiones clave a las que se hacen referencia en Drafting Considerations from the MAC Decision.

• The court emphasized a strongly contractarian approach.
• MAC—The court found, for the first time ever, that a MAC occurred, permitting an acquiror to terminate a merger agreement.
• Regulatory Compliance Representation—The court found that the target company’s regulatory noncompliance itself constituted an MAE.
• Ordinary Course Covenant—The court found that the target materially breached its covenant to operate in the ordinary course of business pending closing—based on what would be expected of a “generic pharmaceutical company.”

 

(*) Foto: El viaje de Chihiro, de Hayao Miyazaki

Anuncio publicitario