Last week, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an opinion in In re Orchard Enterprises, Inc. Shareholder Litigation (Del. Ch. Aug 22, 2014) concerning an application for attorneys’ fees (we have previously posted about a significant 2012 decision in that same case by former Chancellor Strine). We found the court’s latest decision noteworthy for two reasons. First, the court reaffirmed the principle that an appraisal action brought by an individual shareholder seeking a judicial determination of the fair value of its stock as of the merger date is an entirely separate animal from a shareholder class action in which the plaintiffs allege director misconduct in connection with the price or process leading up to the transaction. Second, the court cited approvingly an upcoming law review article that highlights statistically the benefits of the appraisal process.

In 2010, The Orchard Enterprises, Inc., was acquired by its controlling shareholder for $2.05 per share in cash. Following the merger, several shareholders pursued an appraisal action, which resulted in a judicial determination that the fair value of Orchard was $4.67 per share. After the appraisal action concluded, another shareholder who had not exercised his appraisal rights brought a class action against the board for breach of fiduciary duty. The class action settled before trial. Counsel for the appraisal shareholders objected to the settlement, arguing that they should be reimbursed from the class action settlement for the fees they incurred in the appraisal action because their efforts contributed to the settlement of the class action. Vice Chancellor Laster acknowledged that the appraisal shareholders “raised the bar” for the company by demonstrating that the fair value of Orchard stock was more than double the merger consideration. However, the court ruled that appraisal counsel was not entitled to reimbursement for its fees because the appraisal action was brought on behalf of individual shareholders, not on behalf of all of Orchard’s shareholders.

In a prior post, we observed how former Chancellor Strine (now Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court) repeatedly took the time to clarify the important but often overlooked distinction between fiduciary duty claims and appraisal rights actions. Vice Chancellor Laster has now followed suit in Orchard when he declined to apportion part of the class action settlement to pay the attorneys’ fees incurred by the successful appraisal petitioners. According to the Vice Chancellor, as unsecured creditors who elected not to accept the merger consideration, appraisal petitioners may have interests that conflict with shareholders pursuing breach of fiduciary duty claims after selling their shares in the merger. Moreover, unlike class plaintiffs (who frequently own only a small stake in the company), appraisal petitioners typically have significant holdings that they believe have been undervalued, so they do not need to be offered an additional incentive (such as the reimbursement of attorneys’ fees) in order for them to seek court intervention.

We also recently blogged about a forthcoming law review article by Professors Charles Korsmo and Minor Myers of Brooklyn Law School, which is expected to be published in the Washington University Law Review in 2015. In that article, the authors laud the appraisal process because it ultimately provides an efficient means for benefiting minority shareholders and reducing the cost of raising equity capital. In the new Orchard decision, Vice Chancellor Laster cited this article and expressly recognized that the effect of an appraisal rights petition “may well be a net positive” because the process “reduces agency costs when compared to traditional class actions and results in a more efficient corporation law.” This is a highly significant reaffirmation of the unique and valuable role that appraisal actions will continue to play in enhancing shareholder value.