Today Vice Chancellor Laster issued a new appraisal ruling, Merion Capital LP v Lender Processing Services, pegging the appraised fair value to the merger price.

The court found no reason to depart from merger price given the apparently reliable sale process and reliable projections.  The court performed its own DCF valuation, which came out 4% above the merger price.  Vice Chancellor Laster found that his own valuation’s proximity to merger price gave him comfort as to the reliability of merger price and thus chose not to vary from it in determining fair value.

The court rejected the respondent’s synergies argument — intended to set fair value below the merger price — for being raised too late and unsupported by any evidence.  The decision also includes a thorough and instructive survey of recent appraisal case law.