Conyers Dill, a Cayman firm, has this new article out about Cayman appraisal, including the recent Trina Solar case. This article discusses appraisal appeals, payments to dissenting shareholders, and discovery of dissenters. Notable to US practitioners is that the scope of the discovery of dissenters/petitioners and even whether dissenters/petitioners should be required to give discovery in a Cayman appraisal action remains a live issue. This is unlike the US, where discovery of dissenting/petitioning shareholders is expected, and has been the subject of disputes in the Delaware courts. Conyers notes that the “the local statutory appraisal procedure is becoming increasingly well-defined and mature” – with more cases and more precedent, there may indeed be more certainty in Cayman appraisal, just as Delaware law has developed a robust and deep set of appraisal (and valuation) precedents.
** Lowenstein Sandler LLP does not practice in the Cayman Islands; we thank the team at Conyers Dill for their pointing us to this article and their coverage of Cayman appraisal.