We have previously covered (thanks to a guest post) that Saudi Arabia does not have appraisal rights, though its Companies Law provides for a number of other shareholder rights. Is it time for a change?
Professors Alhasani and Hassan of Prince Sultan University say “yes.” In a comprehensive paper in the International Journal for Scientific
Delaware’s latest decision on the combined pursuit of appraisal and fiduciary duty claims continues the Delaware tradition of welcoming the litigation of those claims jointly up until the time an election between the two must be made. Vice Chancellor Laster’s recent Opinion in In re Columbia Pipeline Group, Inc. Merger Litigation, C.A. No. 2018-0484-JTL
Below is a roundup on 2024 proxy voting guidelines that have come out in favor of appraisal rights. We’ve previously covered that numerous investors support appraisal rights when the issue is at the corporate ballot box. Here are some more proxy voting guidelines in favor of this pro-investor remedy:
Major proxy adviser ISS: “Vote
RKS thanks Daniel Kalansky, Partner at Loria e Kalansky Advogados and Professor in the LLM program at Insper University for this guest post. Professor Kalansky holds a PHD in Corporate Law from the University of São Paulo – USP and is the Former president of the Brazilian Institute of Business Law – IBRADEMP. To
Stewart Investors, an asset manager focused on emerging markets equity, reaffirmed its policy of voting in favor of appraisal rights in its most recent proxy guidelines. Keeping it simple, Stewart wrote it would “Vote for proposals to restore, or provide shareholders with, rights of appraisal.”
This is consistent with its prior proxy guidance, which we
Boston Partners, a specialized equity investor with nearly $75 billion under management, says to vote for appraisal rights as part of its proxy guidelines. This is no surprise as appraisal rights are critical shareholder rights, especially in instances of unfair mergers or management’s actions that undervalue the company.
Boston Partners’ proxy guidelines join
The State of Michigan Retirement System Proxy Voting Guidelines are straightforwardly “for” on appraisal, writing:
“Appraisal rights are intended to help protect shareholders from unfair pricing in corporate transactions. The SMRS will vote for proposals that (i) provide shareholders with appraisal rights, (ii) restore rights of appraisal, or (iii) which otherwise support rights
Major proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) issues guidance every year for investors laying out ISS’ recommendations for voting on various shareholder issues. The 2022 US voting guidelines recommend voting in favor of appraisal rights when such rights are on the ballot. This is in line with the 2021 guidelines (which we covered).
Do stockholders as a group lose something when the appraisal remedy is weakened, perhaps overly so? And should something be done about it? Is there social utility in appraisal arbitrageurs testing merger prices, such as by keeping buyers and sellers honest in what may otherwise be a rather unfair market?
These questions are addressed, along
Major proxy firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) issues guidance every year for investors laying out ISS’s recommendations for voting on various shareholder issues. The 2021 US voting guidelines, in line with the 2020 guidelines, recommend voting in favor of appraisal rights. This is of little surprise as appraisal rights remain critical shareholder rights and