Does Washington state offer appraisal rights (also known as dissenters rights)?
Yes it does – according to this post from the Jacob Freeman Law Firm in Seattle. And unlike Delaware (indeed, unlike the majority of US states), Washington does not have a “market out exception”. We’ve covered before that the somewhat maligned “market out
M&A Law Prof Blog says no.
In short, the market out exception (at least in Delaware) provides that a shareholder does not have appraisal rights if they are receiving stock and not cash for their shares in the target company. M&A Law Prof Blog compares the current state of appraisal (including the market out
Although Delaware dominates when it comes to appraisal (as a result of its outsize attractiveness to U.S. companies as a place of incorporation), appraisal is not limited to the First State. As we’ve previously discussed, appraisal regimes also exist in other states including Massachusetts, Arizona, and Nevada. What about the Hawkeye State?
We previously covered the proposed DGCL amendments, which would make changes to the appraisal statute with respect to intermediate-form mergers, and clarify requirements for disclosure with respect to the number of shares not voting for a merger.
If adopted, the appraisal amendments would become effective August 1, 2018.
Coverage of these proposed amendments has intensified;
The Corporate Council of the Corporation Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association has put out proposed amendments to Delaware law, including a technical change to Section 262, the statutory basis for Delaware appraisal. Richards Layton, a Delaware law firm, summarizes the proposed amendment:
The proposed amendments would amend Section 262(b) of the
In a March 2016 working paper, Corporate Darwinism: Disciplining Managers in a World With Weak Shareholder Litigation, Professors James D. Cox and Randall S. Thomas detail several recent legislative and judicial actions that potentially restrict the efficacy of shareholder acquisition-oriented class actions to control corporate managerial agency costs. The authors then discuss new corporate
The so-called market-out exception precludes appraisal where the target’s stock trades in a highly liquid market. In other words, appraisal is normally available to shareholders except, as the rationale goes, where the M&A target’s stock trades in such a liquid, highly efficient market that its stock price naturally reflects its fair value, and any
A frequently asked question involves the availability of appraisal rights when investors are being offered only stock in the acquiring corporation in exchange for their shares.
The answer is typically no. The Delaware appraisal statute provides that appraisal rights are available in a wide range of statutorily permitted mergers. 8 Del. C. § 262(b). However