CHANCERY COURT FINDS TRANSACTION STRUCTURE CAN TRIGGER PRESUMPTIONS OF BUSINESS JUDGMENT DEFERENCE AT PLEADING STAGE
Nicholas Oleinik…v. Frank A. Lodzinski, et al., and Earthstone Energy,…
By: Carty Bibee and Samantha Beatty
In Olenik v. Lodzinski, C.A. No. 2017-0414-JRS (Del. Ch. July 20, 2018), the Court of Chancery, in a motion to dismiss, found that Earthstone Energy, Inc.’s (“Earthstone”) decision to employ the framework laid out in Kahn v. M&F Worldwide, Corp., 88 A.3d 635 (Del. 2014) (“MFW”) in structuring a transaction secured the benefit of the business judgment rule for its fiduciaries, even at the pleadings stage. The Court found that where the Plaintiff failed to plead waste, or facts which the Court could reasonably conceive as waste, the Plaintiff’s claim that officers and the controlling stockholder breached their fiduciary duties by approving an unfair transaction as interested parties, must be dismissed.