The Delaware Court of Chancery has dismissed a shareholder challenge to the 2015 sale of Martha Stewart’s merchandising company to Sequential Brands Group Inc., ruling that the $353 million deal included protective measures that kept it within the protection of the business judgment rule and shielding it from heightened scrutiny.
The ruling Aug. 18 from Vice Chancellor Joseph R. Slights III said the opinion was a novel application of a landmark 2014 state Supreme Court decision Kahn v. M&F Worldwide, which outlined a “road map” for directors and officers to secure deference under the business judgment rule in a conflicted transaction.
