Blaustein v. Lord Baltimore Capital Corp.

84 A.3d 954, 2014 WL 240628, 2014 Del. LEXIS 30
CourtSupreme Court of Delaware
DecidedJanuary 21, 2014
DocketNo. 272, 2013
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 84 A.3d 954 (Blaustein v. Lord Baltimore Capital Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blaustein v. Lord Baltimore Capital Corp., 84 A.3d 954, 2014 WL 240628, 2014 Del. LEXIS 30 (Del. 2014).

Opinion

BERGER, Justice:

In this appeal we consider whether a minority -stockholder in a closely held corporation has a right to a non-conflicted board decision on whether to repurchase her shares. The stockholder argues that such a right exists, both under common law fiduciary duty principles and under the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The Court of Chancery found that the common law does not impose any duties on directors of closely held corporations to consider buying out minority stockholders. The trial court also found that, given the language in the repurchase provision of the stockholders agreement, the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing does not create any duty to negotiate a reasonable repurchase price. We agree and affirm.

[956]*956FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

This dispute arises from Susan M. Blau-stein’s1 unsuccessful attempts to sell her stock in Lord Baltimore Capital Corporation, a closely held Delaware corporation that was created by members of the Thal-heimer family in 1998.2 The Thalheimer stockholders are , Louis Thalheimer (“Louis”), Marjorie Thalheimer Coleman (“Marjorie”), and Elizabeth Thalheimer Wachs (“Elizabeth”).

On January 1, 1999, Blaustein and her sister, Jeanne, became stockholders pursuant to the Lord Baltimore Capital Corporation Shareholders’ Agreement. Paragraph 7(d) of the Shareholders’ Agreement addresses repurchases of stock from minority stockholders. That provision states:

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, the Company may repurchase Shares upon terms and conditions agreeable to the Company and the Shareholder who owns the Shares to be repurchased provided that the repurchase is approved either (i) by a majority, being at least four, of all of the Directors of the Company then authorized (regardless of the number attending the meeting of the Board of Directors) at a duly called meeting of the Board of Directors or (ii) in writing by Shareholders who, in the aggregate, own of record or beneficially 70% or more of all Shares then issued and outstanding.3

Despite the existence of this provision, Blaustein alleges that she bought into Lord Baltimore with the understanding that, after a ten-year waiting period, she would be guaranteed the opportunity to sell her stock for full value. This understanding allegedly was based on several oral promises from Louis, who explained to her that he could not put the promises into writing because “doing so might jeopardize the ‘S’ corporation tax status of Lord Baltimore and possibly jeopardize as well the Section 355 tax-free treatment of the transactions that had resulted in ... the formation of Lord Baltimore.”4

When Blaustein attempted to sell her stock, after the ten-year period had expired, Louis refused to offer her anything better than a 52% discount from the net asset value of her shares. Blaustein tried to negotiate, and made several proposals for a buyout at a less severe discount. Louis presented some of Blaustein’s proposals to the Lord Baltimore board, and the board discussed them at several board meetings, but Louis and the board did not deviate from their requirement of a 52% discount. Not surprisingly, the parties dispute the board’s motivation. Louis argues that he and the other Thalheimer directors5 have acted at all times in Lord Baltimore’s best interests. Blaustein argues that a majority of Lord Baltimore’s seven directors (ie., all four Thalheimer directors) are conflicted and that they rejected her proposals in order to preserve personal tax benefits that might have been [957]*957jeopardized were they to allow Blaustein to cash out at a reasonable price.

Blaustein filed a complaint in the Court of Chancery against Louis and Lord Baltimore (collectively, “Louis,” unless the context requires otherwise) alleging promissory estoppel, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. In its May 31, 2012 Memorandum Opinion,6 the Court of Chancery dismissed that complaint except as to the implied covenant claim. Louis then moved for summary judgment on the implied covenant claim, and Blaustein sought leave to amend her complaint to allege a new fiduciary duty claim and a new implied covenant claim. In its April 30, 2013 Memorandum Opinion,7 the Court of Chancery granted Louis’s motion for summary judgment and denied Blaustein’s request to amend her complaint. This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

Blaustein appeals from the Court of Chancery’s rejection of two proposed new claims she sought to add by amending her complaint — one for breach of fiduciary duty, and one for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Blaustein does not challenge the dismissal of her other claims. As explained below, we find that the Court of Chancery correctly rejected both proposed new claims.

I. Fiduciary Duty Claims

Blaustein moved to amend her complaint to add a claim for breach of fiduciary duty against the Thalheimer directors. In her proposed Amended and Supplemented Verified Complaint, Blaustein alleges that the Thalheimer directors breached their fiduciary duties by failing to consider and negotiate, free of conflict, a repurchase of her shares. This breach, Blaustein alleges, has directly harmed her by depriving her of liquidity and control over her asset portfolio.8 Blaustein also appears to allege that the Thalheimer directors’ failure to accept her repurchase proposals amounted to a breach that harmed “Lord Baltimore and its shareholders as a whole.”9 Thus, Blaustein’s breach of fiduciary duty claim actually contains two separate claims — one direct and one derivative.10

A. Direct Claim

Blaustein alleges that the Thal-heimer directors acted out of self-interest when they refused to negotiate a repurchase of her shares at anything less than a 52% discount. She argues that these allegations of self-interest are sufficient to trigger entire fairness review because Blaustein has a “right to a non-conflicted corporate decision” on whether her shares should be repurchased and at what price.11 Blaustein relies on both common law fiduciary duty principles and Paragraph 7(d) of the Shareholders’ Agreement in support of her claim.

[958]*958Under common law, the directors of a closely held corporation have no general fiduciary duty to repurchase the stock of a minority stockholder.12 An investor must rely on contractual protections if liquidity is a matter of concern.13 Blaustein has no inherent right to sell her stock to the company at “full value,” or any other price. It follows that she has no right to insist on the formation of an independent board committee to negotiate with her.

The Shareholders’ Agreement provides the only protection available to Blau-stein. But the relevant provision, Paragraph 7(d), gives the stockholder and the company discretion as to whether to engage in a transaction, and as to the price. It does not impose any affirmative duty on either party to consider or negotiate any repurchase proposal.

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Bluebook (online)
84 A.3d 954, 2014 WL 240628, 2014 Del. LEXIS 30, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blaustein-v-lord-baltimore-capital-corp-del-2014.