Montana Food, LLC, a Wyoming Limited Liability Company

2015 WY 26, 344 P.3d 751, 2015 Wyo. LEXIS 31, 2015 WL 779688
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 25, 2015
DocketS-14-0150
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2015 WY 26 (Montana Food, LLC, a Wyoming Limited Liability Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Montana Food, LLC, a Wyoming Limited Liability Company, 2015 WY 26, 344 P.3d 751, 2015 Wyo. LEXIS 31, 2015 WL 779688 (Wyo. 2015).

Opinion

KITE, Justice.

[11] Milan Todosijevic and Daniel Vukov each owned a 50% interest in Montana Food, LLC (the LLC). Believing that he had made significantly greater capital contributions to the LLC over time than Mr. Todosijevic, Mr. Vukov adjusted the ownership interests to reflect a 99.7% interest in him and a .28% interest in Mr. Todosijevic. Mr. Todosijevic filed an action against Mr. Vukov and the LLC claiming, among other things, that Mr. Vukov did not have the authority to adjust the members' ownership interests. 1 The LLC sought summary judgment as to all of Mr. Todosijeviec's claims. Mr. Todosijevie filed a cross motion for summary judgment seeking a ruling that as a matter of law Mr. Vukov did not have the authority to adjust the ownership interests. The district court agreed and granted Mr. Todosijevic's motion. The LLC appealed, claiming the district court erred in ruling that as a matter of law Mr. Vukov had no authority to adjust membership interests. We find no error and affirm.

ISSUE

[12] The LLC states the issue for our determination as follows:

Did the district court improperly find Montana Food, LLC did not have the authority to adjust the membership interests of its members to reflect capital contributions?

FACTS

[13] The LLC is a limited liability company organized under the laws of the State of Wyoming and listing its principal place of - business in Laramie County, Wyoming 2 During 2010, Mr. Todosijevie and Mr. Vukov, who are residents of Belgrade, Serbia, each held a 50% membership interest in the LLC. 3 *753 The LLC organized several subsidiaries in Belgrade, including Delbin Investments, MD, LTD (Delbin). The LLC and its subsidiaries invested in buildings located in Belgrade with an eye toward developing them.

[T4] The LLC's articles of organization provided that the LLC was manager-managed and named Maksim Stajeer, who was not a member of the LLC, as the manager. The articles of organization also provided that after the initial capital contribution of $10,000, "[aldditional contributions shall be made at such times and in such amounts as may be agreed upon by the Members as provided in the Operating Agreement." In late 2010, Mr. Vukov became concerned that he was the only member making additional contributions. He retained counsel in Serbia to investigate. The investigation apparently showed that Mr. Vukov had contributed 1,260,600 Euros while Mr. Todosijevic had made no additional contributions. Mr. Vu-kov issued a notice of meeting indicating that he wished to address the issue of capital contributions by the members as provided in the articles of organization and propose that any member who did not contribute to the LLC's capital would be subject to a reduction of his ownership interest, Mr. Todosijevie claimed he did not receive the notice. In any event, he did not attend. At the meeting, Mr. Vukov adopted and approved resolutions showing his capital contribution of 1,260,600 Euros, increasing his ownership interest to 99.72% and reducing Mr. Todosijevie's interest to 0.28%. Thereafter, Mr. Vukov amended the articles of organization by naming himself and his wife as the new managers of the LLC.

[T5] In late 2011, Mr. Todosijevie filed his complaint against the LLC and Mr. Vu-kov. Of the six causes of action contained in the complaint, this appeal concerns only Mr. Todosijevie's claim that Mr. Vukov improperly adjusted the members' ownership interests, The LLC filed a motion for summary judgment claiming there were no genuine issues of material fact as to any of Mr. Todosijevic's claims, including the claim that Mr. Vukov lacked the authority to adjust the members' ownership interests. The LLC asserted that after the initial $10,000 contribution the members were to make additional capital contributions. The LLC claimed that although Mr. Todosijevie represented that he was contributing additional funds, in fact only Mr. Vukov was making capital contributions. Upon learning that Mr. Todosijevie had made no contributions beyond the initial capital contribution, the LLC asserted Mr. Vukov properly gave Mr. Todosijevie notice of a meeting and his proposal to adjust the capital account and ownership percentages to reflect the reality of the amounts each member had contributed. When Mr. Todosijevie did not respond, the LLC asserted Mr. Vu-kov appropriately proceeded to execute a company resolution adjusting the capital account ownership percentages to reflect the members' actual contributions. The LLC asserted the claims against Mr. Vukov should be dismissed as a matter of law because under applicable Wyoming law, absent an agreement to the contrary, the management and return of profit in an LLC is determined by the members' respective capital contributions. The LLC contended that once it was established that Mr. Vukov had made additional contributions and Mr. Todosijevie had not, Mr. Vukov was justified as a matter of law in taking action to adjust the members' capital accounts.

[T6] Mr. Todosijevic asserted the LLC was not entitled to summary judgment because Mr. Vukov was without authority to unilaterally dilute Mr. Todosijeviec's ownership interest. He asserted that the consent of all members was required to change the members' ownership interests. He contended he was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on that issue.

[T7] The district court found as a matter of law that Mr. Vukov, as an individual member, did not have contractual or statutory authority to adjust member ownership interests. In reaching that result, the district court looked first to the LLC's articles of organization and operating agreement. Finding that neither of those documents addressed the question of whether a member had the authority to adjust ownership interests, the district court turned to the Wyo *754 ming Limited Liability Company Act, Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 17-29-101 through 1105 Lexis-Nexis 2011). It focused on § 17-29-407(c), which addresses management of LLCs and provides in relevant part:

(c) In a manager-managed limited liability company, unless the articles of organization or the operating agreement provide otherwise, the following rules apply:
(i) Except as otherwise expressly provided in this chapter, any matter relating to the activities of the company is decided exclusively by the managers;
(ii) Each manager has equal rights in the management and conduct of the activities of the company;
(ii) A difference arising among managers as to a matter in the ordinary course of the activities of the company may be decided by a majority of the managers;
(iv) The consent of all members is required to:
(A) Sell, lease, exchange or otherwise dispose of all, or substantially all, of the company's property, with or without the good will, outside the ordinary course of the company's activities;
(B) Approve a merger, conversion, continuance, transfer or domestication under article 10 of this chapter;
(CG) Undertake any other act outside the ordinary course of the company's activities; and

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Bluebook (online)
2015 WY 26, 344 P.3d 751, 2015 Wyo. LEXIS 31, 2015 WL 779688, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/montana-food-llc-a-wyoming-limited-liability-company-wyo-2015.