New England Dragway, Inc. v. M-O-H Enterprises, Inc.

817 A.2d 288, 149 N.H. 188, 2003 N.H. LEXIS 25
Supreme Court of New Hampshire·Decided February 28, 2003·No. No. 2001-712·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

Nadeau, J.

The defendant, M-O-H Enterprises, Inc. (MOH), appeals an order by the Superior Court (Abramson, J.) enjoining MOH from pursuing offers to purchase the stock of New England Dragway, Inc. (Dragway) until MOH complies with RSA chapter 421-A (1998), the Security Takeover Disclosure Act (Act). We affirm.

The record supports the following facts. MOH is a corporation owned and operated by Mark 0. Hildonen. In early August 2001, MOH sent a flyer to all Dragway shareholders asking them to “PLEASE ATTEND THIS VERY IMPORTANT MEETING” to be held on August 18,2001, in Seabrook. The flyer stated, in bold lettering, that “MOH Enterprises is offering to purchase your stock.” (Emphasis omitted.) It also contained the terms MOH was offering to the shareholders for their stock. MOH took these actions without making the appropriate disclosure filings required by the Act.

The Act defines a “target company” as a

corporation whose securities are or are to be the subject of a takeover bid that has:
(a) One hundred or more shareholders;
(b) Its principal place of business, its principal office, or substantial assets within New Hampshire; and
(c) Either:
(1) More than 10 percent of its shareholders resident in New Hampshire;
[190] (2) More than 10 percent of its shares owned by New Hampshire residents; or
(3) Ten thousand shareholders resident in New Hampshire.

RSA 421-A:2, VII. Dragway is a New Hampshire corporation owned by more than one hundred shareholders. Approximately twenty percent of its shareholders are New Hampshire residents who collectively own roughly thirty-five percent of the shares. Accordingly, Dragway is a “target company” as defined by RSA 421-A:2, VII.

In accordance with RSA 421-A:11, III, Dragway petitioned the trial court for injunctive relief, claiming that MOH failed to comply with RSA 421-A:3 and :4. RSA 421-A:3 provides:

No offeror shall make a takeover bid unless as soon as practicable on the date of commencement of the takeover bid he files with the secretary of state and the target company a registration statement containing the information required by RSA 421-A:4 and publicly discloses the material terms of the offer.

Under RSA 421-A:4, the registration statement must include sensitive information about the offer and the offeror’s personal and financial circumstances. Dragway contended that allowing the August 18, 2001 meeting to occur would cause irreparable harm to those stockholders who might contract with MOH without the benefit of MOH’s disclosures, which the Act was designed to prevent.

MOH objected to the petition for injunctive relief arguing, among other things, that the Act is unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. The trial court ruled that the defendant had failed to meet its burden of proving the statute unconstitutional and enjoined the defendant from offering to purchase the plaintiffs stock until it had complied with the statute. Contrary to the trial court’s order, the defendant held the meeting. The plaintiff moved for contempt of the order, and over the defendant’s objection, the trial court found the defendant in contempt and ordered sanctions. The defendant filed a motion to reconsider, which was denied. This appeal followed. The only issue on appeal is whether the Act is constitutional under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.

We addressed the constitutionality of a previous version of the Act, see RSA ch. 421-A (Supp. 1979), in Sharon Steel Corp. v. Whaland, 121 N.H. 607 (1981) (Sharon I). In Sharon I, we held that former RSA chapter 421-A did not contravene the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution when applied to block purchases made by Sharon Steel [191] Corporation and Summit Systems in a takeover bid for Nashua Corporation. See Sharon 1,121 N.H. at 618. The decision was appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which vacated our judgment and remanded for further consideration in light of Edgar v. MITE Corp., 457 U.S. 624 (1982). See Sharon Steel Corp. v. Insurance Commissioner of New Hampshire, 458 U.S. 1101 (1982). In MITE, decided by the United States Supreme Court after our decision in Sharon I, the Court declared the Illinois Business Takeover Act (Illinois Act) unconstitutional. Upon remand, in Sharon Steel Corp. v. Whaland, 124 N.H. 1 (1983) (Sharon II), we reviewed our previous decision in light of MITE and reversed Sharon I, holding that “RSA chapter 421-A is unconstitutional because of the extent of the indirect burden it imposes on interstate commerce.” Sharon II, 124 N.H. at 6. By the time of our decision in Sharon II, RSA chapter 421-A had been amended by Laws 1983, chapter 144 (effective August 6, 1983). While we were urged by the plaintiffs in Sharon II to rule upon the constitutionality of both the old and revised statutes, we declined to do so and limited our decision in that case to the statute as it existed prior to the amendment. In this case, we address the constitutionality of the statute in its present form.

Subsequent to Sha,ron II, the United States Supreme Court reviewed the Control Share Acquisitions Chapter of the Indiana Business Control Law (Indiana Act). See CTS Corp. v. Dynamics Corp. of America, 481 U.S. 69 (1987). In CTS, “the Court articulated a basic analysis for testing a statute’s constitutionality under the dormant Commerce Clause, applicable to review of takeover statutes____The Court adopted a two-pronged test for its Commerce Clause analysis: (1) Does the statute discriminate against interstate commerce? and (2) Does the statute adversely affect interstate commerce by subjecting activities to inconsistent regulations?” Hyde Park Partners, L.P. v. Connolly, 839 F.2d 837, 843-44 (1st Cir. 1988).

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New England Dragway, Inc. v. M-O-H Enterprises, Inc., 817 A.2d 288, 149 N.H. 188, 2003 N.H. LEXIS 25 (N.H. 2003).

817 A.2d 288 (New England Dragway, Inc. v. M-O-H Enterprises, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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