Tracinda Corp. v. DAIMLERCHRYSLER AG

362 F. Supp. 2d 487, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5096, 2005 WL 730322
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedMarch 30, 2005
DocketCIV.A.00-993-JJF
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 362 F. Supp. 2d 487 (Tracinda Corp. v. DAIMLERCHRYSLER AG) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tracinda Corp. v. DAIMLERCHRYSLER AG, 362 F. Supp. 2d 487, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5096, 2005 WL 730322 (D. Del. 2005).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION ON EVIDENTIARY ISSUES

FARNAN, District Judge.

During the course of the bench trial in the above-captioned action, the Court reserved judgment on several evidentiary objections raised by the parties. The parties have briefed their respective positions, and this Memorandum Opinion constitutes the Court’s rulings with regard to the pending evidentiary matters.

I. DEFENDANTS’ POST-TRIAL EVI-DENTIARY OBJECTIONS

A. Motion To Exclude Testimony And Reports Of Tracinda’s Experts, Professor William L. Silber And H. Conrad Meyer, III,

Defendants contend that the testimony of Tracinda’s expert witnesses, Professor William L. Silber and H. Conrad Meyer, III, should be excluded under Federal Rule of Evidence 702. With regard to Silber, Defendants contend that Silber’s opinion and underlying methodology are flawed. Defendants contend that Silber’s methodology of using the allocation of board seats to determine the appropriate premium to be paid violates the basic statistical principle that correlation is not tantamount to causation and ignores other factors that go into the negotiation of a premium in a business combination. Defendants contend that Silber’s methodology is demonstrably unreliable, because it failed to accurately predict the premiums paid in sample transactions to which his methodology is applied. Defendants also point out that Silber himself testified that his model could only predict a premium within 20% of the actual premium and that it could only be that accurate two-thirds of the time, meaning that one-third of the time actual results would vary by more than 20% from a predication made based on Silber’s model. Silber Tr. Vol. E 1120:15-24.

As for the opinion of H. Conrad Meyer, III, Defendants contend that Meyer’s fairness opinion is flawed, because it (1) ignored the analysis of Credit Suisse First Boston (“CSFB”), (2) ignored the alternative discounted cash flow (“DCF”) analysis of CSFB which included consideration of adverse risk factors like a downturn in the automotive industry, (3) included transactions which were not comparable to the Chrysler/Daimler-Benz Merger, and (4) failed to include other factors like whether Daimler-Benz was willing to pay more than it actually paid. Defendants also point out that Meyer never spoke with Tracinda’s Jim Aljian or Jerry York to find out if they believed the risks identified in the CSFB analysis were likely to materialize. Defendants further point out that Meyer’s analysis was prepared for litigation, and thus inherently more unreliable than CSFB’s fairness opinion.

*494 The admissibility of expert testimony is governed by Federal Rule of Evidence 702, which provides:

If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise, if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the-testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case.

In Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993), the Supreme Court directed the district courts to perform a “gatekeeping” function in determining the reliability of expert testimony. In this regard, courts should flexibly consider a number of factors, including but not limited to: (1) whether the theory or technique has been tested; (2) whether the technique or theory has been subjected to peer review and publication; (3) the known or potential rate of error; (4) the general acceptance of the theory; (5) whether the method consists of a testable hypothesis; (6) the existence and maintenance of standards controlling the technique’s operation; (7) the relationship of the technique to methods which have been established to be reliable; (8) the qualifications of the expert witness testifying based on the methodology; and (9) the non-judicial uses to which the methodology has been put. Daubert, 509 U.S. at 593-594, 113 S.Ct. 2786 (setting forth first four factors listed above); In re Paoli R.R. Yard PCB Litig., 35 F.3d 717, 742 n. 8 (3d Cir.1994) (identifying other relevant factors). In applying these factors, the court must “solely focus on the principles and methodology, not on the conclusions they generate.” Daubert, 509 U.S. at 595, 113 S.Ct. 2786.

Considering these factors in light of the testimony of Silber and Meyer, the Court concludes that the testimony of Silber and Meyer is admissible. Silber’s qualifications have not been challenged, and the methodology and analysis used by Silber is a standard regression analysis that has been used by other academic studies. Silber Tr. Vol. E 1115:21-1116:19. In addition, Defendants’ investment banker, Goldman Sachs, employed a similar analysis in part of its valuation analyses of the Merger. PX 845. As such, this analysis was used in negotiating the Merger, prior to any talk of litigation. Thus, Silber’s analysis has been used by others outside the context of litigation, and his methods have been subject to publication.

Defendants’ arguments concerning Silber’s failure to consider other relevant factors and the prediction value of his methods in light of these other factors were appropriately discussed on cross-examination and go to the weight to be afforded to Silber’s opinion. See Matlin v. Langkow, 65 Fed.Appx. 373, 384 (3d Cir.2003) (unpublished opinion) (admitting expert testimony where defendant’s arguments concerned weight of the testimony rather than admissibility). Accordingly, the Court will deny Defendants’ motion to exclude Silber’s expert testimony.

Similarly, the Court concludes that Defendants have not raised a valid challenge to the admissibility of Meyer’s testimony. Defendants have not challenged Meyer’s qualifications, and Meyer’s analysis employed a standard DCF analyses according to the same procedures he follows in his practice. Meyer Tr. 919:18-920:2; PX 715 at 2,3. Meyer’s conclusions also fell within the range of values produced by the CSFB and Goldman Sachs *495 analysis, both of which were prepared pri- or to any litigation. Compare PX 715 at Exh. II, 15 with PX 141 at CSFB-DC001612 and PX 277 at SC0000666. Whether Meyer’s analysis appropriately considered certain factors like the analysis of CSFB, the risk of a downturn in the automotive industry, Daimler-Benz’s willingness to pay more, and the views of Tracinda’s executives, Jim Aljian and Jerry York, all go to the weight to be afforded to Meyer’s opinions.

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Bluebook (online)
362 F. Supp. 2d 487, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5096, 2005 WL 730322, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tracinda-corp-v-daimlerchrysler-ag-ded-2005.