TransDev on Demand, Inc. v. Blackstreet Investment Holdings, LLC

Court of Chancery of Delaware·Decided November 30, 2020·No. CA No. 2019-0912-SG·Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

TRANSDEV ON DEMAND, INC., )

)

Plaintiff/Counterclaim-Defendant, )

)

v. )

) C.A. No. 2019-0912-SG

)

BLACKSTREET INVESTMENT )

HOLDINGS, LLC, )

)

Defendant/Counterclaim-Plaintiff. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Date Submitted: August 7, 2020 Date Decided: November 30, 2020

John L. Reed, Peter H. Kyle, and Kelly L. Freund, of DLA PIPER LLP (US), Wilmington, Delaware; OF COUNSEL: Laura Sixkiller and Kyle T. Orne, of DLA PIPER LLP (US), Phoenix, Arizona, Attorneys for Plaintiff/Counterclaim- Defendant.

Thomas E. Hanson, Jr. and William J. Burton, of BARNES & THORNBURG LLP, Wilmington, Delaware, Attorneys for Defendant/Counterclaim-Plaintiff.

GLASSCOCK, Vice Chancellor

The seller of a company promised to provide financial information in a certain form, prior to closing. According to the buyer, it failed. This Memorandum Opinion largely concerns itself with the seller’s argument that the buyer, allegedly contractually prevented from seeking contract damages for breach, has attempted to bootstrap the contractual claim into a claim for fraud.

“Bootstrap” is, to me, an interesting metaphor. The actual bootstrap, of course, is a leather loop at the back of a high boot that allows a wearer to bring his strength to bear in pulling the boot over his heel. A third party, assuming sufficient strength of arm and loop, could lift a wearer by these bootstraps; lacking a fulcrum, however, a wearer never can. This observable fact has led to the phrase “he lifted himself by his own bootstraps,” meaning that one has, admirably, by great effort overcome seemingly impossible obstacles without assistance. The impossibility of lifting oneself thus has also given rise to a metaphorical verb in legalese, “to bootstrap,” meaning to make an unsupported attempt to create from one thing or proposition an unlikely or impermissible other. 1 Here, the seller’s allegation is that the buyer has attempted to create, from the breach of a promise to act, a tort, common-law fraud, on the theory that the seller never intended to perform. If true, this is an impermissible bootstrap.

1 Leading to the noun form for an instance of such an action, a “bootstrap.” The term may also refer to an individual creating the conditions by which she extends her own power or ability to act. See Stuart M. Benjamin, Bootstrapping, 75 Law and Contemp. Probs., no. 3, 2012, at 115.

The unusual contract at issue involves a sale by the Plaintiff and Counterclaim-Defendant, Transdev on Demand, Inc. (“Transdev”), of its wholly- owned subsidiary, SuperShuttle International, Inc. (“SuperShuttle”), to Defendant and Counterclaim-Plaintiff, Blackstreet Investment Holdings, LLC (“Blackstreet”). The term “sale” is accurate but misleading; SuperShuttle had, apparently, negative value, the sales price totaled $1.00, and Transdev agreed to retain certain liabilities and to fund working capital, initially by providing roughly $18 million to SuperShuttle for that purpose (the “Initial Funding Amount”), with the amount to be “trued up” post-closing. The contract required Transdev to provide financial information pre-closing, and then to make an “Estimated Closing Working Capital Statement,” to which Blackstreet could object. It is the truing-up process that is the issue here; the parties dispute the amount due SuperShuttle from Transdev as working capital, and whether the contract controlling the sale requires that amount to be determined by an accountant or the Court.

Transdev, the natural party defendant, brought this action for declaratory judgment. It seeks a declaration that Blackstreet failed to make a timely objection to the Estimated Closing Working Capital Statement, and thus has waived its contractual right to object. It also seeks a declaration that, in any event, Blackstreet’s contractual rights have terminated and that this Court must resolve any remaining legal issues regarding working capital. Blackstreet counterclaimed 1) seeking

specific performance of a contractual provision requiring the parties to submit the dispute to an independent accountant; 2) seeking a declaration that Transdev breached the contract in computing working capital; and 3) claiming that Transdev fraudulently induced Blackstreet to purchase SuperShuttle via inaccuracies in its contractually-required financial disclosures.

Before me is the Plaintiff’s Motion to Dismiss the counterclaims. For the reasons that follow, that Motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I. BACKGROUND 2

A. The Parties Blackstreet, the Defendant and Counterclaim-Plaintiff, is a Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business in Maryland. 3 Blackstreet is a holding company created to purchase the stock of SuperShuttle. 4 Transdev, the Plaintiff and Counterclaim-Defendant, is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Illinois.5

2 The facts, except where otherwise noted, are drawn from the Defendant’s First Amended Answer to Verified Complaint and Counterclaims, Dkt. No. 26 (the “Answer” and the “Amended Counterclaim” or “Am. Countercl.”), and are presumed true for the purpose of evaluating the Plaintiff’s Motion to Dismiss. 3 Am. Countercl. ¶ 1. 4 Id. 5 Id. ¶ 2.

B. Relevant Facts 1. Blackstreet Agrees to Acquire SuperShuttle Prior to its acquisition by Blackstreet, SuperShuttle was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Transdev providing shared-ride and private car transportation to and from various airports in the continental United States and Mexico.6 However, due to a shifting transportation marketplace rife with new competition, SuperShuttle had suffered significant losses. 7 As a result of these losses, Transdev began to explore the possibility of selling SuperShuttle.8 After failing to close a sale with a different buyer, Transdev approached Blackstreet about potentially purchasing SuperShuttle.9 SuperShuttle had lost $14.1 million in 2018, and by June 2019 its trailing twelve month losses were $13.1 million. 10 Accordingly, the parties entered into a stock purchase agreement (the “SPA”) whereby Transdev would finance Blackstreet’s purchase of SuperShuttle. 11 2. Relevant Provisions of the Stock Purchase Agreement Under the SPA, Transdev agreed to deposit an Initial Funding Amount of $17,953,375 into a SuperShuttle bank account at closing. 12 In exchange, Blackstreet

6 See id. ¶¶ 2, 4. 7 Id. ¶ 4. 8 Id. 9 Id. ¶ 5. 10 Id. ¶ 7. 11 Id. ¶ 6. 12 Id. ¶¶ 8, 9.

agreed to purchase all of the issued and outstanding shares of SuperShuttle’s common stock for $1.00 in total. 13 Certain “Excluded Assets” and “Excluded Liabilities” were to remain obligations of Transdev post-closing. 14 Transdev also agreed to provide certain unaudited financial statements of SuperShuttle that were “prepared in accordance with GAAP applied on a consistent basis throughout the period involved” and “fairly present[ed] in all material respects the financial condition of SuperShuttle as of the respective dates they were prepared and the results of the operations of SuperShuttle for the periods indicated.” 15 The Initial Funding Amount could be increased or decreased to ensure that SuperShuttle would have sufficient working capital to operate post-closing.16 The parties agreed to a target amount for SuperShuttle’s working capital of negative $5,575,000 (the “Target Working Capital”). 17 Thus, if, at closing, SuperShuttle’s working capital (the “Closing Working Capital”) was less (or more) than the Target Working Capital, Transdev would deposit (or withdraw) the difference into the same account that held the Initial Funding Amount. 18 Section 2.06 of the SPA set forth the process for making these adjustments.19

13 Am. Countercl. ¶ 9. 14 Id. ¶ 9. 15 Id. ¶ 10. 16 Id. ¶¶ 13, 9. 17 Id. ¶ 8. 18 Id. ¶ 8. 19 Id. ¶ 12.

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TransDev on Demand, Inc. v. Blackstreet Investment Holdings, LLC, (Del. Ct. App. 2020).

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