Wayne County Employees' Retirement System v. Corti

954 A.2d 319, 2008 Del. Ch. LEXIS 81
CourtCourt of Chancery of Delaware
DecidedJuly 1, 2008
DocketCivil Action No. 3534-CC
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 954 A.2d 319 (Wayne County Employees' Retirement System v. Corti) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Chancery of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wayne County Employees' Retirement System v. Corti, 954 A.2d 319, 2008 Del. Ch. LEXIS 81 (Del. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

OPINION

CHANDLER, Chancellor.

World of Warcmft, the market-leading massively multiplayer online role playing game, entices millions of paying subscribers to immerse themselves in a virtual online world. These subscribers create their own characters, and through these avatars they interact with other players, [322]*322develop skills, create a unique jargon,1 join guilds and alliances, engage in battles, and embark on quests. The game has been described as highly addictive,2 has had an impact on popular culture,3 and has made an extraordinary amount of money for Blizzard Entertainment, a division of Vi-vendi Games.

In some ways, perhaps, the world of Mergers and Acquisitions is a massively multiplayer role playing game as well. Like in World of Warcraft and other games, the participants in the M & A field take on certain roles, interact in their own community, hone specialized skills, and even develop a unique, somewhat curious vernacular.4 One particular quest in the world of M & A is disclosure litigation. In the instance of disclosure litigation presently pending before this Court, the world of M & A meets the World of Warcraft.

Plaintiff, the Wayne County Employees’ Retirement System, a shareholder of Activision, Inc. (“Activision” or the “Company”), has moved for a preliminary injunction to stop a special meeting of the Company’s shareholders scheduled for July 8, 2008. Plaintiffs specific quest is to compel the Company to make additional disclosures about the transaction the shareholders are being asked to approve at the special meeting: a proposed, deal with Vivendi S.A. (“Vivendi”).. The proposed transaction calls for a merger of Activision and Vivendi Games, Inc. (“Vi-vendi Games” or “Games”) to form a new entity, Activision Blizzard. In addition to contributing Games, Vivendi will purchase newly issued shares of Activision at a price of $27.50 per share, which represents a premium over the pre-announcement price but is significantly below the current trading price. In return for Games and the cash, Activision will give Vivendi a controlling interest in Activision Blizzard. Following the combination, Ac-tivision Blizzard will commence a tender offer at the $27.50 price for up to 50% of the shares currently held by the Activision shareholders.

Plaintiffs complaint challenges the deal in numerous respects, but plaintiff has moved for a preliminary injunction only on disclosure grounds. Moreover, plaintiffs disclosure claims have shifted and changed in response to the various filings Activision has made in anticipation -of the meeting. In their final iteration, plaintiffs claims are all about Games. Plaintiff argues that the Company must give its shareholders the most current internal projections from Games’ management, more detailed reasons for the Activision board’s continued support of the proposed transaction, and a better explanation for why Games’ value was pegged at a fixed ratio to the Company’s.

For the reasons explained below, plaintiffs quest for compelled additional disclo[323]*323sure must fail. Materiality is the essence of a successful disclosure claim,5 and plaintiff has failed to demonstrate how any of the alleged omissions would significantly alter the total mix of information that is already available in the nearly 300-page definitive proxy released by the Company. As a result, plaintiff has failed to demonstrate a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits and has, therefore, failed to earn the preliminary injunction it seeks.

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Characters

1. Activision

Activision is a leading international developer, publisher, and distributor of interactive entertainment software products. In other words, the Company makes and sells video games, and many of its games are hugely successful. Activision’s diverse portfolio of products spans a wide range of categories and target markets and includes the popular Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, and Tony Hawk franchises. The Company’s games are available on a wide variety of hardware platforms and operating systems, and the Company markets these games to a growing variety of consumer demographics.

Activision has performed exceedingly well in the market over the last five years. By the end of 2007, Activision had outperformed the S & P 500, NASDAQ, and the Russell 2000 over the preceding twelve month period. More importantly, the Company had outperformed all but one of its competitors in the twelve months prior to December 1, 2007. In addition to share performance, Activision has enjoyed in the past year a run of record-breaking growth and revenues. In short, the Company’s financial health appears to be sound today and appears to have been sound at all times relevant to this case.

The Company has a history of exploring potential growth opportunities through combinations and partnerships with other companies. For example, since 2003 Activision has explored possible transactions with several other game industry companies and has held discussions with parties potentially interested in acquiring Activision. In 2006, Activision’s senior management engaged in a strategic planning process and identified seventeen potential acquisition targets. This process was accomplished with an eye towards finding an entry opportunity into the massively multiplayer online game market, and eight of the seventeen potential targets offered such a possible entry opportunity. One of those eight was Vi-vendi Games.

2. Vivendi

Vivendi S.A. and its affiliates VGAC LLC6 and Vivendi Games are parties to the business combination agreement with Activision that lies at the heart of this dispute. The most important Vivendi affiliate is Vivendi Games, which has four business units: Blizzard, Sierra, Sierra Online, and Vivendi Games Mobile. Of these, Blizzard accounts for the overwhelming majority of Games’ value.

The Blizzard unit generated 85% of its sales in the first quarter of 2008 from a single product, World ofWarcraft. World of Warcraft is currently the market leader in the massively multiplayer online game industry, but plaintiff contends that its [324]*324place atop the field is precarious and faces the threats of a disruptive market entrant or of subscriber fatigue. Defendants counter that World of Warcraft is “probably the most valuable single video game asset that exists.”7

3. Activision’s Management

Plaintiff alleges that defendants Robert A. Kotick and Brian G. Kelly were “engineers” of the deal at issue.8 Kotick has served as Chairman of the Activision board of directors and chief executive officer of the Company since February 1991. Kelly has served as a member of the board of directors since July 1995 and has served as co-chairman of the Company since October 1998. In late 2006, plaintiff alleges, Kotick and Kelly commenced exclusive, non-public negotiations for a sale of control of Activision to Vivendi.

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954 A.2d 319, 2008 Del. Ch. LEXIS 81, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wayne-county-employees-retirement-system-v-corti-delch-2008.