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In December 2022, the Delaware Chancery Court sent shockwaves throughout the SPAC world when it ruled that single class votes on charter amendments were invalid under Delaware law. This is the process utilized by many, if not most, SPACs seeking approval of their merger with the target company.
In Garfield v. Boxed, Inc.,i the Delaware Court of Chancery held that a stockholder vote was invalid under Section 242 of Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) where a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) had a multi-class stock structure and Class A and Class B stockholders voted together as a single class on charter amendments to increase the number of shares. Plaintiff, a Class A common stockholder, argued that the vote was invalid because holders of Class A shares had a right to vote on the amendments as a standalone class. The Chancery Court agreed. By invalidating these votes, the Boxed decision cast doubt on the capital structure for dozens of post de-SPAC companies with billions worth of securities. The Chancery Court explained that where the combination closed in reliance on the challenged amendments, the validity of the merger could be attacked.
Boxed resulted in the immediate creation of a new brand of securities claims and a potential tsunami of SPAC litigation. Recognizing the widespread harm this would cause, on February 20, 2023, searching for a way to reconcile belated challenges to the very reverse merger by which hundreds of SPAC targets were taken public and where such companies had long since been operating as public companies, the Chancery Court held that affected companies could retroactively validate these “pooled” stockholder votes under Section 205 of the DGCL. The Court's first written decision regarding Lordstown Motors Corp. illustrates how affected companies may seek retroactive validation of stockholder votes taken in contravention of Section 242.
Accordingly, post-de-SPAC companies should follow the Court’s guidance to seek retroactive validation of pooled shareholder votes under Section 205 to resolve any concerns about their capital structure stemming from the Boxed decision and avoid related securities litigation.
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i Garfield v. Boxed, Inc., No. 2022-0132-MTZ, 2022 WL 17959766 (Del. Ch. Dec. 27, 2022)
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