Lessons of Del Monte Foods For Companies Running (or Considering) a Sale Process

In this week’s Del Monte Foods decision the Delaware Chancery Court preliminary found that the company’s investment bank had “secretly and selfishly manipulated the sale process … to obtain lucrative buy-side financing fees,” and therefore delayed the shareholder vote and enjoined various deal-protection provisions. The attached memo briefly describes the case and then discusses its implications for companies and their boards of directors in running, or considering, a sale process.