← All Authorities
United States Leading Case takeover codeduty to promote success s172

Unocal Corp v Mesa Petroleum Co

493 A.2d 946 (Del. 1985)
JurisdictionUnited States
CourtDelaware Supreme Court
Year1985
StatusBinding authority

Summary

Delaware Supreme Court established enhanced scrutiny test requiring directors to show a reasonable threat and proportionate defensive response when adopting takeover defences.

Key Principle

enhanced scrutiny of takeover defences; threat and proportionality

Area of Law

Delaware Corporate Law

Related Cases

Corwin v KKR Financial Holdings LLC 125 A.3d 304 (Del. 2015)

Fully informed and uncoerced stockholder approval of a non-controller transaction cleanses it of fiduciary challenge and applies business judgment review.

Kahn v M&F Worldwide Corp 88 A.3d 635 (Del. 2014)

Under Delaware law, a controlling shareholder merger conditioned ab initio on both special committee approval and majority-of-minority vote earns business judgment review rather than entire fairness scrutiny.

In re Caremark International Inc Derivative Litigation 698 A.2d 959 (Del. Ch. 1996)

Directors must implement adequate information and reporting systems to satisfy their fiduciary duty of oversight; failure to do so may constitute a breach of duty.

Ask CommonBench about this case

Get a detailed analysis of Unocal Corp v Mesa Petroleum Co and how it applies to your situation.

Explain Unocal Corp v Mesa Petroleum C...