Mario Bonsetti and Rico Sanchez incorporated Gnarly Vulcan Gear, Inc. (GVG), to manufacture windsurfing equipment. Bonsetti owned 60 percent of the corporation’s stock, and Sanchez owned 40 percent. Both men served on the board of directors. Hula Boards, Inc., owned solely by Mai Jin Li, made a public offer to buy GVG stock. Hula offered 30 percent more than the market price per share for the stock, and Bonsetti and Sanchez each sold 20 percent of their stock to Hula. Jin Li became the third member of the GVG board of directors. An irreconcilable dispute soon arose between Bonsetti and Sanchez over design modifications of their popular Baked Chameleon board. Despite Bonsetti’s dissent, Sanchez and Jin Li voted to merge GVG with Hula Boards under the latter name, Gnarly Vulcan Gear was dissolved, and production of the Baked Chameleon ceased. Using the information presented in the chapter, answer the following questions.
What rights does Bonsetti have (in most states) as a minority shareholder dissenting to the merger of GVG and Hula Boards?
Could the parties have used a short-form merger procedure in this situation? Why or why not?
What is the term used for Hula’s offer to purchase GVG stock?
Suppose that after the merger, a person who was injured on the Baked Chameleon board sued Hula (the surviving corporation). Can Hula be held liable for the injury? Why or why not
Debate This:
Corporate law should be changed to prohibit management from using most of the legal methods currently used to fight takeover
