Shire Owes $21 Million in Legal Fees to Ex-Investors in FerroKin

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. subsidiary Shire Pharmaceuticals must pay $21 million in legal fees—on top of $45 million in damages—for stiffing former investors in FerroKin BioSciences Inc., which it bought in 2012, on a post-deal milestone payment, a Delaware Chancery Court judge ruled.

Vice Chancellor Kathaleen S. McCormick awarded $21 million in fees and $1 million in expenses to the ex-shareholders, saying the investors’ contingency arrangement with their attorneys didn’t negate a merger agreement clause requiring the losing party to cover the cost of post-deal litigation.

“There is nothing inherently unreasonable in enforcing a contractual fee-shifting arrangement to cover a contingent ...