AES Corp. Beats Legal Challenge to Advance-Notice Board Bylaws

AES Corp. sidestepped a court challenge to its advance-notice board nomination bylaws, defeating claims they were written to scare off potential activist investors.

A Delaware judge dismissed a lawsuit targeting bylaws that allegedly require shareholders proposing director slates to disclose confidential investment information, including performance-related fee arrangements pegged to the power utility’s stock. It’s premature even to consider the case without a live controversy tied to an actual or imminent proxy contest, the judge said Monday.

“The proverbial eggs are perhaps broken, but hardly scrambled,” Vice Chancellor Nathan A. Cook wrote in a brief decision. “Equity need not leap to ...