This Week in Chancery Court: TransUnion Suit, Illumina Records

TransUnion will argue this week that the Delaware Court of Chancery should dismiss investor claims that the credit reporting agency’s senior leaders violated consumer protection laws for years, including after public pledges to implement reforms.

Here’s more from the court’s calendar:

Wednesday: ARC Glob. Inv. II LLC v Digit. World Acquisition Corp., Del. Ch., No. 2024-0186, teleconference 6/5/24.

At issue: Digital World Acquisition Corp., the special purpose acquisition company that combined with Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., will go to trial later this month over sponsor ARC Global Investments LLC’s demand for its founders’ shares to be converted to common stock at a ratio of 1.81 to one. Digital World contends the ratio should be 1.34 to one. A one-day trial is scheduled June 26 in Wilmington, Del. Before then, ARC wants to file an amended complaint, according to a motion; Digital World opposes that idea.

Court action: Teleconference.

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Friday: The Pavers & Rd. Builders Benefit Funds v. Illumina Inc., Del. Ch., No. 2024-0136, trial 6/7/24.

At issue: A pension fund and Illumina Inc. will go to trial over records about the company’s failed $7 billion acquisition of Grail Inc. The fund sued for internal documents to investigate allegations the Illumina board pushed to complete the transaction despite antitrust worries that led regulators in the US and EU to block the deal that’s currently being unwound. The lawsuit is one of a handful of Chancery Court cases focused on claims that Illumina’s corporate leaders ignored obvious risks and rushed recklessly into the Grail transaction. The pension fund alleges that Illumina has so far only released files that are “so heavily redacted as to be effectively useless as an investigative tool,” according to a pre-trial brief. Illumina argues the pension fund “has embarked upon nothing more than a fishing expedition,” according to its own pre-trial brief.

Court action: Vice Chancellor Paul Fioravanti Jr. will preside over the trial in Wilmington, Del.

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Friday: In re TransUnion Derivative Litig., Del. Ch., No. 2022-1103, oral arguments 6/7/24.

At issue: The lawsuit accusing TransUnion’s top executives of steering it into legal trouble by breaching the terms of a 2017 consent order with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should be dismissed, TransUnion argues in a brief, because it fails “to plead any particularized facts from which the court can infer bad faith.” Alternatively, the case should be stayed pending the outcome of federal litigation in Illinois, TransUnion said. The investors argue TransUnion’s board “acted in bad faith when it deliberately ignored extensive legal violations reported to it,” and it “failed to establish an adequate and functioning oversight system,” according to an answering brief. The investors’ complaint in Delaware arose from a 2022 enforcement lawsuit the CFPB filed against TransUnion and a former top executive in Illinois federal court.

Court action: Oral arguments on the motion to dismiss will be heard in Wilmington, Del.

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