Zoox’s $1.3 Billion Sale to Amazon Yields Novel Delaware Ruling

Zoox Inc. investors leading stock appraisal proceedings over its $1.3 billion sale to Amazon.com Inc. are only entitled to internal files they could have gotten from the self-driving car company if it were publicly traded, a Delaware judge said in a novel ruling Monday.

Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick granted Zoox a protective order against broad discovery requests, saying the investors clearly filed their petition in Delaware’s Chancery Court as an end run around their inability to bring an ordinary records inspection case against a private company.

Confronting an issue of first impression, McCormick partly signed off on the tactic, ...