Steven Davidoff Solomon

Securities lawyers flocking to Delaware

Steven Davidoff Solomon quoted in The Recorder (registration required), February 6, 2015

“It appears that some of the better cases may be migrating to Delaware because they think that the judges may reward them better,” he said.

Board strife compounds failed deal for GFI

Steven Davidoff Solomon writes for The New York Times, February 5, 2015

If the allegations in the filing are true, the failure in the news releases to mention the independent directors’ opposition or the fact that two-fifths of the board was unaware of this recommendation does not exactly meet best practices in disclosure.

In a sale gone awry, a lesson for other deal makers

Steven Davidoff Solomon writes for The New York Times, February 3, 2015

The prolonged takeover battle for the GFI Group, a New York brokerage firm and clearinghouse, has been littered with missteps by Michael Gooch, its founder and executive chairman, raising the question of why supposedly intelligent leaders time and again do dumb things when they sell their companies.

In DuPont fight, activist investor picks a strong target

Steven Davidoff Solomon writes for The New York Times, January 27, 2015

DuPont is a 200-year-old company with a $65 billion market value and more than 58,000 employees. Trian is only its fifth-largest shareholder, according to Standard & Poor’s CapitalIQ. But just because a company is big does not necessarily mean that an activist will not strike.

Shareholders face quandary in battle for Family Dollar

Steven Davidoff Solomon writes for The New York Times, January 20, 2015

Dollar General’s bid offered more money, but less certainty, leaving Family Dollar shareholders with a quandary: favoring the higher bid might leave them with nothing if they rejected the Dollar Tree deal and Dollar General’s deal was blocked on antitrust grounds.

Why McDonald’s isn’t Shake Shack and probably shouldn’t be

Steven Davidoff Solomon writes for The New York Times, January 6, 2015

McDonald’s simply can’t be Shake Shack, which has no ambitions to expand to 35,000 restaurants. What McDonald’s can be is a big company that adjusts to changing tastes but still serves customers who don’t want to spend a lot. Moving up in price is not going to work for McDonald’s current customer base.

Whistle-blower awards lure wrongdoers looking to score

Steven Davidoff Solomon writes for The New York Times, December 30, 2014

Traditionally, blowing the whistle brought either fame or infamy. Karen Silkwood and Frank Serpico both became the subject of movies, but they suffered mightily for their efforts. They did not become rich. But in the new era, whistle-blowing can make you wealthy.

Grading success and failure in a year of prominent deals

Steven Davidoff Solomon writes for The New York Times, December 23, 2014

It was a year of innovation and heightened deal-making as inversions became the rage, shareholder activists adopted more aggressive and novel strategies, the hostile takeover rose from the dead and the American deal market revived while Europe and Asia were moribund.

Throwing money at start-ups in frenzy to find the next Uber

Steven Davidoff Solomon writes for The New York Times, December 16, 2014

Companies are going from zero to billion-dollar valuations faster than ever before, despite a lack of revenue and, perhaps, even a market plan. In the frenzy, ideas that once were discarded as failures are being recycled into billion-dollar start-ups.