The Court of Chancery held a hearing on April 22 on a request for a TRO to stop the $1.3 billion merger involving Zenith National Insurance Corp. Courtesy of the folks at www.courtroomview.com we have a video/audio clip of part of that oral argument here. The TRO request was denied.
An excerpt from a Bloomberg story here summarized the denial of the TRO request thusly:
Zenith National Insurance Corp. investors lost a bid to block Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. from acquiring the insurer for $1.3 billion in cash.
A Delaware judge, over Zenith shareholders’ objections that executives are selling the California-based workers’ compensation insurer too cheaply, denied their request to halt the buyout. Toronto-based Fairfax, a rival insurer, is offering $38 a share for Zenith.
Chancery Court Judge J. Travis Laster in Wilmington concluded today that Stanley R. Zax, Zenith’s chairman and chief executive officer, “acted reasonably” in negotiating the buyout with Fairfax CEO Prem Watsa without consulting Zenith’s board.