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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Too Late for Modifications to Dr. Pepper Settlement

(CN) - The settlement of a merger between Dr. Pepper Bottling Holdings Inc. and Dr. Pepper Bottling Co. of Texas cannot be modified by a reappraisal, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled.

Dissenting investors of the Holdings company dissented from a merger at $25 per Holdings share, and the Court of Chancery awarded them $32.31 per share.

Based on that price, the court ruled that Dr. Pepper owed the investors $47.1 million. The two sides settled their dispute, which included another lawsuit.

Three months after the matter was settled, a financial analyst, who was preparing an article, discovered errors in the court's appraisal. He alerted Dr. Pepper that the correct price should be $30.04.

Justice Jacobs ruled that it is too late to correct the mistake.

"Delaware law favors settlements and treats them as binding contracts," Jacobs wrote. "The parties gave up their right to contest pre-settlement rulings, even if those rulings were erroneous."

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