Former shareholders of Discovery Inc. who filed a class action lawsuit in Delaware’s Court of Chancery over the media entertainment company’s $43 billion merger with AT&T in 2022 have reached a settlement. The parties aim to finalize the settlement documentation by July 5, according to a court filing on Tuesday.
The two-page letter to Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster from Brendan W. Sullivan of Labaton Sucharow LLP, representing the plaintiffs, did not disclose details of the proposed settlement.
discovery-at&t merger settlement : Background of the Case
The case centers on alleged breaches of fiduciary duty leading up to the 2021 megamerger of Discovery Inc. and AT&T’s WarnerMedia business, resulting in the creation of Warner Brothers Discovery Inc. Two groups of shareholders, led by The Bricklayers Pension Fund of Western Pennsylvania and Monroe County Employees’ Retirement System, filed complaints in December 2022. They claimed company insiders secured $1 billion in side deals and “staggering” compensation packages at the expense of public stockholders.
Consolidation and Legal Representation
The lawsuits were consolidated in January 2023, with the court appointing Labaton Sucharow LLP, Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP, and Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP as lead counsel in March 2023. The lead plaintiffs include the Bricklayers Pension Fund of Western Pennsylvania, the City Pension Fund for Firefighters & Police Officers in Pembroke Pines, and the Key West Police & Firefighters Pension Fund.
discovery-at&t merger settlement : Class Certification and Defendants
Vice Chancellor Laster certified the class on April 12, 2024. The defendants in the case are Advance/Newhouse Partnership, Advance/Newhouse Programming Partnership, Robert Miron, Steven Miron, and Susan Swain.
Trial Schedule
The case had been scheduled for a five-day trial in November if it did not reach summary judgment first, according to an earlier scheduling order.
