FRIEDMAN v ALCATEL ALSTHOM - Legal Case Documents


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FRIEDMAN v ALCATEL ALSTHOM

Keywords & Phrases

CaseNo: C.A. No. 16,650, CourtCode: CC, CourtName: IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE, Plaintiff: FRIEDMAN, State: DE Delaware, UniqueCaseRef: DE>CC>00016650, Delaware, Alcatel, Dismiss, Motion, Securities, Complaint, Reform Act, Tchuruk, Supp, Dsc, Del, Merger, Personal Jurisdiction, Jurisdiction, Support, Cir, Consolidated Action, Allegations, Securities Litigation, Exchange Act, Conveniens, Memorandum, Prospectus, York, Securities Act, Class Action, Shareholders, Stock Price, Misleading, Net Acquisition, Consolidated Federal Action, Individual Defendants, Amended Complaint, Subsidiar-v, Forum, Facts, Hague Convention, French Company , ContentID: 120239763

Case Documents

MEMORANDUM OPINION
[ see first page and extracted highlights below ] ItemID: 100344

REPLY MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN FURTHER SUPPORT OF DEFENDANTS MOTION TO DISMISS OR STAY THIS ACTION
[ see first page and extracted highlights below ] ItemID: 103070

REPLY MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN FURTHER SUPPORT OF DEFENDANTS MOTION TO DISMISS OR STAY THIS ACTION
[ see first page and extracted highlights below ] ItemID: 103069

PLAINTIFFS BRIEF IN OPPOSTION TO MOTION TO DISMISS OR STAY THIS ACTION
[ see first page and extracted highlights below ] ItemID: 103071

Total Documents: 4 documents , 243 pages

Price: $ 34.95

IVESLCD01 KGI0001

1 . MEMORANDUM OPINION

EXTRACTED KEY WORDS

DELAWARE
PLAINTIFFS
DEFENDANTS
MERGER
DEL
ALCATEL
YORK
JURISDICTION
LAW
CONSOLIDATED FEDERAL ACTION
SECURITIES
DISMISS
COMPLAINT
FRENCH COMPANY
AMERICAN CORPORATION
CONVENIENS
DISTRICT COURT
SECURITIES ACT
DSC
INDIVIDUAL DEFENDANTS
PERSONAL JURISDICTION
OVERWHELMING HARDSHIP
CONVENIENS ANALYSIS
SECURITIES LITIGATION UNIFORM
LITIGATION UNIFORM STANDARDS
SHAREHOLDERS
VIOLATIONS
INCONVENIENCE
ATTORNEYS

      IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE , :: ;
                                                                            , -2
                   IN AND FOR NEW CASTLE COUNTY

CARYN FRIEDMAN, MICHAEL HOJNOSKI, )
JEAN-GUY DAHAN, DARRELL DEJONG,                )
FREDERICK W. GOFF, JEFFREY GRILL,              >
ROY HAMMOND, ROBERTO HOMEDES,                  )
WELEY HOUGH, DAVID KANG, TOM LISK, )
JOHN E. MIERTSCHIN, DONALD A. &                1                    , `-
LINDA M. PAHL, LEROW ROSEWITZ,                 >
LORRAINE SCHREIBER, FRANK SHORR,               )
NICK SOULIS, ROBERT VERITY, RONALD             )                             -`,
WASHINGTON, BERYL J. WEINSTEIN,                >
CHARLES C. ANDERSON, JOHN DELANEY, )
ELLIOT HELLER, C.M. JAYASHANKAR,               )
A. HOBART LEEDS, ROBERT MCKAY, RICK )
NAPHOLZ, MICHAEL O'CONNER, PAT                 >
0 O'DONNELL, MICHAEL K. PAWLEY,                >
TIMOTHY JAY TURNER and GARY MASNER, )

          Plaintiffs,                          >> C.A. No. 16650
V.                                             >

ALCATEL ALSTHOM, NET ACQUISITION               )
INC., SERGE TCHURUK, JEAN-PIERRE               >
HALBRON, AMROSE ROUX, RAND V.                  >
ARASKOG, DANIEL BERNARD, PHILIPPE              )
BISSARA, PAOLA CANTARELLA, GUY                 >
DEJOUANY, JACQUES FRIEDMAN, NOEL               )
GOUTARD, FRANCOIS DE LAAGE DE MEUX,)
PIERRE-LOUIS LIONS, THIERRY                    >
DE LOPPINOT, BRUNO VAILLANT, MARC              )
VIENOT and HELMUT WERNER,                      1
                                               >
          Defendants.                          >

                         Submitted: November 4, 1999
                         Decided: December 10, 1999



                        MEMORANDUMOPINION

Norman M. Monhait of Rosenthal Monhait Gross  &; Goddess, Wilmington,
Delaware. OF COUNSEL: Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes  &  Lerach, New York,
New York; Schiffrin Craig  & Barroway,  Balla Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Attorneys
for Plaintiffs.

Norman M. Monhait of Rosenthal Monhait Gross &; Goddess, Wilmington, Delaware.

Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, New York, New York; Schiffrin Craig & Barroway, Balla

Attorneys for Plaintiffs.

Attorneys for Defendants.

Plaintiffs, former shareholders in the American corporation

subsumed by the French company as a result of the merger,

filing a materially misleading proxy/prospectus with the Securities and Exchange

Defendants ask that I dismiss or stay this action.

They argue that this Court

lacks personal jurisdiction over both Alcatel and the Individual Defendants.

doctrine offoruvrz non conveniens.

the very similarly based consolidated actions pending in federal district court.

DSC stock formerly traded on

plaintiffs filed their complaint in this Court at 4:26 P.M.

Section 11, 12 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933, Rule lob-5 (17 C.F.R. 5

Consolidated Federal Action, vary slightly, but each -federal complaint alleges

the Delaware action alleges only violations of the federal

' Delaware State Troopers Lodge v. O'Rourke,

Should this Court exercise personal jurisdiction over Alcatel and/or the Individual

Olin chose to incorporate a Delaware subsidiary and, through that subsidiary, a.vail itself

Before engaging in a forum non conveniens analysis, however, a Delaware

significant or overwhelming hardship or only that, on balance, the Cryo-Maid0

that defendantwill suffer overwhelming hardship and inconvenience if forced to

Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998, Pub. L. No. 105- 353, 112 Stat

2 . REPLY MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN FURTHER SUPPORT OF DEFENDANTS MOTION TO DISMISS OR STAY THIS ACTION

EXTRACTED KEY WORDS

DEFENDANTS
COURT
DELAWARE
LAW
MOTION
SECURITIES
REFORM ACT
ALCATEL
DISMISS
COMPLAINT
TCHURUK
SUPP
SUPPORT
PERSONAL JURISDICTION
CIR
CONSOLIDATED ACTION
DSC
ALLEGATIONS
SECURITIES LITIGATION
EXCHANGE ACT
MEMORANDUM
PROSPECTUS
CLASS ACTION
STOCK PRICE
MISLEADING
AMENDED COMPLAINT
SHAREHOLDERS
CONVENIENS
SUBSIDIAR-V

        IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE
                          IN AND FOR NEW CASTLE COUNTY

CARYN FRIEDMAN, MICHAEL  HOJNOSKI, JEAN-GUY-
DAHAN, DARREL DEJONG, FREDERICK W.  GOFF,
JEFFREY GRILL, ROY HAMMOND, ROBERTO
HOMEDES, WELEY HOUGH, DAVID KANG, TOM
LISK, JOHN E. MIERTSCHIN, DONALD A. & LINDA M.
PAHL, LEROW ROSEWITZ, LORRAINE  SCHREIBER,
FRANK SHORR, NICK SOULIS, ROBERT VERITY,
RONALD WASHINGTON,  BERYL J. WEINSTEIN,
CHARLES C. ANDERSON, JOHN DELANEY, ELLIOT
HELLER, C.M. JAYASHANKAR, A. HOBART LEEDS,
ROBERT MCKAY, RICK NAPHOLZ, MICHAEL
O'CONNER, PAT O'DONNELL, MICHAEL K. PAWLEY,                      C.A. No. 16650
TIMOTHY JAY TURNER and GARY MASNER,

                             Plaintiffs,

             -against-

ALCATEL ALSTHOM, NET ACQUISITION INC.,
SERGE  TCHURUK, JEAN-PIERRE HALBRON,
AMBROSE ROUX, RAND V. ARASKOG, DANIEL BER-
NARD, PHILIPPE BISSARA, PAOLO CANTARELLA,
GUY DEJOUANY, JACQUES FRIEDMAN, NOEL
GOUTARD, FRANCOIS DE LAAGE DE MEUX, PIERRE-
LOUIS LIONS, THIERRY DE LOPPINOT, BRUNO
VAILLANT, MARC VIENOT, and HELMUT WERNER,

                             Defendants.
______-______--_____---------------------

        REPLY MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN FURTHER SUPPORT OF
        DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS OR STAY THIS ACTION

                                     Anthony W. Clark
                                     SKADDEN, ARPS, SLATE, MEAGHER
                                            & FLOM LLP
                                     One Rodney Square
                                     P.O. Box 636
                                     Wilmington, DE 19899
                                     (302) 65 l-3000
lated: August 20, 1999               Attorneys for Defendants



                                                  TABLE OF CONTENTS

IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE

-against-ALCATEL ALSTHOM, NET ACQUISITION INC., SERGE TCHURUK, JEAN-PIERRE HALBRON, AMBROSE

______-______--_____---------------------REPLY MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN FURTHER SUPPORT OF

Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Defendants respectfully submit this reply memorandum of law in further support of their

Plaintiffs bring this action on behalf of a putative class of all

who exchanged their DSC shares for American Depositary Shares of

Alcatel Alsthom, a French company, in connection with a merger between the

at 3-4) For example, although plaintiffs assert that Alcatel failed to disclose a

requirements of either component of the personal jurisdiction test" is fatal to plaintiffs'

See Itoba, Ltd. v. LEP Group PLC, 930 F. Supp.

over them is their status as directors of a corporation sued by its shareholders for federal

sustained the complaint against the non-resident directors of the Delaware subsidiar-v,

subsidiary, claims totally absent from plaintiffs' Amended Complaint, $ee Sternberg, Del.

No such allegations are present here.

UNDER FORUM NON CONVENIENS PRINCIPLES

action in favor of the Consolidated Action pending in federal court,

Plaintiffs cite to Romine v. CompuServe Corp., 160 F.3d 337, 342 (6th Cir.

Judge Brown has appointed lead plaintiff and lead plaintiffs counsel and consolidated amended

In addition, on June 23, 1999, pursuant to Judge Brown's scheduling order, defendants moved

The Prospectus and Registration Statement are Distributed.

The Statements Are Not False or Misleading

PLAINTIFFS' CLAIMS UNDER THE EXCHANGE ACT MUST BE DISMISSED BECAUSE THE COMPLAINT DOES NOT

3 . REPLY MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN FURTHER SUPPORT OF DEFENDANTS MOTION TO DISMISS OR STAY THIS ACTION

EXTRACTED KEY WORDS

DEFENDANTS
COURT
DELAWARE
LAW
MOTION
SECURITIES
REFORM ACT
ALCATEL
DISMISS
COMPLAINT
TCHURUK
SUPP
SUPPORT
PERSONAL JURISDICTION
CIR
CONSOLIDATED ACTION
DSC
ALLEGATIONS
SECURITIES LITIGATION
EXCHANGE ACT
MEMORANDUM
PROSPECTUS
CLASS ACTION
STOCK PRICE
MISLEADING
AMENDED COMPLAINT
SHAREHOLDERS
CONVENIENS
SUBSIDIAR-V

        IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE
                          IN AND FOR NEW CASTLE COUNTY

CARYN FRIEDMAN, MICHAEL  HOJNOSKI, JEAN-GUY-
DAHAN, DARREL DEJONG, FREDERICK W.  GOFF,
JEFFREY GRILL, ROY HAMMOND, ROBERTO
HOMEDES, WELEY HOUGH, DAVID KANG, TOM
LISK, JOHN E. MIERTSCHIN, DONALD A. & LINDA M.
PAHL, LEROW ROSEWITZ, LORRAINE  SCHREIBER,
FRANK SHORR, NICK SOULIS, ROBERT VERITY,
RONALD WASHINGTON,  BERYL J. WEINSTEIN,
CHARLES C. ANDERSON, JOHN DELANEY, ELLIOT
HELLER, C.M. JAYASHANKAR, A. HOBART LEEDS,
ROBERT MCKAY, RICK NAPHOLZ, MICHAEL
O'CONNER, PAT O'DONNELL, MICHAEL K. PAWLEY,                      C.A. No. 16650
TIMOTHY JAY TURNER and GARY MASNER,

                             Plaintiffs,

             -against-

ALCATEL ALSTHOM, NET ACQUISITION INC.,
SERGE  TCHURUK, JEAN-PIERRE HALBRON,
AMBROSE ROUX, RAND V. ARASKOG, DANIEL BER-
NARD, PHILIPPE BISSARA, PAOLO CANTARELLA,
GUY DEJOUANY, JACQUES FRIEDMAN, NOEL
GOUTARD, FRANCOIS DE LAAGE DE MEUX, PIERRE-
LOUIS LIONS, THIERRY DE LOPPINOT, BRUNO
VAILLANT, MARC VIENOT, and HELMUT WERNER,

                             Defendants.
______-______--_____---------------------

        REPLY MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN FURTHER SUPPORT OF
        DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS OR STAY THIS ACTION

                                     Anthony W. Clark
                                     SKADDEN, ARPS, SLATE, MEAGHER
                                            & FLOM LLP
                                     One Rodney Square
                                     P.O. Box 636
                                     Wilmington, DE 19899
                                     (302) 65 l-3000
lated: August 20, 1999               Attorneys for Defendants



                                                  TABLE OF CONTENTS

IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE

-against-ALCATEL ALSTHOM, NET ACQUISITION INC., SERGE TCHURUK, JEAN-PIERRE HALBRON, AMBROSE

______-______--_____---------------------REPLY MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN FURTHER SUPPORT OF

Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Defendants respectfully submit this reply memorandum of law in further support of their

Plaintiffs bring this action on behalf of a putative class of all

who exchanged their DSC shares for American Depositary Shares of

Alcatel Alsthom, a French company, in connection with a merger between the

at 3-4) For example, although plaintiffs assert that Alcatel failed to disclose a

requirements of either component of the personal jurisdiction test" is fatal to plaintiffs'

See Itoba, Ltd. v. LEP Group PLC, 930 F. Supp.

over them is their status as directors of a corporation sued by its shareholders for federal

sustained the complaint against the non-resident directors of the Delaware subsidiar-v,

subsidiary, claims totally absent from plaintiffs' Amended Complaint, $ee Sternberg, Del.

No such allegations are present here.

UNDER FORUM NON CONVENIENS PRINCIPLES

action in favor of the Consolidated Action pending in federal court,

Plaintiffs cite to Romine v. CompuServe Corp., 160 F.3d 337, 342 (6th Cir.

Judge Brown has appointed lead plaintiff and lead plaintiffs counsel and consolidated amended

In addition, on June 23, 1999, pursuant to Judge Brown's scheduling order, defendants moved

The Prospectus and Registration Statement are Distributed.

The Statements Are Not False or Misleading

PLAINTIFFS' CLAIMS UNDER THE EXCHANGE ACT MUST BE DISMISSED BECAUSE THE COMPLAINT DOES NOT

4 . PLAINTIFFS BRIEF IN OPPOSTION TO MOTION TO DISMISS OR STAY THIS ACTION

EXTRACTED KEY WORDS

COURT
ALCATEL
PLAINTIFFS
DELAWARE
DEL
JURISDICTION
DISMISS
NET ACQUISITION
MOTION
SUPP
LAW
MERGER
FORUM
FACTS
HAGUE CONVENTION
SECURITIES ACT
DELAWARE CORPORATION
ALCATEL ALSTHOM
WEISS BERSHAD
LERACH LLP
BALA PLAZA EAST
DSC
INDIVIDUAL DEFENDANTS
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
EASTERN DISTRICT
CONNECTION
MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION
CENTRAL AUTHORITY
UNITED STATES

                                                                             i       j
                                                                            j  ,d
        IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE                  ({ / _" ~!
                                                                           f . " I'
                         IN AND FOR NEW CASTLE COUNTY

-------------------------------.-----x
CARYN FREIDMAN, MICHAEL HOJNOSKI,
JEAN-GUY  DAHAN, DARREL DEJONG,
FREDERICK W. GOFF, JEFFREY GRILL,          )
ROY HAMMOND, ROBERTO HOMEDES, WELEY  ) Civil Action No.  166.50
HOUGH, DAVID KANG, TOM LISK, JOHN
E. MIERTSCHIN, DONALD A.  & LINDA          ;
M . PAHL, LEROW ROSEWITZ, LORRAINE )
SCHREIBER, FRANK SHORR, NICK
SOULIS, ROBERT VERITY, RONALD              I
WASHINGTON, BERYL J. WEINSTEIN,
CHARLES C. ANDERSON, JOHN DELANEY,         ;
ELLIOT HELLER, C.M.  JAYASHANKAR,  A.  )
HOBART LEEDS, ROBERT MCKAY, RICK           )
NAPHOLZ, MICHAEL O'CONNOR, PAT
O'DONNELL, MICHAEL K. PAWLEY,              i
TIMOTHY JAY TURNER and  GARY MASNER,  )
                          Plaintiffs,
                  vs.

ALCATEL ALSTHOM, NET ACQUISITION
INC., SERGE TCHURUK, JEAN-PIERRE
HALBRON, AMBROISE ROUX, RAND V.
ARASKOG, DANIEL BERNARD, PHILIPPE          ;
BISSARA, PAOLO CANTARELLA, GUY
DEJOUANY, JACQUES FRIEDMANN, NOEL          i
GOUTARD, FRANCOIS DE LAAGE DE MEUX, )
PIERRE-LOUIS LIONS, THIERRY DE             )
LOPPINOT,  BRUNO VAILLANT, MARC
VIENOT and HELMUT WERNER,                  I
                          Defendants.

------------------------------------x



                    PLAINTIFFS' BRIEF IN OPPOSITION
       TO DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS OR STAY THIS ACTION

                               ROSENTHAL MONHAIT GROSS  & GODDESS, P.A.
                               Suite 1401, Mellon Bank Center
                               Wilmington, Delaware      19899
                                (302) 656-4433

PLAINTIFFS' BRIEF IN OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS OR STAY THIS ACTION

MILBERG WEISS BERSHAD HYNES & LERACH LLP

Suite 400, 3 Bala Plaza East

THIS COURT HAS PERSONAL

Personal Jurisdiction Over Alcatel,

Specially Created Wholly-Owned Delaware

Stayed Under Forum Non Conveniens

In re Alcatel Alsthom Sec. Litiq Docket No. 1263,

omissions made in connection with the merger of a Delaware

specially created Delaware merger subsidiary is proper.

their originating jurisdictions under a recent United States

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Alcatel with DSC on or about September 8,

28, 1998, and the Registration Statement became effective.

The Complaint names Alcatel, Net Acquisition

a Delaware corporation formed for the

the Securities Act, state courts have coordinate and nonremovable subject matter jurisdiction

cases now pending in the Eastern District of Texas,

Alcatel and the Individual Defendants were served

provisions in the Hague Convention and as allowed by French law.

Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated the

41 A description of the manner in which service upon Alcatel was made through the French


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