Kessler Topaz served as Co-Lead Counsel in this shareholder class action brought against the directors of Genentech and Genentech’s majority stockholder, Roche Holdings, Inc., in response to Roche’s July 21, 2008 attempt to acquire Genentech for $89 per share.
We sought to enforce provisions of an Affiliation Agreement between Roche and Genentech and to ensure that Roche fulfilled its fiduciary obligations to Genentech’s shareholders through any buyout effort by Roche. After moving to enjoin the tender offer, Kessler Topaz negotiated with Roche and Genentech to amend the Affiliation Agreement to allow a negotiated transaction between Roche and Genentech, which enabled Roche to acquire Genentech for $95 per share, approximately $3.9 billion more than Roche offered in its hostile tender offer. In approving the settlement, then-Vice Chancellor Leo Strine complimented plaintiffs’ counsel, noting that this benefit was only achieved through “real hard-fought litigation in a complicated setting.”