In 2013, Plaintiffs filed a Consolidated Amended Complaint on behalf of a proposed class of direct purchasers of gypsum wallboard alleging price-fixing by Defendants. Counsel for the Plaintiffs retained Dr. Russell Lamb to analyze whether the co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy to fix, maintain, or stabilize prices of gypsum wallboard; whether prices of gypsum wallboard were artificially inflated due to the alleged cartel; whether there was widespread payment of overcharges across the proposed class; and whether aggregate damages to the proposed class as a whole could be reliably computed using standard economic methods and analyses. Dr. Lamb filed two Expert Reports concerning class certification issues, two Expert Reports concerning liability and damages issues,* and one Supplemental Expert Report responding to a report submitted by a technical advisor retained by the Court. Dr. Lamb also testified at deposition twice concerning class certification and at an extensive evidentiary hearing on the issue of class certification.

Observers expecting another decision from Delaware Chancery Court favorable to petitioners got a big surprise last month, as the string of above merger price appraisals came to an end. On July 21, 2017, Vice Chancellor Laster ruled in the Clearwire Corp appraisal proceeding that the fair value of Clearwire’s stock at the time of its merger with Sprint was $2.13 per share, some 57 percent below the merger price of $5.00 per share.  This comes on the heels of two recent Chancery Court appraisal decisions, Dell, Inc. and ISN Software Corporation, where fair value was determined to be 27 percent and 158 percent higher than the buyout prices, respectively, rewarding petitioners for pursuing the costly process of seeking an appraisal.