On April 2, 2020, the Delaware Chancery Court approved a $22 million settlement on behalf of former stockholders of KCG Holdings, Inc. in connection with KCG’s acquisition by Virtu Financial, Inc. on July 20, 2017. As a result of the settlement, KCG stockholders received a significant improvement on the $20.00 per share transaction consideration.
The settlement followed Kessler Topaz first securing expedited relief for KCG stockholders in the summer of 2017, before the stockholder vote on the transaction. Kessler Topaz challenged the negotiation process and asserted that KCG’s largest stockholder, Jefferies LLC, had reached an agreement with Virtu to support the acquisition in violation of Delaware’s anti-takeover statute. To resolve the expedited claims, the defendants agreed to modify the stockholder vote to seek approval of the transaction by a 66 2/3% supermajority vote of KCG stockholders, excluding Jefferies, and issued significant additional disclosures concerning the negotiation process.