By Lance Duroni
Law360, Wilmington (May 04, 2012, 9:57 PM ET) -- A Delaware judge on Friday temporarily shut down Martin Marietta Materials Inc.’s $5.5 billion hostile bid for Vulcan Materials Co., finding the suitor had flagrantly breached a confidentiality pact between the rival aggregates producers.
Chancellor Leo Strine of Delaware Chancery Court blocked Martin Marietta’s tender offer and related bid for Vulcan board seats for four months. In a 138-page opinion, the judge ruled that the hostile bid disclosed nonpublic information acquired from Vulcan in prior friendly merger talks, violating the confidentiality agreement.
The delay will prevent...