Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware, a group of more than 600 employees of the global translation services company TransPerfect, has organized a campaign aimed at reversing a Chancery Court decision.
A release said the campaign aims ensure that the company is not “dissolved and sold through a stunning act of governmental overreach.”
Chancery Court is held in generally high regard in Delaware and in corporate circles when it comes to dealing with complex corporate cases.
Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware released the following statement: “This ruling is bad for business and bad for Delaware. On behalf of the more than 600 members of Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware, we are proud to work for TransPerfect, and believe in its strength and its future. Now, thanks to an outrageous mandate by the Delaware courts, we may see the company sold away from the current ownership and management team with which we worked so closely to build this company. Making matters worse, other businesses incorporated in Delaware that have always been protected by the state’s pro-business policies could suffer the same fate. If the Governor and the State Legislature want to protect Delaware businesses, and ensure future businesses incorporate in the state, they must take action, and they must do so now.”
In August 2015, Chancellor Andre Bouchard of the Delaware Court of Chancery appointed a court custodian and ruled that TransPerfect – which is incorporated in Delaware and has nearly 4,000 employees globally – should be sold as a result of an internal dispute between the company’s ownership, an estranged couple who have not been able to come to terms on a sale or other transaction.
The group is considering legislation to block this type of judicial overreach from occurring in Delaware and are currently in the process of reaching out to the office of Governor Jack Markell and legislators from both sides of the aisle.
Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware has already sent a mailer to 10,000 households in Delaware and launched a radio ad campaign that is currently underway on stations across the state. Print ads – calling on residents to contact the Governor’s Office – are running in a number of Delaware publications this week.
Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware has hired Tusk Strategies to guide the effort. The firm, which was founded by Bradley Tusk, who ran former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s 2009 re-election campaign.
Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware has also hired Delaware-based lobbyist Patrick Allen to assist with the efforts focused on the Governor’s Office and the legislature.
