Legislation that will mandate a three-year waiting period before forcing the sale of a company incorporated in the state of Delaware will be introduced, Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware reported.
The bill comes after the Chancery Court’s decision to set into motion the sale of New York-based TransPerfect.
The group noted that Delaware’s incorporation industry brings in more $1 billion in revenue for the state.
“I am proud to stand with Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware to introduce a bill which will strengthen our economy and preserve Delaware’s place as the best place to incorporate business,” said Senator Colin Bonini, R-Dover, co-sponsor of the bill. “We need successful, profitable businesses like TransPerfect to stay in Delaware – and I look forward to working with my colleagues in the legislature to make sure we can keep companies like them here,” he added.
According to a recent poll of 800 registered voters commissioned by Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware, more than 70 percent of those surveyed believe that government should not have the power to force the sale of a company like TransPerfecct.
According to a release, Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware, a non-profit organization formed to give voice to more than 2,200 TransPerfect employees, concerned citizens of Delaware.
“For months, we have tried to cooperate with the Corporate Bar Committee and follow a process that was always rigged against us by entrenched interests and the status quo. Today begins our quest to save jobs, and end this massive injustice anew,” said campaign manager Chris Coffey. TransPerfect is a great American success story that should be nurtured by the government, not threatened, he noted. “The passage of this bill will show the continued growing support in the state for this effort – and we expect it will strengthen our efforts as we continue taking this fight to the people of Delaware on behalf of all four thousand employees.”
The Corporate Bar in Delaware worries that passage of the legislation would open the door to similar measures each time a Chancery Court decision is not to the liking of one of the parties.
The bar studies and recommends proposed state legislation and did not endorse a bill related to TransPerfect.
Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware has long argued that forcing the sale of a profitable company will send Chancery Court cases and corporate fees elsewhere.
The bill comes after Shirley Shawe, a 1 percent owner of TransPerfect, offered to cede her vote in the boardroom and break the deadlock that caused the Chancery Court’s decision.
Shawe is the mother of Phil Shawe, who owns 49 percent of the translation and business services company. Partner Liz Elting owns 50 percent. The deadlock came as co-founders Elting and Phil Shawe could no longer get along and apparently sought to buy each other out.
Following her offer, Shirley SShawe and Bonini talked to members of the Senate and House in Dover.
