Judge in Musk/Twitter case forced a company to complete a merger last year

Enlarge / Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery, seated in the middle and surrounded by the court's vice chancellors and masters in chancery. (credit: Delaware Court of Chancery )

Elon Musk has reason to worry about the Delaware Court of Chancery judge handling Twitter's lawsuit against him. Kathaleen McCormick, the court's chancellor, or chief judge, "has a no-nonsense reputation as well as the distinction of being one of the few jurists who has ever ordered a reluctant buyer to close a US corporate merger," Reuters wrote today.

Specifically, McCormick last year "order[ed] an affiliate of private equity firm Kohlberg & Co LLC to close its $550 million purchase of DecoPac Holding Inc, which makes cake decorating products," Reuters wrote.

McCormick's April 2021 ruling in that case, available on the court's website, centered on a specific performance clause in the purchase contract—similar to the clause that Twitter is citing in its attempt to force Musk to complete his $44 billion purchase. "Chalking up a victory for deal certainty, this post-trial decision resolves all issues in favor of the seller and orders the buyers to close on the purchase agreement," McCormick wrote in the ruling.