Court of Chancery Orders Dissolution Upon End of Term
In re Nextmedia Investors LLC, C.A. 4067-VCS (May 6, 2009)
This is an interesting case, because it upholds the right of a member of an LLC to have it dissolved at the end of the term set for its existence in the LLC Agreement even when more than 90% of the members want it to continue. In the current recession, many limited purpose investment funds are seeking to extend the term of their existence, because they have not been able to find an investment for their member or stockholders' money. When the LLC agreement or the corporate certificate of incorporation limits how long the entity may exist without making an investment of its funds, management may try to extend the life of the entity by amending its governing instrument. However, at least in the case of an LLC, when the LLC agreement says that all members must consent to extending the entity's existence, the court will uphold that requirement.
This decision reflects the primacy of contract law in the LLC context. The result may have been different for a Delaware corporation where a requirement for unanimous voting by stockholders is probably not valid.
