This Week in Chancery Court: Facebook, AMC Stock Conversion

Two long-running disputes separately involving Meta Platforms Inc. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. are the subjects of hearings this week before the Delaware Chancery Court and the state’s top court.

A look at the highlights from the courts’ calendars:

Wednesday: In re Facebook Inc. Derivative Litig., Del. Ch., No. 2018-0307, hearing 4/30/25.

At issue: Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick reassigned to herself a case linked to a $5 billion fine Facebook—now a Meta unit—paid the US government to resolve a privacy probe into its dealings with Cambridge Analytica. While she initially planned to stick to the original trial schedule, the parties sought to delay the proceedings until after an antitrust trial in which the the Federal Trade Commission seeks to break up Meta. McCormick has suggested dates in July for the Chancery Court case to go to trial. Wednesday’s hearing concerns the voluntary dismissal of one defendant, Jan Koum, co-founder of WhatsApp and a former Facebook board member.

Court action: The hearing will be held in Wilmington, Del.

Facebook’s Sandberg Sanctioned in Delaware for Lost Emails (1)

Wednesday: Simons v. AMC Ent. Holdings Inc., Del., No. 457,2024, oral arguments 4/30/25.

At issue: An AMC preferred shareholder seeks to revive his challenge to a stock conversion plan the movie theater chain enacted in 2023 over opposition from its meme stock base. His claims that the conversion of preferred stock, known as APEs, to common shares violated anti-dilution provisions were dismissed last October by the same Chancery Court judge who approved AMC’s conversion plan. Delaware’s high court affirmed the stock conversion in May 2024.

Court action: The Delaware Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Dover, Del.

AMC’s APE Stock Conversion Affirmed Again by Delaware Court