Opinion ID: 1816952
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: department's approval

Text: The stock purchase agreements and the merger agreement required the approval of the Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance (Department) prior to their consummation, pursuant to Neb.Rev.Stat. §§ 8-157(3) (Supp.1995) and 8-1502 (Reissue 1997). UNFC submitted a notice of acquisition and control to the Department, pursuant to § 8-1502, to obtain approval for the stock purchase agreements. The Department gave notice to UNFC that it had no objection to the change in control that would result from UNFC's purchase of LBI's stock. Upon receiving the above notice, UNFC submitted an application for merger to the Department. In response to the application for merger, several minority shareholders (appellee minority shareholders) submitted a protest and petition for declaratory ruling to the Department. They included Lyle Stoneman, since deceased and substituted for by Michael Alesio; Virginia Ann Hanson, sole beneficiary of the Maurice Braithwait Trust; and First Gothenburg Bancshares, Inc., a Nebraska corporation. They protested the value they would receive for their LSB & T shares under the merger application and requested a hearing on the matter. UNB (not UNFC) filed an answer to the protest, and the appellee minority shareholders responded with a brief in support of their position. UNB then filed a reply brief. The Department issued an order simultaneously approving the merger application and denying the appellee minority shareholders a hearing. The Department noted that it considers the fundamental fairness of a merger to the minority shareholders as a factor when deciding whether to approve a merger application. However, the Department stated that its review does not require that the minority shareholders receive value equal to that of the majority. The Department found that LSB & T's minority shareholders were to receive `book value' for their shares, which does not violate the concept of fundamental fairness.