Opinion ID: 2189865
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: A. The Development of Section 262(a)

Text: The General Corporation Law explicitly details the mechanism for perfecting appraisal rights. In its present form 8 Del.C. § 262(a) provides: (a) Any stockholder of a corporation of this State who has complied with subsection (d) of this section and has neither voted in favor of the merger or consolidation nor consented thereto in writing pursuant to § 228 of this title shall be entitled to an appraisal by the Court of Chancery of the fair value of his shares of stock under the circumstances described in subsections (b) and (c) of this section. As used in this section, the word stockholder means a holder of record of stock in a stock corporation and also a member of record of a nonstock corporation; the words stock and share mean and include what is ordinarily meant by those words and also membership or membership interest of a member of a nonstock corporation. 8 Del.C. § 262(a) (1983) (Emphasis added). While the holder of record provision was added to Section 262 in the 1967 revision of the General Corporation Law, for decades this Court had consistently defined the term stockholder as a holder of record. [3] Salt Dome Oil Corp. v. Schenck, Del.Supr., 41 A.2d 583, 589 (1945). See also Carl M. Loeb, Rhoades & Co. v. Hilton Hotels Corp., Del.Supr., 222 A.2d 789 (1966); Olivetti Underwood Corp. v. Jacques Coe & Co., Del.Supr., 217 A.2d 683 (1966). Since the 1967 revisions, Section 262 has been amended several times, including a major redrafting in 1981. See 63 Del. Laws, ch. 25, § 14 (1981). [4] Significantly, none of those changes affected the definition of a stockholder. This statutory history also is consonant with other basic precepts of corporation-stockholder relationships under the General Corporation Law. Thus, 8 Del.C. § 220(a) (1983), relating to the inspection of books and records, defines stockholder as a stockholder of record. This is reinforced by 8 Del.C. § 219(c) (1983), providing that a company may look to its stock ledger as the sole evidence of who is entitled to vote at a stockholders' meeting. [5] See Rainbow Navigation, Inc. v. Pan Ocean Navigation, Inc., Del.Supr., 535 A.2d 1357 (1987), decided today. Section 262 also is harmonious with the Uniform Commercial Code. Under 6 Del.C. § 8-207(1) (Supp.1986) a corporation may treat the registered owner as the person exclusively entitled to vote, to receive notifications and otherwise to exercise all the rights and powers of an owner. (emphasis added).