Opinion ID: 2602071
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: The Kalay Affidavit, if Admissible, Raises a Genuine Issue of Material Fact as to the Issue of Borghetti's Damages on His Claims Against S & C Tech.

Text: ¶31 While Borghetti is not precluded from establishing damages as to his claims against S & C Tech. by the fact that the value of Campus Pipeline was less than the liquidation preference, in order to overcome summary judgment Borghetti must come forward with admissible evidence that rises above speculation and provides a reasonable, even though not necessarily precise, estimate of damages. [22] Borghetti has sought to meet this obligation through the Kalay Affidavit. In this affidavit, Kalay testifies that Borghetti's shares had a fair value at the time of the merger between $4.2 million and $6.76 million. In arriving at these values, Kalay employs a method used to value options known as the Black-Scholes method. While this affidavit does not raise a genuine issue of material fact as to damages on Borghetti's Delaware appraisal action, where the validity of the merger is assumed, the affidavit may raise an issue of material fact as to damages in Borghetti's fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and unjust enrichment claims, where the validity of the merger is challenged. Accordingly, the district court erred in concluding that because the value of Campus Pipeline was less than the liquidation preference, Borghetti could not show damages on his claims against S & C Tech. ¶32 Because the district court granted summary judgment based on the fact that Kalay had assessed the value of Campus Pipeline at less than the liquidation preference, the court deemed the affidavit moot and did not consider the merits of defendants' motions to strike the affidavit. We conclude that, if admissible, the Kalay affidavit is sufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact as to damages on Borghetti's claims against S & C Tech. Accordingly, the district court erred in ruling that the motions to strike the affidavit were moot. We reverse the district court's grant of summary judgment on Borghetti's claims against S & C Tech. and remand so that the district court may, in the first instance, assess the admissibility of the Kalay affidavit.