Opinion ID: 790690
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Dalal's Remaining Counterclaims

Text: 40 Dalal has cross-appealed on two additional issues. He first contends that the three brokerage agreements with EasyLink should be read as a single contract, presumably because this would supply an additional theory of breach, since the resulting single contract would contain an obligation for EasyLink to accept any sale in which the Aggregate Consideration represents a valuation on India.com's entire portal business of at least $0.5 million. Dalal argues that because the Third Agreement incorporated definitions from the First, all the agreements formed part of a single transaction and should thus be read together. However, the circumstances surrounding the creation of the Third Agreement were markedly different from those surrounding the first two agreements. Notably, by October 26, 2001, there was only one prospective buyer. 41 Despite Dalal's arguments, and as the District Court recognized, the three brokerage agreements should not be read together. The Third Agreement—drafted by Dalal himself—superceded the previous agreements and did not extend the terms of the First and Second Agreements. In sharp contrast to the Second Agreement, which explicitly extended the terms of the First by thirty days, the Third Agreement did not extend the expiration period of the First and Second Agreements. It is also significant that the Third Agreement included no reference to the provision in the First that obligated EasyLink to accept any sale offer for more than $500,000. The Third Agreement embodies a new agreement providing that, in exchange for being guaranteed the maximum commission, regardless of timing, Dalal would only be paid if the transaction closed. 42 Dalal also counterclaims that he should recover additional damages because of the decreased valuation of ICI resulting from ICI's forgiveness of the $5 million loan it had made to EasyLink. Dalal argues that if ICI's right to receive $5 million in cash from EasyLink had not been excluded as an asset in the sale of ICI's portal business, Dalal would have been able to sell ICI for $5 million more. However, as the District Court pointed out, Dalal offers no proof that even if the $5 million were included that this would translate into a correspondingly higher sales price for ICI. Additionally, the District Court found that Dalal was told in April 2001 that the loan was not going to be included in ICI's valuation. He continued to work on the transaction nonetheless. We therefore reject Dalal's dilution claim.