Shareholders of Tennessee corporations, under certain circumstances set forth in Tenn. Code Ann. §48-23-102, have the right to “dissent” and to require the corporation to pay them for the “fair value” of their shares. How do Tennessee courts determine the “fair value” of a dissenter’s shares? For Tennessee lawyers who handle shareholder disputes, the three Tennessee cases discussed below provide a valuable road map in dissenters cases.
The Supreme Court of Tennessee, in the 1983 case Blasingame v. America Materials, Inc., held that the “Delaware Block Method” should be used in Tennessee to determine the fair value of a dissenting shareholder’s shares. The Delaware Block Method requires that the court consider three different methods used to value shares: (1) the market value method; (2) the asset value method; and (3) the earnings value method. Once the court determines the value of a share of the dissenter’ stock according to each method, the court must assign a weight, expressed as a percentage of 100%, to the stock value as determined by each method.
The market value method looks at the price for which a share of the corporation’s stock could be sold if there were a willing buyer. The asset value method values a share of the corporation’s stock according to its pro rata value as to the net assets of the corporation. The earnings value method values a share of the corporation’s stock based on its earnings potential which, in turn, will be based on historical earnings.