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DELL APPRAISAL RIGHTS MATTER.
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017
Unusual or Infrequent Items, or Both [Abstract]  
DELL APPRAISAL RIGHTS MATTER
DELL APPRAISAL RIGHTS MATTER.

In 2016, we paid $166.2 million to compensate certain T. Rowe Price mutual funds, trusts, separately managed accounts, and subadvised clients (collectively, Clients) for the denial of their appraisal rights by the Delaware Chancery Court (Court) in connection with the 2013 leveraged buyout of Dell, Inc. (Dell).

The Court ruled on May 11, 2016, that the Clients could not pursue an appraisal of any shares they held that were voted in favor of the Dell merger. The appraisal statute governing the transaction required the record holder to vote against or abstain from voting on the transaction in order to assert appraisal rights. After previously voting against prior transaction proposals, the voting instructions submitted on behalf of the Clients in connection with voting on the final proposed transaction were incorrectly submitted in favor of the transaction. On May 31, 2016, the Court determined that the fair value of Dell at the time of the merger was $17.62 per share, as opposed to the $13.75 price offered in the transaction. As a result, any shareholder perfecting appraisal rights is entitled to a payment at $17.62 per share plus statutory interest from the date the Dell transaction closed subject to possible appeal of the Court’s decision. The compensation to Clients was intended to make them whole for the voting discrepancy that resulted in the denial of their appraisal rights.

On December 30, 2016, we entered into a settlement agreement for $100.0 million with our insurance carrier for insurance proceeds related to this matter. We recognized the proceeds as a reduction to the $166.2 million nonrecurring charge that we recognized earlier in 2016 and received the proceeds in January 2017. We received an additional $50 million in insurance proceeds from other insurance carriers in early 2017 and recognized a related reduction in operating expenses.

In accordance with the compensation payment, the Clients agreed that in the event the findings made by the Court regarding the fair value of Dell or the amount of interest to be applied were modified by a final, non-appealable judgment, T. Rowe Price and the Clients would make an appropriate adjustment between themselves, calculated in a manner that is consistent with the methodology used to compensate Clients. In December 2016, several parties, including Dell and the successful appraisal petitioners, filed appeals to the Delaware Supreme Court to challenge the Court’s valuation ruling. On December 14, 2017, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed the Court's judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings. It is not clear how the Court will eventually rule and what the ultimate valuation will be, although the Supreme Court’s opinion suggests that the deal price of $13.75 may be the ultimate outcome.

Once the Court enters a final, non-appealable judgment, Clients will be required to repay any overpayment using the methodology used to calculate the original payment. We estimate that the first $15.2 million reclaimed from our Clients would be paid back to T. Rowe Price Group. We would then be required to repay any additional reclaimed funds to our insurers in a specific order.