Foresight Be Damned, Court Indecision Takes This One to the Wall

In the matter of Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (Plaintiff and Appellant) v. Apollo (Mauritius) Holdings Pvt. Ltd., Apollo Tyres B.V., and Apollo Acquisition Corp….

“Before HOLLAND, BERGER, JACOBS and RIDGELY, Justices, and

WITHAM, Judge, constituting the Court en Banc.

This 16th day of December 2013, based upon the filings by the parties, the Court has concluded that this interlocutory appeal was improvidently accepted.

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this interlocutory appeal is DISMISSED.

BY THE COURT:

/s/ Randy J. Holland

Justice"

With those 36 words – the entirety of the court’s ruling – the Delaware Supreme Court pulled a complete 360 and changed its mind. For Cooper, it concluded in hindsight, there was no basis for its appeal of the Chancery Court of Delaware’s Nov. 8 partial ruling. “Improvident” is defined as “lacking foresight,” something the Supreme Court admitted by taking the appeal in the first place.

So through that entire period of Nov. 12 (when Cooper filed its Supreme Court play) to Dec. 16 (when the Supremes went off earlier than scheduled and shot down Cooper’s appeal), nothing was accomplished in this counter-romance that would resolve things and force Apollo to take Cooper as its spouse.

Perhaps not absolutely nothing; I’d like to think plenty of behind-the-scenes action filled many a work day for the Cooper and Apollo management and legal teams. Certainly outside counsel for both jilted lovers did well (cha-ching!). But publicly, nothing of consequence happened. Certainly not the appearance of Cooper’s long-awaited 3Q financials. Or its retaking control of its Chinese plant.

So the ball is back in Judge Sam Glasscock III’s court (so to speak), and he will now have to reveal the other half of his split decision. He’s obviously had time to mull that one over. You’ll recall that his Nov. 8 half-ruling fundamentally favored Apollo, driving Cooper downstate to file papers in the Delaware Supreme Court four days later. Now we get to see what else he was considering.

[Oddly, Dover (the state capitol) is a less than two-hour drive – not four day – from Wilmington (home of the Chancery Court), but I digress.]

I would expect Judge Glasscock’s wisdom to be offered by the close of this week, if only to give Cooper a fair shot at an appeal should Decision Part II continue as Part I and give favor to Apollo. With the Christmas and New Year holidays fast upon us, should he drag his feet into next week, Glasscock may effectively close the door to any hope Cooper has of forcing Apollo back to the wedding altar for the most uncomfortable of all shotgun ceremonies.

Meanwhile, should Cooper shareholders, hopped up by the prospects of a $35 per share payoff, find only coal in their Christmas stocking, I would suspect we’ll see more than a few changes in 2014.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has named Ryan Waldron as president of the company's Americas business unit, reporting to Chief Executive Officer and President Mark Stewart. He succeeds Steven R. McClellan, who retired on April 1.

"At Goodyear, our customers are at the center of everything we do, and in Ryan Waldron, we have a customer-centric, execution-focused business leader with a deep understanding of both the marketplace and all aspects of our business, as well as a proven track record of delivering results," Stewart said. "I am thrilled to announce him as president of Goodyear's Americas business and have enormous confidence that under his leadership, both the company and our customers will reach even greater levels of success."