EMC has extended its $1.8bn all-cash offer for Data Domain until July 10, 2009 as lawsuits continue to muddy the waters. Angry investors have filed a proposed securities class action lawsuit in the Delaware Chancery Court against the Board of Data Domain, NetApp, and their acquisition entities.

According to the complaints the plaintiffs allege that Data Domain's Board has refused a $30 per share all cash offer from EMC Corporation. Instead, the Board has decided to accept the offer of NetApp Inc., which imposed a 'no-shop' provision and a $57 million termination fee on Data Domain. The lawsuits allege that the members of the Board of Directors of Data Domain are breaching their fiduciary duties to their shareholders by refusing to negotiate with a potential acquirer, EMC Corporation (EMC), and for agreeing to sell Data Domain to NetApp without taking any steps to maximize the price paid to Data Domain's shareholders. One plaintiff argued NetApp had offered positions on its board to Data Domain executives. In a particular, there are rumours that Data Domain chief executive Frank Slootman could be the next chief executive of NetApp. If this is true it raises questions as to whether the sales process conducted by the board was fair and open. Another investor has filed a separate lawsuit, arguing that Data Domain’s board of directors had given NetApp an improper bidding advantage...read more

An Investor in Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) and KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR) has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of current investors in either Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) and KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR) in Texas state court on Thursday, May 14, 2009 against oilfield services provider Halliburton Company and its one-time subsidiary KBR, Inc., alleging that poor oversight and lack of internal controls at the two companies enabled a pervasive environment of misdeed and corruption, resulting in enforcement actions and substantial government penalties that have severely damaged investors' holdings.

The complaint alleges wrongdoing by KBR, including massive waste and overbilling of services provided to American forces in Iraq; bribery in Nigeria to win government contracts; and multiple instances of fraud, corruption, and misconduct in both its domestic and foreign operations. The plaintiff accuse that “Under defendants’ watch, and supposedly under their control and supervision, the companies were permitted to engage in conduct so notorious that the name ‘Halliburton’ has become virtually synonymous with ‘corruption,” and that the Halliburton's board of directors breached their fiduciary duty through business practices and criminal activities that resulted in massive fines, penalties and settlements paid to the federal government. Halliburton and KBR have paid more than $650 million in fines, penalties, and settlements -- including the largest fine ever assessed by the U.S. Commerce Department...read more