GLOBAL GT LP v. Golden Telecom, Inc.

OPINION

STRINE, Vice Chancellor.

I. Introduction

This is an appraisal action. The petitioners Global GT LP and Global GT Ltd. owned nearly 1.4 million shares of respondent Golden Telecom, Inc. (“Golden”), a Russian-based telecommunications company that was listed on the NASDAQ. The petitioners claim that Golden was undervalued in a 2007 merger in which Golden was purchased for $105 per share by Vim-pel-Communications (“VimpelCom”) — a major Russian provider of mobile telephone services whose two largest stockholders were also the largest stockholders of Golden.

As is typical, the outcome of this…