A Delaware Chancery Court judge on Tuesday dismissed a 91-year-old Italian mogul’s $500 million fraud case against Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV, bringing a likely close to a court fight that has spanned seven years and implicated the laws of at least four nations. The ruling is a win for lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell against a team from Cravath, Swaine & Moore.
In a sprawling 182-page decision, Vice Chancellor Donald Parsons ruled that Italian businessman Carlo Vichi couldn’t back up his core claim in the long-running case—namely, that Philips fraudulently induced him into loaning about $275 million to LG Philips Displays International Ltd (LPD), a joint venture between Philips and LG Electronics Inc. that manufactured cathode ray tubes for televisions and computers before going bankrupt a decade ago. Parsons ruled that Vichi unreasonably delayed in making most of his allegations, and what remained of his fraud case was lacking.
