Sidley achieved a total victory for Brunswick Corporation after a three-week trial in the Delaware Superior Court, with a post-trial decision finding that the plaintiffs failed to prove any of their fraud or breach of contract claims.
In 2014, Brunswick decided to spin off its bowling products division, Brunswick Bowling Products (BBP), and began an auction process with multiple bidders. At the time of the sale, BBP was engaged in a pending regulatory inquiry relating to the safety of bowling pinsetters installed in the European Union. The regulatory inquiry was described in one of the disclosures provided early and repeatedly throughout the sale process.
Months after the sale closed, and following additional actions by the buyer after closing, the regulatory inquiry escalated. The plaintiffs (the post-sale entities and the holding company that purchased BBP) alleged that Brunswick breached certain contractual representations and fraudulently concealed the severity of the regulatory issue, and demanded indemnification from Brunswick for the cost of applying modifications to all pinsetters installed across the European Union.
After years of hard-fought litigation, including a summary judgment victory on a subset of the plaintiffs’ claims, Sidley, alongside co-counsel from Bartlit Beck, represented Brunswick in a three-week trial in January 2025, relating to the plaintiffs’ remaining claims for fraud, breach of contract, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
On July 14, 2025, Judge Paul R. Wallace issued a 45-page opinion finding for Brunswick on all claims and rejecting the plaintiffs’ “hyperfixat[ion] on a particular issue in this deal that … seemed of little moment to either party at the time but – to all parties’ surprise and dismay – simply went unexpectedly (and expensively) sideways.” The judgment represented a complete victory for Brunswick.
The Sidley team was led by Nilofer Umar, and included Kendra Stead, Heather Benzmiller Sultanian, Abigail Bachrach, and Bill Lawrence (all in Chicago).
