The 2019 merger between Viacom and CBS to form ViacomCBS (later renamed Paramount Global) generated extensive litigation that ultimately settled. The Merger — and the Merger-related litigation — followed events involving the two companies going back to 2016, and in fact there had been prior litigation back in 2016 as well. National Amusements, Inc. (NAI), which owned a majority of the voting shares of both CBS and Viacom, sought coverage for the defense and settlement of the 2019 litigation from its D&O insurers. The insurers contended that the 2019 post-Merger litigation and the 2016 lawsuits were interrelated, and therefore that the settlement was covered under policies in force in 2016, rather than under the policies in force in 2019.

In an opinion dated February 17, 2025, but only recently made public, the Delaware Superior Court granted NAI’s motion for summary judgment, holding that the 2019 Suit is not interrelated with the 2016 Suits, and therefore that costs associated with the 2019 Suit were covered under the 2019 Policy and not under the 2016 Policy. The court’s analysis, in which it concluded that the two sets of litigation were not “meaningfully linked,” is detailed and interesting, and helps to explain what factors are relevant in the analysis of the meaningfully linkage issue. A copy of the court’s opinion can be found here.