Invenergy Renewables LLC v. Leaf Invenergy Company

Summary

The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Chancery’s calculation of prejudgment interest in a dispute arising from a contractual redemption obligation under an LLC agreement. The court held that interest accrued from the date of the Material Partial Sale, when the contractual payment obligation arose, rather than from the later date on which the investor surrendered its membership interest.

Holdings

1. Where the underlying obligation arises from a contract, prejudgment interest accrues from the date payment was due under the contract. Because the LLC agreement entitled Leaf to the Target Multiple when Invenergy closed the TerraForm transaction on December 15, 2015, prejudgment interest properly ran from that date.
2. The court will not consider an informal request for attorney's fees under Supreme Court Rule 20(f) absent a formal motion presented in accordance with the Supreme Court Rules.

Questions Presented

1. Whether prejudgment interest on Leaf's contractual damages should accrue from December 15, 2015, when the Material Partial Sale closed, or from June 20, 2018, when Leaf surrendered its membership interest.
2. Whether Leaf was entitled to attorney's fees based on an informal request under Supreme Court Rule 20(f).

Disposition

affirmed