Hanover Compressor Company (Now Exterran Holdings, Inc.)
Shareholders of Hanover Compressor Company, a provider of natural gas compression services operating in the United States and select international markets, brought claims on behalf of the company against company officers and directors for breach of fiduciary duty, waste of corporate assets, abuse of control and gross mismanagement. The claims arose out of an off-balance-sheet joint venture to build and operate a natural gas processing plant on barges off the coast of Nigeria. The attorneys of Robbins LLP, serving as lead negotiators for derivative plaintiffs, secured extraordinary results for Hanover. First, Robbins LLP achieved for the company approximately $57.4 million in compensation – consisting of a $26.5 million payment and the return of 2.5 million shares valued at approximately $30.9 million by an entity controlled by certain of the individual defendants. Second, Robbins LLP helped secure corporate governance changes at the company that have been noted as “groundbreaking” and “unprecedented” benefits for Hanover, including the appointment of two shareholder-nominated directors and becoming one of the first companies in the United States to commit to implementing a five-year rotation rule for its outside audit firms.
Pirelli Armstrong Tire Corp. Ret. Med. Benefits Trust v. Hanover Compressor Co., No. H-02-0410 (S.D. Tex. Feb. 6, 2004)