Belk of Spartanburg, SC v. Thompson, 3040.

• Decision Date: 30 August 1999
• Docket Number: No. 3040.,3040.
• Citation: 337 S.C. 109,522 S.E.2d 357
• Court: South Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: BELK OF SPARTANBURG, S.C., INC., Respondent, v. Carolyn T. THOMPSON and Mary E.S. Hanahan, of whom Carolyn T. Thompson, is Appellant.

337 S.C. 109

522 S.E.2d 357

BELK OF SPARTANBURG, S.C., INC., Respondent, v. Carolyn T. THOMPSON and Mary E.S. Hanahan, of whom Carolyn T. Thompson, is Appellant.

No. 3040.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Heard June 8, 1999.

Decided August 30, 1999.

Stephen P. Groves, Sr., Thomas S. Tisdale, Jr., and Stephen L. Brown, all of Young, Clement, Rivers & Tisdale, of Charleston; and William I. Belk, of The Belk Group; and Robert N. Burris, of Burris, McMillan, Pearce & Mayer, both of Charlotte, North Carolina, for appellant.

Benjamin A. Johnson and Stephen M. Cox, both of Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, of Rock Hill; and A. Ward McKeithen, of Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, of Charlotte, North Carolina, for respondent.

CURETON, Judge:

In this stock valuation proceeding brought pursuant to S.C.Code Ann. § 33-13-300 (1977), appellant-stockholder Carolyn T. Thompson (Thompson) appeals the trial court's valuation of her stock in respondent Belk of Spartanburg, S.C., Inc. We affirm as modified.

FACTS/PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Belk Department Store of Spartanburg, S.C., Inc. ("BDS") decided to merge with Belk's Department Store of Clinton, S.C., Incorporated. The merger was effective October 5, 1996, and the resulting corporation was re-named Belk of Spartanburg, S.C., Inc. ("BOS").

At the time of the merger, Thompson and Mary Hanahan owned 90 and 18.5 shares, respectively, of BDS. Thompson and Hanahan (the dissenters) exercised their right to dissent from the merger and obtain payment of the "fair value" of their shares under S.C.Code Ann. § 33-13-102(A) (1990 & Supp.1998).¹ By letters dated October 4, 1996, BDS tendered payment of $1,474.99 per share to Thompson and Hanahan as an "estimate of fair value ... based upon the last two known transactions in the stock of [BDS]."

The dissenters disputed the value assigned by BDS, and demanded additional payment pursuant to S.C.Code Ann. § 33-13-280 (1990).² Thereafter, under Section 33-13-300 (1990),³ BOS brought an action petitioning the court to determine the fair value of the dissenters' BDS shares.

BOS and the dissenters presented a total of three experts: B. Perry Woodside, III; Winston W. Way, Jr.; and Andrew Crawford Clarkson, Jr. The experts' proposed valuations ranged widely, from BOS's expert's valuation of $1,435.31 per share to the dissenters' appraisal of $7,930.30 per share. The trial court accepted the valuation of BOS's expert with only a slight modification. It awarded the dissenters $1,462.36 per share, but because this valuation was below that previously paid to the dissenters, the court concluded the dissenters were due no additional sums from BOS. Thompson appealed the trial court's valuation decision, and also its decision to deny her request to depose John Belk.

LAW/ANALYSIS

I. Standard of Review

A stock valuation is essentially an equitable proceeding, tried by the judge alone, and therefore this court is empowered to find facts in accord with our own view of the preponderance of the evidence. Metromont Materials Corp. v. Pennell, 270 S.C. 9, 239 S.E.2d 753 (1977). See also Defender Properties, Inc. v. Doby, 307 S.C. 336, 415 S.E.2d 383 (1992).

II. Trial Court's Valuation

On appeal Thompson argues the trial court's valuation was incorrect because the evidence demonstrated the "fair market value" of BDS stock "far exceeded" the court's value of $1,462.36 per share. Thompson maintains the court committed a number of errors, which we will address seriatim.

A. Dissenters' Experts.

1. Experts' Reliance on Santee Oil Co. v. Cox:

Initially, we note neither of the dissenters' experts utilized all three of the major methods sanctioned by the supreme court in the seminal case of Santee Oil Co. v. Cox, 265 S.C. 270, 217 S.E.2d 789 (1975).⁴ However, Thompson goes to great lengths to convince us that the methods utilized by the dissenters' experts, Way and Clarkson, were appropriate.

For the purpose of a judicial valuation of shares under Section 33-13-300, "fair value" is defined as "intrinsic value." Id. "[T]he trial court must undertake to compute the fair value by establishing the fair market value of the corporate property as an established and going business.'" Id. at 273, 217 S.E.2d at 791 (citation omitted). The court is not restricted to any one method of valuation, and each case must be decided on its own facts and circumstances. Id.

In Santee our supreme court determined three factors were ordinarily to be considered in a stock valuation case: (1) net asset value, (2) market value, and (3) the earnings or investment value of the dissenting stock.⁵ Id.; McDuffie v. O'Neal, 324 S.C. 297, 476 S.E.2d 702 (Ct.App.1996). After these factors have been considered, each is then weighted as to their relative bearing upon the ultimate determination of the fair value of the dissenting stock. Santee Oil Co., 265 S.C. 270, 217 S.E.2d 789. Not only did the dissenters' experts not utilize all three of these methods, they also did not engage in weighting. Because Way and Clarkson failed to engage in a Santee analysis, we must accordingly discount the significance of their appraisals in valuing Thompson's shares.

2. The Belk Family of Stores:

We also find it problematic that the dissenters' experts used valuation methods which employ "multiples" derived from large, publicly traded department store chains.⁶ On this record, Thompson has not convinced us that BDS should be evaluated as merely two stores in a large regional department store chain.

Each of the stores in the Belk organization is owned by a closely-held corporation whose stock is held mostly by descendants of the founders, W.H. Belk and Dr. John M. Belk. In the instant case, BDS's assets consisted of two Belk stores located in Spartanburg, one in Hillcrest Mall and one in Westgate Mall.

Although this much is clear from the record, the remaining details as to the overall Belk organization are murky. The Belk family of stores consists of over 100 separate corporations that own and operate approximately 260 stores.⁷ There was testimony that BDS is part of a group of 29 stores in seven states referred to as the "Belk-Simpson" group, headquartered in Greenville. These stores are deemed to be "affiliated," and inter-group loans are common. Robert Greiner is the Executive Vice President of this group and of BOS, and has "primary operating responsibility for that group of stores and would not have any office or responsibility in any other group of stores."

Greiner testified the Belk-Simpson headquarters had offices for buying, advertising, and accounting, and that he had "some systems people." However, an entity called "Belk Store Services" provides the group and other Belk groups with merchandising, private label inventory, "real estate services, information system services, legal services, accounting services, health insurance benefits,... —architecture, interior planning, things—things that would not make sense for us to be doing on our own,...." He added that there were "cooperative monies available" for help with advertising and "fixturing", and for buyers. Each Belk corporation is a member of Belk Stores Services. Each pays for its services, the finances for each corporation are maintained separately, and the other operating activities are separate. Greiner contrasted the Westgate Mall Belk with other Westgate department stores, explaining, "The primary difference is that each store has to stand on its own. Each store has—has an accountability to its own set of stockholders, its own board of directors. Each store has—has to fund their [sic] own operation."

Greiner maintained no Belk corporation got financial support from any other, except for the inter-group loans. However, prior to the merger in this case, BDS had merged with The Leader, a discount store in the Belk family of stores. According to Greiner, the merger occurred because "we knew that we would be expanding our store in Westgate Mall. There were assets in The Leader and assets in the Clinton corporation that could be used in the financing of the Westgate Mall expansion."

Similar reasoning was behind the merger that precipitated this case. The Belk Clinton corporation had closed a store in 1993, but had capital it was not actively using. It was determined that these funds could be used "to help the Spartanburg corporation." Leroy Robinson, associated with Belk in several capacities over 47 years, testified there have been other mergers in other Belk corporations in order to take loss carry-forwards and shelter against profits. However, he also testified there were situations where such a merger, although desirable, did not occur because of shareholder dissent. Robinson added that, unless a struggling corporation can find a merger partner or someone willing to contribute capital, that corporation "go[es] down the tube."

We believe the possibility of this kind of transaction regularly occurring connotes a closer relationship among Belk corporations than is admitted by BOS. However, we also agree with BOS's expert that "it still does not mean that in any way a stockholder of [BDS] is like being a stockholder in 300 stores scattered over ... 12 or 13 states." We believe the one major consideration for our purposes is that the success or failure of the two stores that comprised BOS had a direct impact on its shareholders, and that cannot be said for the large department store chains with which Thompson would like to compare it.

Thompson emphasized in her brief the benefits provided by Belk Store Services to BDS, but Woodside opined any benefit BDS derived from Belk Store Services would be reflected in BDS's financial statements. Although the evidence is in conflict on this issue, we defer to the trial judge who heard the testimony. See Woodall v. Woodall, 322 S.C. 7, 10, 471 S.E.2d 154, 157 (1996) ("[W]here evidence is disputed, the appellate court may adhere to the findings of the trial judge, who saw and heard the witnesses. ...