51�Թ�

“They’re either moving to Nevada, where there are essentially no rights for shareholders, or they’re moving to Texas,” said Ann Lipton, a business law professor at Tulane Law School.

“The judges are appointed by the governor and they have two-year terms, so they’re essentially under the very strict oversight of a very conservative political establishment,” Lipton said.

“Delaware’s terrified,” Lipton said, noting that the Delaware Legislature overhauled its corporate laws this summer to become more friendly to corporate managers over shareholders.

Britvic holds an exclusive licence with US partner PepsiCo to make and sell brands such as Pepsi, 7up and Lipton Ice Tea in the UK, which Mr Thornton told the court would continue following the takeover.

He co-wrote and sang lead on one of the group’s biggest commercial hits, “Puff the Magic Dragon,” which he based on a poem by Leonard Lipton and which reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1963.