Texas Court Discusses the Formation of a Texas Contract Through Email
In Texas, a contract can be something as simple as an agreement between two parties that is supported by consideration. Notably, not all contracts need to be written to be enforceable. However, before a court determines that a contract is enforceable, the party in favor of the contract must show that there was, indeed, an agreement between the parties. In contract law, this is referred to as a “meeting of the minds.”
Recently, a state appellate court issued a written opinion in a case involving a Texas contract dispute illustrating how courts analyze agreements. The specifics of the purported agreement are not particularly relevant to the court’s discussion. Essentially, a group of sellers, the defendants, agreed to develop and eventually sell a group of assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The sellers moved forward with development and, when it came time to sell the assets, enlisted the assistance of a third-party.
The third-party solicited bids from several potential buyers. The plaintiff was one of the high bidders. The parties exchanged several emails back and forth. Eventually, the plaintiff sent a counter offer with the following email:
We will not be modifying or accepting any changes to the base deal described above and don’t want to be jerked around anymore. We will give you till 5:00 pm CST tomorrow to accept. Best we can do and you hopefully understand I have recommended to my Board to pass if the timeline is not met or a counter proposal is sent.
An agent for the sellers responded that they are ready to “move forward” with the sale. However, before the contract was drawn up, another bidder revised their offer, making it more favorable to the sellers. The sellers then accepted the other buyer’s offer and the plaintiff filed a breach-of-contract claim against the sellers.
The case ultimately came down to whether a contract was formed through email. If so, then the sellers were committed to selling the assets to the plaintiff. However, if a contract had not formed by the time the sellers accepted the other bidder’s offer, then the sellers were under no obligation to the plaintiff.
The court determined that no contract existed, and that the sellers were free to accept the other bidder’s offer. The court explained that, in general, parties are free to write contracts however they see fit. Included in this freedom of contract, is the ability to insert language into negotiations explaining when a contract comes into existence. Here, the sellers included the following language in the Confidentiality Agreement that they sent out to all prospective buyers:
The Parties hereto understand that unless and until a definitive agreement has been executed and delivered, no contract or agreement providing for a transaction between the Parties shall be deemed to exist and neither Party will be under any legal obligation of any kind whatsoever with respect to such transaction by virtue of this or any written or oral expression thereof.
The court explained that this “no obligation” clause required a definitive agreement before a legally enforceable contract could be formed. The court then held that the emails between the parties did not constitute a definitive agreement.
In concluding that the emails were not a definitive agreement, the court explained that the emails resembled a preliminary agreement in that they represented a “precontractual understanding in which two commercial parties allocate their contributions to an undertaking but do not specify all the important terms of the deal.” The court noted that a definitive agreement requires a “final solution” that is “authoritative and apparently exhaustive.”
The court explained that the emails contemplated the need for an upcoming formal agreement. In fact, the court pointed out that the emails even referenced a purchase and sale agreement. In addition, the court found that a contract was not created merely by laying out the “assets to be sold, the purchase price, a closing day, and other key provisions.” The court explained that the emails “left much to the imagination” and that there were still key areas that needed to be negotiated.
Is Your Business Dealing with a Complex Texas Contract Issue?
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