DOVER, Del. (AP) — The Delaware Supreme Court is upholding a $2 billion judgment in a shareholder lawsuit stemming from Southern Copper Corp.'s 2005 acquisition of a mining company from Grupo Mexico, its controlling stockholder.

The justices on Monday upheld a chancery court ruling that Grupo Mexico and directors of Southern Copper, then known as Southern Peru, caused Southern to pay an excessively high price for Grupo Mexico's 99 percent interest in Minera Mexico.

The chancery judge's damage award represented the $1.3 billion difference between what Southern paid for Minera and what the court determined Minera was worth, plus interest. The plaintiffs' attorneys were granted $304 million of the amount.

The defendants said the judge abused his discretion and acted arbitrarily in determining a price for the deal and awarding damages and attorney costs.