Filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3)
Registration No. 333-255799
PROSPECTUS
Crestwood Equity Partners LP
6,000,000 Common Units
This prospectus relates to 6,000,000 common units (the “common units”) representing limited partner interests in Crestwood Equity Partners LP (the “Partnership”) that the Partnership has issued to the selling unitholders named in this prospectus or in any supplement to this prospectus or any transferee, assignee or other successor-in-interest that received common units from a selling unitholder (collectively, the “selling unitholders”). The common units held by the selling unitholders named in this prospectus were obtained in connection with a private placement of our common units.
We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of common units owned by the selling unitholders. For a more detailed discussion of the selling unitholders, please read “Selling Unitholders.”
The selling unitholders may offer and sell these securities at various times in amounts, at prices and on terms to be determined by market conditions and the other factors set forth under “Plan of Distribution” at the time of such offerings, including but not limited to the underlying price of our common units. The selling unitholders may offer and sell these securities to or through one or more underwriters, dealers and agents, who may receive compensation in the form of discounts, concessions or commissions, or directly to purchasers, on a continuous or delayed basis. This prospectus describes the general terms of these securities and the general manner in which the selling unitholders will offer the securities. The prospectus supplement will describe the specific manner in which the selling unitholders will offer the securities and also may add, update or change information contained in this prospectus. The names of any underwriters and the specific terms of a plan of distribution will be stated in the prospectus supplement. The common units may be offered and sold by the selling unitholders from time to time in accordance with the provisions set forth under “Plan of Distribution.”
You should carefully read this prospectus and any prospectus supplement before you invest. You should also read the documents we refer to in the “Where You Can Find More Information” section of this prospectus for information on us and our financial statements.
Investing in our securities involves risks. Limited partnerships are inherently different from corporations. You should carefully consider each of the risk factors described under “Risk Factors” beginning on page 7 of this prospectus and in the applicable prospectus supplement before you make an investment in our securities.
Our common units trade on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) under the symbol “CEQP.” The last reported sales price of our common units on the NYSE on May 4, 2021 was $30.70 per common unit.
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
The date of this prospectus is May 17, 2021.
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 5 | ||||
| 7 | ||||
| 8 | ||||
| 9 | ||||
| 9 | ||||
| 9 | ||||
| 9 | ||||
| 10 | ||||
| 10 | ||||
PROVISIONS OF OUR PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT RELATING TO CASH DISTRIBUTIONS | 11 | |||
| 11 | ||||
| 11 | ||||
| 11 | ||||
| 12 | ||||
| 13 | ||||
| 13 | ||||
| 13 | ||||
| 13 | ||||
| 13 | ||||
| 13 | ||||
| 15 | ||||
| 16 | ||||
| 16 | ||||
| 19 | ||||
| 19 | ||||
| 19 | ||||
| 20 | ||||
| 20 | ||||
| 20 | ||||
| 20 | ||||
| 21 | ||||
| 22 | ||||
| 22 | ||||
| 22 | ||||
| 23 | ||||
| 23 | ||||
| 23 | ||||
| 25 | ||||
| 41 | ||||
| 44 | ||||
| 47 | ||||
| 47 |
i
This prospectus is part of a registration statement we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the “SEC” or the “Commission.” In making your investment decision, you should rely only on the information contained in or incorporated by reference into this prospectus and any prospectus supplement. Neither we nor any of the selling unitholders have authorized anyone to provide you with any other information. If you receive any unauthorized information, you must not rely on it. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.
You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus or in the documents incorporated by reference into this prospectus are accurate as of any date other than the date on the front cover of this prospectus or the date of such incorporated documents, as the case may be.
ii
GUIDE TO READING THIS PROSPECTUS
This prospectus is part of a registration statement on Form S-3 that we have filed with the SEC utilizing a “shelf” registration process. Under this shelf registration process, the selling unitholders may, from time to time, sell up to 6,000,000 common units that we have issued to the selling unitholders. Each time a selling unitholder sells securities, the selling unitholder may be required to provide you with this prospectus and, in certain cases, a supplement to this prospectus containing specific information about the selling unitholder and the terms of the securities being offered.
The prospectus supplement may include additional risk factors or other special considerations applicable to those securities and may also add, update or change information in this prospectus. If there is any inconsistency between the information in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement, you should rely on the information in that prospectus supplement.
Additional information, including our financial statements and the notes thereto, is incorporated in this prospectus by reference to our reports filed with the SEC. Please read “Where You Can Find More Information.” You are urged to read this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplements relating to the securities offered to you, together with the additional information described under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information,” carefully before investing in our common units.
1
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION
We are required to file annual, quarterly and current reports and other information with the SEC. These filings with the SEC are available to the public on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, which contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. Our common units are listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”). Our reports and other information filed with the SEC can also be inspected and copied at the NYSE, 20 Broad Street, New York, New York 10005. We also make available free of charge on our website at www.crestwoodlp.com all of the documents that we file with the SEC as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with the SEC. Information contained on our website, other than the documents listed below, is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus.
We “incorporate by reference” information into this prospectus, which means that we disclose important information to you by referring you to another document filed separately with the SEC. The information incorporated by reference is deemed to be part of this prospectus, except for any information superseded by information contained expressly in this prospectus, and the information that we file later with the SEC will automatically supersede this information. You should not assume that the information in this prospectus is current as of any date other than the date on the front page of this prospectus.
We incorporate by reference the documents listed below and any documents subsequently filed with the SEC by Crestwood Equity Partners LP pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, (the “Exchange Act”) (excluding any information furnished and not filed with the SEC pursuant to Item 2.02 or 7.01 on any Current Report on Form 8-K, or corresponding information furnished under Item 9.01 or included as an exhibit) until all offerings under this shelf registration statement are completed, including all such documents we may file with the SEC after the date on which the registration statement that includes this prospectus was initially filed with the SEC and before the effectiveness of such registration statement:
| • | our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020; |
| • | our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2021; |
| • | our current reports on Form 8-K filed on January 6, 2021, January 21, 2021, February 1, 2021, March 26, 2021 and March 31, 2021 (to the extent filed and not furnished); and |
| • | the description of our common units contained in our registration statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-34664) filed with the SEC on March 17, 2010, including Exhibit 4.17 to our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, and any other amendments or reports filed for the purpose of updating such description. |
You may request a copy of any and all documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus and any exhibit specifically incorporated by reference in those documents, at no cost, by writing or telephoning us at the following address or telephone number:
Crestwood Equity Partners LP
Attention: Investor Relations
811 Main Street, Suite 3400
Houston, Texas 77002
(832) 519-2200
2
INFORMATION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This prospectus, including information included or incorporated by reference in this prospectus, contains forward-looking statements concerning our financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business of our company and its subsidiaries. These forward-looking statements include statements that are not historical in nature, including, but not limited to: (i) our belief that anticipated cash from operations, cash distributions from entities that we control, and borrowing capacity under our credit facility will be sufficient to meet our anticipated liquidity needs for the foreseeable future; (ii) our belief that we do not have material potential liability in connection with legal proceedings that would have a significant financial impact on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows; and (iii) our belief that our assets will continue to benefit from the development of unconventional shale plays as significant supply basins; and statements preceded by, followed by or that contain forward-looking terminology, including the words “believe,” “expect,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend” or the negation thereof, or similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or results. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements due to, among others, the following factors:
| • | our ability to successfully implement our business plan for our assets and operations; |
| • | governmental legislation and regulations; |
| • | industry factors that influence the supply of and demand for crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (“NGLs”); |
| • | industry factors that influence the demand for services in the markets (particularly unconventional shale plays) in which we provide services; |
| • | weather conditions; |
| • | outbreak of illness, pandemic or any other public health crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic; |
| • | the availability of crude oil, natural gas and NGLs, and the price of those commodities, to consumers relative to the price of alternative and competing fuels; |
| • | the availability of storage for hydrocarbons; |
| • | the ability of members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other oil-producing countries to agree and maintain oil price and production controls; |
| • | economic conditions; |
| • | costs or difficulties related to the integration of acquisitions and success of our joint ventures’ operations; |
| • | environmental claims; |
| • | operating hazards and other risks incidental to the provision of midstream services, including gathering, compressing, treating, processing, fractionating, transporting and storing energy products (i.e., crude oil, NGLs and natural gas) and related products (i.e., produced water); |
| • | interest rates; |
| • | the price and availability of debt and equity financing, including our ability to raise capital through alternatives like joint ventures; and |
| • | the ability to sell or monetize assets, to reduce indebtedness, to repurchase our equity securities, to make strategic investments, or for other general partnership purposes. |
3
A forward-looking statement may include a statement of the assumptions or bases underlying the forward-looking statement. We believe that we have chosen these assumptions or bases in good faith and that they are reasonable. However, we caution you that assumed facts or bases almost always vary from actual results, and the differences between assumed facts or bases and actual results can be material, depending on the circumstances. When considering forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in this prospectus and the documents that we have incorporated by reference, including those described in the “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus. We will not update these statements unless the securities laws require us to do so.
4
Crestwood Equity Partners LP is a master limited partnership (the “Partnership”) that manages, owns and operates crude oil, natural gas and NGL midstream assets and operations.
Our non-economic general partner interest is held by Crestwood Equity GP LLC (the “General Partner”), which we refer to as our “general partner” and which is indirectly owned by Crestwood Holdings LLC (“Crestwood Holdings”).
Our common units are listed on the NYSE under the symbol “CEQP.”
The General Partner Buy-In
On March 25, 2021, the Partnership entered into a Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”), by and among (i) the Partnership, as the purchaser, (ii) Crestwood Holdings and (iii) for limited purposes under the Purchase Agreement, the General Partner. The Purchase Agreement provides that, (i) upon closing (the “Closing”), (a) all of the outstanding limited liability company interests of Crestwood Marcellus Holdings LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, (b) all of the outstanding limited liability company interests of Crestwood Gas Services Holdings LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“CGSH”), which owns (x) 1% of the outstanding limited partner interests in Crestwood Holdings LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“CHLP”), (y) 9,985,462 common units of the Partnership, and (z) 438,789 subordinated units of the Partnership, and (c) 7,484,449 common units directly held by Crestwood Holdings would be conveyed, transferred, and assigned from Crestwood Holdings to the Partnership, and (ii) on or before the 180th day after the date of the Closing (the “Post-Closing Assignment Date”), 99% of the outstanding limited partner interests and all of the outstanding general partner interests of CHLP (collectively, the “CHLP LP Equity Interests”), which owns all of the outstanding limited liability company interests in the General Partner, would be conveyed, transferred, and assigned from Crestwood Holdings to the Partnership. On March 30, 2021, the Closing occurred and the purchase price paid by the Partnership to Crestwood Holdings pursuant to the Purchase Agreement was $268.0 million. At Closing, the Partnership cancelled all of the common units and subordinated units acquired pursuant to the Purchase Agreement.
Upon receipt of the CHLP LP Equity Interests on the Post-Closing Assignment Date, the Partnership will indirectly own the General Partner. As a result of this new ownership structure and certain changes to the board of directors of the General Partner (the “Board”) in connection with the Closing, our partnership agreement and the First Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement of the General Partner, dated September 27, 2012, will each be amended and restated to, among other things, provide the holders of common units, and also the holders of preferred units representing limited partner interests in the Partnership, which vote on an as-converted basis, with voting rights in the election of directors of the Board, beginning in 2022.
The Private Placement
Also on March 25, 2021, the Partnership entered into a Common Unit Purchase Agreement (the “Unit Purchase Agreement”) with CGSH and certain institutional investors listed on Schedule A thereto (the “PIPE Purchasers”), providing for CGSH to sell 6,000,000 directly held common units in a private placement for aggregate cash proceeds to CGSH of $132.0 million (the “Private Placement”).
On March 30, 2021, in connection with the closing of the Private Placement, the Partnership entered into a registration rights agreement with the PIPE Purchasers containing provisions by which the Partnership agreed to, among other things and subject to certain restrictions, file a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Form S-3 providing for the registration of the resale of the common units to be sold in the Private Placement.
5
Executive Offices
Our principal executive office is located at 811 Main Street, Suite 3400, Houston, Texas 77002. Our telephone number is (832) 519-2200.
For additional information as to our business, properties and financial condition, please refer to the documents cited in “Where You Can Find More Information.”
6
An investment in our common units involves a high degree of risk. Additionally, limited partner interests are inherently different from the capital stock of a corporation, although many of the business risks to which we are subject are similar to those that would be faced by a corporation engaged in similar businesses. You should carefully consider the following risk factors and all of the other information included in, or incorporated by reference into, this prospectus, including those risk factors described under “Item 1A. Risk Factors” of our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequently filed document pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, in evaluating an investment in our securities. Our business could also be affected by additional risks not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial. If any of these risks were to occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected. In that case, the trading price of our common units could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment. When we offer and sell any securities pursuant to a prospectus supplement, we may include additional risk factors relevant to such securities in the prospectus supplement.
Sales by the selling unitholders of our issuable common units that are covered by this prospectus could adversely affect the trading price of our common units.
We are registering for resale an aggregate of 6,000,000 common units which may be held by the selling unitholders, which as of April 30, 2021 represent approximately 9.5% of our currently outstanding common units. Subject to certain exceptions, we are obligated to keep this prospectus current so that the common units can be sold in the public market at any time. The resale of all or a substantial portion of the common units in the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, could cause the market price of our common units to decrease and may make it more difficult for us to sell our equity securities in the future at a time and upon terms that we deem appropriate.
7
We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of the common units by the selling unitholders. The selling unitholders will receive all of the proceeds from the sale of the common units offered by this prospectus. For information about the selling unitholders, see “Selling Unitholders.”
8
DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMON UNITS
The common units represent limited partner interests in us. The holders of common units are entitled to participate in partnership distributions and exercise the rights or privileges available to limited partners under our partnership agreement. For a description of the relative rights and preferences of holders of common units in and to partnership distributions, please read this section and “Provisions of Our Partnership Agreement Relating to Cash Distributions.” For a description of other rights and privileges of limited partners under our partnership agreement, including voting rights, please read “Our Partnership Agreement.”
Duties
American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC serves as the registrar and transfer agent for the common units. We will pay all fees charged by the transfer agent for transfers of common units except the following, which must be paid by our common unitholders:
| • | surety bond premiums to replace lost or stolen certificates, taxes and other governmental charges; |
| • | special charges for services requested by a holder of a common unit; and |
| • | other similar fees or charges. |
There is no charge to our common unitholders for disbursements of our cash distributions. We will indemnify each of the transfer agent, its agents and their respective stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence or intentional misconduct of the indemnified person or entity.
Resignation or Removal
The transfer agent may resign, by notice to us, or be removed by us. The resignation or removal of the transfer agent will become effective upon our appointment of a successor transfer agent and registrar and its acceptance of the appointment. If no successor is appointed, our General Partner may act as the transfer agent and registrar until a successor is appointed.
Upon the transfer of a common unit in accordance with our partnership agreement, the transferee of the common unit will be admitted as a limited partner with respect to the common units transferred when such transfer and admission are reflected in our books and records. Each transferee:
| • | represents that the transferee has the capacity, power and authority to become bound by our partnership agreement; |
| • | automatically becomes bound by the terms and conditions of, and is deemed to have executed, our partnership agreement; and |
| • | gives the consents, waivers and approvals contained in our partnership agreement. |
In addition to other rights acquired upon transfer, the transferor gives the transferee the right to become a substituted limited partner in our partnership for the transferred common units. A transferee will become a substituted limited partner of our partnership for the transferred common units automatically upon the recording of the transfer on our books and records. Our General Partner will cause any transfers to be recorded on our books and records no less frequently than quarterly.
9
Until a common unit has been transferred on our books, we and the transfer agent may treat the record holder of the common unit as the absolute owner for all purposes, except as otherwise required by law or stock exchange regulations.
We may, at our discretion, treat the nominee holder of a common unit as the absolute owner. In that case, the beneficial holder’s rights are limited solely to those that it has against the nominee holder as a result of any agreement between the beneficial owner and the nominee holder.
Common units are securities, and any transfers of common units are subject to the laws governing the transfer of securities.
The preferred units represent a separate class of our limited partnership interests. As of April 30, 2021, there were 71,257,445 preferred units outstanding, which are convertible into approximately 7,125,745 common units, with fractional units rounded to the nearest whole unit; provided, however, that in certain circumstances, the preferred units may be converted using the Special Conversion Amount (as defined in the First Amendment to the Fifth Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of the Partnership (the “Partnership Agreement Amendment”)) or the Adjusted Conversion Amount (as defined in the Partnership Agreement Amendment). Preferred unitholders may elect (i) to convert all or any portion of the preferred units held by such preferred unitholders, in an aggregate amount equaling or exceeding the Minimum Conversion Amount (as defined in the Partnership Agreement Amendment), into common units, at the then applicable Conversion Ratio (as defined in the Partnership Agreement Amendment), subject to payment of any accrued but unpaid distributions to the date of conversion and (ii) in the event of our voluntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up, to convert all or any portion of their preferred units into common units, at the then applicable Conversion Ratio, subject to payment of any accrued but unpaid distributions to the date of conversion. Additionally, the preferred units are entitled to a cumulative distribution (the “Preferred Distribution”) of $0.2111 per quarter in respect of each preferred unit, subject to certain adjustments described in the Partnership Agreement Amendment. The preferred units are listed on the NYSE under the symbol “CEQP-P.”
Class A units represent limited partner interests in us (the “Class A units”). The rights and obligations of Class A units are identical to the rights and obligations of common units except that the Class A units (i) do not have the right to vote on, approve or disapprove, or otherwise consent or not consent with respect to any matter (including mergers, share exchanges and similar statutory authorizations) except as otherwise required by any non-waivable provision of law, (ii) do not share in (a) any income, gains, losses, deductions and credits which are attributable to our ownership of, or sale or other disposition of, the shares of common stock of IPCH Acquisition Corp. (“IPCH”) and the membership interests of Crestwood Partners LLC (“Crestwood Partners”) or (b) any cash and cash equivalents on hand derived from or attributable to our ownership of, or sale or other disposition of, the shares of common stock of IPCH and the membership interests of Crestwood Partners, (iii) were not entitled to participate in the distribution of 56,398,707 Crestwood Midstream common units that we owed to common unitholders, pro rata and (iv) for each of the first ten quarters ending on or after March 31, 2014 after the end of the subordination period, are entitled to a distribution equal to $10.00 per Class A unit prior to the quarterly distributions of available cash to all unitholders.
10
PROVISIONS OF OUR PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT RELATING TO CASH DISTRIBUTIONS
Set forth below is a summary of the significant provisions of our partnership agreement that relate to cash distributions.
Distributions of Available Cash
General
Our partnership agreement requires that, within 45 days after the end of each quarter, we distribute all of our available cash to unitholders of record on the applicable record date.
Definition of Available Cash
Available cash, for any quarter, consists of all cash and cash equivalents on hand at the end of that quarter:
| • | less, the amount of cash reserves that is necessary or appropriate in the reasonable discretion of our general partner to: |
| • | provide for the proper conduct of our business; |
| • | comply with applicable law, any of our debt instruments or other agreements; or |
| • | provide funds for future distributions to our partners for any one or more of the next four quarters; |
| • | plus all cash on hand on the date of determination of available cash for the quarter resulting from working capital borrowings made subsequent to the end of the quarter. Working capital borrowings are generally borrowings that are made under our revolving credit facility and, in all cases, are used solely for working capital purposes or to pay distributions to our partners; |
provided, however, that available cash does not include any IPCH/Crestwood Partners Available Cash (as defined in our partnership agreement).
General Partner Interest
Our general partner is not entitled to distributions on its non-economic interest.
Class A units generally share in distributions of available cash, except Class A units do not share in (i) any income, gains, losses, deductions and credits which are attributable to our ownership of, or sale or other disposition of, the shares of common stock of IPCH and the membership interests of Crestwood Partners or (ii) any cash and cash equivalents on hand derived from or attributable to our ownership of, or sale or other disposition of, the shares of common stock of IPCH and the membership interests of Crestwood Partners. For each of the first ten quarters ending on or after March 31, 2014 after the end of the subordination period, Class A Units are entitled to a distribution equal to $10.00 per Class A unit prior to the quarterly distributions of available cash to all unitholders.
Distributions to Preferred Units
The preferred units are entitled to a Preferred Distribution of $0.2111 per quarter, subject to certain adjustments described in the Partnership Agreement Amendment (the “Distribution Amount”). During the Initial Distribution Period (as defined in the Partnership Agreement Amendment), the Preferred Distribution was paid, in the sole discretion of our general partner, in additional preferred units, in cash, or in a combination of additional preferred units and cash. Following the Initial Distribution Period, the Preferred Distribution must be
11
paid in cash at the Distribution Amount, subject to the certain exceptions. We will not declare or make any distributions in respect of any Junior Securities (as defined in the Partnership Agreement Amendment and which includes our common units) or any Parity Securities (as defined in the Partnership Agreement Amendment), subject to certain limited exceptions, unless and until all accrued and unpaid distributions on the preferred units have been paid in full in cash.
Distributions of Cash Upon Liquidation
If we dissolve in accordance with the partnership agreement, we will sell or otherwise dispose of our assets in a process called liquidation. We will first apply the proceeds of liquidation to the payment of our creditors. We will distribute any remaining proceeds to our unitholders, in accordance with their capital account balances, as adjusted to reflect any gain or loss upon the sale or other disposition of our assets in liquidation.
If the sale of our assets in liquidation would be impracticable or would cause undue loss, the sale may be deferred for a reasonable amount of time or the assets (except those necessary to satisfy liabilities) may be distributed to our limited partners in lieu of cash in the same manner as cash or proceeds of a sale would have been distributed.
12
The following is a summary of the material provisions of our partnership agreement. We will provide prospective investors with a copy of our partnership agreement upon request at no charge.
We summarize the following provisions of our partnership agreement elsewhere in this prospectus:
| • | with regard to distributions of available cash, please read “Provisions of Our Partnership Agreement Relating to Cash Distributions” |
| • | with regard to the transfer of common units, please read “Description of the Common Units—Transfer of Common Units”; and |
| • | with regard to allocations of taxable income and taxable loss, please read “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences.” |
Crestwood Equity Partners, LP, a Delaware limited partnership, was organized on March 7, 2001 and will continue in existence until our dissolution in accordance with our partnership agreement.
Our purpose under our partnership agreement is to engage directly in, or enter into or form any corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company or other entity or arrangement to engage indirectly in, any business activity that our general partner approves and which lawfully may be conducted by a limited partnership organized pursuant to the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act, as amended (the “Delaware Act”), and, in connection therewith, to exercise all of the rights and powers conferred upon us pursuant to the agreements relating to such business activity; provided, however, that our general partner reasonably determines, as of the date of the acquisition or commencement of such activity, that such activity generates “qualifying income” (as such term is defined pursuant to Section 7704 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended). Our general partner has no obligation or duty to us, our limited partners or assignees of partnership interests to propose or approve, and in its discretion may decline to propose or approve, the conduct by us of any business.
Our general partner is authorized in general to perform all acts deemed necessary to carry out our purposes and to conduct our business.
Our partnership agreement specifies the manner in which we will make cash distributions to our unitholders. For a description of these cash distribution provisions, please read “Provisions of Our Partnership Agreement Relating to Cash Distributions.”
Our unitholders are not obligated to make additional capital contributions, except as described below under “—Limited Liability.”
Common Units and Preferred Units
The following is a summary of the unitholder vote required for each of the matters specified below. Matters that require the approval of a “unit majority” require the approval of a majority of the common units and preferred units voting on an as-if converted basis.
13
In voting their common units, our general partner and its affiliates will have no fiduciary duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in good faith or in the best interests of us or the limited partners.
Issuance of additional units | No approval right. Creation of any class of Senior Securities (as defined in the Partnership Agreement Amendment) requires super-majority approval of the preferred unitholders. Please read “—Issuance of Additional Interests.” |
Amendment of the partnership agreement | Certain amendments may be made by our general partner without the approval of the unitholders. Other amendments generally require the approval of a majority of outstanding units. Certain other amendments require the approval of a super-majority of outstanding units. Certain amendments that impact the preferred units require approval of a super-majority of the preferred unitholders. Please read “—Amendment of the Partnership Agreement.” |
Merger of our partnership or the sale of all or substantially all of our assets | Majority of outstanding units. A Change of Control in which consideration to be received by the common unitholders has a value of less than $10.00 per common unit requires approval of the majority of preferred unitholders at the then-applicable Voting Threshold (as defined in the Partnership Agreement Amendment). Please read “—Merger, Sale or Other Disposition of Assets.” |
Dissolution of our partnership | Majority of outstanding units. Please read “—Termination and Dissolution.” |
Continuation of our business upon dissolution | Majority of outstanding units. Please read “—Termination and Dissolution.” |
Election to be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal tax law purposes | Super-majority approval of the holders of the preferred units. Please read “—Amendment of the Partnership Agreement—Opinion of Counsel and Unitholder Approval.” |
Withdrawal of our general partner | No approval right. Please read “—Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner.” |
Removal of our general partner | Not less than 66 2/3% of the outstanding common units, including common units held by our general partner and its affiliates. Please read “—Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner.” |
Transfer of our general partner interest | No approval right. Please read “—Transfer of General Partner Interest.” |
If any person or group other than our general partner and its affiliates acquires beneficial ownership of 20% or more of any class of units, that person or group loses voting rights on all of its units. This loss of voting rights does not apply to (i) (A) any person or group that acquires the units from our general partner or its affiliates and (B) any transferees of that person or group approved by our general partner or to (C) any person or group who
14
acquires the units with the specific prior approval of our general partner, or (ii) (A) with respect to matters as to which the preferred units vote as a separate class and (B) with respect to matters as to which the preferred units vote together with the common units as a single class, provided that, such preferred unitholder would not beneficially own 20% or more of the common units, determined on an as-converted basis at the then-applicable Conversion Ratio. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, with respect to any matter as to which the preferred units vote as a separate class, if at any time First Reserve Management, L.P. and its affiliates (“First Reserve”) acquires beneficial ownership of 20% or more the then outstanding preferred units, then none of such preferred units beneficially owned by First Reserve may be voted on such matter or be considered outstanding when calculating required votes or determining presence for a quorum; provided, however, that such restrictions shall no longer apply when First Reserve ceases to directly or indirectly control our general partner.
In connection with the receipt of the CHLP LP Equity Interests on the Post-Closing Assignment Date, our partnership agreement and the First Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement of the General Partner, dated September 27, 2012, will each be amended and restated to, among other things, provide the holders of common units, and also the holders of preferred units representing limited partner interests in the Partnership, which vote on an as-converted basis, with voting rights in the election of directors of the Board, beginning in 2022. Please read “Crestwood Equity Partners LP—the General Partner Buy-In.”
Class A Units
Holders of Class A units do not have the right to vote on, approve or disapprove, or otherwise consent or not consent with respect to any matter (including mergers, share exchanges and similar statutory authorizations) except as otherwise required by any non-waivable provision of law.
Assuming that a limited partner does not participate in the control of our business within the meaning of the Delaware Act and that it otherwise acts in conformity with the provisions of our partnership agreement, such limited partner’s liability under the Delaware Act will be limited, subject to possible exceptions, to the amount of capital such limited partner is obligated to contribute to us for its common units plus its share of any undistributed profits and assets. If it were determined, however, that the right, or exercise of the right, by our limited partners as a group:
| • | to remove or replace our general partner; |
| • | to approve some amendments to our partnership agreement; or |
| • | to take other action under our partnership agreement; |
constituted “participation in the control” of our business for the purposes of the Delaware Act, then our limited partners could be held personally liable for our obligations under the laws of Delaware, to the same extent as our general partner. This liability would extend to persons who transact business with us under the reasonable belief that the limited partner is a general partner. Neither our partnership agreement nor the Delaware Act specifically provides for legal recourse against our general partner if a limited partner were to lose limited liability through any fault of our general partner. While this does not mean that a limited partner could not seek legal recourse, we know of no precedent for this type of a claim in Delaware case law.
Under the Delaware Act, a limited partnership may not make a distribution to a partner if, after the distribution, all liabilities of the limited partnership, other than liabilities to partners on account of their partnership interests and liabilities for which the recourse of creditors is limited to specific property of the partnership, would exceed the fair value of the assets of the limited partnership. For the purpose of determining the fair value of the assets of a limited partnership, the Delaware Act provides that the fair value of property subject to liability for which recourse of creditors is limited shall be included in the assets of the limited partnership only to the extent that the fair value of that property exceeds the nonrecourse liability. The Delaware
15
Act provides that a limited partner who receives a distribution and knew at the time of the distribution that the distribution was in violation of the Delaware Act shall be liable to the limited partnership for the amount of the distribution for three years.
Limitations on the liability of members or limited partners for the obligations of a limited liability company or limited partnership have not been clearly established in many jurisdictions. If, by virtue of our ownership interest in our subsidiaries or otherwise, it were determined that we were conducting business in any jurisdiction without compliance with the applicable limited liability company or limited partnership statute, or that the right or exercise of the right by our limited partners as a group to remove or replace our general partner, to approve some amendments to our partnership agreement, or to take other action under our partnership agreement constituted “participation in the control” of our business for purposes of the statutes of any relevant jurisdiction, then our limited partners could be held personally liable for our obligations under the law of that jurisdiction to the same extent as our general partner under the circumstances. We will operate in a manner that our general partner considers reasonable and necessary or appropriate to preserve the limited liability of our limited partners.
Issuance of Additional Interests
Our partnership agreement authorizes us to issue an unlimited number of additional partnership interests for the consideration and on the terms and conditions determined by our general partner without the approval of the common unitholders. However, the affirmative vote of a super-majority of the preferred unitholders is required prior to the creation of any class of Senior Securities.
It is possible that we will fund acquisitions through the issuance of additional common units or other partnership interests. Holders of any additional common units we issue will be entitled to share equally with the then-existing common unitholders in our distributions of available cash. In addition, the issuance of additional common units or other partnership interests may dilute the value of the interests of the then-existing common unitholders in our net assets.
In accordance with Delaware law and the provisions of our partnership agreement, we may also issue additional partnership interests that, as determined by our general partner, may have special voting rights to which the common units are not entitled. In addition, our partnership agreement does not prohibit our subsidiaries from issuing equity interests, which may effectively rank senior to the common units.
The common unitholders will not have preemptive rights under our partnership agreement to acquire additional common units or other partnership interests. The preferred unitholders, however, do have preemptive rights with respect to any Parity Securities (as defined in the Partnership Agreement Amendment).
Amendment of the Partnership Agreement
General
Amendments to our partnership agreement may be proposed only by or with the consent of our general partner, which consent may be given or withheld in its sole discretion. To adopt a proposed amendment, other than certain amendments discussed below, our general partner must seek written approval of the holders of the number of units required to approve the amendment or call a meeting of the limited partners to consider and vote upon the proposed amendment. Except as otherwise described below, an amendment must be approved by a unit majority. In addition, the affirmative vote of a super-majority of the preferred unitholders is required prior to amending the partnership agreement in any manner that (i) alters or changes the rights, powers, privileges or preferences or duties and obligations of the preferred units in any material respect, (ii) subject to certain exceptions, increases or decreases the authorized number of preferred units, or (iii) otherwise adversely affects the preferred units, including the creation of any class of Senior Securities.
16
No Unitholder Approval
Our general partner may generally make amendments to our partnership agreement without the approval of any limited partner to reflect:
| • | a change in our name, the location of our principal place of business, our registered agent or our registered office; |
| • | the admission, substitution, withdrawal or removal of partners in accordance with our partnership agreement; |
| • | a change that, in the sole discretion of our general partner, is necessary or advisable to qualify or continue our qualification as a limited partnership or a partnership in which the limited partners have limited liability under the laws of any state or to ensure that we will not be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxed as an entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes; |
| • | an amendment that is necessary, in the opinion of our counsel, to prevent us or our general partner or its directors, officers, agents or trustees from in any manner being subjected to the provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 or “plan asset” regulations adopted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, or ERISA, whether or not substantially similar to plan asset regulations currently applied or proposed; |
| • | an amendment that, in the discretion of our general partner, is necessary or advisable in connection with the authorization of issuance of any class or series of partnership interests; |
| • | any amendment expressly permitted in our partnership agreement to be made by our general partner acting alone; |
| • | an amendment effected, necessitated or contemplated by a merger agreement that has been approved under the terms of our partnership agreement; |
| • | any amendment that, in the discretion of our general partner, is necessary or advisable to reflect, account for and deal with appropriately the formation by us of, or our investment in, any corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company or other entity, as otherwise permitted by our partnership agreement; |
| • | a change in our fiscal year or taxable year and any changes that, in the discretion of our general partner, are necessary or advisable as a result of a change in our fiscal year or taxable year including, if our general partner shall so determine, a change in the definition of “Quarter” and the dates on which distributions are to be made by us; |
| • | a merger or conveyance pursuant to which (i) our general partner has received an opinion of counsel that the merger or conveyance would not result in the loss of the limited liability of any limited partner or cause our partnership to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise to be taxed as an entity for federal income tax purposes (to the extent not previously treated as such), (ii) the sole purpose of such merger or conveyance is to effect a mere change in the legal form of our partnership into another limited liability entity and (iii) the governing instruments of the new entity provide the limited partners and our general partner with the same rights and obligations as are contained in the partnership agreement; or |
| • | any other amendments substantially similar to any of the matters described in the clauses above. |
In addition, our general partner may make amendments to our partnership agreement, without the approval of any limited partner, if our general partner determines that those amendments:
| • | do not adversely affect the limited partners (including any particular class of partnership interests as compared to other classes of partnership interests) in any material respect; |
17
| • | are necessary or advisable to satisfy any requirements, conditions or guidelines contained in any opinion, directive, order, ruling or regulation of any federal or state agency or judicial authority or contained in any federal or state statute; |
| • | are necessary or advisable to facilitate the trading of limited partner interests (including the division of any class or classes of outstanding limited partner interests into different classes to facilitate uniformity of tax consequences within such classes of limited partner interests) or to comply with any rule, regulation, guideline or requirement of any national securities exchange on which the limited partner interests are or will be listed for trading, compliance with any of which our general partner determines in its discretion to be in the best interests of our partnership and our limited partners; |
| • | are necessary or advisable in connection with any action taken by our general partner relating to a split, distribution, subdivision or combination of partnership securities; or |
| • | are required to effect the intent of the provisions of our partnership agreement or are otherwise contemplated by our partnership agreement. |
No Reduction of Voting Percentage Required to Take Action
Any amendment to the partnership agreement that reduces the voting percentage required to take any action must be approved by the affirmative vote of our limited partners constituting not less than the voting requirement sought to be reduced.
No Enlargement of Obligations
No amendment to our partnership agreement may (i) enlarge the obligations of any limited partner without its consent, unless such is deemed to have occurred as a result of an amendment approved by the holders of not less than a majority of the outstanding partnership interests of the class affected, (ii) enlarge the obligations of, restrict in any way any action by or rights of, or reduce in any way the amounts distributable, reimbursable or otherwise payable to, our general partner or any of its affiliates without the consent of general partner, which consent may be given or withheld in its sole discretion, (iii) change the provision of the partnership agreement that provides for the dissolution of our partnership upon the election to dissolve our partnership by our general partner that is approved by the holders of a unit majority (the “Elective Dissolution Provision”) or (iv) change the term of our partnership or, except as set forth in the Elective Dissolution Provision, give any person the right to dissolve our partnership.
No Material Adverse Effect on Rights and Preferences
Except for certain amendments in connection with the merger or consolidation of our partnership and except for those amendments that may be effected by our general partner without the consent of limited partners as described above, any amendment that would have a material adverse effect on the rights or preferences of any class of partnership interests in relation to other classes of partnership interests must be approved by the holders of not less than a majority of the outstanding partnership interests of the class affected, and to the extent such amendment would adversely affect any preferred unitholder in a disproportionate manner, consent of such preferred unitholder would also be required.
Opinion of Counsel and Unitholder Approval
Except as for those amendments that may be effected by our general partner without the consent of limited partners as described above, no amendments shall become effective without the approval of the holders of at least 90% of the outstanding units voting as a single class unless we obtain an opinion of counsel to the effect that such amendment will not affect the limited liability of any limited partner under applicable law. However, unanimous approval of the holders of the preferred units is required prior to our making an election to be treated as a taxable entity for federal income tax purposes.
18
Further Restrictions on Amendments
Except as for those amendments that may be effected by our general partner without the consent of limited partners as described above, the foregoing provisions described above relating to the amendment of our partnership agreement may only be amended with the approval of the holders of at least 90% of the outstanding units (provided that the approval rights of the preferred unitholders may only be amended with the super-majority approval of the preferred unitholders).
Merger, Sale or Other Disposition of Assets
Our partnership agreement generally prohibits our general partner, without the prior approval of a unit majority, from causing us to, among other things, sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of the consolidated assets we and our operating subsidiaries own in a single transaction or a series of related transactions (including by way of merger, consolidation or other combination). Our general partner may, however, mortgage, pledge, hypothecate or grant a security interest in all or substantially all of our consolidated assets without the approval of a unit majority. Our partnership agreement generally prohibits our general partner from causing us to merge or consolidate with another entity without the approval of a unit majority.
If certain conditions specified in the partnership agreement are satisfied, our general partner may merge our partnership or any of our subsidiaries into, or convey some or all of our assets to, a newly formed entity if the sole purpose of that merger or conveyance is to change our legal form into another limited liability entity.
A Change of Control in which consideration to be received by the common unitholders has a value of less than $10.00 per common unit requires approval of the preferred unitholders at the then-applicable Voting Threshold.
We will continue as a limited partnership until dissolved under our partnership agreement. We will dissolve upon:
| • | the election of our general partner to dissolve us, if approved by the holders of units representing a unit majority; |
| • | the sale of all or substantially all of the assets and properties of our partnership and its subsidiaries, treated as a single consolidated entity; |
| • | the entry of a decree of judicial dissolution of our partnership pursuant to the provisions of the Delaware Act; or |
| • | the withdrawal, removal, bankruptcy or dissolution of our general partner, unless a successor general partner is elected prior to or on the effective date of such withdrawal, removal, bankruptcy or dissolution and we receive a withdrawal opinion of counsel. |
Upon (a) dissolution of our partnership following the withdrawal or removal of our general partner and the failure of the partners to select a successor general partner, then within 90 days thereafter, or (b) dissolution of our partnership upon the bankruptcy or dissolution of our general partner, then, to the maximum extent permitted by law, within 180 days thereafter, the holders of a unit majority may elect to reconstitute our partnership and continue its business on the same terms and conditions set forth in our partnership agreement by forming a new limited partnership on terms identical to those set forth in our partnership agreement and having as the successor general partner a person approved by the holders of a unit majority. Unless such an election is made within the applicable time period as set forth above, we shall conduct only activities necessary to wind up its affairs.
Liquidation and Distribution of Proceeds
Upon our dissolution, unless our business is continued, the liquidator authorized to wind up our affairs will, acting with all of the powers of our general partner that are necessary or appropriate, liquidate our assets and
19
apply the proceeds of the liquidation as described in “Provisions of Our Partnership Agreement Relating to Cash Distributions—Distributions of Cash Upon Liquidation.” The liquidator may defer liquidation or distribution of our assets for a reasonable period of time or distribute assets to partners in kind if it determines that a sale would be impractical or would cause undue loss to our partners.
Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner
Our general partner may withdraw as our general partner by giving at least 90 days’ advance notice to the unitholders, such withdrawal to take effect on the date specified in such notice. Our general partner may voluntarily withdraw at any time by giving at least 90 days’ advance notice of its intention to withdraw to the limited partners, such withdrawal to take effect on the date specified in the notice, if at the time such notice is given one person and its affiliates (other than our general partner and its affiliates) own beneficially or of record or control at least 50% of the outstanding units.
If our general partner gives a notice of withdrawal, the holders of a unit majority, may, prior to the effective date of such withdrawal, elect a successor general partner. The person so elected as successor general partner will automatically become the successor general partner. If, prior to the effective date of our general partner’s withdrawal, a successor is not selected by the unitholders or we do not receive a withdrawal opinion of counsel, we will be dissolved in accordance with our partnership agreement.
Our general partner may be removed if such removal is approved by the unitholders holding at least 662⁄3% of the outstanding units (including units held by our general partner and its affiliates). Any such action by such holders for removal of our general partner must also provide for the election of a successor general partner by the unitholders holding a unit majority (including units held by our general partner and its affiliates). Such removal will be effective immediately following the admission of a successor general partner pursuant to our partnership agreement. The right of the holders of outstanding units to remove the general partner will not exist or be exercised unless we have received a withdrawal opinion of counsel.
If our general partner withdraws or is removed, we are required to reimburse the departing general partner for all amounts due the departing general partner.
Transfer of General Partner Interest
At any time, our general partner may transfer all or any of its general partner interest to another person without the approval of our common unitholders. As a condition of this transfer, the transferee must assume, among other things, the rights and duties of our general partner, agree to be bound by the provisions of our partnership agreement and furnish an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters.
Change of Management Provisions
Our partnership agreement contains specific provisions that are intended to discourage a person or group from attempting to remove Crestwood Equity GP LLC as our general partner or from otherwise changing our management. Please read “—Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner” for a discussion of certain consequences of the removal of our general partner. If any person or group, other than our general partner and its affiliates, acquires beneficial ownership of 20% or more of any class of units, that person or group loses voting rights on all of its units. This loss of voting rights does not apply in certain circumstances. Please read “—Meetings; Voting.”
If at any time our general partner and its affiliates own more than 80% of our then-issued and outstanding limited partner interests of any class, our general partner will have the right, but not the obligation, to purchase all, but not less than all, of the remaining limited partners interests of the class at a price not less than the then current market price.
20
As a result of our general partner’s right to purchase outstanding limited partner interests, a holder of limited partner interests may have its limited partner interests purchased at an undesirable time or at a price that may be lower than market prices at various times prior to such purchase or lower than a unitholder may anticipate the market price to be in the future. The U.S. federal income tax consequences to a common unitholder of the exercise of this call right are the same as a sale by that unitholder of its common units in the market. Please read “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences—Disposition of Units.” In the event that our general partner or any affiliate of our general partner exercises its right to purchase all of the outstanding common units, it will result in the occurrence of a Cash COC Event (as defined in the Partnership Agreement Amendment).
For purposes of determining the limited partners entitled to notice of or to vote at a meeting of limited partners or to give approvals without a meeting, our general partner may set a record date, which shall not be less than 10 nor more than 60 days before (i) the date of the meeting (unless such requirement conflicts with any rule, regulation, guideline or requirement of any national securities exchange on which the limited partner interests are listed for trading, in which case the rule, regulation, guideline or requirement of such exchange shall govern) or (ii) in the event that approvals are sought without a meeting, the date by which limited partners are requested in writing by our general partner to give such approvals. Except as described below regarding a person or group owning 20% or more of any class of units then outstanding, record holders of units on the record date will be entitled to notice of, and to vote at, meetings of our limited partners and to act upon matters for which approvals may be solicited.
If authorized by our general partner, any action that may be taken at a meeting of the limited partners may be taken without a meeting if an approval in writing setting forth the action so taken is signed by limited partners owning not less than the minimum percentage of the outstanding limited partner interests (including limited partner interests deemed owned by our general partner) that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all the limited partners were present and voted (unless such provision conflicts with any rule, regulation, guideline or requirement of any national securities exchange on which the limited partner interests are listed for trading, in which case the rule, regulation, guideline or requirement of such exchange shall govern). Special meetings of limited partners may be called by our general partner or by limited partners owning at least 20% of the outstanding partnership securities of the class or classes for which a meeting is proposed. Limited partners may vote either in person or by proxy at meetings. The holders of a majority of the outstanding partnership securities of the class or classes for which a meeting has been called (including limited partner interests deemed owned by our general partner), represented in person or by proxy, will constitute a quorum.
Each record holder of a unit has a vote according to its percentage interest in us, although additional limited partner interests having special voting rights could be issued. Please read “—Issuance of Additional Interests.” For a description of the voting rights of the Class A units, please read “—Limited Voting Rights.” However, if at any time any person or group, other than our general partner and its affiliates, or a direct or subsequently approved transferee of our general partner or its affiliates and purchasers specifically approved by our general partner, acquires, in the aggregate, beneficial ownership of 20% or more of any class of units then outstanding, that person or group will lose voting rights on all of its units and the units may not be voted on any matter and will not be considered to be outstanding when sending notices of a meeting of common unitholders, calculating required votes, determining the presence of a quorum or for other similar purposes. Units held in nominee or street name account will be voted by the broker or other nominee in accordance with the instruction of the beneficial owner unless the arrangement between the beneficial owner and its nominee provides otherwise. This loss of voting rights does not apply (i) (A) to any person or group that acquires the units directly from our general partner or its affiliates, (B) to any transferees of that person or group approved by our general partner or (C) to any person or group who acquires the units with the specific prior approval of our general partner, or (ii) (A) with respect to matters as to which the preferred units vote as a separate class and (B) with respect to matters as to which the preferred units vote together with the common units as a single class, provided that, such preferred unitholder would not beneficially own 20% or more of the common units, determined on an as-converted basis at the then-applicable Conversion Ratio.
21
Any notice, demand, request, report or proxy material required or permitted to be given or made to record common unitholders under our partnership agreement will be delivered to the record holder by us or by the transfer agent.
By transfer of common units in accordance with our partnership agreement, each transferee of common units shall be admitted as a limited partner with respect to the common units transferred when such transfer and admission are reflected in our books and records. Except as described above under “—Limited Liability,” the common units and preferred units will be fully paid, and common unitholders and preferred unitholders will not be required to make additional contributions.
Under our partnership agreement, in most circumstances, we will indemnify certain persons (each, an “Indemnitee”), to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, from and against all losses, claims, damages, liabilities, joint or several, expenses (including legal fees and expenses), judgments, fines, penalties, interest, settlements or other amounts arising from any and all claims, demands, actions, suits or proceedings, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, in which any Indemnitee may be involved, or is threatened to be involved, as a party or otherwise, by reason of its status as an Indemnitee.
This indemnity is available only if the Indemnitee acted in good faith and in a manner that such Indemnitee reasonably believed to be in, or (in the case of a person other than our general partner) not opposed to, the best interests of us and, with respect to any criminal proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe its conduct was unlawful. Indemnitees include (i) any general partner, (ii) any departing general partner, (iii) any person who is or was an affiliate of a general partner or any departing general partner, (iv) any person who is or was a member, partner, officer, director, employee, agent or trustee of us or our subsidiaries, a general partner or any departing general partner or any affiliate of any of our partnership or its subsidiaries, general partner or any departing general partner and (v) any person who is or was serving at the request of a general partner or any departing general partner or any affiliate of a general partner or any departing general partner as an officer, director, employee, member, partner, agent, fiduciary or trustee of another person. We will pay expenses subject to indemnity to the Indemnitee in advance, subject to receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of the Indemnitee to repay such amount if it is ultimately determined by a court of competent jurisdiction that the Indemnitee is not entitled to indemnification. We maintain a liability insurance policy on behalf of certain of the Indemnitees.
The limited liability company agreement of our general partner provides for the indemnification of affiliates of our general partner and members, managers, partners, officers, directors, employees, agents and trustees of our general partner or any affiliate of our general partner and such persons who serve at the request of our general partner as members, managers, partners, officers, directors, employees, agents, trustees and fiduciaries of any other enterprise against certain liabilities under certain circumstances.
Any indemnification under these provisions will only be out of our assets. Unless our general partner otherwise agrees, it will not be personally liable for, or have any obligation to contribute or lend funds or assets to us to enable us to effectuate, indemnification. We may purchase insurance covering liabilities asserted against and expenses incurred by persons for our activities, regardless of whether we would have the power to indemnify the person against liabilities under our partnership agreement. To the extent these provisions purport to include indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is contrary to public policy and, therefore, unenforceable.
Our general partner does not receive any compensation for its services as our partnership’s general partner. Our partnership agreement requires us to reimburse our general partner for all direct and indirect expenses it
22
incurs or payments it makes on our behalf and all other necessary or appropriate expenses allocable to us or otherwise reasonably incurred by our general partner in connection with operating our business. Our partnership agreement does not limit the amount of expenses for which our general partner and its affiliates may be reimbursed. These expenses include salary, bonus, incentive compensation and other amounts paid to persons who perform services for us or on our behalf and expenses allocated to our general partner by its affiliates. Under our partnership agreement, our general partner is entitled to determine in any reasonable manner in its sole discretion the expenses that are allocable to us.
Our general partner is required to keep appropriate books of our business at our principal offices. These books will be maintained for both tax and financial reporting purposes on an accrual basis. For tax and fiscal reporting purposes, our fiscal year is the calendar year.
We will furnish or make available to record holders of our common units, within 105 days after the close of each fiscal year, an annual report containing audited consolidated financial statements and a report on those consolidated financial statements by our independent registered public accounting firm. Except for our fourth quarter, we will also furnish or make available summary financial information within 50 days after the close of each quarter. We will be deemed to have made any such report available if we file such report with the SEC on EDGAR or make the report available on a publicly available website which we maintain.
We will furnish each record holder of a unit with information reasonably required for U.S. federal and state tax reporting purposes within 90 days after the close of each calendar year. This information is expected to be furnished in summary form so that some complex calculations normally required of partners can be avoided. Our ability to furnish this summary information to our common unitholders will depend on their cooperation in supplying us with specific information. Every common unitholder will receive information to assist such unitholder in determining its U.S. federal and state tax liability and in filing its U.S. federal and state income tax returns, regardless of whether such unitholder supplies us with the necessary information.
Right to Inspect Our Books and Records
Our partnership agreement provides that a limited partner can, for a purpose reasonably related to its interest as a limited partner, upon reasonable written demand stating the purpose of such demand and at such partner’s own expense, have furnished to it:
| • | a current list of the name and last known address of each record holder; |
| • | copies of our partnership agreement, our certificate of limited partnership and related amendments and any powers of attorney under which they have been executed; |
| • | information regarding the status of our business and our financial condition; and |
| • | any other information regarding our affairs as our general partner determines is just and reasonable. |
Our general partner may, and intends to, keep confidential from the limited partners trade secrets or other information the disclosure of which our general partner believes in good faith is not in our best interests, could damage us or our business or that we are required by law or by agreements with third parties to keep confidential.
Under our partnership agreement, subject to certain exceptions, we have agreed to register for resale under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws any common units or other limited partner interests proposed to be sold by our general partner or any of its affiliates or their assignees if an exemption from the registration requirements is not otherwise available. These registration rights continue for two years following any withdrawal or removal of Crestwood Equity GP LLC as our general partner. We are obligated to pay all expenses incidental to the registration, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions.
23
On September 30, 2015, we entered into a Registration Rights Agreement (the ��2015 Registration Rights Agreement”) with the preferred unitholders and agreed to register the common units issuable upon conversion of the preferred units, including the common units issuable upon conversion of preferred units that we may issue as payment in kind to the preferred unitholders. Also, pursuant to the 2015 Registration Rights Agreement, under certain limited circumstances, the preferred unitholders have the option, by providing written notice to us, to require us to prepare and file a registration statement under the Securities Act to permit the public resale of the preferred units. We filed a registration statement on Form S-3 registering the common units issuable upon conversion of the preferred units, including the common units issuable upon conversion of preferred units that we may issue as payment in kind to the preferred unitholders, on March 14, 2016, and such registration statement was declared effective on June 15, 2016. We filed a registration statement on Form 8-A registering the preferred units on June 28, 2019, and such preferred units were approved for listing on the NYSE on July 3, 2019. In certain circumstances, the selling unitholders will have piggyback registration rights as described in the 2015 Registration Rights Agreement. On December 28, 2017, we entered into a second Registration Rights Agreement (the “Jackalope Registration Rights Agreement”) with CN Jackalope Holdings, LLC pursuant to which we provided certain registration rights upon the occurrence of a Trigger Event (as defined in the Jackalope Registration Rights Agreement), as well as piggyback registration rights.
On March 30, 2021, we entered into a Registration Rights Agreement (the “2021 Registration Rights Agreement”) with the selling unitholders and agreed to register the common units. Also, pursuant to the 2021 Registration Rights Agreement, under certain limited circumstances, the selling unitholders have the option, by providing written notice to us, to require us to prepare and file a registration statement under the Securities Act to permit the public resale of the common units. In certain circumstances, the selling unitholders will have piggyback registration rights as described in the 2021 Registration Rights Agreement.
24
MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES
This section summarizes the material U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be relevant to prospective unitholders and is based upon current provisions of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), existing and proposed U.S. Treasury regulations thereunder (the “Treasury Regulations”), and current administrative rulings and court decisions, all of which are subject to change. Changes in these authorities may cause the federal income tax consequences to a prospective unitholder to vary substantially from those described below, possibly on a retroactive basis. Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this section to “we” “us” or “the Partnership” are references to Crestwood Equity Partners LP and its subsidiaries.
Legal conclusions contained in this section, unless otherwise noted, are the opinion of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. and are based on the accuracy of representations made by us to them for this purpose. However, this section does not address all federal income tax matters that may affect us or our unitholders, such as the application of the alternative minimum tax. This section also does not address local taxes, state taxes, non-U.S. taxes, or other taxes that may be applicable, except to the limited extent that such tax considerations are addressed below under “—State, Local and Other Tax Considerations.” Furthermore, this section focuses on unitholders who are individual citizens or residents of the United States (for federal income tax purposes), who have the U.S. dollar as their functional currency, who use the calendar year as their taxable year, who do not materially participate in the conduct of our business activities and who hold such common units as capital assets (typically, property that is held for investment). This section has limited applicability to corporations (including other entities treated as corporations for federal income tax purposes), partnerships (including other entities treated as partnerships for federal income tax purposes), estates, trusts, non-resident aliens or other unitholders subject to specialized tax treatment, such as tax-exempt entities, non-U.S. persons, individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”), employee benefit plans, real estate investment trusts or mutual funds.
Accordingly, we encourage each prospective unitholder to consult the unitholder’s own tax advisor in analyzing the federal, state, local and non-U.S. tax consequences that are particular to that unitholder resulting from ownership or disposition of our common units and potential changes in applicable tax laws.
We are relying on the opinions and advice of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. with respect to the matters described herein. An opinion of counsel represents only that counsel’s best legal judgment and does not bind the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) or a court. Accordingly, the opinions and statements made herein may not be sustained by a court if contested by the IRS. Any such contest of the matters described herein may materially and adversely impact the market for our common units and the prices at which our common units trade. In addition, our costs of any contest with the IRS will be borne indirectly by our unitholders because the costs will reduce our cash available for distribution. Furthermore, the tax consequences of an investment in us may be significantly modified by future legislative or administrative changes or court decisions, which may be retroactively applied.
For the reasons described below, Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. has not rendered an opinion with respect to the following federal income tax issues:
| • | the treatment of a unitholder whose common units are the subject of a securities loan (e.g., a loan to a short seller to cover a short sale of common units) (please read “—Tax Consequences of Common Unit Ownership—Treatment of Securities Loans”); |
| • | whether our monthly convention for allocating taxable income and losses is permitted by existing Treasury Regulations (please read “—Disposition of Common Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees”); and |
| • | whether our method for taking into account Section 743 adjustments is sustainable in certain cases (please read “—Tax Consequences of Common Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election” and “—Uniformity of Common Units”). |
25
Taxation of the Partnership
Partnership Status
We are treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, therefore, subject to the discussion below under “—Administrative Matters—Information Returns and Audit Procedures,” generally will not be liable for entity-level federal income taxes. Instead, as described below, each of our unitholders will take into account its respective share of our items of income, gain, loss and deduction in computing its federal income tax liability as if the unitholder had earned such income directly, even if we make no cash distributions to the unitholder. Distributions we make to a unitholder will not give rise to income or gain taxable to such unitholder, unless the amount of cash distributed exceeds the unitholder’s adjusted tax basis in its common units. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Common Unit Ownership—Treatment of Distributions” and “—Disposition of Common Units”).
Section 7704 of the Code generally provides that publicly traded partnerships will be treated as a corporations for federal income tax purposes. However, if 90% or more of a partnership’s gross income for every taxable year it is publicly traded consists of “qualifying income,” the partnership may continue to be treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes (the “Qualifying Income Exception”). Qualifying income includes, (i) interest, (ii) dividends, (iii) real property rents within the meaning of Section 856(d) of the Code, as modified by Section 7704(d)(3) of the Code, (iv) gains from the sale or other disposition of real property, (v) income and gains derived from the exploration, development, mining or production, processing, refining, transportation (including pipelines transporting gas, oil, or products thereof) or the marketing of any “mineral or natural resource,” and (vi) gains from the sale or other disposition of capital assets (or property described in Section 1231(b) of the Code) held for the production of income that otherwise constitutes qualifying income. We estimate that less than 5% of our current gross income is not qualifying income; however, this estimate could change from time to time.
No ruling has been or will be sought from the IRS with respect to our classification as a partnership for federal income tax purposes or as to the classification of our partnership and limited liability company operating subsidiaries. Instead we have relied on the opinion of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. that, based upon the Code, existing Treasury Regulations, published revenue rulings and court decisions and representations described below, Crestwood Equity Partners LP and each of our partnership and limited liability company operating subsidiaries (other than Crestwood Gas Services GP LLC) will be classified as a partnership or disregarded as an entity separate from us for federal income tax purposes.
Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. is of the opinion that we will be treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes and each of our partnership and limited liability company operating subsidiaries (other than Crestwood Gas Services GP LLC), will be treated as a partnership or will be disregarded as an entity separate from us. In rendering its opinion, Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. has relied on factual representations made by us and our general partner, including, without limitation:
| • | Neither we nor any of our partnership or limited liability company operating subsidiaries (other than Crestwood Gas Services GP LLC) have elected or will elect to be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes; |
| • | For each taxable year since and including the year of our initial public offering, more than 90% of our gross income has been and will be income of a character that Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. has opined is “qualifying income” within the meaning of Section 7704(d) of the Code; and |
| • | Each hedging transaction that we treat as resulting in qualifying income has been and will be appropriately identified as a hedging transaction pursuant to applicable Treasury Regulations, and has been and will be associated with oil, natural gas or products thereof that are held or to be held by us in activities that Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. has opined or will opine result in qualifying income. |
We believe that these representations are true and will be true in the future.
26
If we fail to meet the Qualifying Income Exception, other than a failure that is determined by the IRS to be inadvertent and that is cured within a reasonable time after discovery (in which case the IRS may also require us to make adjustments with respect to our unitholders or pay other amounts), we will be treated as transferring all of our assets, subject to all of our liabilities, to a newly formed corporation, on the first day of the year in which we fail to meet the Qualifying Income Exception in return for stock in that corporation and then as distributing that stock to our unitholders in liquidation of their interests in us. This deemed contribution and liquidation should not result in the recognition of taxable income by our unitholders or us so long as the aggregate amount of our liabilities does not exceed the adjusted tax basis of our assets. Thereafter, we would be treated as an association taxable as a corporation for federal income tax purposes.
The present U.S. federal income tax treatment of publicly traded partnerships, including us, or an investment in our common units may be modified by administrative or legislative action or judicial interpretation at any time. From time to time, members of the U.S. Congress have proposed and considered substantive changes to the existing federal income tax laws that would affect publicly traded partnerships. One such legislative proposal would have eliminated the Qualifying Income Exception upon which we rely for our treatment as a partnership for federal income tax purposes.
In addition, on January 24, 2017, final regulations regarding which activities give rise to qualifying income (the “Final Regulations”) within the meaning of Section 7704 of the Code were published in the Federal Register. The Final Regulations are effective as of January 19, 2017, and apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 19, 2017. We do not believe the Final Regulations affect our ability to qualify as a publicly traded partnership.
It is possible that a change in law could affect us and may be applied retroactively. Any such changes could negatively impact the value of an investment in our common units. If for any reason we are taxable as a corporation in any taxable year, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction would be taken into account by us in determining the amount of our liability for federal income tax, rather than being passed through to our unitholders.
At the state level, several states have been evaluating ways to subject partnerships to entity-level taxation through the imposition of state income, franchise, or other forms of taxation. Imposition of a similar tax on us in the jurisdictions in which we operate or in other jurisdictions to which we may expand could substantially reduce our cash available for distribution to our unitholders.
Our taxation as a corporation would materially reduce the cash available for distribution to unitholders and thus would likely substantially reduce the value of our common units. Any distribution made to a unitholder at a time when we are treated as a corporation would be (i) a taxable dividend to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits, then (ii) a nontaxable return of capital to the extent of the unitholder’s adjusted tax basis in its common units (determined separately for each common unit), and thereafter (iii) taxable capital gain.
The remainder of this discussion is based on the opinion of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. that we will be treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes.
Tax Consequences of Common Unit Ownership
Limited Partner Status
Unitholders of the Partnership who are admitted as limited partners of the Partnership will be treated as partners of the Partnership for federal income tax purposes. In addition, assignees who have executed and delivered transfer applications, and are awaiting admission as limited partners, and unitholders whose common units are held in street name or by a nominee and who have the right to direct the nominee in the exercise of all substantive rights attendant to the ownership of their common units will be treated as partners of the Partnership for federal income tax purposes.
27
As there is no direct or indirect controlling authority addressing assignees of common units who are entitled to execute and deliver transfer applications and thereby become entitled to direct the exercise of attendant rights, but who fail to execute and deliver transfer applications, Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.’s opinion does not extend to these persons. Furthermore, a purchaser or other transferee of common units who does not execute and deliver a transfer application may not receive some federal income tax information or reports furnished to record holders of common units unless the common units are held in a nominee or street name account and the nominee or broker has executed and delivered a transfer application for those common units.
For a discussion related to the risks of losing partner status as a result of securities loans, please read “—Treatment of Securities Loans.” Unitholders who are not treated as partners in us as described above are urged to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the tax consequences applicable to them under their particular circumstances.
Flow-Through of Taxable Income
Subject to the discussion below under “—Entity-Level Collections of Unitholder Taxes” and “—Administrative Matters—Information Returns and Audit Procedures,” with respect to payments we may be required to make on behalf of our unitholders, we will not pay any federal income tax. Rather, each unitholder will be required to report on its federal income tax return each year its share of our income, gains, losses and deductions for our taxable year or years ending with or within its taxable year. Consequently, we may allocate income to a unitholder even if that unitholder has not received a cash distribution.
Basis of Common Units
A unitholder’s tax basis in its common units initially will be the amount paid or treated as paid for those common units increased by the unitholder’s initial allocable share of our liabilities. That basis generally will be (i) increased by the unitholder’s share of our income and any increases in such unitholder’s share of our liabilities, and (ii) decreased, but not below zero, by the amount of all distributions to the unitholder, the unitholder’s share of our losses, any decreases in its share of our liabilities, and the amount of any excess business interest allocated to the unitholder. The IRS has ruled that a partner who acquires interests in a partnership in separate transactions must combine those interests and maintain a single adjusted tax basis for all of those interests.
Treatment of Distributions
Distributions made by us to a unitholder generally will not be taxable to the unitholder, unless such distributions are of cash or marketable securities that are treated as cash and exceed the unitholder’s tax basis in its common units, in which case the unitholder generally will recognize gain taxable in the manner described below under “—Disposition of Common Units.”
Any reduction in a unitholder’s share of our “nonrecourse liabilities” (liabilities for which no partner bears the economic risk of loss) will be treated as a distribution by us of cash to that unitholder. A decrease in a unitholder’s percentage interest in us because of our issuance of additional common units may decrease such unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities. For purposes of the foregoing, a unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities generally will be based upon such unitholder’s share of the unrealized appreciation (or depreciation) in our assets, to the extent thereof, with any excess nonrecourse liabilities allocated based on the unitholder’s share of our profits. Please read “—Disposition of Common Units.”
A non-pro rata distribution of money or property (including a deemed distribution as a result of the reallocation of our nonrecourse liabilities described above) may cause a unitholder to recognize ordinary income if the distribution reduces the unitholder’s share of our “unrealized receivables,” including depreciation recapture and substantially appreciated “inventory items,” both as defined in Section 751 of the Code (“Section 751
28
Assets”). To the extent of such reduction, the unitholder would be deemed to receive its proportionate share of the Section 751 Assets and exchange such assets with us in return for a portion of the non-pro rata distribution. This deemed exchange will generally result in the unitholder’s recognition of ordinary income in an amount equal to the excess of (i) the non-pro rata portion of that distribution over (ii) the unitholder’s tax basis (typically zero) in the Section 751 Assets deemed to be relinquished in the exchange.
Limitations on Deductibility of Losses
A unitholder may not be entitled to deduct the full amount of loss we allocate to it because its share of our losses will be limited to the lesser of (i) the unitholder’s adjusted tax basis in its common units, and (ii) in the case of a unitholder that is an individual, estate, trust or certain types of closely held corporations, the amount for which the unitholder is considered to be “at risk” with respect to our activities. A unitholder will be at risk to the extent of its adjusted tax basis in its common units, reduced by (a) any portion of that basis attributable to the unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities, (b) any portion of that basis representing amounts otherwise protected against loss because of a guarantee, stop loss agreement or similar arrangement, and (c) any amount of money the unitholder borrows to acquire or hold its common units, if the lender of those borrowed funds owns an interest in us, is related to another unitholder or can look only to the common units for repayment. A unitholder subject to the at risk limitation must recapture losses deducted in previous years to the extent that distributions (including distributions deemed to result from a reduction in a unitholder’s share of nonrecourse liabilities) cause the unitholder’s at risk amount to be less than zero at the end of any taxable year.
Losses disallowed to a unitholder or recaptured as a result of the basis or at risk limitations will carry forward and will be allowable as a deduction in a later year to the extent that the unitholder’s adjusted tax basis or at risk amount, whichever is the limiting factor, is subsequently increased. Upon a taxable disposition of our common units, any gain recognized by a unitholder can be offset by losses that were previously suspended by the at risk limitation but not losses suspended by the basis limitation. Any loss previously suspended by the at risk limitation in excess of that gain can no longer be used, and will not be available to offset a unitholder’s salary or active business income.
In addition to the basis and at risk limitations, passive activity loss limitations limit the deductibility of losses incurred by individuals, estates, trusts, some closely held corporations and personal service corporations from “passive activities” (generally, trade or business activities in which the taxpayer does not materially participate). The passive loss limitations are applied separately with respect to each publicly traded partnership. Consequently, any passive losses we generate will be available to offset only passive income generated by us. Passive losses that exceed a unitholder’s share of the passive income we generate may be deducted in full when a unitholder disposes of all of its common units in a fully taxable transaction with an unrelated party. The passive activity loss rules are applied after other applicable limitations on deductions, including the at risk and basis limitations.
For taxpayers other than corporations in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2026, an “excess business loss” limitation further limits the deductibility of losses by such taxpayers. An excess business loss is the excess (if any) of a taxpayer’s aggregate deductions for the taxable year that are attributable to the trades or businesses of such taxpayer (determined without regard to the excess business loss limitation) over the aggregate gross income or gain of such taxpayer for the taxable year that is attributable to such trades or businesses plus a threshold amount. The threshold amount is equal to $250,000 or $500,000 (increased by the applicable inflation adjustment) for taxpayers filing a joint return. Disallowed excess business losses are treated as a net operating loss carryover to the following tax year. Any losses we generate that are allocated to a unitholder and not otherwise limited by the basis, at risk, or passive loss limitations will be included in the determination of such unitholder’s aggregate trade or business deductions. Consequently, any losses we generate that are not otherwise limited will only be available to offset a unitholder’s other trade or business income plus an amount of non-trade or business income equal to the applicable threshold amount. Thus, except to the extent of the threshold amount, our losses that are not otherwise limited may not offset a
29
unitholder’s non-trade or business income (such as salaries, fees, interest, dividends and capital gains). This excess business loss limitation will be applied after the passive activity loss limitation.
Limitations on Interest Deductions
In general, we are entitled to a deduction for interest paid or accrued on indebtedness properly allocable to our trade or business during our taxable year. However, subject to the exceptions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act,” discussed below), our deduction for this “business interest” is limited to the sum of our business interest income and 30% of our “adjusted taxable income.” For the purposes of this limitation, our adjusted taxable income is computed without regard to any business interest or business interest income, and in the case of taxable years beginning before January 1, 2022, any deduction allowable for depreciation, amortization, or depletion. This limitation is first applied at the partnership level and any deduction for business interest is taken into account in determining our non-separately stated taxable income or loss. Then, in applying this business interest limitation at the partner level, the adjusted taxable income of each of our unitholders is determined without regard to such unitholder’s distributive share of any of our items of income, gain, deduction, or loss and is increased by such unitholder’s distributive share of our excess taxable income, which is generally equal to the excess of 30% of our adjusted taxable income over the amount of our deduction for business interest for a taxable year. This interest expense limitation does not apply to interest deductions for, among other things, regulated natural gas pipelines; however, we do not expect a material amount of trade or business interest deductions to be eligible for this exemption.
To the extent our deduction for business interest is not limited, we will allocate the full amount of our deduction for business interest among our unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us. To the extent our deduction for business interest is limited, the amount of any disallowed deduction for business interest will also be allocated to each unitholder in accordance with their percentage interest in us, but such amount of “excess business interest” will not be currently deductible. Subject to certain limitations and adjustments to a unitholder’s basis in its common units, this excess business interest may be carried forward and deducted by a unitholder in a future taxable year. Further, a unitholder’s basis in his or her common units will generally be increased by the amount of any excess business interest upon a disposition of such common units.
For our 2020 taxable year, the CARES Act increases the 30% adjusted taxable income limitation to 50%, unless we elect not to apply such increase. For purposes of determining our 50% adjusted taxable income limitation, we may elect to substitute our 2020 adjusted taxable income with our 2019 adjusted taxable income, which may result in a greater business interest expense deduction. In addition, unitholders may treat 50% of any excess business interest allocated to them in 2019 as deductible in the 2020 taxable year without regard to the 2020 business interest expense limitations. The remaining 50% of such unitholder’s excess business interest is carried forward and subject to the same limitations as other taxable years.
In addition to this limitation on the deductibility of a partnership’s business interest, the deductibility of a non-corporate taxpayer’s “investment interest expense” is generally limited to the amount of that taxpayer’s “net investment income.” Investment interest expense includes:
| • | interest on indebtedness allocable to property held for investment; |
| • | interest expense allocated against portfolio income; and |
| • | the portion of interest expense incurred to purchase or carry an interest in a passive activity to the extent allocable against portfolio income. |
The computation of a unitholder’s investment interest expense will take into account interest on any margin account borrowing or other loan incurred to purchase or carry a common unit. Net investment income includes gross income from property held for investment and amounts treated as portfolio income under the passive loss rules, less deductible expenses, other than interest, directly connected with the production of investment income.
30
Net investment income does not include qualified dividend income (if applicable) or gains attributable to the disposition of property held for investment. A unitholder’s share of a publicly traded partnership’s portfolio income and, according to the IRS, net passive income will be treated as investment income for purposes of the investment interest expense limitation.
Entity-Level Collections of Unitholder Taxes
If we are required or elect under applicable law to pay any federal, state, local or non-U.S. tax on behalf of any current or former unitholder, our partnership agreement authorizes us to treat the payment as a distribution of cash to the relevant unitholder or general partner. Where the tax is payable on behalf of all unitholders or we cannot determine the specific unitholder on whose behalf the tax is payable, our partnership agreement authorizes us to treat the payment as a distribution to all current unitholders. We are authorized to amend our partnership agreement in the manner necessary to maintain uniformity of intrinsic tax characteristics of common units and to adjust later distributions, so that after giving effect to these distributions, the priority and characterization of distributions otherwise applicable under our partnership agreement is maintained as nearly as is practicable. Payments by us as described above could give rise to an overpayment of tax on behalf of a unitholder, in which event the unitholder may be entitled to claim a refund of the overpayment amount. Please read “—Administrative Matters—Information Returns and Audit Procedures”. Each unitholder is urged to consult its tax advisor to determine the consequences to them of any tax payment we make on its behalf.
Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction
After giving effect to special allocation provisions with respect to our other classes of units, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction will be allocated amongst our unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us. Specified items of our income, gain, loss and deduction will be allocated under Section 704(c) of the Code (or the principles of Section 704(c) of the Code) to account for any difference between the adjusted tax basis and fair market value of our assets at the time such assets are contributed to us and at the time of any subsequent offering of our common units (a “Book-Tax Disparity”). As a result, the federal income tax burden associated with any Book-Tax Disparity immediately prior to an offering will be borne by our partners holding interests in us prior to such offering. In addition, items of recapture income will be specially allocated to the extent possible (subject to the limitations described above) to the unitholder who was allocated the deduction giving rise to that recapture income in order to minimize the recognition of ordinary income by other unitholders.
An allocation of items of our income, gain, loss or deduction, other than an allocation required by the Code to eliminate a Book-Tax Disparity, will be given effect for federal income tax purposes in determining a unitholder’s share of an item of income, gain, loss or deduction only if the allocation has “substantial economic effect.” In any other case, a unitholder’s share of an item will be determined on the basis of the unitholder’s interest in us, which will be determined by taking into account all the facts and circumstances, including (i) the unitholder’s relative contributions to us, (ii) the interests of all the partners in profits and losses, (iii) the interest of all the partners in cash flow and (iv) the rights of all the partners to distributions of capital upon liquidation. Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. is of the opinion that, with the exception of the issues described in “— Section 754 Election” and “— Disposition of Common Units — Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees,” allocations of income, gain, loss or deduction under our partnership agreement will be given effect for federal income tax purposes.
Treatment of Securities Loans
A unitholder whose common units are the subject of a securities loan (for example, a loan to a “short seller” to cover a short sale of common units) may be treated as having disposed of those common units. If so, such unitholder would no longer be treated for tax purposes as a partner with respect to those common units during the period of the loan and may recognize gain or loss as a result of such deemed disposition. As a result, during this period (i) any of our income, gain, loss or deduction allocated to those common units would not be reportable by
31
the lending unitholder, and (ii) any cash distributions received by the lending unitholder as to those common units may be treated as ordinary taxable income.
Due to a lack of controlling authority, Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. has not rendered an opinion regarding the tax treatment of a unitholder that enters into a securities loan with respect to its common units. A unitholder desiring to assure its status as a partner and avoid the risk of income recognition from a loan of its common units is urged to modify any applicable brokerage account agreements to prohibit its brokers from borrowing and lending its common units. The IRS has announced that it is studying issues relating to the tax treatment of short sales of partnership interests. Please read “—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss.”
Tax Rates
Under current law, the highest marginal federal income tax rates for individuals applicable to ordinary income and long-term capital gains (generally, gains from the sale or exchange of certain investment assets held for more than one year) are 37% and 20%, respectively. These rates are subject to change by new legislation at any time.
In addition, a 3.8% net investment income tax applies to certain net investment income earned by individuals, estates, and trusts. For these purposes, net investment income generally includes a unitholder’s allocable share of our income and gain realized by a unitholder from a sale of common units (without taking into account the 20% deduction discussed below). In the case of an individual, the tax will be imposed on the lesser of (i) the unitholder’s net investment income from all investments, or (ii) the amount by which the unitholder’s modified adjusted gross income exceeds $250,000 (if the unitholder is married and filing jointly or a surviving spouse), $125,000 (if the unitholder is married and filing separately) or $200,000 (if the unitholder is unmarried or in any other case). In the case of an estate or trust, the tax will be imposed on the lesser of (i) undistributed net investment income, or (ii) the excess adjusted gross income over the dollar amount at which the highest income tax bracket applicable to an estate or trust begins.
For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and ending on or before December 31, 2025, an individual unitholder is entitled to a deduction equal to 20% of his or her allocable share of our “qualified business income.” For purposes of this deduction, our “qualified business income” is equal to the sum of:
| • | the net amount of our U.S. items of income, gain, deduction, and loss to the extent such items are included or allowed in the determination of taxable income for the year, excluding, however, certain specified types of passive investment income (such as capital gains and dividends) and certain payments made to the unitholder for services rendered to the Partnership; and |
| • | any gain recognized upon a disposition of our common units to the extent such gain is attributable to Section 751 Assets, such as depreciation recapture and our “inventory items,” and is thus treated as ordinary income under Section 751 of the Code. |
Section 754 Election
We have made the election permitted by Section 754 of the Code that permits us to adjust the tax basis in each of our assets as to specific purchasers of our common units under Section 743(b) of the Code to reflect the common unit purchase price upon subsequent purchases of common units. That election is irrevocable without the consent of the IRS. The Section 743(b) adjustment separately applies to a unitholder who purchases common units from another unitholder based upon the values and adjusted tax basis of each of our assets at the time of the relevant unit purchase, and the adjustment will reflect the purchase price paid. The Section 743(b) adjustment does not apply to a person who purchases common units directly from us. For purposes of this discussion, a unitholder’s basis in our assets will be considered to have two components: (i) its share of the tax basis in our assets as to all unitholders and (ii) its Section 743(b) adjustment to that tax basis (which may be positive or negative).
32
Under our partnership agreement, we are authorized to take a position to preserve the uniformity of common units even if that position is not consistent with applicable Treasury Regulations. A literal application of Treasury Regulations governing a Section 743(b) adjustment attributable to properties depreciable under Section 167 of the Code may give rise to differences in the taxation of unitholders purchasing common units from us and unitholders purchasing from other unitholders. If we have any such properties, we intend to adopt methods employed by other publicly traded partnerships to preserve the uniformity of common units, even if inconsistent with existing Treasury Regulations, and Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. has not opined on the validity of this approach. Please read “—Uniformity of Common Units.”
The IRS may challenge the positions we adopt with respect to depreciating or amortizing the Section 743(b) adjustment to preserve the uniformity of common units due to the lack of controlling authority. Because a unitholder’s adjusted tax basis for its common units is reduced by its share of our items of deduction or loss, any position we take that understates deductions will overstate a unitholder’s tax basis in its common units, and may cause the unitholder to understate gain or overstate loss on any sale of such common units. Please read “— Disposition of Common Units — Recognition of Gain or Loss.” If a challenge to such treatment were sustained, the gain from the sale of common units may be increased without the benefit of additional deductions.
The calculations involved in the Section 754 election are complex and are made on the basis of assumptions as to the value of our assets and other matters. The IRS could seek to reallocate some or all of any Section 743(b) adjustment we allocated to our assets subject to depreciation to goodwill or nondepreciable assets. Goodwill, as an intangible asset, is generally amortizable over a longer period of time or under a less accelerated method than our tangible assets. We cannot assure any unitholder that the determinations we make will not be successfully challenged by the IRS or that the resulting deductions will not be reduced or disallowed altogether. Should the IRS require a different tax basis adjustment to be made, and should, in our opinion, the expense of compliance exceed the benefit of the election, we may seek permission from the IRS to revoke our Section 754 election. If permission is granted, a subsequent purchaser of common units may be allocated more income than it would have been allocated had the election not been revoked.
Tax Treatment of Operations
Accounting Method and Taxable Year
We use the year ending December 31 as our taxable year and the accrual method of accounting for federal income tax purposes. Each unitholder will be required to include in its tax return its share of our income, gain, loss and deduction for each taxable year ending within or with its taxable year. In addition, a unitholder who has a taxable year ending on a date other than December 31 and who disposes of all of its common units following the close of our taxable year but before the close of its taxable year must include its share of our income, gain, loss and deduction in income for its taxable year, with the result that it will be required to include in income for its taxable year its share of more than twelve months of our income, gain, loss and deduction. Please read “—Disposition of Common Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees.”
Tax Basis, Depreciation and Amortization
The tax basis of each of our assets will be used for purposes of computing depreciation and cost recovery deductions and, ultimately, gain or loss on the disposition of these assets. If we dispose of depreciable property by sale, foreclosure or otherwise, all or a portion of any gain, determined by reference to the amount of depreciation deductions previously taken, may be subject to the recapture rules and taxed as ordinary income rather than capital gain. Similarly, a unitholder who has taken cost recovery or depreciation deductions with respect to property we own will likely be required to recapture some or all of those deductions as ordinary income upon a sale of its interest in us. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Common Unit Ownership—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction” and “—Disposition of Common Units – Recognition of Gain or Loss.”
33
The costs we incur in offering and selling our common units (called “syndication expenses”) must be capitalized and cannot be deducted currently, ratably or upon our termination. While there are uncertainties regarding the classification of certain costs as organization expenses, which may be amortized by us, and as syndication expenses, which may not be amortized by us, the underwriting discounts and commissions we incur will be treated as syndication expenses. Please read “Disposition of Common Units – Recognition of Gain or Loss.”
We are allowed a first-year bonus depreciation deduction equal to 100% of the adjusted basis of certain depreciable property acquired and placed in service after September 27, 2017 and before January 1, 2023. For property placed in service during subsequent years, the deduction is phased down by 20% per year until December 31, 2026. This depreciation deduction applies to both new and used property. However, use of the deduction with respect to used property is subject to certain anti-abuse restrictions, including the requirement that the property be acquired from an unrelated party. We can elect to forgo the depreciation bonus and use the alternative depreciation system for any class of property for a taxable year. Under a transition rule, we can also elect to apply a 50% bonus depreciation deduction instead of the 100% deduction for our first taxable year ending after September 27, 2017. In addition, an immaterial amount of our property is not expected to be eligible for this bonus depreciation as a result of an exclusions that applies to property placed in service with respect to, among other things, regulated natural gas pipelines.
Valuation and Tax Basis of Each of Our Properties
The federal income tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of common units will depend in part on our estimates of the relative fair market values and the tax basis of each of our assets. Although we may from time to time consult with professional appraisers regarding valuation matters, we will make many of the relative fair market value estimates ourselves. These estimates and determinations of tax basis are subject to challenge and will not be binding on the IRS or the courts. If the estimates of fair market value or tax basis are later found to be incorrect, the character and amount of items of income, gain, loss or deduction previously reported by a unitholder could change, and such unitholder could be required to adjust its tax liability for prior years and incur interest and penalties with respect to those adjustments.
Disposition of Common Units
Recognition of Gain or Loss
A unitholder will be required to recognize gain or loss on a sale or exchange of a common unit equal to the difference, if any, between the unitholder’s amount realized and the adjusted tax basis in the common unit sold (taking into account any basis adjustments attributable to previously disallowed interest deductions). A unitholder’s amount realized generally will equal the sum of the cash and the fair market value of other property it receives plus its share of our nonrecourse liabilities with respect to the common unit sold or exchanged. Because the amount realized includes a unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities, the gain recognized on the sale or exchange of a common unit could result in a tax liability in excess of any cash received from such sale or exchange.
Except as noted below, gain or loss recognized by a unitholder on the sale or exchange of a common unit held for more than one year generally will be taxable as long-term capital gain or loss. However, gain or loss recognized on the disposition of common units will be separately computed and taxed as ordinary income or loss under Section 751 of the Code to the extent attributable to Section 751 Assets, such as depreciation recapture and our “inventory items,” regardless of whether such inventory item has substantially appreciated in value. Ordinary income attributable to Section 751 Assets may exceed net taxable gain realized on the sale or exchange of a common unit and may be recognized even if there is a net taxable loss realized on the sale or exchange of a common unit. Thus, a unitholder may recognize both ordinary income and capital gain or loss upon a sale or exchange of a common unit. Net capital loss may offset capital gains and, in the case of individuals, up to $3,000 of ordinary income per year.
34
For purposes of calculating gain or loss on the sale or exchange of a common unit, the unitholder’s adjusted tax basis will be adjusted by its allocable share of our income or loss in respect of its common unit for the year of the sale. Furthermore, as described above, the IRS has ruled that a partner who acquires interests in a partnership in separate transactions must combine those interests and maintain a single adjusted tax basis for all those interests. Upon a sale or other disposition of less than all of those interests, a portion of that tax basis must be allocated to the interests sold using an “equitable apportionment” method, which generally means that the tax basis allocated to the interest sold equals an amount that bears the same relation to the partner’s tax basis in its entire interest in the partnership as the value of the interest sold bears to the value of the partner’s entire interest in the partnership.
Treasury Regulations under Section 1223 of the Code allow a selling unitholder who can identify common units transferred with an ascertainable holding period to elect to use the actual holding period of the common units transferred. Thus, according to the ruling discussed in the paragraph above, a unitholder will be unable to select high or low basis common units to sell or exchange as would be the case with corporate stock, but, according to the Treasury Regulations, such unitholder may designate specific common units sold for purposes of determining the holding period of the common units transferred. A unitholder electing to use the actual holding period of any common unit transferred must consistently use that identification method for all subsequent sales or exchanges of our common units. A unitholder considering the purchase of additional common units or a sale or exchange of common units purchased in separate transactions is urged to consult its tax advisor as to the possible consequences of this ruling and application of the Treasury Regulations.
Specific provisions of the Code affect the taxation of some financial products and securities, including partnership interests, by treating a taxpayer as having sold an “appreciated” financial position, including a partnership interest with respect to which gain would be recognized if it were sold, assigned or terminated at its fair market value, in the event the taxpayer or a related person enters into:
| • | a short sale; |
| • | an offsetting notional principal contract; or |
| • | a futures or forward contract with respect to the partnership interest or substantially identical property. |
Moreover, if a taxpayer has previously entered into a short sale, an offsetting notional principal contract or a futures or forward contract with respect to the partnership interest, the taxpayer will be treated as having sold that position if the taxpayer or a related person then acquires the partnership interest or substantially identical property. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to issue Treasury Regulations that treat a taxpayer that enters into transactions or positions that have substantially the same effect as the preceding transactions as having constructively sold the financial position. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Common Unit Ownership—Treatment of Securities Loans.”
Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees
In general, our taxable income or loss will be determined annually, will be prorated on a monthly basis and will be subsequently apportioned among the unitholders in proportion to the number of common units owned by each of them as of the opening of the applicable exchange on the first business day of the month (the “Allocation Date”). Nevertheless, we allocate certain deductions for depreciation of capital additions based upon the date the underlying property is placed in service, and gain or loss realized on a sale or other disposition of our assets or, in the discretion of the general partner, any other extraordinary item of income, gain, loss or deduction will be allocated among the unitholders on the Allocation Date in the month in which such income, gain, loss or deduction is recognized. As a result, a unitholder transferring common units may be allocated income, gain, loss and deduction realized after the date of transfer.
Although simplifying conventions are contemplated by the Code and most publicly traded partnerships use similar simplifying conventions, existing Treasury Regulations do not specifically authorize the use of the
35
proration method we have adopted. Accordingly, Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. is unable to opine on the validity of this method of allocating income and deductions between transferee and transferor unitholders. If the IRS determines that this method is not allowed under the Treasury Regulations our taxable income or losses could be reallocated among our unitholders. Under our partnership agreement, we are authorized to revise our method of allocation between transferee and transferor unitholders, as well as among unitholders whose interests vary during a taxable year, to conform to a method permitted under the Treasury Regulations.
A unitholder who disposes of common units prior to the record date set for a cash distribution for that quarter will be allocated items of our income, gain, loss and deduction attributable to the month of disposition (and any other month during the quarter to which such cash distribution relates and the holder held common units on the first day of such month) but will not be entitled to receive a cash distribution for that period.
Notification Requirements
A unitholder who sells or exchanges any of its common units is generally required to notify us in writing of that transaction within 30 days after the transaction (or, if earlier, January 15 of the year following the transaction in the case of a seller). Upon receiving such notifications, we are required to notify the IRS of the transaction and to furnish specified information to the transferor and transferee. Failure to notify us of a transfer of common units may, in some cases, lead to the imposition of penalties. However, these reporting requirements do not apply to a sale by an individual who is a citizen of the United States and who effects the sale or exchange through a broker who will satisfy such requirements.
Uniformity of Common Units
Because we cannot match transferors and transferees of common units and for other reasons, we must maintain uniformity of the economic and tax characteristics of the common units to a purchaser of these common units. As a result of the need to preserve uniformity, we may be unable to completely comply with a number of federal income tax requirements. Any non-uniformity could have a negative impact on the value of our common units. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Common Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election.”
Our partnership agreement permits our general partner to take positions in filing our tax returns that preserve the uniformity of our common units. These positions may include reducing the depreciation, amortization or loss deductions to which a unitholder would otherwise be entitled or reporting a slower amortization of Section 743(b) adjustments for some unitholders than that to which they would otherwise be entitled. Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. is unable to opine as to the validity of such filing positions.
A unitholder’s adjusted tax basis in common units is reduced by its share of our deductions (whether or not such deductions were claimed on an individual income tax return) so that any position that we take that understates deductions will overstate the unitholder’s basis in its common units, and may cause the unitholder to understate gain or overstate loss on any sale of such common units. Please read “— Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss” and “—Tax Consequences of Common Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election” above. The IRS may challenge one or more of any positions we take to preserve the uniformity of our common units. If such a challenge were sustained, the uniformity of common units might be affected, and, under some circumstances, the gain from the sale of our common units might be increased without the benefit of additional deductions.
Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Investors
Ownership of our common units by employee benefit plans and other tax-exempt organizations, as well as by non-resident alien individuals, non-U.S. corporations and other non-U.S. persons (collectively, “Non-U.S. Unitholders”) raises issues unique to those investors and, as described below, may have substantial adverse tax consequences to them. Employee benefit plans and most other tax-exempt organizations, including IRAs and
36
other retirement plans, are subject to federal income tax on unrelated business taxable income. Virtually all of our income will be unrelated business taxable income and will be taxable to a tax-exempt unitholder. Each prospective unitholder that is a tax-exempt entity or a Non-U.S. Unitholder should consult its tax advisors before investing in our common units.
Non-U.S. Unitholders are taxed by the United States on income effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business (“effectively connected income”) and on certain types of U.S.-source non-effectively connected income (such as dividends), unless exempted or further limited by an income tax treaty. Each Non-U.S. Unitholder will be considered to be engaged in business in the United States because of its ownership of our common units. Furthermore, Non-U.S. Unitholders will be deemed to conduct such activities through a permanent establishment in the United States within the meaning of an applicable tax treaty. Consequently, each Non-U.S. Unitholder will be required to file federal tax returns to report its share of our income, gain, loss or deduction and pay federal income tax on its share of our net income or gain. Moreover, under rules applicable to publicly traded partnerships, distributions to Non-U.S. Unitholders are subject to withholding at the highest applicable effective tax rate. Each Non-U.S. Unitholder must obtain a taxpayer identification number from the IRS and submit that number to our transfer agent on a Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E (or other applicable or successor form) in order to obtain credit for these withholding taxes.
In addition, if a Non-U.S. Unitholder is classified as a non-U.S. corporation, it will be treated as engaged in a United States trade or business and may be subject to the U.S. branch profits tax at a rate of 30%, in addition to regular U.S. federal income tax, on its share of our income and gain as adjusted for changes in the foreign corporation’s “U.S. net equity” to the extent reflected in the corporation’s earnings and profits. That tax may be reduced or eliminated by an income tax treaty between the United States and the country in which the foreign corporate unitholder is a “qualified resident.” In addition, this type of unitholder is subject to special information reporting requirements under Section 6038C of the Code.
A Non-U.S. Unitholder who sells or otherwise disposes of a common unit will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on gain realized from the sale or disposition of that common unit to the extent the gain is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business of the Non-U.S. Unitholder. Gain realized by a Non-U.S. Unitholder from the sale of its interest in a partnership that is engaged in a trade or business in the United States will be considered to be “effectively connected” with a U.S. trade or business to the extent that gain that would be recognized upon a sale by the partnership of all of its assets would be “effectively connected” with a U.S. trade or business. Thus, all of a Non-U.S. Unitholder’s gain from the sale or other disposition of our common units would be treated as effectively connected with a unitholder’s indirect U.S. trade or business constituted by its investment in us and would be subject to U.S. federal income tax. As a result of the effectively connected income rules described above, the exclusion from U.S. taxation under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act for gain from the sale of partnership common units regularly traded on an established securities market will not prevent a Non-U.S. Unitholder from being subject to U.S. federal income tax on gain from the sale or disposition of its common units to the extent such gain is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. We expect substantially all of the gain from the sale or disposition of our common units to be treated as effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business.
Moreover, the transferee of an interest in a partnership that is engaged in a U.S. trade or business is generally required to withhold 10% of the amount realized by the transferor unless the transferor certifies that it is not a foreign person. While the determination of a partner’s “amount realized” generally includes any decrease of a partner’s share of the partnership’s liabilities, recently issued Treasury regulations provide that the “amount realized” on a transfer of an interest in a publicly traded partnership, such as our common units, will generally be the amount of gross proceeds paid to the broker effecting the applicable transfer on behalf of the transferor, and thus will be determined without regard to any decrease in that partner’s share of a publicly traded partnership’s liabilities. The Treasury regulations further provide that withholding on a transfer of an interest in a publicly traded partnership will not be imposed on a transfer that occurs prior to January 1, 2022. For a transfer of interests in a publicly traded partnership that is effected through a broker on or after January 1, 2022, the
37
obligation to withhold is imposed on the transferor’s broker. Prospective foreign unitholders should consult their tax advisors regarding the impact of these rules on an investment in our common units.
Administrative Matters
Information Returns and Audit Procedures
We intend to furnish to each unitholder, within 90 days after the close of each taxable year, specific tax information, including a Schedule K-1, which describes its share of our income, gain, loss and deduction for our preceding taxable year. In preparing this information, which will not be reviewed by counsel, we will take various accounting and reporting positions, some of which have been mentioned earlier, to determine each unitholder’s share of income, gain, loss and deduction. We cannot assure our unitholders that those positions will yield a result that conforms to all of the requirements of the Code, Treasury Regulations or administrative interpretations of the IRS.
The IRS may audit our federal income tax information returns. Neither we nor Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. can assure prospective unitholders that the IRS will not successfully challenge the positions we adopt, and such a challenge could adversely affect the value of our common units. Adjustments resulting from an IRS audit may require each unitholder to adjust a prior year’s tax liability, and may result in an audit of the unitholder’s own return. Any audit of a unitholder’s return could result in adjustments unrelated to our returns.
Publicly traded partnerships are treated as entities separate from their owners for purposes of federal income tax audits, judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS and tax settlement proceedings. The tax treatment of partnership items of income, gain, loss and deduction are determined in a partnership proceeding rather than in separate proceedings for each of the partners. Pursuant to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, if the IRS makes audit adjustments to our income tax returns, it may assess and collect any taxes (including any applicable penalties and interest) resulting from such audit adjustment directly from us, unless we elect to have our unitholders and former unitholders take any audit adjustment into account in accordance with their interests in us during the taxable year under audit. Similarly, for such taxable years, if the IRS makes audit adjustments to income tax returns filed by an entity in which we are a member or partner, it may assess and collect any taxes (including penalties and interest) resulting from such audit adjustment directly from such entity.
Generally, we expect to elect to have unitholders and former unitholders take any such audit adjustment into account in accordance with their interests in us during the taxable year under audit, but there can be no assurance that such election will be effective in all circumstances. If we are unable or if it is not economical to have our unitholders and former unitholders take such audit adjustment into account in accordance with their interests in us during the taxable year under audit, then our current unitholders may bear some or all of the tax liability resulting from such audit adjustment, even if such unitholders did not own our common units during the taxable year under audit. If, as a result of any such audit adjustment, we are required to make payments of taxes, penalties or interest, we may require our unitholders and former unitholder to reimburse us for such taxes (including any applicable penalties or interest) or, if we bear such payment directly, our cash available for distribution to our unitholders might be substantially reduced. These rules are not applicable for taxable years beginning on or prior to December 31, 2017. Congress has proposed changes to the Bipartisan Budget Act, and we anticipate that amendments may be made. Accordingly, the manner in which these rules may apply to us in the future is uncertain.
Additionally, pursuant to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, the Code will no longer require that we designate a Tax Matters Partner. Instead, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, we will be required to designate a partner, or other person, with a substantial presence in the United States as the partnership representative (“Partnership Representative”). The Partnership Representative will have the sole authority to act on our behalf for purposes of, among other things, federal income tax audits and judicial review of administrative
38
adjustments by the IRS. If we do not make such a designation, the IRS can select any person as the Partnership Representative. We currently anticipate that we will designate our general partner as the Partnership Representative. Further, any actions taken by us or by the Partnership Representative on our behalf with respect to, among other things, federal income tax audits and judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS, will be binding on us and all of our unitholders.
Additional Withholding Requirements
Withholding taxes may apply to certain types of payments made to “foreign financial institutions” (as specially defined in the Code) and certain other non-U.S. entities. Specifically, a 30% withholding tax may be imposed on withholdable payments, including interest, dividends and other fixed or determinable annual or periodic gains, profits and income from sources within the United States (“FDAP Income”) paid to a foreign financial institution or to a “non-financial foreign entity” (as specially defined in the Code), unless (i) the foreign financial institution undertakes certain diligence and reporting, (ii) the non-financial foreign entity either certifies it does not have any substantial U.S. owners or furnishes identifying information regarding each substantial U.S. owner or (iii) the foreign financial institution or non-financial foreign entity otherwise qualifies for an exemption from these rules. While withholdable payments would have originally included payments of gross proceeds from the sale or other disposition of any property of a type which could produce interest or dividends from sources within the United States (“Gross Proceeds”) on or after January 1, 2019, proposed Treasury Regulations provide that such payments of Gross Proceeds do not constitute withholdable payments. Taxpayers may rely generally on these proposed Treasury Regulations until they are revoked or final Treasury Regulations are issued.
If the payee is a foreign financial institution and is subject to the diligence and reporting requirements in clause (i) above, it must enter into an agreement with the U.S. Department of the Treasury requiring, among other things, that it undertake to identify accounts held by certain U.S. persons or U.S.-owned foreign entities, annually report certain information about such accounts, and withhold 30% on payments to noncompliant foreign financial institutions and certain other account holders. Foreign financial institutions located in jurisdictions that have an intergovernmental agreement with the United States governing these requirements may be subject to different rules.
To the extent we have FDAP Income that is not treated as effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business (please read “—Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Investors”), a unitholder that is a foreign financial institution or certain other non-U.S. entity, or a person that holds its common units through such foreign entities, may be subject to withholding on distributions they receive from us, or its distributive share of our income, pursuant to the rules described above. Each prospective unitholder should consult its own tax advisors regarding the potential application of these withholding provisions to its investment in our common units.
Nominee Reporting
Persons who hold an interest in us as a nominee for another person are required to furnish to us:
| • | the name, address and taxpayer identification number of the beneficial owner and the nominee; |
| • | a statement regarding whether the beneficial owner is: |
| ◾ | a non-U.S. person; |
| ◾ | a non-U.S. government, an international organization or any wholly owned agency or instrumentality of either of the foregoing; or |
| ◾ | a tax-exempt entity; |
| • | the amount and description of common units held, acquired or transferred for the beneficial owner; and |
| • | specific information including the dates of acquisitions and transfers, means of acquisitions and transfers, and acquisition cost for purchases, as well as the amount of net proceeds from sales. |
39
Each broker and financial institution is required to furnish additional information, including whether such broker or financial institution is a U.S. person and specific information on any common units such broker or financial institution acquires, holds or transfers for its own account. A penalty per failure, with a significant maximum penalty per calendar year, is imposed by the Code for failure to report that information to us. The nominee is required to supply the beneficial owner of our common units with the information furnished to us.
Accuracy-Related Penalties
Certain penalties may be imposed as a result of an underpayment of tax that is attributable to one or more specified causes, including negligence or disregard of rules or regulations, substantial understatements of income tax and substantial valuation misstatements. No penalty will be imposed, however, for any portion of an underpayment if it is shown that there was a reasonable cause for the underpayment of that portion and that the taxpayer acted in good faith regarding the underpayment of that portion. We do not anticipate that any accuracy-related penalties will be assessed against us.
State, Local and Other Tax Considerations
In addition to federal income taxes, unitholders may be subject to other taxes, including state and local income taxes, unincorporated business taxes and estate, inheritance or intangibles taxes that may be imposed by the various jurisdictions in which we conduct business or own property now or in the future or in which the unitholder is a resident. We conduct business or own property in many states in the United States. Some of these states may impose an income tax on individuals, corporations and other entities. As we make acquisitions or expand our business, we may own property or conduct business in additional states that impose a personal income tax. Although an analysis of those various taxes is not presented here, each prospective unitholder should consider the potential impact of such taxes on its investment in us.
A unitholder may be required to file income tax returns and pay income taxes in some or all of the jurisdictions in which we do business or own property, though such unitholder may not be required to file a return and pay taxes in certain jurisdictions because its income from such jurisdictions falls below the jurisdiction’s filing and payment requirement. Further, a unitholder may be subject to penalties for a failure to comply with any filing or payment requirement applicable to such unitholder. Some of the jurisdictions may require us, or we may elect, to withhold a percentage of income from amounts to be distributed to a unitholder who is not a resident of the jurisdiction. Withholding, the amount of which may be greater or less than a particular unitholder’s income tax liability to the jurisdiction, generally does not relieve a nonresident unitholder from the obligation to file an income tax return.
IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EACH UNITHOLDER TO INVESTIGATE THE LEGAL AND TAX CONSEQUENCES, UNDER THE LAWS OF PERTINENT JURISDICTIONS, OF HIS INVESTMENT IN US. WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT EACH PROSPECTIVE UNITHOLDER CONSULT, AND DEPEND UPON, ITS OWN TAX COUNSEL OR OTHER ADVISOR WITH REGARD TO THOSE MATTERS. FURTHER, IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EACH UNITHOLDER TO FILE ALL STATE, LOCAL AND NON-U.S., AS WELL AS U.S. FEDERAL TAX RETURNS THAT MAY BE REQUIRED OF IT. VINSON & ELKINS L.L.P. HAS NOT RENDERED AN OPINION ON THE STATE, LOCAL, ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX OR NON-U.S. TAX CONSEQUENCES OF AN INVESTMENT IN US.
40
We are registering the securities described in this prospectus to permit the resale of these securities by the selling unitholders from time to time after the date of this prospectus. We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale by the selling unitholders of the securities.
The selling unitholders may act independently of us in making decisions with respect to the timing, manner and size of each of its sales. The selling unitholders may make sales of the common units from time to time through one or more methods specified herein or through a combination of any of such methods or any other method permitted pursuant to applicable law. Such offers and sales may be made directly to purchasers, through underwriters, to dealers, or through agents, on any securities exchange on which the common units are then listed, at prices and under terms prevailing at the time of the sale, at prices related to the then current market price if any, at fixed prices, at varying prices determined at the time of sale, or at privately negotiated prices. These prices will be determined by the holders of the securities or by agreement between the holders and any underwriters or broker-dealers who may receive fees or commissions in connection with the sale. Our common units trade on the NYSE under the symbol “CEQP.” The last reported sales price of our common units on the NYSE on May 4, 2021 was $30.70 per common unit. The selling unitholders may offer and sell some or all of the common units included in this prospectus by or through a broker-dealer in one or more, or a combination, of the following methods, without limitation:
| • | purchases by the broker-dealer as principal, and resale by the broker-dealer for its account; |
| • | a block trade in which the broker-dealer may attempt to sell the units as agent, but may resell all or a portion of the block as principal in order to facilitate the transaction; |
| • | in a public auction; |
| • | transactions in which a broker-dealer may agree with the selling unitholders to sell a specified number of such units at a stipulated price per unit; |
| • | transactions in which the broker-dealer as agent solicits purchasers and ordinary brokerage transactions by the broker-dealer as agent; |
| • | an offering at other than a fixed price on or through the facilities of any securities exchange on which the common units are listed or to or through a market maker other than on that securities exchange; and |
| • | any other method permitted pursuant to applicable law. |
The selling unitholders may also directly make offers to sell some or all of the common units included in this prospectus to, or solicit offers to purchase such common units from, purchasers from time to time. If required, the prospectus supplement related to any such offering by the selling unitholders will set forth the terms of such offering.
If the selling unitholders use one or more underwriters in the sale, the underwriters will acquire the securities for their own account, and they may resell these securities from time to time in one or more transactions, including negotiated transactions, at a fixed public offering price or at varying prices determined at the time of sale. The securities may be offered and sold to the public either through underwriting syndicates represented by one or more managing underwriters or directly by one or more of such firms. In connection with those sales, underwriters may be deemed to have received compensation from the selling unitholders in the form of underwriting discounts or commissions and may also receive commissions from purchasers of the common units for which they may act as agents. Underwriters may resell common units to or through dealers, and those dealers may receive compensation in the form of discounts, concessions or commissions from the underwriters and/or commissions from purchasers for which they may act as agents. The prospectus supplement related to any such offering will include any required information about underwriting compensation to be paid to underwriters, and any discounts, concessions or commissions underwriters allow to participating dealers, in connection with
41
such offering. Unless otherwise disclosed in the prospectus supplement, the obligations of the underwriters to purchase securities will be subject to certain conditions precedent, and the underwriters will be obligated to purchase all of the securities offered by the prospectus supplement if any of the securities are purchased.
From time to time, the selling unitholders may sell the common units included in this prospectus to one or more dealers acting as principals. If required, the prospectus supplement related to any such offering will name such dealers as selling unitholders, and will include information about any compensation paid to the dealers, in such offering. The dealers, which may be deemed to be “underwriters” as that term is defined in the Securities Act, may then resell the common units to purchasers.
A selling unitholder may sell the common units it holds using a public auction process in which the public offering price and the allocation of the common units will be determined through an auction conducted by an auction agent. The auction process may involve a modified “Dutch auction” mechanic in which the auction agent (and potentially other brokers) will receive and accept bids from bidders at either a minimum bid price or at price increments in excess of the minimum bid price. The auction agent and any such other brokers may be the underwriters of the offering or their affiliates. After the auction closes and those bids become irrevocable, the auction agent will determine the clearing price for the sale of the common units offered in the auction, and subject to agreement between the selling unitholders and the underwriter or underwriters to proceed with the offering, the common units will be allocated to winning bidders by the underwriter or underwriters. If the selling unitholders use a public auction process to sell the common units, a more detailed description of the procedures to be used in connection with any such auction will be set forth in a pricing supplement to this prospectus.
The selling unitholders may designate broker-dealers as agents from time to time to solicit offers from purchasers to purchase the common units included in this prospectus, or to sell such common units in ordinary brokerage transactions, on their behalf. If required, the prospectus supplement related to any such offering will name such agents, and will include information about the plan of distribution, terms of any agreement or arrangement, and any discounts or commissions paid to the agents in such offering. Agents may be deemed to be “underwriters” as that term is defined in the Securities Act in such offering.
The selling unitholders or their respective underwriters, broker-dealers, or agents may make sales of the common units that are deemed to be an at-the-market offering as defined in Securities Act Rule 415, which includes sales of such common units made directly on or through any securities exchange on which the common units are listed, the existing trading market for the common units if any, or in the over-the-counter market or otherwise.
We have agreed to indemnify in certain circumstances the selling unitholders of the common units covered by the registration statement, against certain liabilities to which they may become subject in connection with the sale of the securities, including liabilities arising under the Securities Act. The selling unitholders have agreed to indemnify us in certain circumstances against certain liabilities to which we may become subject in connection with the sale of such securities, including liabilities arising under the Securities Act. We and the selling unitholders may agree to indemnify underwriters, dealers and agents who participate in the distribution of securities against certain liabilities to which they may become subject in connection with the sale of the securities, including liabilities arising under the Securities Act.
Certain of the underwriters and their affiliates may be customers of, may engage in transactions with and may perform services for us or our affiliates in the ordinary course of business.
We have agreed to pay the expenses of the registration of the common units offered and sold by the selling unitholders under the registration statement, including, but not limited to, all registration and filing fees and fees and expenses of our counsel and accountants. The selling unitholders will pay any underwriting discounts and commissions applicable to the common units sold by such selling unitholders.
42
A prospectus and accompanying prospectus supplement in electronic form may be made available on the websites maintained by the underwriters. The underwriters may agree to allocate a number of securities for sale to their online brokerage account holders. Such allocations of securities for internet distributions will be made on the same basis as other allocations. In addition, securities may be sold by the underwriters to securities dealers who resell securities to online brokerage account holders.
The aggregate maximum compensation the underwriters will receive in connection with the sale of any securities under this prospectus and the registration statement of which it forms a part will not exceed 10% of the gross proceeds from the sale.
Because the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) views our common units as interests in a direct participation program, any offering of common units under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part will be made in compliance with FINRA Rule 2310.
To the extent required, this prospectus may be amended or supplemented from time to time to describe a specific plan of distribution. The place and time of delivery for the securities in respect of which this prospectus is delivered will be set forth in the accompanying prospectus supplement.
In connection with offerings of securities under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part and in compliance with applicable law, underwriters, brokers or dealers may engage in transactions that stabilize or maintain the market price of the securities at levels above those that might otherwise prevail in the open market. Specifically, underwriters, brokers or dealers may over-allot in connection with offerings, creating a short position in the securities for their own accounts. For the purpose of covering a syndicate short position or stabilizing the price of the securities, the underwriters, brokers or dealers may place bids for the securities or effect purchases of the securities in the open market. Finally, the underwriters may impose a penalty whereby selling concessions allowed to syndicate members or other brokers or dealers for distribution of the securities in offerings may be reclaimed by the syndicate if the syndicate repurchases previously distributed securities in transactions to cover short positions, in stabilization transactions or otherwise. These activities may stabilize, maintain or otherwise affect the market price of the securities, which may be higher than the price that might otherwise prevail in the open market, and, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time. These transactions may be effected on or through any securities exchange on which the common units are listed, the existing trading market for the common units if any, or in the over-the-counter market or otherwise.
43
This prospectus relates to 6,000,000 common units that we have issued in connection with the closing of the Private Placement to the selling unitholders identified below, or their transferees, assignees or other successors-in-interest that may be named in any supplement to this prospectus.
The following table sets forth information about the maximum number of common units that may be offered from time to time by each selling unitholder under this prospectus. The selling unitholders identified below may currently hold or acquire at any time common units in addition to those registered hereby. In addition, the selling unitholders identified below may sell, transfer, assign or otherwise dispose of some or all of their common units in private placement transactions exempt from or not subject to the registration requirements of the Securities Act. Accordingly, we cannot give an estimate as to the amount of common units that will be held by the selling unitholders upon termination of this offering. Information concerning the selling unitholders may change from time to time and, if necessary, we will supplement this prospectus accordingly.
To our knowledge, except as noted below, none of the selling unitholders has, or has had within the past three years, any position, office or other material relationship with us or any of our predecessors or affiliates, other than their ownership of units. Because each selling unitholder may sell all or a portion of the common units registered hereby, we cannot currently estimate the number or percentage of common units that each selling unitholder will hold upon completion of the applicable offering.
None of the selling unitholders is a broker-dealer registered under Section 15 of the Exchange Act, or, except as described below, an affiliate of a broker-dealer registered under Section 15 of the Exchange Act.
We have prepared the table and the related notes based on information supplied to us by the selling unitholders on or prior to April 30, 2021. We have not sought to verify such information. Other information about the selling unitholders may change over time.
Selling Unitholder | Common Units Beneficially Owned | Maximum Number of Common Units to be Sold Pursuant to this Prospectus | Percentage of Common Units Beneficially Owned Following the Offering(1)(2)(3) | |||||||||
Atlas Point Energy Infrastructure Fund, LLC(4) | 250,000 | 250,000 | * | |||||||||
Center Coast Brookfield Capital Partners, L.P.(5)(14) | 8,018 | 8,018 | * | |||||||||
Center Coast Brookfield Midstream Focus Fund(5)(14) | 537,437 | 537,437 | * | |||||||||
Chickasaw MLP Partners, LLC(6)(14) | 147,000 | 118,000 | | * | | |||||||
MainGate MLP Fund(6)(14) | 1,566,636 | 1,245,636 | | * | | |||||||
ClearBridge Energy Midstream Opportunity Fund Inc.(7)(14) | 246,790 | 246,790 | * | |||||||||
ClearBridge MLP and Midstream Fund Inc.(7)(14) | 298,975 | 298,975 | * | |||||||||
ClearBridge MLP and Midstream Total Return Fund Inc.(7)(14) | 136,053 | 136,053 | * | |||||||||
Cohen & Steers Infrastructure Fund, Inc.(8)(14) | 580,685 | 580,685 | * | |||||||||
Cohen & Steers MLP & Energy Opportunity Fund, Inc.(8)(14) | 19,315 | 19,315 | * | |||||||||
Cushing MLP & Infrastructure Total Return Fund(9) | 58,182 | 58,182 | * | |||||||||
Mainstay Cushing MLP Premier Fund(9) | 260,000 | 260,000 | * | |||||||||
Goldman Sachs Energy Infrastructure Fund(10) | 122,846 | 100,801 | * | |||||||||
Goldman Sachs MLP and Energy Renaissance Fund(10) | 285,968 | 78,031 | * | |||||||||
Goldman Sachs MLP Energy Infrastructure Fund(10) | 1,037,500 | 446,168 | * | |||||||||
Salient Midstream & MLP Fund(11)(14) | 145,330 | 145,330 | * | |||||||||
Salient MLP & Energy Infrastructure Fund(11)(14) | 535,213 | 535,213 | * | |||||||||
Salient MLP Total Return Fund, L.P.(11)(14) | 146,332 | 146,332 | * | |||||||||
Utah School & Institutional Trust Funds Office(11) | 175,398 | 175,398 | * | |||||||||
Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp.(12)(14) | 53,691 | 53,691 | * | |||||||||
44
Selling Unitholder | Common Units Beneficially Owned | Maximum Number of Common Units to be Sold Pursuant to this Prospectus | Percentage of Common Units Beneficially Owned Following the Offering(1)(2)(3) | |||||||||
Tortoise Essential Assets Income Term Fund(12)(14) | 65,431 | 65,431 | * | |||||||||
Tortoise Midstream Energy Fund, Inc.(12)(14) | 28,940 | 28,940 | * | |||||||||
Tortoise MLP & Energy Income Fund(12)(14) | 80,135 | 80,135 | * | |||||||||
Tortoise MLP & Pipeline Fund(12)(14) | 185,439 | 185,439 | * | |||||||||
Yaupon Fund LP(13) | 200,000 | 200,000 | * | |||||||||
| * | Less than 1%. |
| (1) | Based on 62,832,258 common units outstanding as of April 30, 2021. |
| (2) | Assumes that the selling unitholders will sell all of the common units offered pursuant to this prospectus. We cannot assure you that the selling unitholders will sell all or any of the common units. |
| (3) | Pursuant to Rule 416 of the Securities Act, this registration statement also shall cover any additional common units that become issuable, in connection with the common units registered for resale hereby, as a result of any unit distribution, split, combination or similar transaction or conversion on a greater than ten to one basis. |
| (4) | Atlas Point Energy Infrastructure Fund, LLC beneficially owns 10,483,992 of the Partnership’s 9.25% preferred units. Paul McPheeters and Adam Karpf have shared voting and investment control over the common units held by Atlas Point Energy Infrastructure Fund, LLC. CIBC Private Wealth Group, LLC separately owns 1,928,684 of the Partnership’s 9.25% preferred units in separately managed accounts. |
| (5) | Brookfield Public Securities Group LLC (“PSG”) serves as investment advisor for (a) Center Coast Brookfield Capital Partners, L.P., a limited partnership, and (b) Center Coast Brookfield Midstream Focus Fund, a series of the Brookfield Investment Funds, organized as a C-corporation. PSG separately owns 64,000 of the Partnership’s 9.25% perpetual preferred units in other client accounts advised by PSG; no other shares or securities of the Partnership are held by PSG in any other client accounts. |
| (6) | Chickasaw Capital Management, LLC serves as (a) manager and investment adviser for Chickasaw MLP Partners, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and (b) investment adviser for MainGate MLP Fund, an open-end management investment company and a non-diversified series of MainGate Trust, a Delaware statutory trust (the two entities collectively, the “Chickasaw Selling Unitholders”). Geoffrey P. Mavar and Matthew G. Mead are the managing members of Chickasaw Capital Management, LLC and may be deemed to have voting and investment power with respect to the common units owned by the Chickasaw Selling Unitholders. Chickasaw Capital Management, LLC beneficially owns an additional 449,876 common units in other client accounts. |
| (7) | ClearBridge Investments, LLC is the managing entity of (a) ClearBridge MLP and Midstream Fund Inc., a Delaware corporation and a registered closed-end investment company, (b) ClearBridge MLP and Midstream Total Return Fund Inc., a Delaware corporation and a registered closed-end investment company, and (c) ClearBridge Energy Midstream Opportunity Fund Inc, a Delaware corporation and a registered closed-end investment company. ClearBridge Investments, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. |
| (8) | Cohen & Steers Capital Management, Inc. is the managing entity of and has voting and investment control over the common units owned by (a) Cohen & Steers Infrastructure Fund, Inc. and (b) Cohen & Steers MLP & Energy Opportunity Fund, Inc. |
| (9) | Cushing Asset Management, LP serves as (a) the manager and investment advisor of Cushing MLP & Infrastructure Total Return Fund, a Delaware statutory business trust, and (b) the investment subadvisor of MainStay Cushing MLP Premier Fund, an open-end management investment company and a series of MainStay Funds Trust, a Delaware statutory business trust (the two entities collectively, the “Cushing Selling Unitholders”). Swank Capital, LLC is the managing entity and general partner of Cushing Asset Management, LP. Jerry V. Swank is the managing member of Swank Capital, LLC and has voting and investment control over the common units held by the Cushing Selling Unitholders. |
45
| (10) | Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P (“GSAM”) serves as investment advisor for (a) Goldman Sachs Energy Infrastructure Fund, a series of Goldman Sachs Trust, a Delaware statutory trust, (b) Goldman Sachs MLP and Energy Renaissance Fund, a Delaware statutory trust, and (c) Goldman Sachs MLP Energy Infrastructure Fund, a series of Goldman Sachs Trust, a Delaware statutory trust (the three entities collectively, the “GS Selling Unitholders”). GSAM exercises sole voting and investment power over the common units held by the GS Selling Unitholders, subject to the oversight of the trustees to the fund. GSAM is an affiliate of broker-dealers, but is not itself a broker-dealer. |
| (11) | Salient Capital Advisors, LLC serves as investment manager for (a) Salient Midstream & MLP Fund, a regulated investment company, (b) Salient MLP & Energy Infrastructure Fund, a regulated investment company, and (c) Salient MLP Total Return Fund, L.P., a private limited partnership. The State of Utah School and Institutional Trust Funds is an independent state agency within the executive branch of the state of Utah. |
| (12) | Tortoise Capital Advisors, L.L.C. serves as investment advisor for (a) Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp., a C-corporation, (b) Tortoise Essential Assets Income Term Fund, a Maryland statutory trust, (c) Tortoise Midstream Energy Fund, Inc., a C-corporation, (d) Tortoise MLP & Energy Income Fund, a regulated investment company, and (e) Tortoise MLP & Pipeline Fund, a regulated investment company (the five entities collectively, the “Tortoise Selling Unitholders”). Tortoise Capital Advisors, L.L.C. has shared voting and dispositive power over the common units held by the Tortoise Selling Unitholders. Brian A. Kessens, James R. Mick, Matthew G.P. Sallee, Robert J. Thummel, Stephan Pang and Nicholas S. Holmes, in their positions as portfolio managers, may be deemed to have voting and investment power with respect to the common units owned by each of the Tortoise Selling Unitholders, other than Tortoise MLP & Energy Income Fund. Quinn Kiley and Brian A. Kessens, in their positions as portfolio managers, may be deemed to have voting and investment power with respect to the common units owned by Tortoise MLP & Energy Income Fund. |
| (13) | Yaupon Capital GP LLC is the general partner of Yaupon Fund LP. Steve Pattyn is the managing member of Yaupon Capital GP LLC and has voting and investment control over the common units held by Yaupon Fund LP. |
| (14) | Representatives of the selling unitholder have advised us that the selling unitholder is an affiliate of a U.S. registered broker-dealer but is not a broker-dealer itself. |
46
The validity of the securities offered in this prospectus will be passed upon for the selling unitholders by Vinson & Elkins L.L.P., Houston, Texas. Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. will also render an opinion on the material federal income tax considerations regarding the securities. If certain legal matters in connection with an offering of the securities made by this prospectus and a related prospectus supplement are passed on by counsel for the underwriters of such offering, that counsel will be named in the applicable prospectus supplement related to that offering.
The consolidated financial statements of Crestwood Equity Partners LP appearing in Crestwood Equity Partners LP’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, including schedules appearing therein, and the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020 have been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their reports thereon, included therein, and incorporated herein by reference. Such consolidated financial statements are incorporated herein by reference in reliance upon such reports given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
The consolidated financial statements of Stagecoach Gas Services LLC appearing in Crestwood Equity Partners LLP’s Annual Report (Form 10-K) for the year ended December 31, 2020, have been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, independent auditors, as set forth in their report thereon, included therein, and incorporated herein by reference. Such consolidated financial statements are incorporated herein by reference in reliance upon such report given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
47
