As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 1, 2021
Registration No. 333-
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM S-3
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware | 46-5223743 | |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (IRS Employer Identification Number) |
150 N. Dairy Ashford Road
Houston, Texas 77079
(832) 337-2034
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)
Lori M. Muratta
Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Shell Midstream Partners GP LLC
150 N. Dairy Ashford Road
Houston, Texas 77079
(832) 337-2034
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
Copy to:
Natasha Khan
Baker Botts L.L.P.
910 Louisiana Street
Houston, Texas 77002
(713) 229-1234
Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: From time to time after this registration statement becomes effective.
If the only securities being registered on this Form are being offered pursuant to dividend or interest reinvestment plans, please check the following box. ☐
If any of the securities being registered on this Form are being offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, other than securities offered only in connection with dividend or interest reinvestment plans, check the following box. ☒
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a registration statement pursuant to General Instruction I.D. or a post-effective amendment thereto that shall become effective upon filing with the Commission pursuant to Rule 462(e) under the Securities Act, check the following box. ☒
If this Form is a post-effective amendment to a registration statement filed pursuant to General Instruction I.D. filed to register additional securities or additional classes of securities pursuant to Rule 413(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large accelerated filer | ☒ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | |||
| Non-accelerated filer | ☐ | Smaller reporting company | ☐ | |||
Emerging growth company | ☐ | |||||
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐
CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
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Title of Each Class of Securities to be Registered | Amount to be Registered(1) | Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price per Unit(1) | Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price(1) | Amount of Registration Fee(1) | ||||
Common units representing limited partner interests | ||||||||
Partnership securities representing limited partner interests | ||||||||
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| (1) | An indeterminate aggregate initial offering price or principal amount or number of the securities of each identified class is being registered as may from time to time be issued at indeterminate prices. In accordance with Rules 456(b) and 457(r) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the registrant is deferring payment of all of the registration fee except $121,200 of fees previously paid in connection with the registrant’s registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-228146) initially filed by the registrant on November 2, 2018 (the “Prior Registration Statement”), which unutilized filing fees may, pursuant to Rule 457(p), be applied to the registration fees payable pursuant to this registration statement. Pursuant to Rule 415(a)(6), the offering of the unsold securities registered under the Prior Registration Statement will be deemed terminated as of the date of effectiveness of this registration statement. |
PROSPECTUS
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Common Units
Partnership Securities
We may offer and sell, from time to time, and in amounts, at prices and on terms to be determined by market conditions and other factors at the time of our offerings, in one or more series, the following securities under this prospectus:
| • | common units representing limited partner interests in Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.; and |
| • | partnership securities representing limited partner interests in Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. |
We may offer and sell the securities through one or more underwriters, dealers or agents, or directly to purchasers, on a continuous or delayed basis.
This prospectus describes only the general terms of these securities and the general manner in which we will offer the securities. The specific terms of any securities we offer will be included in a supplement to this prospectus. The prospectus supplement will describe the specific manner in which we will offer the securities and also may add, update or change information contained in this prospectus.
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 additional information on us and our financial statements. This prospectus may not be used to consummate sales of our securities unless it is accompanied by a prospectus supplement.
Our common units are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “SHLX.” We will provide information in the prospectus supplement for the trading market, if any, for any other securities we may offer.
Investing in our securities involves risks. Before buying any securities, you should carefully read the discussion of material risks of investing in our securities in “Risk Factors” beginning on page 2 of this prospectus and in the applicable prospectus supplement, and in the documents incorporated herein and therein, before you make any investment in our securities.
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.
Prospectus dated November 1, 2021
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We have not authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus or incorporated by reference in this prospectus. We take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. You should not assume that the information in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the cover page of this prospectus or that any information we have incorporated by reference is accurate as of any date other than the date of the documents incorporated by reference. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.
This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Please read “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Statements.”
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This prospectus is part of a registration statement on Form S-3 that we have filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) using a “shelf” registration process. Under this shelf registration process, we may, from time to time, sell securities described in this prospectus in one or more offerings. This prospectus provides you with a general description of us and the securities offered under this prospectus.
Each time we sell securities under this prospectus, we will provide a prospectus supplement that will contain specific information about the terms of that offering and the securities being offered. The prospectus supplement also may add to, 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 the prospectus supplement. You should read carefully this prospectus, any prospectus supplement and the additional information described below under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information.”
This prospectus contains summaries of certain provisions contained in some of the documents described herein, but reference is made to the actual documents for complete information. All of the summaries are qualified in their entirety by reference to the actual documents. For additional information about our business, operations and financial results, please read the documents incorporated by reference herein as described below in the section entitled “Where You Can Find More Information.”
Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this prospectus to “Shell Midstream Partners,” “the Partnership,” “us,” “our,” “we” or similar expressions refer to Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. and its subsidiaries.
References to “Shell” or “Parent” refer collectively to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its controlled affiliates, other than us, our subsidiaries and our general partner.
SHELL MIDSTREAM PARTNERS, L.P.
Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE: SHLX), a master limited partnership headquartered in Houston, Texas, owns, operates, develops and acquires pipelines and other midstream and logistics assets. The Partnership’s assets include interests in entities that own (a) crude oil and refined products pipelines and terminals that serve as key infrastructure to transport onshore and offshore crude oil production to Gulf Coast and Midwest refining markets and deliver refined products from those markets to major demand centers and (b) storage tanks and financing receivables that are secured by pipelines, storage tanks, docks, truck and rail racks and other infrastructure used to stage and transport intermediate and finished products. The Partnership’s assets also include interests in entities that own natural gas and refinery gas pipelines that transport offshore natural gas to market hubs and deliver refinery gas from refineries and plants to chemical sites along the Gulf Coast.
Our general partner, Shell Midstream Partners GP LLC, is a Delaware limited liability company and has ultimate responsibility for conducting our business and managing our operations.
Our principal executive offices are located at 150 N. Dairy Ashford Road, Houston, Texas 77079, and our telephone number is (832) 337-2034.
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An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks included and incorporated by reference in this prospectus, including the risk factors incorporated by reference herein from Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as updated by the information in our subsequent filings with the SEC and that are incorporated by reference herein. If any of these risks were to occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected. In that case, the trading price of our securities 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.
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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of the information in this prospectus, any prospectus supplement and the documents we incorporate by reference may contain forward-looking statements. You can identify our forward-looking statements by the words “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “budget,” “continue,” “could,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “seek,” “should,” “would,” “expect,” “objective,” “projection,” “forecast,” “goal,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “effort,” “target” and similar expressions.
We based the forward-looking statements on our current expectations, estimates and projections about us and the industries in which we operate in general. We caution you that these statements are not guarantees of future performance as they involve assumptions that, while made in good faith, may prove to be incorrect, and involve risks and uncertainties we cannot predict. In addition, we based many of these forward-looking statements on assumptions about future events that may prove to be inaccurate. Accordingly, our actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what we have expressed in the forward-looking statements. Any differences could result from a variety of factors, including the following:
| • | The continued ability of Shell and our non-affiliate customers to satisfy their obligations under our commercial and other agreements and the impact of lower market prices for crude oil, refined petroleum products and refinery gas. |
| • | The volume of crude oil, refined petroleum products and refinery gas we transport or store and the prices that we can charge our customers. |
| • | The tariff rates with respect to volumes that we transport through our regulated assets, which rates are subject to review and possible adjustment imposed by federal and state regulators. |
| • | Changes in revenue we realize under the loss allowance provisions of our fees and tariffs resulting from changes in underlying commodity prices. |
| • | Our ability to renew or replace our third-party contract portfolio on comparable terms. |
| • | Fluctuations in the prices for crude oil, refined petroleum products and refinery gas, including fluctuations due to political or economic measures taken by various countries. |
| • | The level of production of refinery gas by refineries and demand by chemical sites. |
| • | The level of onshore and offshore (including deepwater) production and demand for crude oil by U.S. refiners. |
| • | Changes in global economic conditions and the effects of a global economic downturn on the business of Shell and the business of its suppliers, customers, business partners and credit lenders. |
| • | The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and related governmental regulations and travel restrictions, and any resulting reduction in the global demand for oil and natural gas. |
| • | Availability of acquisitions and financing for acquisitions on our expected timing and acceptable terms. |
| • | Changes in, and availability to us of, the equity and debt capital markets. |
| • | Liabilities associated with the risks and operational hazards inherent in transporting and/or storing crude oil, refined petroleum products and refinery gas. |
| • | Curtailment of operations or expansion projects due to unexpected leaks, spills or severe weather disruption; riots, strikes, lockouts or other industrial disturbances; or failure of information technology systems due to various causes, including unauthorized access or attack. |
| • | Costs or liabilities associated with federal, state and local laws and regulations, including those that may be implemented by the current U.S. presidential administration, relating to environmental protection and safety, including spills, releases and pipeline integrity. |
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| • | Costs associated with compliance with evolving environmental laws and regulations on climate change. |
| • | Costs associated with compliance with safety regulations and system maintenance programs, including pipeline integrity management program testing and related repairs. |
| • | Changes in tax status or applicable tax laws. |
| • | Changes in the cost or availability of third-party vessels, pipelines, rail cars and other means of delivering and transporting crude oil, refined petroleum products and refinery gas. |
| • | Direct or indirect effects on our business resulting from actual or threatened terrorist incidents or acts of war. |
| • | The factors generally described in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as updated by the information in our subsequent filings we file with the SEC and that are incorporated by reference herein. |
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Unless we specify otherwise in any prospectus supplement, we will use the net proceeds we receive from the sale of securities covered by this prospectus for general partnership purposes, which may include, among other things:
| • | paying or refinancing all or a portion of our indebtedness outstanding at the time; and |
| • | funding working capital, capital expenditures or acquisitions. |
The actual application of proceeds from the sale of any particular offering of securities using this prospectus will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement relating to such offering. The precise amount and timing of the application of these proceeds will depend upon our funding requirements and the availability and cost of other funds.
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DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMON UNITS
The Units
The common units represent limited partner interests in us. The holders of common units are entitled to participate in partnership distributions and are entitled to exercise the rights and privileges available to limited partners under our partnership agreement. For a description of our cash distribution policy, please read “Cash Distribution Policy.” For a general discussion of the expected federal income tax consequences of owning and disposing of common units, please read “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations.” For a description of the rights and privileges of limited partners under our partnership agreement, including voting rights, please read “Description of Our Partnership Agreement.” Our common units are listed on the NYSE under the symbol “SHLX.”
Transfer Agent and Registrar
Duties
American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC serves as the registrar and transfer agent for our common units. We will pay all fees charged by the transfer agent for transfers of common units, except the following that must be paid by our unitholders:
| • | surety bond premiums to replace lost or stolen certificates, or to cover taxes and other governmental charges in connection therewith; |
| • | special charges for services requested by a holder of a common unit; and |
| • | other similar fees or charges. |
Unless our general partner determines otherwise in respect of some or all of any classes of our partnership interests, our partnership interests will be evidenced by book entry notation on our partnership register and not by physical certificates.
There will be no charge to our unitholders for disbursements of our cash distributions. We will indemnify the transfer agent, its agents and each of 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 has been appointed and has accepted the appointment within 30 days after notice of the resignation or removal, our general partner may act as the transfer agent and registrar until a successor is appointed.
Transfer of Common Units
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. Each transferee, with or without executing our partnership agreement:
| • | agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions of our partnership agreement; |
| • | represents and warrants that the transferee has the right, power, authority and capacity to enter into our partnership agreement; and |
| • | gives the consents, waivers and approvals contained in our partnership agreement, such as the approval of all transactions and agreements that we entered into in connection with our formation and that we are entering into in connection with an offering pursuant to this prospectus. |
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We are entitled to treat the nominee holder of a common unit as the absolute owner in the event such nominee is the record holder of such common unit. In such 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 are transferable according to the laws governing the transfer of securities. Until a common unit has been transferred on our register, we and the transfer agent are entitled to treat the record holder of the common unit as the absolute owner, except as otherwise required by law or stock exchange regulations.
A unitholder who sells any of its units is generally required to notify us in writing of that sale within 30 days after the sale (or, if earlier, January 15 of the year following the sale). A purchaser of units who purchases units from another unitholder is also generally required to notify us in writing of that purchase within 30 days after the purchase. Upon receiving such notifications, we are required to notify the U.S. Internal Revenue Service of that transaction and to furnish specified information to the transferor and transferee. Failure to notify us of a purchase 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.
Series A Preferred Units
On April 1, 2020, we issued 50,782,904 Series A perpetual convertible preferred units (the “Series A preferred units”) at a price of $23.63 per unit. The Series A preferred units currently rank senior to our common units with respect to distribution rights and rights upon liquidation. Although our Series A preferred units are not registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), the following description of the Series A preferred units is included because various terms of the Series A preferred units could impact our common units or other partnership securities that we elect to issue.
The Series A preferred units are entitled to vote on an as-converted basis with the common units and have certain other class voting rights with respect to any amendment to our partnership agreement or our certificate of limited partnership that are adverse to any of the rights, preferences and privileges of the Series A preferred units. Please read “Description of Our Partnership Agreement—Voting Rights.”
The Series A preferred units are entitled to receive cumulative quarterly distributions at a rate of $0.2363 per unit per quarter as described under “Cash Distribution Policy—Distributions of Available Cash—Series A Preferred Unit Distributions.” The Partnership will not be entitled to pay any distributions on any junior securities, including any of the common units, prior to paying the quarterly distribution payable to the Series A preferred units, including any previously accrued and unpaid distributions.
Each holder of the Series A preferred units may elect to convert all or any portion of the Series A preferred units owned by it into common units at the then-applicable conversion rate, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments and an adjustment for any distributions that have accrued but not been paid when due and partial period distributions, at any time (but not more than once per quarter) after January 1, 2022.
The Partnership may elect to convert all or any portion of the Series A preferred units into common units at any time (but not more than once per quarter) after January 1, 2023 if the closing price per common unit exceeds 140% of the Series A Preferred Unit Issue Price (as defined in our partnership agreement) for at least 20 trading days (whether or not consecutive) in a period of 30 consecutive trading days, including the last trading day of such 30 trading day period, ending on and including the trading day immediately preceding the date on which the Partnership sends notice to the holders of Series A preferred units of its election to convert such Series A preferred units. In addition, upon the occurrence of certain other events involving a change of control, the holders of the Series A preferred units may elect, among other potential elections, to convert the Series A preferred units to common units at a conversion rate as further described under “Description of Our Partnership Agreement—Series A Change of Control.”
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DESCRIPTION OF PARTNERSHIP SECURITIES
The Units
Our partnership agreement authorizes us to issue an unlimited number of additional limited partner interests and other equity securities for the consideration and on the terms and conditions established by our general partner without the approval of any of our unitholders.
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 our common units are not entitled. In addition, our partnership agreement does not prohibit the issuance by our subsidiaries of equity interests, which may effectively rank senior to the common units.
The following is a description of the general terms and provisions of our partnership securities. The particular terms of any series of partnership securities will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement and the amendment to our partnership agreement, if necessary, relating to that series of partnership securities, which will be filed as an exhibit to or incorporated by reference into this prospectus at or before the time of issuance of any such series of partnership securities. If so indicated in a prospectus supplement, the terms of any such series may differ from the terms set forth below.
Our general partner is authorized to approve the issuance of one or more series of partnership securities without further authorization of the limited partners and to fix the number of securities, the designations, rights, privileges, restrictions and conditions of any such series.
The applicable prospectus supplement will set forth the number of securities, particular designation, relative rights and preferences and the limitations of any series of partnership securities in respect of which this prospectus is delivered. The particular terms of any such series may include the following:
| • | the maximum number, if any, of securities to constitute the series and the designation and ranking thereof; |
| • | the distribution rate, if any, on securities of the series, whether such rate is fixed or variable or both, the dates from which distributions will begin to accrue or accumulate, whether distributions will be cumulative and whether such distributions will be paid in cash, securities or otherwise; |
| • | whether the securities of the series will be redeemable and, if so, the price and the terms and conditions on which the securities of the series may be redeemed, including the time during which securities of the series may be redeemed and any accumulated distributions thereof that the holders of the securities of the series will be entitled to receive upon the redemption thereof; |
| • | the liquidation preference, if any, applicable to securities of the series; |
| • | the terms and conditions, if any, on which the securities of the series will be convertible into, or exchangeable for, securities of any other class or classes of partnership securities, including the price or prices or the rate or rates of conversion or exchange and the method, if any, of adjusting the same; and |
| • | the voting rights, if any, of the securities of the series. |
Partnership securities will be fully paid (to the extent required under our partnership agreement) and non-assessable (except as such non-assessability may be affected by Sections 17-303, 17-607 and 17-804 of the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act (the “Delaware Act”)) when issued upon full payment of the purchase price therefor. The prospectus supplement will contain, if applicable, a description of the material federal income tax consequences relating to the purchase and ownership of the series of partnership securities offered by the prospectus supplement. The transfer agent, registrar and distributions disbursement agent for the partnership securities will be designated in the applicable prospectus supplement.
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DESCRIPTION OF OUR PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT
The following is a summary of the material provisions of our partnership agreement. Our partnership agreement is incorporated by reference into the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. 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 “Cash Distribution Policy;” |
| • | 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 Considerations.” |
Organization and Duration
The Partnership was organized on March 19, 2014 and will have a perpetual existence unless terminated pursuant to the terms of our partnership agreement.
Purpose
Our purpose under our partnership agreement is limited to any business activity that is approved by our general partner and that lawfully may be conducted by a limited partnership organized under Delaware law; provided, however, that our general partner shall not cause us to engage, directly or indirectly, in any business activity that our general partner determines would be reasonably likely to cause us to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxable as an entity for federal income tax purposes.
Although our general partner has the ability to cause us and our subsidiaries to engage in activities other than the business of owning, operating, developing and acquiring crude oil and refined products pipelines, terminals and other transportation, storage and logistics assets, our general partner has no current plans to do so and may decline to do so free of any duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in the best interests of us or our limited partners, other than the implied contractual covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Our general partner is authorized in general to perform all acts it determines to be necessary or appropriate to carry out our purposes and to conduct our business.
Capital Contributions
Unitholders are not obligated to make additional capital contributions, except as described below under “—Limited Liability.”
Voting Rights
The following is a summary of the unitholder vote required for the matters specified below. Matters requiring the approval of a “unit majority” require the approval of a majority of the outstanding common units and outstanding Series A preferred units, if any, with such Series A preferred units to be treated as common units on an “as if” converted basis, voting together as a single class. Except as provided in our partnership agreement, Series A preferred units shall have voting rights that are identical to the voting rights of the common units so that the record holder of each outstanding Series A preferred unit will be entitled to one vote for each common unit into which such Series A preferred unit is then convertible at the then-applicable conversion rate on each matter with respect to which each record holder of a common unit is entitled to vote. In voting their common units, our general partner and its affiliates will have no duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in the best interests of us or the limited partners, other than the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
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| Issuance of additional units | No unitholder approval right. | |
| Amendment of our partnership agreement | Certain amendments may be made by our general partner without the approval of the unitholders, and certain other amendments that are adverse to any of the rights, preferences and privileges of the Series A preferred units require the approval of holders of 66 2/3% of the outstanding Series A preferred units. Other amendments generally require the approval of a unit majority. Please read “—Amendment of Our Partnership Agreement.” | |
| Merger of the Partnership or the sale of all or substantially all of our assets | Unit majority in certain circumstances. Please read “—Merger, Consolidation, Conversion, Sale or Other Disposition of Assets.” | |
| Dissolution of the Partnership | Unit majority. Please read “—Termination and Dissolution.” | |
| Continuation of our business upon dissolution | Unit majority. Please read “—Termination and Dissolution.” | |
| Withdrawal of our general partner | Under most circumstances, the approval of common unitholders holding at least a majority of the outstanding common units, excluding common units held by our general partner and its affiliates, and Series A preferred units (on an as-converted basis at the then-applicable conversion rate), voting together as a single class, is required for the withdrawal of our general partner prior to December 31, 2024 in a manner that would cause a dissolution of the Partnership. 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 and Series A preferred units (on an as-converted basis at the then-applicable conversion rate), voting as a single class, including units held by our general partner and its affiliates. Please read “—Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner.” | |
| Transfer of the general partner interest | Our general partner may transfer any or all of its general partner interest in us without a vote of our unitholders. Please read “—Transfer of General Partner Interest.” | |
| Transfer of ownership interests in our general partner | No unitholder approval required. Please read “—Transfer of Ownership Interests in Our General Partner.” | |
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Applicable Law; Forum, Venue and Jurisdiction
Our partnership agreement is governed by Delaware law. Our partnership agreement requires that any claims, suits, actions or proceedings:
| • | arising out of or relating in any way to our partnership agreement (including any claims, suits or actions to interpret, apply or enforce the provisions of our partnership agreement or the duties, obligations or liabilities among limited partners or of limited partners to us, or the rights or powers of, or restrictions on, the limited partners or us); |
| • | brought in a derivative manner on our behalf; |
| • | asserting a claim of breach of a duty (including a fiduciary duty) owed by any director, officer or other employee of us or our general partner, or owed by our general partner, to us or the limited partners; |
| • | asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware Act; or |
| • | asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine |
shall be exclusively brought in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if such court does not have subject matter jurisdiction, any other court located in the State of Delaware with subject matter jurisdiction), regardless of whether such claims, suits, actions or proceedings sound in contract, tort, fraud or otherwise, are based on common law, statutory, equitable, legal or other grounds, or are derivative or direct claims. By purchasing a common unit, a limited partner is irrevocably consenting to these limitations and provisions regarding claims, suits, actions or proceedings and submitting to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or such other Delaware courts) in connection with any such claims, suits, actions or proceedings. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation or similar governing documents have been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that, in connection with any action, a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained in our partnership agreement to be inapplicable or unenforceable in such action.
Limited Liability
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, its liability under the Delaware Act will be limited, subject to possible exceptions, to the amount of capital it 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 the 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 the 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 who reasonably believe 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 limited partner interests and liabilities for which the recourse of creditors is limited to specific property of the partnership, would
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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 non-recourse liability. The Delaware 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.
Under the Delaware Act, a substituted limited partner of a limited partnership is liable for the obligations of its assignor to make contributions to the partnership, except that such person is not obligated for liabilities unknown to it at the time it became a limited partner and that could not be ascertained from our partnership agreement.
Our subsidiaries conduct business in several states and we may have subsidiaries that conduct business in other states in the future. Maintenance of our limited liability as a limited partner or member of our operating subsidiaries may require compliance with legal requirements in the jurisdictions in which our operating subsidiaries conduct business, including qualifying our subsidiaries to do business there.
Limitations on the liability of limited partners or members for the obligations of a limited partnership or limited liability company have not been clearly established in many jurisdictions. If, by virtue of our limited partner interest in our operating company or otherwise, it were determined that we were conducting business in any state without compliance with the applicable limited partnership or limited liability company statute, or that the right or exercise of the right by the 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 the 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 the limited partners.
Issuance of Additional Partnership 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 unitholders.
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 holders of common units 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 holders of common units 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 the issuance by our subsidiaries of equity interests, which may effectively rank senior to the common units.
Our general partner will have the right, which it may from time to time assign in whole or in part to any of its affiliates, to purchase common units or other partnership interests whenever, and on the same terms that, we issue those interests to persons other than our general partner and its affiliates, to the extent necessary to maintain the percentage interest of our general partner and its affiliates, including such interest represented by common units, that existed immediately prior to each issuance. The other holders of common units will not have preemptive rights to acquire additional common units or other partnership interests.
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Amendment of Our Partnership Agreement
General
Amendments to our partnership agreement may be proposed only by our general partner. However, our general partner will have no duty or obligation to propose any amendment and may decline to propose or approve any amendment to our partnership agreement. In order to adopt a proposed amendment, other than the amendments discussed below, our general partner is required to 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 described below, an amendment must be approved by a unit majority.
Prohibited Amendments
No amendment may be made that would:
| • | 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 at least a majority of the type or class of limited partner interests so affected; or |
| • | 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 by us to our general partner or any of its affiliates without its consent, which consent may be given or withheld at its option. |
The provisions of our partnership agreement preventing the amendments having the effects described in any of the clauses above can be amended upon the approval of the holders of at least 90% of the outstanding units voting together as a single class (including units owned by our general partner and its affiliates).
No Limited Partner Approval
Subject to certain rights of the holders of Series A preferred units, 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 office, our registered agent or our registered office; |
| • | the admission, substitution, withdrawal or removal of partners in accordance with our partnership agreement; |
| • | a change that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate 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 neither we nor any of our subsidiaries will be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxed as an entity for federal income tax purposes; |
| • | a change in our fiscal year or taxable year and any other changes that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate as a result of such change; |
| • | an amendment that is necessary, in the opinion of our counsel, to prevent us or our general partner or its directors, officers, trustees or agents 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, each as amended, whether or not substantially similar to plan asset regulations currently applied or proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor; |
| • | an amendment that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate for the authorization or issuance of additional partnership interests; |
| • | any amendment expressly permitted in our partnership agreement to be made by our general partner acting alone; |
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| • | an amendment effected, necessitated or contemplated by a merger agreement or plan of conversion that has been approved under the terms of our partnership agreement; |
| • | any amendment that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate to reflect and account for the formation by us of, or our investment in, any corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company or other entity, in connection with our conduct of activities permitted by our partnership agreement; |
| • | an amendment providing that any transferee of a limited partner interest (including any nominee holder or an agent or representative acquiring such limited partner interest for the account of another person) shall be deemed to certify that the transferee is an Eligible Taxable Holder (as defined below in “—Ineligible Holders; Redemption”); |
| • | conversions into, mergers with or conveyances to another limited liability entity that is newly formed and has no assets, liabilities or operations at the time of the conversion, merger or conveyance other than those it receives by way of the conversion, merger or conveyance; or |
| • | any other amendments substantially similar to any of the matters described in the clauses above. |
In addition, subject to certain rights of the holders of Series A preferred units, 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 in any material respect the limited partners considered as a whole or any particular class of partnership interests as compared to other classes of partnership interests; |
| • | are necessary or appropriate 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 appropriate to facilitate the trading of limited partner interests or to comply with any rule, regulation, guideline or requirement of any securities exchange on which the limited partner interests are or will be listed or admitted to trading; |
| • | are necessary or appropriate for any action taken by our general partner relating to splits or combinations of units under the provisions of our partnership agreement; or |
| • | are required to effect the intent expressed in this prospectus or the intent of the provisions of our partnership agreement or are otherwise contemplated by our partnership agreement. |
Opinion of Counsel and Unitholder Approval
For amendments of the type not requiring unitholder approval, our general partner will not be required to obtain an opinion of counsel to the effect that an amendment will not affect the limited liability of any limited partner under Delaware law. No other amendments to our partnership agreement will become effective without the approval of holders of at least 90% of the outstanding common units and Series A preferred units (on an as-converted basis at the then-applicable conversion rate), voting as a single class, unless we first obtain such an opinion.
In addition to the above restrictions, any amendment that would have a material adverse effect on the rights or preferences of any type or class of partnership interests in relation to other classes of partnership interests will require the approval of at least a majority of the type or class of partnership interests so affected. Any amendment that would reduce the percentage of units required to take any action, other than to remove our general partner or call a meeting of unitholders, must be approved by the affirmative vote of limited partners whose aggregate outstanding units constitute not less than the percentage sought to be reduced. Any amendment that would increase the percentage of units required to remove our general partner must be approved by the affirmative vote
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of limited partners whose aggregate outstanding units constitute not less than 90% of the outstanding common units and Series A preferred units (on an as-converted basis at the then-applicable conversion rate), voting as a single class. Any amendment that would increase the percentage of units required to call a meeting of unitholders must be approved by the affirmative vote of limited partners whose aggregate outstanding units constitute at least a majority of our outstanding common units and Series A preferred units (on an as-converted basis at the then-applicable conversion rate).
Merger, Consolidation, Conversion, Sale or Other Disposition of Assets
A merger, consolidation or conversion of the Partnership requires the prior consent of our general partner. However, our general partner will have no duty or obligation to consent to any merger, consolidation or conversion and may decline to do so free of any duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in the best interests of us or the limited partners, other than the implied contractual covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
In addition, our partnership agreement generally prohibits our general partner, without the prior approval of the holders of a unit majority, from causing us to, among other things, sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets in a single transaction or a series of related transactions. Our general partner may, however, mortgage, pledge, hypothecate or grant a security interest in all or substantially all of our assets without that approval. Our general partner may also sell any or all of our assets under a foreclosure or other realization upon those encumbrances without that approval. Finally, our general partner may consummate any merger with another limited liability entity without the prior approval of our unitholders if we are the surviving entity in the transaction, our general partner has received an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters, the transaction would not result in an amendment to our partnership agreement requiring unitholder approval, each of our units will be an identical unit of the Partnership following the transaction, and the partnership interests to be issued by us in such merger do not exceed 20% of our outstanding partnership interests immediately prior to the transaction.
If the conditions specified in our partnership agreement are satisfied, our general partner may convert us or any of our subsidiaries into a new limited liability entity or merge us or any of our subsidiaries into, or convey all of our assets to, a newly formed entity, if the sole purpose of that conversion, merger or conveyance is to effect a mere change in our legal form into another limited liability entity, our general partner has received an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters, and our general partner determines that the governing instruments of the new entity provide the limited partners and our general partner with the same rights and obligations as contained in our partnership agreement. The unitholders are not entitled to dissenters’ rights of appraisal under our partnership agreement or applicable Delaware law in the event of a conversion, merger or consolidation, a sale of substantially all of our assets or any other similar transaction or event.
Series A Change of Control
Upon certain events involving a Series A Change of Control (as defined in our partnership agreement) in which more than 90% of the consideration payable to the holders of our common units is payable in cash, the Series A preferred units will, immediately prior to the closing of such Series A Change of Control, automatically convert into common units at a conversion rate equal to the quotient of (a) the sum of (i) $23.63, plus (ii) any unpaid cash distributions on the applicable Series A preferred units, divided by (b) $23.63.
In connection with other Series A Change of Control events that do not satisfy the 90% cash consideration threshold described above, in addition to certain other conditions, each holder of Series A preferred units may elect to (a) convert all, but not less than all, of its Series A preferred units into common units at the then-applicable conversion rate, (b) if we are not the surviving entity, require us to use commercially reasonable efforts to cause the surviving entity in any such transaction to issue a substantially equivalent security, (c) if we are the surviving entity, continue to hold the Series A preferred units or (d) require us to redeem the Series A
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preferred units (i) on or prior to April 1, 2023, all (but not less than all) of such Series A preferred units at a price per unit of $25.993 (110% of the Series A Preferred Unit Issue Price) and (ii) after April 1, 2023, at a price per unit of $23.866 (101% of the Series A Preferred Unit Issue Price), in each case plus accrued but unpaid distributions to the redemption date.
Termination and Dissolution
We will continue as a limited partnership until dissolved and terminated under our partnership agreement. We will dissolve upon:
| • | the withdrawal or removal of our general partner or any other event that results in its ceasing to be our general partner, other than by reason of a transfer of its general partner interest in accordance with our partnership agreement or a withdrawal or removal followed by approval and admission of a successor; |
| • | the election of our general partner to dissolve us, if approved by the holders of units representing a unit majority; |
| • | the entry of a decree of judicial dissolution of the Partnership; or |
| • | there being no limited partners, unless we are continued without dissolution in accordance with applicable Delaware law. |
Upon a dissolution under the first bullet point above, the holders of a unit majority may also elect, within specific time limitations, to continue our business on the same terms and conditions described in our partnership agreement by appointing as a successor general partner an entity approved by the holders of units representing a unit majority, subject to our receipt of an opinion of counsel to the effect that:
| • | the action would not result in the loss of limited liability of any limited partner; and |
| • | neither the Partnership nor any of our subsidiaries would be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise be taxable as an entity for federal income tax purposes upon the exercise of that right to continue. |
Liquidation and Distribution of Proceeds
Upon our dissolution, unless we are continued as a new limited partnership, 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 apply the proceeds of the liquidation as described in “Cash Distribution Policy—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
Except as described below, our general partner has agreed not to withdraw voluntarily as our general partner prior to December 31, 2024 without obtaining the approval of the holders of at least a majority of the outstanding common units, excluding common units held by our general partner and its affiliates, and Series A preferred units (on an as-converted basis at the then-applicable conversion rate), voting as a single class, and furnishing an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters. On or after December 31, 2024, our general partner may withdraw as general partner without first obtaining approval of any unitholder by giving 90 days’ written notice, and that withdrawal will not constitute a violation of our partnership agreement. Notwithstanding the information above, our general partner may withdraw without unitholder approval upon 90 days’ notice to the limited partners if at least 50% of the outstanding common units and Series A preferred units (on an as-converted basis at the then-applicable conversion rate), voting as a single class, are held or controlled by one person and its affiliates other than our general partner and its affiliates. In addition, our partnership agreement permits our general partner to sell or otherwise transfer all of its general partner interest in us without the approval of the unitholders. Please read “—Transfer of General Partner Interest.”
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Upon voluntary withdrawal of our general partner by giving notice to the other partners, the holders of a unit majority may select a successor to that withdrawing general partner. If a successor is not elected, or is elected but an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters cannot be obtained, we will be dissolved, wound up and liquidated, unless within a specified period after that withdrawal, the holders of a unit majority agree to continue our business by appointing a successor general partner. Please read “—Termination and Dissolution.”
Our general partner may not be removed unless that removal is approved by the vote of the holders of not less than 66 2/3% of the outstanding units, voting together as a single class, including units held by our general partner and its affiliates, and we receive an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters. Any removal of our general partner is also subject to the approval of a successor general partner by the vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding common units. The ownership of more than 33 1/3% of the outstanding units by our general partner and its affiliates would give them the practical ability to prevent our general partner’s removal.
Our partnership agreement also provides that if our general partner is removed as our general partner under circumstances where cause does not exist and units held by our general partner and its affiliates are not voted in favor of that removal, our general partner will have the right to receive cash in exchange for those interests based on the fair market value of those interests as of the effective date of its removal.
In the event of removal of our general partner under circumstances where cause exists or withdrawal of our general partner where that withdrawal violates our partnership agreement, a successor general partner will have the option to purchase the general partner interest of the departing general partner for a cash payment equal to the fair market value of those interests. Under all other circumstances where our general partner withdraws or is removed by the limited partners, the departing general partner will have the option to require the successor general partner to purchase the general partner interest of the departing general partner for fair market value. In each case, this fair market value will be determined by agreement between the departing general partner and the successor general partner. If no agreement is reached, an independent investment banking firm or other independent expert selected by the departing general partner and the successor general partner will determine the fair market value. If the departing general partner and the successor general partner cannot agree upon an expert, then an expert chosen by agreement of the experts selected by each of them will determine the fair market value.
If the option described above is not exercised by either the departing general partner or the successor general partner, the departing general partner will become a limited partner and its general partner interest will automatically convert into common units pursuant to a valuation of those interests as determined by an investment banking firm or other independent expert selected in the manner described in the preceding paragraph.
In addition, we will be required to reimburse the departing general partner for all amounts due the departing general partner, including, without limitation, all employee-related liabilities, including severance liabilities, incurred for the termination of any employees employed by the departing general partner or its affiliates for our benefit.
Transfer of General Partner Interest
Our general partner may transfer all or any of its general partner interest to an affiliate or a third party without the approval of our unitholders. As a condition of this transfer, the transferee must, among other things, assume 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.
Our general partner and its affiliates may at any time transfer common units to one or more persons without unitholder approval.
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Transfer of Ownership Interests in Our General Partner
At any time, Shell Pipeline Company LP and its subsidiaries may sell or transfer all or part of their membership interest in our general partner to an affiliate or third party without the approval of our unitholders.
Change of Management Provisions
Our partnership agreement contains specific provisions that are intended to discourage a person or group from attempting to remove Shell Midstream Partners GP LLC as our general partner or otherwise change our management. 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 any person or group that acquires the units from our general partner or its affiliates and any transferees of that person or group who are notified by our general partner that they will not lose their voting rights or to any person or group who acquires the units with the prior approval of the board of directors of our general partner or the Series A preferred unitholders with respect to their ownership (beneficial or record) of the Series A preferred units or common units issued upon conversion of Series A preferred units.
Our partnership agreement also provides that if our general partner is removed as our general partner under circumstances where cause does not exist and units held by our general partner and its affiliates are not voted in favor of that removal, our general partner will have the right to convert its general partner interest into common units or to receive cash in exchange for those interests based on the fair market value of those interests as of the effective date of its removal.
Limited Call Right
If at any time our general partner and its affiliates own more than 75% of the then-issued and outstanding limited partner interests of any class (excluding Series A preferred units), our general partner will have the right, which it may assign in whole or in part to any of its affiliates or to us, to acquire all, but not less than all, of the limited partner interests (but excluding Series A preferred units) of such class held by unaffiliated persons as of a record date to be selected by our general partner, on at least 10 but not more than 60 days’ notice. The purchase price in the event of this purchase is the greater of:
| • | the highest cash price paid by either of our general partner or any of its affiliates for any limited partner interests of the class purchased within the 90 days preceding the date on which our general partner first mails notice of its election to purchase those limited partner interests; and |
| • | the current market price calculated in accordance with our partnership agreement as of the date three business days before the date the notice is mailed. |
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 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 tax consequences to a 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 Considerations—Disposition of Common Units.”
Meetings; Voting
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.
Any action that is required or permitted to be taken by the unitholders may be taken either at a meeting of the unitholders or, if authorized by our general partner, without a meeting if consents in writing describing the
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action so taken are signed by holders of the number of units that would be necessary to authorize or take that action at a meeting where all limited partners were present and voted. Meetings of the unitholders may be called by our general partner or by unitholders owning at least 20% of the outstanding units of the class for which a meeting is proposed. Unitholders may vote either in person or by proxy at meetings. The holders of a majority of the outstanding units of the class or classes for which a meeting has been called represented in person or by proxy will constitute a quorum unless any action by the unitholders requires approval by holders of a greater percentage of the units, in which case the quorum will be the greater percentage. The non-economic general partner interest does not entitle our general partner to any vote other than its rights as general partner under our partnership agreement, will not be entitled to vote on any action required or permitted to be taken by the unitholders and will not count toward or be considered outstanding when calculating required votes, determining the presence of a quorum or for similar purposes.
Each record holder of a unit (other than a Series A preferred units) 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 Partnership Interests.” The Series A preferred units are entitled to vote on an as-converted basis with the common units and have certain other class voting rights with respect to any amendment to our partnership agreement or our certificate of limited partnership that are adverse to any of the rights, preferences and privileges of the Series A preferred units. Please read “—Voting Rights.” However, if at any time any person or group, other than our general partner and its affiliates, a direct transferee of our general partner and its affiliates or a transferee of such direct transferee who is notified by our general partner that it will not lose its voting rights, 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 unitholders, calculating required votes, determining the presence of a quorum or for other similar purposes. Common 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.
Any notice, demand, request, report or proxy material required or permitted to be given or made to record holders of common units under our partnership agreement will be delivered to the record holder by us or by the transfer agent or an exchange agent.
Status as Limited Partner
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 is reflected in our register. Except as described under “—Limited Liability,” the common units will be fully paid, and unitholders will not be required to make additional contributions.
Ineligible Holders; Redemption
Under our partnership agreement, an “Eligible Taxable Holder” is a limited partner whose, or whose owners’, federal income tax status does not have or is not reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the rates that can be charged by us on assets that are subject to regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) or a similar regulatory body, as determined by our general partner with the advice of counsel. An “Ineligible Holder” is a limited partner (a) who is not an Eligible Taxable Holder or (b) whose nationality, citizenship or other related status would create a substantial risk of cancellation or forfeiture of any property in which we have an interest, as determined by our general partner with the advice of counsel. A list of types of unitholders and whether they are of the type currently determined by the general partner to be Eligible Taxable Holders or Ineligible Holders is set forth in our partnership agreement. Our general partner may change its determination of what types of unitholders are considered Eligible Taxable Holders and Ineligible Holders at any time. We will make an updated list of such types of unitholders available to our unitholders and prospective unitholders.
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If at any time our general partner determines, with the advice of counsel, that one or more limited partners are Ineligible Holders, then our general partner may request any limited partner to furnish to our general partner an executed certification or other information about its federal income tax status and/or nationality, citizenship or related status. If a limited partner fails to furnish such certification or other requested information within 30 days (or such other period as our general partner may determine) after a request for such certification or other information, or our general partner determines after receipt of the information that the limited partner is an Ineligible Holder, the limited partner may be treated as an Ineligible Holder. An Ineligible Holder does not have the right to direct the voting of its units and may not receive distributions in kind upon our liquidation.
Furthermore, we have the right to redeem all of the common units of any holder that our general partner concludes is an Ineligible Holder or fails to furnish the information requested by our general partner. The redemption price in the event of such redemption for each unit held by such unitholder will be the current market price of such unit (the date of determination of which shall be the date fixed for redemption). The redemption price will be paid, as determined by our general partner, in cash or by delivery of a promissory note. Any such promissory note will bear interest at the rate of 5% annually and be payable in three equal annual installments of principal and accrued interest, commencing one year after the redemption date.
Indemnification
Under our partnership agreement, in most circumstances, we will indemnify the following persons, to the fullest extent permitted by law, from and against all losses, claims, damages or similar events:
| • | our general partner; |
| • | any departing general partner; |
| • | any person who is or was an affiliate of our general partner or any departing general partner; |
| • | any person who is or was a manager, managing member, general partner, director, officer, fiduciary or trustee of us, our subsidiaries, our and our subsidiaries’ affiliates or any entity set forth in the preceding three bullet points; |
| • | any person who is or was serving as manager, managing member, general partner, director, officer, fiduciary or trustee of another person owing a fiduciary duty to us or any of our subsidiaries at the request of our general partner or any departing general partner or any of their affiliates; and |
| • | any person designated by our general partner. |
Any indemnification under these provisions will only be out of our assets. Unless it otherwise agrees, our general partner 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 will purchase insurance against liabilities asserted against and expenses incurred by persons for our activities, regardless of whether we would have the power to indemnify the person against such liabilities under our partnership agreement.
Reimbursement of Expenses
Our partnership agreement requires us to reimburse our general partner for all direct and indirect expenses it incurs or payments it makes on our behalf and all other expenses allocable to us or otherwise incurred by our general partner in connection with operating our business. 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. Our general partner is entitled to determine in good faith the expenses that are allocable to us. The expenses for which we are required to reimburse our general partner are not subject to any caps or other limits.
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Books and Reports
Our general partner is required to keep appropriate books of our business at our principal offices. The books will be maintained for financial reporting purposes on an accrual basis. For tax and fiscal reporting purposes, our fiscal year is the calendar year.
We will mail or make available to record holders of common units, within 105 days after the close of each fiscal year, an annual report containing audited financial statements and a report on those financial statements by our independent public accountants. Except for our fourth quarter, we will also mail or make available summary financial information within 50 days after the close of each quarter.
We will furnish each record holder of a unit with information reasonably required for 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 unitholders will depend on the cooperation of unitholders in supplying us with specific information. Every unitholder will receive information to assist him in determining its federal and state tax liability and filing its federal and state income tax returns, regardless of whether it supplies us with 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 its own expense, have furnished to him:
| • | a current list of the name and last known address of each record holder; |
| • | copies of our partnership agreement and our certificate of limited partnership and all amendments thereto; and |
| • | certain information regarding the status of our business and financial condition. |
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 determines is not in our best interests or that we are required by law or by agreements with third parties to keep confidential. Our partnership agreement limits the right to information that a limited partner would otherwise have under Delaware law.
Registration Rights
Under our partnership agreement, we have agreed to register for resale under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and applicable state securities laws any common units or other partnership 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 will continue for two years following any withdrawal or removal of our general partner. We are obligated to pay all expenses incidental to the registration, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions.
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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 60 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 generally means, for any quarter, all cash and cash equivalents on hand at the end of that quarter:
| • | less, the amount of cash reserves established by our general partner to: |
| • | provide for the proper conduct of our business (including reserves for our future capital expenditures, for future acquisitions and anticipated future debt service requirements, for the payment of distributions on the Series A preferred units and for refunds of collected rates reasonably likely to be refunded as a result of a settlement or hearing related to FERC rate proceedings or rate proceedings under applicable law) subsequent to that quarter; |
| • | comply with applicable law, any of our or our subsidiaries’ debt instruments or other agreements; or |
| • | provide funds for distributions to our unitholders and to our general partner for any one or more of the next four quarters; |
| • | plus, all cash on hand on the date of determination resulting from dividends or distributions received after the end of the quarter from equity interests in any person other than a subsidiary in respect of operations conducted by such person during the quarter; |
| • | plus, if our general partner so determines, all or any portion of the cash on hand on the date of determination resulting from working capital borrowings after the end of the quarter. |
The purpose and effect of the last bullet point above is to allow our general partner, if it so decides, to use cash from working capital borrowings made after the end of the quarter but on or before the date of determination of available cash for that quarter to pay distributions to unitholders. Under our partnership agreement, working capital borrowings are generally borrowings that are made under a credit facility, commercial paper facility or similar financing arrangement, and in all cases are used solely for working capital purposes or to pay distributions to partners, and with the intent of the borrower to repay such borrowings within twelve months with funds other than from additional working capital borrowings.
Series A Preferred Unit Distributions
The holders of the Series A preferred units are entitled to cumulative quarterly distributions at a rate of $0.2363 per Series A preferred unit, payable quarterly in arrears no later than 60 days after the end of the applicable quarter. The Partnership will not be entitled to pay any distributions on any junior securities, including any of the common units, prior to paying the quarterly distribution payable to the Series A preferred units, including any previously accrued and unpaid distributions.
Distributions of Cash Upon Liquidation
If we dissolve in accordance with our 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
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distribute any remaining proceeds to the unitholders and our general partner, 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; provided, that any accumulated and unpaid distributions and the applicable liquidation preference on our Series A preferred units shall be distributed with respect to our Series A preferred units (up to the positive balance in the associated capital accounts), prior to any distributions with respect to our common units or other junior securities.
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MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS
This section is a summary of the material tax considerations that may be relevant to prospective unitholders who are individual citizens or residents of the United States and, unless otherwise noted in the following discussion, is the opinion of Baker Botts L.L.P., counsel to our general partner and us, insofar as it relates to legal conclusions with respect to matters of U.S. federal income tax law. This section is based upon current provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), existing and proposed Treasury regulations promulgated under the Code (the “Treasury Regulations”) and current administrative rulings and court decisions, all of which are subject to change. Later changes in these authorities may cause the tax consequences to vary substantially from the consequences described below. Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this section to “us” or “we” are references to Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. and our operating subsidiaries. References to our “operating subsidiaries” refer to our subsidiaries other than Colonial, Explorer and LOCAP.
The following discussion does not comment on all U.S. federal income tax matters affecting us or our unitholders. Moreover, the discussion focuses on unitholders who are individual citizens or residents of the United States and has only limited application to corporations, estates, entities treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes, trusts, nonresident aliens, U.S. expatriates and former citizens or long-term residents of the United States or other unitholders subject to specialized tax treatment, such as banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions, tax-exempt institutions, foreign persons (including, without limitation, controlled foreign corporations, passive foreign investment companies and non-U.S. persons eligible for the benefits of an applicable income tax treaty with the U.S.), IRAs, real estate investment trusts (REITs) or mutual funds, dealers in securities or currencies, traders in securities, U.S. persons whose “functional currency” is not the U.S. dollar, persons holding their units as part of a “straddle,” “hedge,” “conversion transaction” or other risk reduction transaction, and persons deemed to sell their units under the constructive sale provisions of the Code. In addition, the discussion only comments to a limited extent on state, local and foreign tax consequences. Accordingly, we encourage each prospective unitholder to consult its own tax advisor in analyzing the state, local and foreign tax consequences particular to him of the ownership or disposition of common units and potential changes in applicable tax laws.
All statements as to matters of U.S. federal income tax law and legal conclusions with respect thereto, but not as to factual matters, contained in this section, unless otherwise noted, are the opinion of Baker Botts L.L.P. and are based on the accuracy of the representations made by us.
We will rely on opinions of Baker Botts L.L.P. An opinion of counsel represents only that counsel’s best legal judgment and does not bind the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) or the courts. Accordingly, the opinions and statements made herein may not be sustained by a court if contested by the IRS. Any contest of this sort with the IRS may materially and adversely impact the market for the common units and the prices at which common units trade. In addition, the costs of any contest with the IRS, principally legal, accounting and related fees, will result in a reduction in our cash available for distribution and thus will be borne indirectly by our unitholders. Additionally, if the IRS makes an audit adjustment to any of our income tax returns, our unitholders will directly or indirectly bear any taxes (including any applicable penalties and interest) resulting from such audit adjustment (please read “—Administrative Matters—Information Returns and Audit Procedures”). Furthermore, the tax treatment of us, or of an investment in us, may be significantly modified by future legislative or administrative changes or court decisions. Any modifications may or may not be retroactively applied.
For the reasons described below, Baker Botts L.L.P. has not rendered an opinion with respect to the following specific U.S. federal income tax issues: (i) the treatment of a unitholder whose common units are loaned to a short seller to cover a short sale of common units (please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Treatment of Short Sales”); (ii) 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”); (iii) whether our method for taking into account Section 743 adjustments is sustainable in certain cases (please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election” and
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“—Uniformity of Units”); and (iv) whether our use of simplifying conventions for making adjustments to “book” basis and relevant allocations is permitted by existing Treasury Regulations (please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction” and “—Uniformity of Units”).
Partnership Status
A partnership is not a taxable entity and generally incurs no U.S. federal income tax liability. Instead, each partner of a partnership is required to take into account its share of items of income, gain, loss and deduction of the partnership in computing its U.S. federal income tax liability, regardless of whether cash distributions are made to him by the partnership. Distributions by a partnership to a partner are generally not taxable to the partnership or the partner unless the amount of cash distributed to him is in excess of the partner’s adjusted basis in its partnership interest.
Section 7704 of the Code provides that publicly traded partnerships will, as a general rule, be taxed as corporations. However, an exception, referred to as the “Qualifying Income Exception,” exists with respect to publicly traded partnerships of which 90% or more of the gross income for every taxable year consists of “qualifying income.” Qualifying income includes income and gains derived from the transportation, processing, storage and marketing of crude oil, natural gas and refined products thereof. Other types of qualifying income include interest (other than from a financial business), dividends, gains from the sale of real property and gains from the sale or other disposition of capital assets 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. Based upon and subject to this estimate, the factual representations made by us and our general partner and a review of the applicable legal authorities, Baker Botts L.L.P. is of the opinion that at least 90% of our current gross income constitutes qualifying income. The portion of our income that is qualifying income may change from time to time.
The IRS has made no determination as to our status or the status of our operating subsidiaries for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Instead, we will rely on the opinion of Baker Botts L.L.P. on such matters. It is the opinion of Baker Botts L.L.P. that, based upon the Code, Treasury Regulations, published revenue rulings and court decisions and the representations described below that:
| • | we will be classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes; and |
| • | each of our operating subsidiaries will be treated as a partnership or will be disregarded as an entity separate from us (or disregarded as separate from one of our operating subsidiaries that is treated as a partnership) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. |
In rendering its opinion, Baker Botts L.L.P. has relied on factual representations made by us and our general partner. The representations made by us and our general partner upon which Baker Botts L.L.P. has relied include:
| • | neither we nor any of the operating subsidiaries has elected or will elect to be treated as a corporation; and |
| • | for each taxable year, more than 90% of our gross income has been and will be income of the type that Baker Botts L.L.P. has opined or will opine is “qualifying income” within the meaning of Section 7704(d) of the Code. |
We believe these representations are true and expect that these representations will continue to be true in the future.
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.
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For example, from time to time, members of Congress and the President propose and consider substantive changes to the existing U.S. federal income tax laws that affect publicly traded partnerships, including the elimination of the Qualifying Income Exception upon which we rely for our treatment as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. We are unable to predict whether any such changes will ultimately be enacted, but it is possible that a change in law could affect us and may, if enacted, be applied retroactively. Any such changes could affect our ability to meet the Qualifying Income Exception and could negatively impact the value of an investment in our common units.
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 if we had transferred all of our assets, subject to 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 distributed that stock to the unitholders in liquidation of their interests in us. This deemed contribution and liquidation should be tax-free to unitholders and us so long as we, at that time, do not have liabilities in excess of the tax basis of our assets. Thereafter, we would be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
If we were treated as a corporation in any taxable year, either as a result of a failure to meet the Qualifying Income Exception or otherwise, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction would be reflected only on our tax return rather than being passed through to our unitholders, and our net income would be taxed to us at corporate rates. In addition, any distribution made to a unitholder would be treated as taxable dividend income, to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, or, in the absence of earnings and profits, a nontaxable return of capital, to the extent of the unitholder’s tax basis in its common units, or taxable capital gain, after the unitholder’s tax basis in its common units is reduced to zero. Accordingly, taxation as a corporation could result in a material reduction in a unitholder’s cash flow and after-tax return and may result in a substantial reduction of the value of the units.
The discussion below is based on Baker Botts L.L.P.’s opinion that we will be classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Tax Treatment of Income Earned Through C Corporation Subsidiaries
A portion of our taxable income is earned through the C corporations Colonial, Explorer and LOCAP. Such C corporations are subject to U.S. federal income tax on their taxable income at the corporate tax rate and will likely pay state (and possibly local) income tax at varying rates, on their taxable income. Any such entity-level taxes will reduce the cash available for distribution to our unitholders. The U.S. federal corporate income tax rate is currently 21%.
Distributions from any such C corporation will generally be taxed again to unitholders as dividend income to the extent of current and accumulated earnings and profits (as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes) of such C corporation. The maximum U.S. federal income tax rate currently applicable to such dividend income which is allocable to individuals is generally 20% and such dividend income is also considered investment income subject to the 3.8% Medicare tax under the circumstances described in “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Tax Rates.” An individual unitholder’s share of dividend income from Colonial, Explorer and LOCAP and any interest income would constitute portfolio income that could not be offset by the unitholder’s share of our other losses or deductions.
Limited Partner Status
Unitholders who are admitted as limited partners of Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. will be treated as partners of Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Also, 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
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substantive rights attendant to the ownership of their common units will be treated as partners of Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
A beneficial owner of common units whose units have been transferred to a short seller to complete a short sale would appear to lose its status as a partner with respect to those units for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Treatment of Short Sales.”
Income, gains, losses or deductions would not appear to be reportable by a unitholder who is not a partner for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and any cash distributions received by a unitholder who is not a partner for U.S. federal income tax purposes would therefore appear to be fully taxable as ordinary income. These holders are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to the tax consequences to them of holding common units in Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. The references to “unitholders” in the discussion that follows are to persons who are treated as partners in Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership
Flow-through of Taxable Income
Subject to the discussion below under “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Entity-level Collections” and “Administrative Matters—Information Returns and Audit Procedures,” we will not pay any U.S. federal income tax. Instead, each unitholder will be required to report on its income tax return its share of our income, gains, losses and deductions without regard to whether we make cash distributions to him. Consequently, we may allocate income to a unitholder even if he has not received a cash distribution. The income we allocate to unitholders will generally be taxable as ordinary income or as dividend income. Please read “Tax Treatment of Income Earned Through C Corporation Subsidiaries.” Each unitholder will be required to include in income its allocable share of our income, gains, losses and deductions for our taxable year ending with or within its taxable year. Our taxable year ends on December 31.
Treatment of Distributions
Distributions by us to a unitholder generally will not be taxable to the unitholder for U.S. federal income tax purposes, except to the extent the amount of any such cash distribution exceeds its tax basis in its common units immediately before the distribution. Our cash distributions in excess of a unitholder’s tax basis generally will be considered to be gain from the sale or exchange of the common units, taxable in accordance with the rules described under “—Disposition of Common Units.” Any reduction in a unitholder’s share of our liabilities for which no partner, including the general partner, bears the economic risk of loss, known as “nonrecourse liabilities,” will be treated as a distribution by us of cash to that unitholder. To the extent our distributions cause a unitholder’s “at-risk” amount to be less than zero at the end of any taxable year, he must recapture any losses deducted in previous years. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Limitations on Deductibility of Losses.”
A decrease in a unitholder’s percentage interest in us because of our issuance of additional common units will decrease its share of our nonrecourse liabilities, and thus will result in a corresponding deemed distribution of cash. This deemed distribution may constitute a non-pro rata distribution. A non-pro rata distribution of money or property may result in ordinary income to a unitholder, regardless of its tax basis in its common units, if the distribution reduces the unitholder’s share of our “unrealized receivables,” including depreciation recapture and/or substantially appreciated “inventory items,” each as defined in the Code, and collectively, “Section 751 Assets.” To that extent, the unitholder will be treated as having been distributed its proportionate share of the Section 751 Assets and then having exchanged those assets with us in return for the non-pro rata distribution. This latter deemed exchange will generally result in the unitholder’s realization of ordinary income, which will equal the excess of (i) the non-pro rata portion of that distribution over (ii) the unitholder’s tax basis (generally zero) for the share of Section 751 Assets deemed relinquished in the exchange.
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Basis of Common Units
A unitholder’s initial tax basis for its common units will be the amount he paid for the common units plus its share of our nonrecourse liabilities. That basis will be increased by its share of our income and by any increases in its share of our nonrecourse liabilities. That basis will be decreased, but not below zero, by distributions from us, by the unitholder’s share of our losses, by any decreases in its share of our nonrecourse liabilities, by its share of our expenditures that are not deductible in computing taxable income and are not required to be capitalized, and by any excess business interest allocated to the unitholder. A unitholder will have no share of our debt that is recourse to our general partner to the extent of the general partner’s “net value” as defined in Treasury Regulations under Section 752 of the Code, but will have a share, generally based on its share of profits, of our nonrecourse liabilities. Please read “—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss.”
Limitations on Deductibility of Losses
The deduction by a unitholder of its share of our losses will be limited to the tax basis in its units and, in the case of an individual unitholder, estate, trust, or corporate unitholder (if more than 50% of the value of the corporate unitholder’s stock is owned directly or indirectly by or for five or fewer individuals or some tax-exempt organizations) to the amount for which the unitholder is considered to be “at risk” with respect to our activities, if that is less than its tax basis. A common unitholder subject to these limitations must recapture losses deducted in previous years to the extent that distributions cause its 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 these limitations will carry forward and will be allowable as a deduction to the extent that its at-risk amount is subsequently increased, provided such losses do not exceed such common unitholder’s tax basis in its common units. Upon the taxable disposition of a unit, any gain recognized by a unitholder can be offset by losses that were previously suspended by the at-risk limitation but may not be offset by losses suspended by the basis limitation. Any loss previously suspended by the at-risk limitation in excess of that gain would no longer be utilizable.
In general, a unitholder will be at risk to the extent of the tax basis of its units, excluding any portion of that basis attributable to its share of our nonrecourse liabilities, reduced by (i) any portion of that basis representing amounts otherwise protected against loss because of a guarantee, stop loss agreement or other similar arrangement and (ii) any amount of money he borrows to acquire or hold its units, if the lender of those borrowed funds owns an interest in us, is related to the unitholder or can look only to the units for repayment. A unitholder’s at-risk amount will increase or decrease as the tax basis of the unitholder’s units increases or decreases, other than tax basis increases or decreases attributable to increases or decreases in its share of our nonrecourse liabilities.
In addition to the basis and at-risk limitations on the deductibility of losses, the passive loss limitations generally provide that individuals, estates, trusts and some closely-held corporations and personal service corporations can deduct losses from passive activities, which are generally trade or business activities in which the taxpayer does not materially participate, only to the extent of the taxpayer’s income from those passive activities. The passive loss limitations are applied separately with respect to each publicly traded partnership. Consequently, any passive losses we generate will only be available to offset our passive income generated in the future and will not be available to offset income from other passive activities or investments, including our investments or a unitholder’s investments in other publicly traded partnerships, or the unitholder’s salary, active business or other income. Passive losses that are not deductible because they exceed a unitholder’s share of income we generate may be deducted in full when he disposes of its entire investment in us in a fully taxable transaction with an unrelated party. The passive loss limitations are applied after other applicable limitations on deductions, including the at-risk rules and the basis limitation.
A unitholder’s share of our net income may be offset by any of our suspended passive losses, but it may not be offset by any other current or carryover losses from other passive activities, including those attributable to other publicly traded partnerships.
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For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2020, and before January 1, 2026, an “excess business loss” limitation further limits the deductibility of losses by taxpayers other than corporations. 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, for taxpayers filing a joint return, $500,000. 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 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, 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.
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.
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 properly allocable to property held for investment; |
| • | our interest expense attributed to portfolio income; and |
| • | the portion of interest expense incurred to purchase or carry an interest in a passive activity to the extent attributable to 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 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, but generally does not include gains attributable to the disposition of property held for investment or (if applicable) qualified dividend income. The IRS has indicated that the net passive income earned by a publicly traded
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partnership will be treated as investment income to its unitholders. In addition, the unitholder’s share of our portfolio income will be treated as investment income.
Entity-level Collections
If we are required or elect under applicable law to pay any U.S. federal, state, local or foreign income tax on behalf of any unitholder or our general partner or any former unitholder, we are authorized to pay those taxes from our funds. That payment, if made, will be treated as a distribution of cash to the unitholder on whose behalf the payment was made. If the payment is made on behalf of a person whose identity cannot be determined, we are authorized 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 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 an individual unitholder in which event the unitholder would be required to file a claim in order to obtain a credit or refund. Please read “—Administrative Matters—Information Returns and Audit Procedures.”
Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction
In general, if we have a net profit, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction will be allocated among our common unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us. If we have a net loss, that loss will generally be allocated among all of our common unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us to the extent of their positive capital accounts. If the capital accounts of the common unitholders have been reduced to zero, losses will be allocated to the Series A preferred units until the capital accounts of the Series A preferred units are reduced to zero, and to our common unitholders thereafter. If Series A preferred units are allocated losses in any taxable period, gross income from a subsequent taxable period, if any, would be allocated to the Series A preferred units in a manner designed to provide their liquidation preferences. Section 704(c) of the Code and related Treasury Regulations require us to adjust the “book” basis of all assets held by us prior to an issuance of additional units to equal their fair market values at the time of a unit issuance. Purchasers of units in an offering are entitled to calculate tax depreciation and amortization deductions and other relevant tax items with respect to our assets based upon that “book” basis, which effectively puts purchasers in that offering in the same position as if our assets had a tax basis equal to their fair market value at the time of unit issuance. This may have the effect of decreasing the amount of our tax depreciation or amortization deductions thereafter allocated to purchasers of units in an earlier offering or of requiring purchasers of units in an earlier offering to thereafter recognize “remedial income” rather than depreciation and amortization deductions. In this context, we use the term “book” as that term is used in Treasury Regulations under Section 704 of the Code. The “book” basis assigned to our assets for this purpose may not be the same as the book value of our property for financial reporting purposes.
It may not be administratively feasible to make the relevant adjustments to “book” basis and the relevant Section 704(c) allocations separately each time we issue units, particularly in the case of small or frequent unit issuances. If that is the case, we may use simplifying conventions to make those adjustments and allocations, which may include the aggregation of certain issuances of units. Our counsel, Baker Botts L.L.P., is unable to opine as to the validity of such conventions.
In addition, items of recapture income will be allocated to the extent possible to the unitholder who was allocated the deduction giving rise to the treatment of that gain as recapture income in order to minimize the recognition of ordinary income by some unitholders. Finally, although we do not expect that our operations will result in the creation of negative capital accounts, if negative capital accounts nevertheless result, items of our income and gain will be allocated in an amount and manner sufficient to eliminate the negative balance as quickly as possible.
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An allocation of items of our income, gain, loss or deduction, other than an allocation required under the Section 704(c) principles described above, will generally be given effect for U.S. federal income tax purposes in determining a partner’s share of an item of income, gain, loss or deduction only if the allocation has “substantial economic effect.” In any other case, a partner’s share of an item will be determined on the basis of its interest in us, which will be determined by taking into account all the facts and circumstances, including:
| • | its relative contributions to us; |
| • | the interests of all the partners in profits and losses; |
| • | the interests of all the partners in cash flows; and |
| • | the rights of all the partners to distributions of capital upon liquidation. |
Baker Botts L.L.P. is of the opinion that, with the exception of the issue discussed above with respect to our simplifying conventions and the issues described in “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election” and “—Disposition of Common Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees,” and “—Uniformity of Units,” allocations under our partnership agreement will be given effect for U.S. federal income tax purposes in determining a partner’s share of an item of income, gain, loss or deduction.
Treatment of Short Sales
A unitholder whose units are loaned to a “short seller” to cover a short sale of units may be considered as having disposed of those units. If so, he would no longer be treated for tax purposes as a partner with respect to those units during the period of the loan and may recognize gain or loss from the disposition. As a result, during this period:
| • | any of our income, gain, loss or deduction with respect to those units would not be reportable by the unitholder; |
| • | any cash distributions received by the unitholder as to those units would be fully taxable; and |
| • | while not entirely free from doubt, all of these distributions would appear to be ordinary income. |
Because there is no direct or indirect controlling authority on the issue relating to partnership interests, Baker Botts L.L.P. has not rendered an opinion regarding the tax treatment of a unitholder whose common units are loaned to a short seller to cover a short sale of common units; therefore, unitholders desiring to assure their status as partners and avoid the risk of gain recognition from a loan to a short seller are urged to consult a tax advisor to discuss whether it is advisable to modify any applicable brokerage account agreements to prohibit their brokers from borrowing and loaning their units. The IRS has previously 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.”
Alternative Minimum Tax
Each non-corporate unitholder will be required to take into account its distributive share of any items of our income, gain, loss or deduction for purposes of the alternative minimum tax. The current minimum tax rate for married taxpayers filing jointly is 26% on the first $199,900 of alternative minimum taxable income in excess of the exemption amount and 28% on any additional alternative minimum taxable income, which threshold changes annually. Prospective unitholders are urged to consult with their tax advisors as to the impact of an investment in units on their liability for the alternative minimum tax.
Tax Rates
The highest marginal U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to ordinary income of individuals is 37% and the highest marginal U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to long-term capital gains (generally, capital gains on certain assets held for more than twelve months) of individuals is 20%.
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For taxable years beginning before January 1, 2026, subject to certain limitations, a non-corporate unitholder is entitled to a deduction equal to 20% of the sum of:
| • | the net amount of such unitholder’s allocable share of items of our income, gain, deduction and loss which are attributable to our conduct of a trade or business in the United States (generally excluding certain items related to our investment activities, including capital gains and dividends, which are subject to a federal income tax rate of 20%, and certain payments made to the unitholder for services rendered to us); and |
| • | any gain recognized by such unitholder on the disposition of its common units to the extent such gain is attributable to certain Section 751 Assets, including depreciation recapture, depletion recapture and “inventory items” we own. |
Prospective unitholders should consult their tax advisors regarding this deduction and the applicable limitations. These rates, and the deduction, are subject to change by new legislation at any time.
In addition, a 3.8% Medicare tax, or net investment income tax (“NIIT”), 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 units (without taking into account the 20% deduction discussed above). In the case of an individual, the tax is imposed on the lesser of (i) the unitholder’s net investment income and (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 (in any other case). In the case of an estate or trust, the tax is imposed on the lesser of (i) undistributed net investment income and (ii) the excess adjusted gross income over the dollar amount at which the highest income tax bracket applicable to an estate or trust begins.
Section 754 Election
We have made an election permitted by Section 754 of the Code. That election is irrevocable without the consent of the IRS. The election will generally permit us to adjust a common unit purchaser’s tax basis in our assets (“inside basis”) under Section 743(b) of the Code to reflect its purchase price. This election does not apply with respect to a person who purchases common units directly from us. The Section 743(b) adjustment belongs to the purchaser and not to other unitholders. For purposes of this discussion, the inside basis in our assets with respect to a unitholder will be considered to have two components: (i) its share of our tax basis in our assets, or common basis, and (ii) its Section 743(b) adjustment to that basis.
The timing of deductions attributable to a Section 743(b) adjustment to our common basis will depend upon a number of factors, including the nature of the assets to which the adjustment is allocable, the extent to which the adjustment offsets any Section 704(c) type gain or loss with respect to an asset and certain elections we make as to the manner in which we apply Section 704(c) principles with respect to an asset with respect to which the adjustment is allocable. Please read “—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction.” The timing of these deductions may affect the uniformity of our units. Please read “—Uniformity of Units.”
A Section 754 election is advantageous if the transferee’s tax basis in its units is higher than the units’ share of the aggregate tax basis of our assets immediately prior to the transfer. In that case, as a result of the election, the transferee would have, among other items, a greater amount of depreciation deductions and its share of any gain or loss on a sale of our assets would be less. Conversely, a Section 754 election is disadvantageous if the transferee’s tax basis in its units is lower than those units’ share of the aggregate tax basis of our assets immediately prior to the transfer. Thus, the fair market value of the units may be affected either favorably or unfavorably by the election. A basis adjustment is required regardless of whether a Section 754 election is made in the case of a transfer of an interest in us if we have a substantial built-in loss immediately after the transfer, or if we distribute property and have a substantial basis reduction. Generally, a built-in loss or a basis reduction is substantial if it exceeds $250,000. In addition, a built-in loss is substantial if the transferee would be allocated a net loss in excess of $250,000 on a hypothetical sale of our assets for their fair market value immediately after a transfer of the interest at issue.
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The calculations involved in the Section 754 election are complex and will be made on the basis of assumptions as to the value of our assets and other matters. For example, the allocation of the Section 743(b) adjustment among our assets must be made in accordance with the Code. The IRS could seek to reallocate some or all of any Section 743(b) adjustment allocated by us to our tangible assets to goodwill instead. Goodwill, as an intangible asset, is generally nonamortizable or amortizable over a longer period of time or under a less accelerated method than our tangible assets. We cannot assure you that the determinations we make will not be successfully challenged by the IRS and that the deductions resulting from them will not be reduced or disallowed altogether. Should the IRS require a different 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 units may be allocated more income than he 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 U.S. federal income tax purposes. Each unitholder will be required to include in income its share of our income, gain, loss and deduction for our 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 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 he 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 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. The U.S. federal income tax burden associated with the difference between the fair market value of our assets and their tax basis immediately prior to an offering will be borne by our unitholders as of that time. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction.”
To the extent allowable, we may elect to use the depreciation and cost recovery methods, including bonus depreciation to the extent available, that will result in the largest deductions being taken in the early years after assets subject to these allowances are placed in service. Part of or all of the goodwill, going concern value and other intangible assets we have acquired or will acquire in connection with an offering may not produce any amortization deductions because of the application of the anti-churning restrictions of Section 197 of the Code. Please read “—Uniformity of Units.” Property we subsequently acquire or construct may be depreciated using accelerated methods permitted by the Code.
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 previously deducted and the nature of the property, 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 Unit Ownership—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction” and “—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss.”
The costs we incur in selling our units (called “syndication expenses”) must be capitalized and cannot be deducted currently, ratably or upon our termination. There are uncertainties regarding the classification of 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.
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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.
Valuation and Tax Basis of Our Properties
The U.S. federal income tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of units will depend in part on our estimates of the relative fair market values, and the initial tax bases, 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 basis are subject to challenge and will not be binding on the IRS or the courts. If the estimates of fair market value or basis are later found to be incorrect, the character and amount of items of income, gain, loss or deductions previously reported by unitholders might change, and unitholders might be required to adjust their tax liability for prior years and incur interest and penalties with respect to those adjustments.
Disposition of Common Units
Recognition of Gain or Loss
Gain or loss will be recognized on a sale of units equal to the difference between the amount realized and the unitholder’s tax basis for the units sold. A unitholder’s amount realized will be measured by the sum of the cash or the fair market value of other property received by him plus its share of our nonrecourse liabilities. Because the amount realized includes a unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities, the gain recognized on the sale of units could result in a tax liability in excess of any cash received from the sale.
Prior distributions from us that in the aggregate were in excess of cumulative net taxable income for a common unit and, therefore, decreased a unitholder’s tax basis in that common unit will, in effect, become taxable income if the common unit is sold at a price greater than the unitholder’s tax basis in that common unit, even if the price received is less than its original cost.
Except as noted below, gain or loss recognized by a unitholder, other than a “dealer” in units, on the sale or exchange of a unit will generally be taxable as capital gain or loss. Capital gain recognized by an individual on the sale of units held for more than twelve months will generally be taxed at the U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to long-term capital gains. However, a portion of this gain or loss, which will likely be substantial, will be separately computed and taxed as ordinary income or loss under Section 751 of the Code to the extent attributable to assets giving rise to depreciation recapture or other “unrealized receivables” or to “inventory items” we own. The term “unrealized receivables” includes potential recapture items, including depreciation recapture. Ordinary income attributable to unrealized receivables, inventory items and depreciation recapture may exceed net taxable gain realized upon the sale of a unit and may be recognized even if there is a net taxable loss realized on the sale of a unit. Thus, a unitholder may recognize both ordinary income and a capital loss upon a sale of units. Capital losses may offset capital gains and no more than $3,000 of ordinary income, in the case of individuals, and may only be used to offset capital gains in the case of corporations. Both ordinary income and capital gain recognized on a sale of units may be subject to the NIIT in certain circumstances. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Tax Rates.”
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
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“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 above, a common unitholder will be unable to select high or low basis common units to sell as would be the case with corporate stock, but, according to the Treasury Regulations, he may designate specific common units sold for purposes of determining the holding period of units transferred. A unitholder electing to use the actual holding period of common units transferred must consistently use that identification method for all subsequent sales or exchanges of common units. A unitholder considering the purchase of additional units or a sale 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” partnership interest, one in which gain would be recognized if it were sold, assigned or terminated at its fair market value, if the taxpayer or related persons enter(s) into:
| • | a short sale; |
| • | an offsetting notional principal contract; or |
| • | a futures or forward contract; |
in each case, 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 also authorized to issue 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.
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 units owned by each of them as of the opening of the applicable exchange on the first business day of the month, which we refer to in this prospectus as the “Allocation Date.” However, 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 units may be allocated income, gain, loss and deduction realized after the date of transfer.
Simplifying conventions are contemplated by the Code and most publicly traded partnerships use similar simplifying conventions. The Treasury Regulations allow a similar monthly simplifying convention; however, such regulations do not specifically authorize the use of the proration method we have adopted. Accordingly, Baker Botts L.L.P. is unable to opine on the validity of this method of allocating income and deductions between transferee and transferor unitholders. If this method is not allowed under the Treasury Regulations, or only applies to transfers of less than all of the unitholder’s interest, our taxable income or losses could be reallocated among our unitholders. 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 future Treasury Regulations.
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A unitholder who disposes of 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 but will not be entitled to receive a cash distribution for that period.
Notification Requirements
A unitholder who sells any of its units is generally required to notify us in writing of that sale within 30 days after the sale (or, if earlier, January 15 of the year following the sale). A purchaser of units who purchases units from another unitholder is also generally required to notify us in writing of that purchase within 30 days after the purchase. Upon receiving such notifications, we are required to notify the IRS of that transaction and to furnish specified information to the transferor and transferee. Failure to notify us of a purchase 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 Units
Because we cannot match transferors and transferees of units, we must maintain uniformity of the economic and tax characteristics of the units to a purchaser of these units. In the absence of uniformity, we may be unable to completely comply with a number of U.S. federal income tax requirements, both statutory and regulatory. Any non-uniformity could have an impact upon the value of our units. The timing of deductions attributable to Section 743(b) adjustments to the common basis of our assets with respect to persons purchasing units from another unitholder may affect the uniformity of our units. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election.”
For example, some types of depreciable assets are not subject to the typical rules governing depreciation (under Section 168 of the Code) or amortization (under Section 197 of the Code). If we were to acquire any assets of that type, the timing of a unit purchaser’s deductions with respect to Section 743(b) adjustments to the common basis of those assets might differ depending upon when and to whom the unit he purchased was originally issued. We do not currently expect to acquire any assets of that type. However, if we were to acquire a material amount of assets of that type, we intend to adopt tax positions as to those assets that will not result in any such lack of uniformity. Any such tax positions taken by us might result in allocations to some unitholders of smaller depreciation deductions than they would otherwise be entitled to receive. Baker Botts L.L.P. has not rendered an opinion with respect to those types of tax positions. Moreover, the IRS might challenge those tax positions. If we took such a tax position and the IRS successfully challenged the position, the uniformity of our units might be affected, and the gain from the sale of our units might be increased without the benefit of additional deductions. Please read “��Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss.”
In addition, as described above at “ —Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction,” if we aggregate multiple issuances of units for purposes of making adjustments to “book” basis and related tax allocations, we will treat each of our units as having the same capital account balance, regardless of the price actually paid by each purchaser of units in the aggregated offerings. Our counsel, Baker Botts L.L.P., is unable to opine as to validity of such an approach. We do not expect the number of affected units, or the differences between the purchase price of a unit and the initial capital account balance assigned to the unit, to be material, and we do not expect this convention to have a material effect upon the trading of our units.
Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Investors
Ownership of units by employee benefit plans, other tax-exempt organizations, non-resident aliens, foreign corporations and other foreign persons raises issues unique to those investors and, as described below to a limited extent, may have substantially adverse tax consequences to them. If you are a tax-exempt entity or a non-U.S. person, you should consult your tax advisor before investing in our common units. Employee benefit plans and
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most other organizations exempt from U.S. federal income tax, including individual retirement accounts and other retirement plans, are subject to U.S. federal income tax on unrelated business taxable income. Virtually all of our income allocated to a unitholder that is a tax-exempt organization will be unrelated business taxable income and will be taxable to it. Further, a tax exempt organization with more than one unrelated trade or business (including by attribution from investments in a partnership, such as us, that is engaged in one or more unrelated trades or businesses) must compute its unrelated business taxable income separately for each such trade or business, including for purposes of determining any net operating loss deduction. As a result, it may not be possible for tax exempt organizations to use losses from an investment in us to offset taxable income from another unrelated trade or business.
Non-resident aliens and foreign corporations, trusts or estates that own units will be considered to be engaged in business in the United States because of the ownership of units. As a consequence, they will be required to file U.S. federal tax returns to report their share of our income, gain, loss or deduction and pay U.S. federal income tax at regular rates on their share of our net income or gain. Moreover, under rules applicable to publicly traded partnerships, our quarterly distribution to foreign unitholders will be subject to withholding at the highest applicable effective tax rate. Each foreign unitholder must obtain a taxpayer identification number from the IRS and submit that number to our transfer agent on a Form W-8BEN or applicable substitute form in order to obtain credit for these withholding taxes. A change in applicable law may require us to change these procedures.
In addition, because a foreign corporation that owns units will be treated as engaged in a U.S. trade or business, that corporation 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 earnings and profits, as adjusted for changes in the foreign corporation’s “U.S. net equity,” that is effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business. That tax may be reduced or eliminated by an income tax treaty between the U.S. 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 unit will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on gain realized from the sale or disposition of that 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 would be recognized upon a sale by the partnership of all its assets would be “effectively connected” with a U.S. trade or business. Thus, a substantial portion of a non-U.S. unitholder’s gain from the sale or other disposition of our units would be treated as effectively connected with such 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 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 units to the extent such gain is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. We expect a substantial portion of the gain from the sale or disposition of our 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, and the Partnership is required to deduct and withhold from the transferee amounts that should have been withheld by the transferees but were not withheld. However, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS have suspended these rules for transfers of certain publicly traded partnership interests, including transfers of our common units, that occur before January 1, 2023. Under recently finalized Treasury Regulations, such withholding will be required on open market transactions, but in the case of a transfer made through a broker, a partner’s share of liabilities will be excluded from the amount realized. In addition, the obligation to withhold will be imposed on the broker instead of the transferee, and we will generally not be required to withhold from the transferee amounts
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that should have been withheld by the transferee but were not withheld. These withholding obligations will apply to transfers of our common units occurring on or after January 1, 2023.
Administrative Matters
Information Returns and Audit Procedures
We intend to furnish to each unitholder, within 90 days after the close of each calendar 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 you that those positions will yield a result that conforms to the requirements of the Code, Treasury Regulations or administrative interpretations of the IRS. Neither we nor Baker Botts L.L.P. can assure prospective unitholders that the IRS will not successfully contend in court that those positions are impermissible. Any challenge by the IRS could negatively affect the value of the units.
The IRS may audit our U.S. federal income tax returns. Adjustments resulting from an IRS audit may require each unitholder to adjust a prior year’s tax liability, and possibly may result in an audit of its return. Any audit of a unitholder’s return could result in adjustments not related to our returns as well as those related to our returns.
Partnerships generally are treated as separate entities for purposes of U.S. federal 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 with the partners.
If the IRS makes an audit adjustment to any of 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 general partner and unitholders take the 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 an audit adjustment to an income tax return 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. We may elect to have our general partner and unitholders take any material 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, if made, will be effective in all circumstances. With respect to an audit adjustment as to an entity in which we are a member or partner, we may not be able to have our general partner and our unitholders take such audit adjustment into account in accordance with their interests in us during the taxable year under audit, and if we are unable to do so, our then current unitholders may bear some or all of the tax liability resulting from such audit adjustment, even if such unitholders did not own our 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, our cash available for distribution to our unitholders might be substantially reduced.
In the event the IRS makes an audit adjustment to our income tax returns and we do not or cannot shift the liability to our unitholders in accordance with their interests in us during the taxable year under audit, we will generally have the ability to request that the IRS reduce the determined underpayment owed by the partnership by reducing the suspended passive loss carryovers of our unitholders (without any compensation from us to such unitholders), to the extent such underpayment is attributable to a net decrease in passive activity losses allocable to certain partners. Such reduction, if approved by the IRS, will be binding on any affected unitholders.
We are required to designate a partner, or other person, with a substantial presence in the United States as our partnership representative (“Partnership Representative”). The Partnership Representative has the sole authority to act on our behalf for purposes of, among other things, U.S. federal income tax audits and judicial review of
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administrative adjustments by the IRS. Our partnership agreement names our general partner (or its designee) as the Partnership Representative. Further, any actions taken by us or by the Partnership Representative on our behalf with respect to, among other things, U.S. federal income tax audits and judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS, are binding on us and all of the 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 interest, dividends and other fixed or determinable annual or periodical gains, profits and income from sources within the U.S. (“FDAP Income”), or gross proceeds from the sale or other disposition of any property of a type which can produce interest or dividends from sources within the United States (“Gross Proceeds”) 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. 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. An intergovernmental agreement between the United States and an applicable foreign country, or future Treasury Regulations, may modify these requirements.
Generally, these rules apply to current payments of FDAP Income and, while such rules would have applied to payments of Gross Proceeds on or after January 1, 2019, recently proposed Treasury Regulations eliminate these withholding taxes on payments of Gross Proceeds entirely. Taxpayers may rely generally on these proposed U.S. Treasury regulations until they are revoked or final U.S. Treasury regulations are issued. Thus, 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”), common unitholders who are foreign financial institutions or certain other non-US entities may be subject to withholding on distributions they receive from us, or their distributive share of our income, pursuant to the rules described above.
Prospective investors should consult their own tax advisors regarding the potential application of these withholding provisions to their 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; |
| • | whether the beneficial owner is: |
| • | a person that is not a U.S. person; |
| • | a foreign 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 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 dispositions. |
Brokers and financial institutions are required to furnish additional information, including whether they are U.S. persons and specific information on units they acquire, hold or transfer for their own account. A penalty per
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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 the units with the information furnished to us.
Accuracy-Related Penalties
An additional tax equal to 20% of the amount of any portion 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, is imposed by the Code. No penalty will be imposed, however, for any portion of an underpayment if it is shown that there was a reasonable cause for that portion and that the taxpayer acted in good faith regarding that portion.
For individuals, a substantial understatement of income tax in any taxable year exists if the amount of the understatement exceeds the greater of 10% of the tax required to be shown on the return for the taxable year or $5,000 ($10,000 for most corporations). The amount of any understatement subject to penalty generally is reduced if any portion is attributable to a position adopted on the return:
| • | for which there is, or was, “substantial authority”; or |
| • | as to which there is a reasonable basis and the pertinent facts of that position are disclosed on the return. |
If any item of income, gain, loss or deduction included in the distributive shares of unitholders might result in that kind of an “understatement” of income for which no “substantial authority” exists, we must disclose the pertinent facts on our return. In addition, we will make a reasonable effort to furnish sufficient information for unitholders to make adequate disclosure on their returns and to take other actions as may be appropriate to permit unitholders to avoid liability for this penalty. More stringent rules apply to “tax shelters,” which we do not believe includes us, or any of our investments, plans or arrangements.
A substantial valuation misstatement exists if (a) the value of any property, or the adjusted basis of any property, claimed on a tax return is 150% or more of the amount determined to be the correct amount of the valuation or adjusted basis, (b) the price for any property or services (or for the use of property) claimed on any such return with respect to any transaction between persons described in Code Section 482 is 200% or more (or 50% or less) of the amount determined under Section 482 to be the correct amount of such price, or (c) the net Code Section 482 transfer price adjustment for the taxable year exceeds the lesser of $5.0 million or 10% of the taxpayer’s gross receipts. No penalty is imposed unless the portion of the underpayment attributable to a substantial valuation misstatement exceeds $5,000 ($10,000 for most corporations). If the valuation claimed on a return is 200% or more than the correct valuation or certain other thresholds are met, the penalty imposed increases to 40%. We do not anticipate making any valuation misstatements.
In addition, the 20% accuracy-related penalty also applies to any portion of an underpayment of tax that is attributable to transactions lacking economic substance. To the extent that such transactions are not disclosed, the penalty imposed is increased to 40%. Additionally, there is no reasonable cause defense to the imposition of this penalty to such transactions.
Reportable Transactions
If we were to engage in a “reportable transaction,” we (and possibly you and others) would be required to make a detailed disclosure of the transaction to the IRS. A transaction may be a reportable transaction based upon any of several factors, including the fact that it is a type of tax avoidance transaction publicly identified by the IRS as a “listed transaction” or that it produces certain kinds of losses for partnerships, individuals, S corporations, and trusts in excess of $2.0 million in any single year, or $4.0 million in any combination of six successive tax years. Our participation in a reportable transaction could increase the likelihood that our U.S. federal income tax information return (and possibly your tax return) would be audited by the IRS. Please read “—Administrative Matters—Information Returns and Audit Procedures.”
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Moreover, if we were to participate in a reportable transaction with a significant purpose to avoid or evade tax, or in any listed transaction, you may be subject to the following additional consequences:
| • | accuracy-related penalties with a broader scope, significantly narrower exceptions, and potentially greater amounts than described above at “—Administrative Matters—Accuracy-Related Penalties”; |
| • | for those persons otherwise entitled to deduct interest on U.S. federal tax deficiencies, non-deductibility of interest on any resulting tax liability; and |
| • | in the case of a listed transaction, an extended statute of limitations. |
We do not expect to engage in any “reportable transactions.”
State, Local, Foreign and Other Tax Considerations
In addition to U.S. federal income taxes, unitholders likely will be subject to other taxes, such as state, local and foreign income taxes, unincorporated business taxes, and estate, inheritance or intangible taxes that may be imposed by the various jurisdictions in which we do business or own property or in which the unitholder is a resident. We currently do business or own property in multiple states, at least one of which imposes income taxes on individuals and corporations. Moreover, in the future we may also own property or do business in other states that impose income or similar taxes on non-resident individuals and corporations. Although an analysis of those various taxes is not presented here, each prospective unitholder should consider their potential impact on its investment in us. Although a unitholder may not be required to file a return and pay taxes in some jurisdictions if its income from that jurisdiction falls below the filing and payment requirement, such unitholder may be required to file income tax returns and to pay income taxes in other jurisdictions in which we do business or own property and may be subject to penalties for failure to comply with those requirements. In some jurisdictions, tax losses may not produce a tax benefit in the year incurred and may not be available to offset income in subsequent taxable years. 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. Amounts withheld will be treated as if distributed to unitholders for purposes of determining the amounts distributed by us. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Entity-level Collections.” Based on current law and our estimate of our future operations, our general partner anticipates that any amounts required to be withheld will not be material.
It is the responsibility of each unitholder to investigate the legal and tax consequences, under the laws of pertinent states, localities and foreign jurisdictions, of its investment in us. Accordingly, each prospective unitholder is urged to consult 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 foreign, as well as U.S. federal tax returns, that may be required of such unitholder. Baker Botts L.L.P. has not rendered an opinion on the state, local or foreign tax consequences of an investment in us.
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Certain legal matters in connection with our securities offered hereby will be passed upon for us by our outside counsel, Baker Botts L.L.P., Houston, Texas. Legal counsel to any underwriters may pass upon legal matters for such underwriters and will be named in the applicable prospectus supplement.
The consolidated financial statements of Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020, appearing in Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, and the effectiveness of Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.’s 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, and audited consolidated financial statements to be included in subsequently filed documents will be, incorporated herein by reference in reliance upon the reports of Ernst & Young LLP pertaining to such financial statements and the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of the respective dates (to the extent covered by consents filed with the SEC) given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
The financial statements of Amberjack Pipeline Company LLC as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020, appearing in Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.’s Annual Report on 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 financial statements are, and audited financial statements to be included in subsequently filed documents will be, incorporated herein by reference in reliance upon the report of Ernst & Young LLP pertaining to such financial statements (to the extent covered by consents filed with the SEC) given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
The financial statements of Mars Oil Pipeline Company LLC as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020, appearing in Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.’s Annual Report on 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 financial statements are, and audited financial statements to be included in subsequently filed documents will be, incorporated herein by reference in reliance upon the report of Ernst & Young LLP pertaining to such financial statements (to the extent covered by consents filed with the SEC) given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION
We have filed a registration statement with the SEC under the Securities Act that registers the securities offered by this prospectus. The registration statement, including the attached exhibits, contains additional relevant information about us. The rules and regulations of the SEC allow us to omit some information included in the registration statement from this prospectus.
The SEC maintains a website on the Internet at www.sec.gov. Our registration statement, of which this prospectus constitutes a part, can be downloaded from the SEC’s website and can also be inspected and copied at the offices of the New York Stock Exchange, Inc., 20 Broad Street, New York, New York 10005.
We file with or furnish to the SEC periodic reports and other information. These reports and other information may be obtained from the SEC’s website as provided above. Our website on the Internet is located at www.shellmidstreampartners.com, and we make our periodic reports and other information filed with or furnished to the SEC available, free of charge, through our website, as soon as reasonably practicable after those reports and other information are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. Information on our website or any other website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus and does not constitute a part of this prospectus.
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We furnish or make available to our unitholders annual reports containing our audited financial statements and furnish or make available to our unitholders quarterly reports containing our unaudited interim financial information, including the information required by Form 10-Q, for the first three fiscal quarters of each fiscal year.
The SEC allows us to “incorporate by reference” into this prospectus the information we file with it, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to those documents. Information incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this prospectus, except for any information that is superseded by information included directly in this prospectus. Any statement contained in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement or a document incorporated by reference in this prospectus or in any prospectus supplement will be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this prospectus to the extent that a statement contained in this prospectus or in any other subsequently filed document that is incorporated by reference in this prospectus modifies or supersedes the statement. Any statement so modified or superseded will not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this prospectus. We incorporate by reference the documents listed below and any subsequent filings we make with the SEC under Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (excluding any portions of such documents that have been “furnished” but not “filed” for purposes of the Exchange Act) until all offerings under this registration statement are completed or terminated:
| • | our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020; |
| • | our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2021, June 30, 2021 and September 30, 2021; |
| • | our Current Reports on Form 8-K filed on January 21, 2021 (but only with respect to the information filed with respect to Item 5.02), February 19, 2021 (filed with respect to Item 5.02), March 18, 2021, March 25, 2021, June 15, 2021, June 21, 2021, June 22, 2021, September 27, 2021 (but only with respect to the information filed with respect to Item 8.01) and October 5, 2021; and |
| • | the description of our common units in our Registration Statement on Form 8-A (Registration No. 001-36710) filed on October 28, 2014. |
We will provide a copy of any and all of the information that is incorporated by reference in this prospectus to any person, including a beneficial owner, to whom a prospectus is delivered, without charge, upon written or oral request. You may obtain a copy of these filings by writing or telephoning:
Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. Attention: Investor Relations 150 N. Dairy Ashford Road Houston, Texas 77079 (832) 337-2034
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PART II
INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS
| Item 14. | Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution. |
Set forth below are the expenses (other than underwriting discounts and commissions) expected to be incurred in connection with the issuance and distribution of the securities registered hereby.
Securities and Exchange Commission Registration Fee | $ | * | ||
Legal Fees and Expenses | * | * | ||
Accounting Fees and Expenses | * | * | ||
Transfer Agent and Registrar Expenses | * | * | ||
Printing Expenses | * | * | ||
Miscellaneous | * | * | ||
Total | $ | * | * |
| * | The registrant is deferring payment of the registration fee in reliance on Rule 456(b) and 457(r) under the Securities Act. |
| ** | These fees are calculated based on the number of issuances and amount of securities offered and accordingly cannot be estimated at this time. |
| Item 15. | Indemnification of Directors and Officers. |
Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.
Subject to any terms, conditions or restrictions set forth in our partnership agreement, Section 17-108 of the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act (the “Delaware Act”) empowers a Delaware limited partnership to indemnify and hold harmless any partner or other person from and against any and all claims and demands whatsoever. The section of the prospectus entitled “Description of Our Partnership Agreement—Indemnification” discloses that we will generally indemnify officers, directors and affiliates of our general partner to the fullest extent permitted by the law against all losses, claims, damages or similar events and is incorporated herein by reference.
Shell Midstream Partners GP LLC
Subject to any terms, conditions or restrictions set forth in our general partner’s limited liability company agreement, Section 18-108 of the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act empowers a Delaware limited liability company to indemnify and hold harmless any member or manager or other person from and against any and all claims and demands whatsoever.
Under the limited liability agreement of our general partner, in most circumstances, our general partner will indemnify the following persons, to the fullest extent permitted by law, from and against any and 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):
| • | any person who is or was an affiliate of our general partner (other than us and our subsidiaries); |
| • | any person who is or was a member, partner, officer, director, employee, agent or trustee of our general partner or any affiliate of our general partner; |
| • | any person who is or was serving at the request of our general partner or any affiliate of our general partner as an officer, director, employee, member, partner, agent, fiduciary or trustee of another person; and |
| • | any person designated by our general partner. |
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Our general partner maintains insurance covering its officers and directors against liabilities asserted and expenses incurred in connection with their activities as officers and directors of our general partner or any of its direct or indirect subsidiaries.
| Item 16. | Exhibits. |
The following documents are filed as exhibits to this registration statement:
| * | To be filed as an exhibit to a current report on Form 8-K of the registrant in connection with a specific offering. |
| † | Filed herewith. |
| Item 17. | Undertakings. |
The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:
(a) to file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:
(i) to include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”);
(ii) to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of this registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in this registration statement. Notwithstanding the
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foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement; and (iii) to include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this registration statement or any material change to such information in this registration statement;
provided, however, that paragraphs (i), (ii) and (iii) above do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission by the registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) that are incorporated by reference in the registration statement or is contained in a form of prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) that is part of the registration statement
(b) that, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof;
(c) to remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering;
(d) that, for purposes of determining liability under the Securities Act to any purchaser:
(i) If the registrant is relying on Rule 430B:
(A) Each prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3) shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the date the filed prospectus was deemed part of and included in this registration statement; and
(B) each prospectus required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2), (b)(5), or (b)(7) as part of a registration statement in reliance on Rule 430B relating to an offering made pursuant to Rule 415(a)(1)(i), (vii), or (x) for the purpose of providing the information required by section 10(a) of the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the earlier of the date such form of prospectus is first used after effectiveness or the date of the first contract of sale of securities in the offering described in the prospectus. As provided in Rule 430B, for liability purposes of the issuer and any person that is at that date an underwriter, such date shall be deemed to be a new effective date of the registration statement relating to the securities in the registration statement to which that prospectus relates, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof; provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such effective date, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such effective date; or
That, for the purpose of determining liability of the registrant under the Securities Act to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, each undersigned registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of the undersigned registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser:
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(a) Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424;
(b) Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by the undersigned registrant;
(c) The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and
(d) Any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser.
The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the registrant’s annual report pursuant to section 13(a) or section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
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Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all the requirements for filing on Form S-3 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Houston, State of Texas, on November 1, 2021.
| Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. | ||
| By: | Shell Midstream Partners GP LLC, its general partner | |
| By: | /s/ Shawn J. Carsten | |
| Shawn J. Carsten | ||
| Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | ||
Each person whose signature appears below appoints Steven C. Ledbetter and Shawn J. Carsten, and each of them, any of whom may act without the joinder of the other, as his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and re-substitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this Registration Statement and any Registration Statement (including any amendment thereto) for this offering that is to be effective upon filing pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and all other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or any of them, or their or his or her substitute and substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this Registration Statement has been signed, as of November 1, 2021 by the following persons in the capacities and the dates indicated.
Name | Title | |
/s/ Steven C. Ledbetter Steven C. Ledbetter | President and Chief Executive Officer | |
/s/ Shawn J. Carsten Shawn J. Carsten | Director, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | |
/s/ Paul R.A. Goodfellow Paul R.A. Goodfellow | Chairman of the Board of Directors | |
/s/ Anne C. Anderson Anne C. Anderson | Director | |
/s/ Rob L. Jones Rob L. Jones | Director | |
/s/ James J. Bender James J. Bender | Director | |
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Name | Title | |
/s/ Carlos A. Fierro Carlos A. Fierro | Director | |
/s/ Cynthia V. Hablinski Cynthia V. Hablinski | Director | |
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