Termination Fees
Upon termination of the Merger Agreement under certain specified circumstances, including, among others, (a) termination by the Partnership in order to enter into a definitive agreement with respect to a Superior Proposal, the Partnership would be required to pay Kodiak a termination fee equal to $15 million. Upon termination of the Merger Agreement under certain other specified circumstances, including (a) termination by the Partnership after Kodiak has obtained the necessary debt financing, all other conditions to the closing have been met, and Kodiak fails to close the Mergers, (b) termination by the Partnership or Kodiak at the Outside Date if all conditions to closing have been satisfied, other than the Minimum Debt Financing condition, and the Marketing Period has ended or (c) termination by Kodiak for the occurrence of the Financing Termination Condition, Kodiak would be required to pay the Partnership a termination fee equal to $20 million.
Other Terms of the Merger
The Merger Agreement contains customary representations and warranties of the Partnership and Kodiak relating to their respective businesses, financial statements and public filings, in each case generally subject to customary materiality qualifiers. Additionally, the Merger Agreement provides for customary pre-closing covenants of the Partnership and Kodiak, including covenants relating to conducting their respective businesses in the ordinary course and refraining from taking certain actions without the other party’s consent. The Merger Agreement also contains covenants with respect to the Partnership (i) to use reasonable best efforts to obtain the requisite unitholder approval through written consent and (ii) not to solicit alternative acquisition proposals, engage in discussions or negotiations with respect to such proposals or provide non-public information in connection with such proposals, subject in each case to certain exceptions.
The Merger Agreement provides that Partnership and the General Partner must comply with customary non solicitation restrictions, including, among others, certain restrictions on their ability to solicit alternative Acquisition Proposals (as defined in the Merger Agreement) from third parties, to provide non-public information to third parties and to engage in negotiations with third parties regarding alternative Acquisition Proposals. Subject to customary exceptions, the Board is required to recommend that the Partnership’s unitholders approve the Merger Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby.
The representations, warranties and covenants contained in the Merger Agreement have been made solely for the benefit of the Parties thereto. In addition, such representations, warranties and covenants (a) have been made only for purposes of the Merger Agreement, (b) have been qualified by (i) matters specifically disclosed in any reports filed by the Partnership with the SEC at least 48 hours prior to the date of the Merger Agreement (subject to certain exceptions) and (ii) confidential disclosures made in confidential disclosure letters delivered in connection with the Merger Agreement, (c) are subject to materiality qualifications contained in the Merger Agreement which may differ from what may be viewed as material by investors, (d) were made only as of the date of the Merger Agreement or such other date as is specified in the Merger Agreement and (e) have been included in the Merger Agreement for the purpose of allocating risk between the contracting parties rather than establishing matters of fact. Accordingly, the Merger Agreement is included with this filing only to provide investors with information regarding the terms of the Merger Agreement, and not to provide investors with any other factual information regarding the parties thereto or their respective businesses. Investors should not rely on the representations, warranties and covenants or any descriptions thereof as characterizations of the actual state of facts or condition of the parties to the Merger Agreement or any of their respective subsidiaries or affiliates. Moreover, information concerning the subject matter of the representations and warranties may change after the date of the Merger Agreement, which subsequent information may or may not be fully reflected in the Partnership’s public disclosures. The Merger Agreement should not be read alone, but should instead be read in conjunction with the other information regarding the Partnership that is or will be contained in, or incorporated by reference into, the Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents that the Partnership files with the SEC.
The foregoing description of the Merger Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby does not purport to be complete and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by, the terms and conditions of the Merger Agreement, a copy of which is attached to this Current Report on Form 8-K as Exhibit 2.1 and incorporated by reference herein.
OpCo LLC Agreement
Following the closing of the Mergers, Kodiak will continue to operate its business through Kodiak Services, which will continue to directly and indirectly hold all of the assets and operations of Kodiak and the Partnership. Kodiak Services will be governed by the Opco LLC Agreement to be entered into at the Initial Effective Time.
As a result of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, the Electing Unitholders at the Initial Effective Time will hold OpCo Units and a corresponding number of shares of Series A Preferred Stock. An OpCo Unit, together with a corresponding share of Series A Preferred Stock, generally will be equivalent economically and in respect of voting power to one share of Kodiak Common Stock.
Pursuant to the Opco LLC Agreement, after 180 days following the closing of the Mergers, a holder of OpCo Units (other than Kodiak or its affiliates) will have the right to exchange all or a portion of its OpCo Units (together with a corresponding number of shares of Series A Preferred Stock) for, at Kodiak’s option, an equal number of shares of Kodiak Common Stock or cash, subject to certain limitations.
In addition, commencing on the fifth anniversary of the closing of the Mergers, the OpCo Units (together with the corresponding shares of Series A Preferred Stock) will be callable at Kodiak’s option and, upon Kodiak’s election, exchanged for an equal number of shares of Kodiak Common Stock.
Series A Preferred Stock
Each share of Series A Preferred Stock will be entitled to one vote per share on all matters submitted to a vote of the holders of Kodiak Common Stock.
In the event of any liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of Parent, each holder of Series A Preferred Stock will be entitled to receive an amount equal to $0.01 per share of Series A Preferred Stock before any distribution of assets is made on shares of Kodiak Common Stock.
Registration Rights Agreement
At the closing of the Mergers, Kodiak will also enter into a separate registration rights agreement with the Electing Unitholders, pursuant to which the Electing Unitholders will have customary registration rights, including certain demand and piggyback rights.
Support and Lockup Agreements
As an inducement to Kodiak entering into the Merger Agreement, on December 19, 2023, each of Spartan, Merced Capital LP, Orvieto Partners, L.P. and the named executive officers of the General Partner (the “Supporting Unitholders”) who collectively own approximately 54% of the outstanding Partnership Common Units, in the aggregate, entered into separate Support and Lockup Agreements with Kodiak, the General Partner and the Partnership (the “Support Agreements”).
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