UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 


 

FORM 8-K

 


 

CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 


 

Date of Report (date of earliest event reported): December 18, 2017

 

Enviva Partners, LP

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 


 

Delaware

 

001-37363

 

46-4097730

(State or other jurisdiction
of incorporation)

 

(Commission
File Number)

 

(IRS Employer
Identification No.)

 

7200 Wisconsin Ave, Suite 1000
Bethesda, MD

 

20814

(Address of principal executive offices)

 

(Zip Code)

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code : (301) 657-5660

 


 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

 

o             Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 

o             Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 

o             Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 

o             Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (17 CFR §230.405) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (17 CFR §240.12b-2).

 

Emerging growth company x

 

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 13(a) of the Exchange Act. x

 

 

 



 

Item 5.03  Amendments to Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws; Change in Fiscal Year.

 

On December 18, 2017, Enviva Partners GP, LLC, the general partner of Enviva Partners, LP (the “Partnership”), entered into Amendment No. 1 to the First Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of the Partnership dated as of May 4, 2015 to make certain revisions in response to changes to the Internal Revenue Code enacted by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 relating to changes in partnership audit and adjustment procedures.

 

The foregoing description of the Amendment does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the complete text of the Amendment, a copy of which is filed as Exhibit 3.1 to this Current Report and is incorporated herein by reference.

 

Item 9.01.                 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

 

Exhibits.

 

Exhibit
Number

 

Description

3.1

 

Amendment No. 1 to the First Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Enviva Partners, LP, dated as of December 18, 2017.

 

2



 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

 

ENVIVA PARTNERS, LP

 

 

 

By:

Enviva Partners GP, LLC, its general partner

 

 

 

Date: December 21, 2017

 

 

 

By:

/s/ William H. Schmidt, Jr.

 

Name:

William H. Schmidt, Jr.

 

Title:

Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

 

3


 

Exhibit 3.1

 

Execution Version

 

AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO THE FIRST AMENDED AND RESTATED

AGREEMENT OF LIMITED PARTNERSHIP OF

ENVIVA PARTNERS, LP

 

This Amendment No. 1 (this “ Amendment ”) to the First Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Enviva Partners, LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the “ Partnership ”), dated as of May 4, 2015 (the “ Partnership Agreement ”), is entered into effective as of December 18, 2017, by Enviva Partners GP, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, as the General Partner. Capitalized terms used but not defined herein are used as defined in the Partnership Agreement.

 

RECITALS

 

WHEREAS , Section 9.3 of the Partnership Agreement currently provides as follows:

 

“Subject to the provisions hereof, the General Partner is designated as the Tax Matters Partner (as defined in the Code) and is authorized and required to represent the Partnership (at the Partnership’s expense) in connection with all examinations of the Partnership’s affairs by tax authorities, including resulting administrative and judicial proceedings, and to expend Partnership funds for professional services and costs associated therewith. Each Partner agrees to cooperate with the General Partner and to do or refrain from doing any or all things reasonably required by the General Partner to conduct such proceedings.”

 

WHEREAS , the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 eliminates the concept of a “Tax Matters Partner,” replaces it with the concept of a “Partnership Representative” and makes certain changes to the manner in which partnerships and their partners are audited and taxes may be assessed therefrom, each effective for tax years commencing after December 31, 2017;

 

WHEREAS , Section 9.2 of the Partnership Agreement provides the General Partner with authority to determine whether the Partnership should make elections permitted by the Code;

 

WHEREAS , Section 13.1(c) of the Partnership Agreement provides that the General Partner, without the approval of any Partner or Assignee, may amend any provision of the Partnership Agreement to reflect a change that the General Partner determines to be necessary or appropriate to ensure that the Partnership will not be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxed as an entity for federal income tax purposes;

 

WHEREAS , Section 13.1(d)(ii) of the Partnership Agreement provides that the General Partner, without the approval of any Partner or Assignee, may amend any provision of the Partnership Agreement to reflect a change that the General Partner determines to be 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;

 

WHEREAS , Section 13.1(d)(i) of the Partnership Agreement provides that the General Partner, without the approval of any Partner or Assignee, may amend any provision of the Partnership Agreement to reflect a change that the General Partner determines does not adversely

 



 

affect the Limited Partners (including any particular class of Partnership Interests as compared to other classes of Partnership Interests) in any material respect;

 

WHEREAS , Section 13.1(d)(iv) of the Partnership Agreement provides that the General Partner, without the approval of any Partner or Assignee, may amend any provision of the Partnership Agreement that is required to effect the intent expressed in the Registration Statement or the intent of the provisions of the Partnership Agreement or is otherwise contemplated by the Partnership Agreement; and

 

WHEREAS , acting pursuant to the power and authority granted to it under 13.1(c), Section 13.1(d)(ii) Section 13.1(d)(i) and Section 13.1(d)(iv) of the Partnership Agreement, the General Partner has determined that the following amendment to the Partnership Agreement (A) is necessary and appropriate to ensure that the Partnership will not be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxed as an entity for federal income tax purposes; (B) is necessary and appropriate to satisfy requirements, conditions or guidelines contained in any opinion, directive, order, ruling or regulation; (C) does not adversely affect the Limited Partners (including any particular class of Partnership Interests as compared to other classes of Partnership Interests) in any material respect; and (D) is required to effect the intent expressed in the Registration Statement or the intent of the provisions of the Partnership Agreement or is otherwise contemplated by the Partnership Agreement.

 

NOW, THEREFORE , it is hereby agreed as follows:

 

Section 1. Amendment .

 

(i)                                      Section 6.9 of the Partnership Agreement is hereby amended and restated to read in its entirety as follows:

 

Section 6.9                                    Entity-Level Taxation.   If legislation is enacted or the interpretation of existing language is modified by a court of competent jurisdiction so that a Group Member is treated as an association taxable as a corporation or is otherwise subject to an entity-level tax for federal, state or local income tax purposes, then the General Partner may reduce the Minimum Quarterly Distribution, the First Target Distribution, the Second Target Distribution and the Third Target Distribution to take into account the amount of income taxes that are payable by reason of any such new legislation or interpretation (the “ Incremental Income Taxes ”), or any portion thereof selected by the General Partner, in the manner provided in this Section 6.9. If the General Partner elects to reduce the Minimum Quarterly Distribution, the First Target Distribution, the Second Target Distribution and the Third Target Distribution for any Quarter with respect to all or a portion of any Incremental Income Taxes, the General Partner shall estimate for such Quarter the Partnership Group’s aggregate liability (the “ Estimated Incremental Quarterly Tax Amount ”) for all such income taxes that are payable by reason of any such new legislation or interpretation; provided that any difference between such estimate and the actual tax liability for such Quarter that is owed by reason of any such new legislation or interpretation shall be taken into account in determining the Estimated Incremental Quarterly Tax Amount with respect to each Quarter in which any such difference can be determined. For each such Quarter, the Minimum Quarterly Distribution, First Target Distribution, Second Target Distribution and Third Target Distribution, shall be the product obtained by multiplying (a) the

 



 

amounts therefor that are set out herein prior to the application of this Section 6.9 times (b) the quotient obtained by dividing (i) cash and cash equivalents with respect to such Quarter by (ii) the sum of cash and cash equivalents with respect to such Quarter and the Estimated Incremental Quarterly Tax Amount for such Quarter, as determined by the General Partner. For purposes of the foregoing, cash and cash equivalents with respect to a Quarter will be deemed reduced by the Estimated Incremental Quarterly Tax Amount for that Quarter.

 

(ii)                                   Section 9.3 of the Partnership Agreement is hereby amended and restated to read in its entirety as follows:

 

Tax Controversies .

 

(a)                                  Subject to the provisions hereof, the General Partner (or its designee) is designated as the Tax Matters Partner (as defined in Section 6231(a)(7) of the Code as in effect prior to the enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015), and the Partnership Representative (as defined in Section 6223 of the Code following the enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 or under any applicable state or local law providing for an analogous capacity), and is authorized to represent the Partnership (at the Partnership’s expense) in connection with all examinations of the Partnership’s affairs by tax authorities, including resulting administrative and judicial proceedings, and to expend Partnership funds for professional services and costs associated therewith.  In its capacity as Partnership Representative, the General Partner shall exercise any and all authority of the Partnership Representative, including, without limitation, (i) binding the Partnership and its Partners with respect to tax matters and (ii) determining whether to make any available election under Section 6226 of the Code or an analogous election under state or local law, which election permits the Partnership to pass any partnership adjustment through to the Persons who were Partners of the Partnership in the year to which the adjustment relates and irrespective of whether such Persons are Partners of the Partnership at the time such election is made.  Each Partner agrees to cooperate with the General Partner and to do or refrain from doing any or all things reasonably requested by the General Partner in its capacity as the Tax Matters Partner or Partnership Representative.  For Partners that are not tax-exempt entities (as defined in Section 168(h)(2) of the Code) and subject to the General Partner’s discretion to seek modifications of an imputed underpayment, this cooperation includes (i) filing amended federal, state or local tax returns, paying any additional tax (including interest, penalties and other additions to tax), and providing the General Partner with an affidavit swearing to relevant facts (all within the requisite time periods), and (ii) providing any other information requested by the General Partner in order to seek modifications of an imputed underpayment.  For Partners that are tax-exempt entities (as defined in Section 168(h)(2) of the Code) and subject to the General Partner’s discretion to seek modifications of an imputed underpayment, this cooperation includes providing the General Partner with information necessary to establish any such Partner’s tax-exempt status.  This agreement to cooperate applies irrespective of whether such Persons are Partners of the Partnership at the time of the requested cooperation.

 

(b)                                  Each Partner agrees that notice of or updates regarding tax controversies shall be deemed conclusively to have been given or made by the General Partner if the Partnership has either (i) filed the information for which notice is required with the Commission via its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval system and such information is publicly

 



 

available on such system or (ii) made the information for which notice is required available on any publicly available website maintained by the Partnership, whether or not such Partner remains a Partner in the Partnership at the time such information is made publicly available.  Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, nothing in this provision shall obligate the Partnership Representative to provide notice to the Partners other than as required by the Code.

 

(c) The General Partner may amend the provisions of this Agreement as it determines appropriate to satisfy any requirements, conditions or guidelines set forth in any amendment to the provisions of Subchapter C of Chapter 63 of Subtitle F of the Code or any analogous provisions of the laws of any state or locality, or the promulgation of regulations or publication of other administrative guidance thereunder.

 

(iii)                                Section 9.4 of the Partnership Agreement is hereby amended and restated to read in its entirety as follows:

 

Section 9.4  Withholding and Other Tax Payments by the Partnership .

 

(a)                                  The General Partner may treat taxes paid by the Partnership on behalf of all or less than all of the Partners as a distribution of cash to such Partners, as a general expense of the Partnership, or as indemnifiable payments made by the Partnership on behalf of the Partners or former Partners (as provided in Section 9.4(c)), as determined appropriate under the circumstances by the General Partner.

 

(b)                                  Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, the General Partner is authorized to take any action that may be required to cause the Partnership and other Group Members to comply with any withholding requirements established under the Code or any other federal, state or local law including pursuant to Sections 1441, 1442, 1445 and 1446 of the Code.  To the extent that the Partnership is required or elects to withhold and pay over to any taxing authority any amount resulting from the allocation or distribution of income or from a distribution to any Partner (including by reason of Section 1446 of the Code), the General Partner may treat the amount withheld as a distribution of cash pursuant to Section 6.3 or Section 12.4(c) in the amount of such withholding from such Partner.

 

(c)                                   If the Partnership pays an imputed underpayment under Section 6225 of the Code and/or any analogous provision of the laws of any state or locality, the General Partner may require that some or all of the Partners of the Partnership in the year to which the underpayment relates indemnify the Partnership for their allocable share of that underpayment (including interest, penalties and other additions to tax).  This indemnification obligation shall not apply to a Partner to the extent that (i) the Partnership received a modification of the imputed underpayment under Section 6225(c)(2) of the Code (or any analogous provision of state or local law) due to the Partner’s filing of amended tax returns and payment of any resulting tax (including interest, penalties and other additions to tax), (ii) the Partner is a tax-exempt entity (as defined in Section 168(h)(2) of the Code) and either the Partnership received a modification of the imputed underpayment under Section 6225(c)(3) of the Code (or any analogous provision of state or local law) because of such Partner’s status as a tax-exempt entity or the Partnership

 



 

did not make a good faith effort to obtain a modification of the imputed underpayment due to such Partner’s status as a tax-exempt entity or (iii) the Partnership received a modification of the imputed underpayment under Section 6225(c)(4)-(6) of the Code (or any analogous provision of state or local law) as a result of other information that was either provided by the Partner or otherwise available to the Partnership with respect to the Partner.  This indemnification obligation imposed on Partners, including former Partners, applies irrespective of whether such Persons are Partners of the Partnership at the time the Partnership pays the imputed underpayment

 

Section 2. Ratification of Partnership Agreement .  Except as expressly modified and amended herein, all of the terms and conditions of the Partnership Agreement shall remain in full force and effect.

 

Section 3.  Governing Law .  This Amendment shall be governed by, and interpreted in accordance with, the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to the principles of conflicts of law.

 

[ The remainder of this page was left blank intentionally; the signature page follows. ]

 



 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Amendment has been executed as of December 21, 2017.

 

 

GENERAL PARTNER:

 

 

 

By:  Enviva Partners GP, LLC,

 

as its sole general partner

 

 

 

 

 

By:

/s/ William H. Schmidt, Jr.

 

Name:

William H. Schmidt, Jr.

 

Title:

Executive Vice President, General

 

 

Counsel and Secretary

 

Signature Page to Amendment No. 1 to the First Amended and Restated

Agreement of Limited Partnership of

Enviva Partners, LP