--12-31 false 0001692787 0001692787 2022-02-22 2022-02-22 0001692787 dei:FormerAddressMember 2022-02-22 2022-02-22

 

 

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): February 22, 2022

 

 

KINETIK HOLDINGS INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Delaware   001-38048   81-4675947

(State or other jurisdiction

of incorporation)

 

(Commission

File Number)

 

(IRS Employer

Identification No.)

2700 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 300

Houston, Texas 77056

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (713) 621-7330

Altus Midstream Company

One Post Oak Central, 2000 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 100

Houston, Texas 77056-4400

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

 

 

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:

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class

 

Trading

Symbol(s)

 

Name of each exchange

on which registered

Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value   KNTK   Nasdaq Global Market

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

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 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐

 

 

 


Introductory Note

On February 22, 2022 (the “Closing Date”), Kinetik Holdings Inc., a Delaware corporation (formerly known as Altus Midstream Company) (the “Company”), consummated the previously announced business combination transactions contemplated by the Contribution Agreement, dated as of October 21, 2021 (the “Contribution Agreement”), by and among the Company, Altus Midstream LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the “Partnership”), New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Contributor”), and solely for the purposes set forth therein, BCP Raptor Holdco, LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“BCP”). The transactions contemplated by the Contribution Agreement are referred to herein as the “Transaction.”

Pursuant to the Contribution Agreement, in connection with the closing of the Transaction (the “Closing”), (i) Contributor contributed all of the equity interests of BCP and BCP Raptor Holdco GP, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and the general partner of BCP (“BCP GP” and, together with BCP, the “Contributed Entities”), to the Partnership; and (ii) in exchange for such contribution, the Partnership issued 50,000,000 common units representing limited partner interests in the Partnership (“Common Units”) and the Company issued 50,000,000 shares of the Company’s Class C common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (“Class C Common Stock”), to Contributor.

The Company’s stockholders immediately prior to the Closing continue to hold their shares of the Company’s Class A Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share (together with the Company’s Class C Common Stock, “Common Stock”). As a result of the Transaction, immediately following the Closing (i) Contributor owns approximately 75% of the issued and outstanding Common Stock, (ii) Apache Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Apache Midstream”), owns approximately 20% of the issued and outstanding Common Stock, and (iii) the Company’s remaining stockholders own approximately 5% of the issued and outstanding Common Stock. Following the Closing, there were approximately 66.2 million total shares of Common Stock outstanding.

In connection with the Closing, the Company changed its name from “Altus Midstream Company” to “Kinetik Holdings Inc.” Unless the context otherwise requires, “ALTM” refers to the registrant prior to the Closing and “we,” “us,” “our,” and the “Company” refer to the registrant and its subsidiaries following the Closing.

 

Item 1.01.

Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

Amended and Restated Stockholders Agreement

On the Closing Date, the Amended and Restated Stockholders Agreement (as amended and restated, the “Stockholders Agreement”), dated as of October 21, 2021, by and among APA Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“APA Corporation”), Apache Midstream, the Company, Contributor, BCP Raptor Aggregator, LP, a Delaware limited partnership, a controlled affiliate of Blackstone Capital Partners VII L.P. and Blackstone Energy Partners II L.P., and a former owner of BCP (“BX Aggregator”), BX Permian Pipeline Aggregator LP, a Delaware limited partnership, a controlled affiliate of Blackstone Capital Partners VII L.P. and Blackstone Energy Partners II L.P., and a former owner of BCP (“BX Permian” and, together with BX Aggregator, the “BX Holders”), Buzzard Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, a controlled affiliate of ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund II L.P., and a former owner of BCP (“ISQ”), and for the limited purposes set forth therein, BCP, became effective as a result of the Closing. The Stockholders Agreement amends and replaces the existing Stockholders Agreement, dated as of November 9, 2018, among ALTM, Kayne Anderson Sponsor, LLC, and Apache Midstream.


Pursuant to the Stockholders Agreement, Apache Midstream, BX Aggregator, and ISQ are each entitled to designate directors to the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) as follows:

 

   

Apache Midstream will have the right to designate to the Board one director for so long as Apache Midstream and its affiliates beneficially own 10% or more of the outstanding shares of Common Stock;

 

   

ISQ will have the right to designate to the Board (i) two directors for so long as ISQ and its affiliates beneficially own 20% or more of the outstanding shares of Common Stock; and (ii) one director for so long as ISQ and its affiliates beneficially own 10% or more (but less than 20%) of the outstanding shares of Common Stock; and

 

   

BX Aggregator will have the right to designate to the Board (i) three directors for so long as BX Aggregator and its affiliates beneficially own 30% or more of the outstanding shares of Common Stock; (ii) two directors for so long as BX Aggregator and its affiliates beneficially own 20% or more (but less than 30%) of the outstanding shares of Common Stock; and (iii) one director for so long as BX Aggregator and its affiliates beneficially own 10% or more (but less than 20%) of the outstanding shares of Common Stock.

In addition, the Stockholders Agreement provides BX Aggregator with the right to designate one of its director designees as the non-executive chairperson of the Board until the earlier of December 31, 2024 and such time as BX Aggregator and its affiliates are no longer entitled to designate directors under the Stockholders Agreement. The Stockholders Agreement also provided each of Apache Midstream and BX Aggregator the one-time right to designate to the Board, solely as of the Closing Date, two independent directors to the Board.

Pursuant to the Stockholders Agreement, each of APA Corporation, Apache Midstream, Contributor, the BX Holders, and ISQ have agreed to certain lockup and transfer restrictions for a period of 12 months following Closing, subject to certain limited exceptions, including Apache Midstream’s ability to engage in certain permitted offerings up until the end of the 90-day period following the Closing Date pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement (as defined below).

The Stockholders Agreement also contains certain restrictions on the ability of the Company to reduce, delay, or discontinue a dividend of $1.50 per share of Class A Common Stock per quarter, commencing on the Closing Date and ending on December 31, 2023, without the prior written consent of the parties entitled to designate a director thereunder, subject to compliance with the Company’s governing documents and applicable provisions of law, regulation, legal duty (including fiduciary duty) or requirement, or rule of the primary national securities exchange on which the shares of Class A Common Stock are then listed for trading.

Finally, the Stockholders Agreement also provides that any Covered Related Party Transaction (as defined in the Stockholders Agreement) following Closing requires the prior approval of 66% or more of the disinterested directors on the Board, as determined by the Board.

The Stockholders Agreement terminates automatically as to a party upon the later of (i) twelve months following the Closing Date and (ii) when such party (including such party’s affiliates) ceases to beneficially own at least 10% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock.

A description of the Stockholders Agreement is included in ALTM’s definitive Proxy Statement, dated January 12, 2022 (the “Proxy Statement”), relating to the special meeting of ALTM’s stockholders held on February 10, 2022, in the section entitled “Proposal No. 1—The Share Issuance Proposal—The Contribution Agreement and Other Transaction Agreements—Amended and Restated Stockholders Agreement,” which is incorporated herein by reference. The foregoing description of the Stockholders Agreement is a summary only and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Stockholders Agreement, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 4.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.


Second Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement

In connection with the Closing, on the Closing Date, the Company entered into a Second Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement (as amended and restated, the “Registration Rights Agreement”) with Apache Midstream, the BX Holders, ISQ, and Contributor (collectively, with their respective permitted transferees, the “Principal Holders”) and certain individual holders party thereto (the “Existing Holders” and, together with the Principal Holders, the “Holders”).

The Registration Rights Agreement amended and restated the existing Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement, dated November 9, 2018, among ALTM, Kayne Anderson Sponsor, LLC, and Apache Midstream, and will require the Company to register for resale (i) the private placement warrants (including any shares of Class A Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise of such private placement warrants) held by any Existing Holders, (ii) any outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock or any other equity security (including the shares of Class A Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise of any other equity security) of the Company owned by any Holder as of the date of the Registration Rights Agreement, (iii) the shares of Class A Common Stock issued or issuable upon the redemption or exchange of any Common Units and Class C Common Stock owned by any Holder, in each case in accordance with the terms of the Partnership’s partnership agreement, (iv) any shares of Class A Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise of any warrants held by Apache Midstream, (v) any other equity security of the Company issued or issuable with respect to any registrable security by way of a stock dividend or stock split or in connection with a combination of shares, recapitalization, merger, consolidation, or reorganization, (vi) the shares of Common Stock, if any, issued to Apache Midstream in connection with the earn-out consideration pursuant to the Contribution Agreement dated August 8, 2018 among ALTM, the Partnership, Apache Midstream, and the other parties thereto, and (vii) any shares of Class A Common Stock issued to any Holder in connection with the Reinvestment Agreement (as defined below).

A description of the Registration Rights Agreement is included in the Proxy Statement in the section entitled “Proposal No. 1—The Share Issuance Proposal—The Contribution Agreement and Other Transaction Agreements—Second Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement,” which is incorporated herein by reference. The foregoing description of the Registration Rights Agreement is a summary only and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Registration Rights Agreement, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 4.2 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of the Partnership

On the Closing Date, the Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of the Partnership (as amended and restated, the “Partnership LPA”), dated as of October 21, 2021, became effective as a result of the Closing of the Transaction. The Partnership LPA provides for, among other things, the admission of Contributor as a limited partner thereunder, updates to certain tax-related provisions, and the amendment of certain provisions relating to the Series A Preferred Units of the Partnership (“Series A Preferred Units”).

The Partnership LPA provides for mandatory redemptions by the Partnership of 50,000 Series A Preferred Units at or prior to each of the six-, twelve- and eighteen-month anniversaries of the effectiveness of the Partnership LPA, for an aggregate of 150,000 Series A Preferred Units over such eighteen-month period. The foregoing scheduled mandatory redemptions of Series A Preferred Units will be made on a pro rata basis from the holders thereof and are in addition to the pro rata redemption of 100,000 Series A Preferred Units that the Partnership consummated on the Closing Date in accordance with that certain Waiver and Consent Agreement entered into with certain holders of Series A Preferred Units on October 21, 2021.


The Partnership LPA also provides the Partnership with an option to redeem Series A Preferred Units so long as at least 25,000 Series A Preferred Units are redeemed in such redemption, without any dollar-value threshold. In addition, the Partnership LPA increases the Series A Distribution Rate (as defined therein) from 7% to 10% effective the first quarter following December 31, 2023, rather than the quarter ending June 30, 2024, increases the IRR (as defined therein) applicable to the Series A Redemption Price (as defined therein) from 11.5% to 15% effective January 1, 2024, and permits distributions, redemptions or repurchases on Series A Junior Securities (as defined therein) to the extent they are solely attributable to cash from ordinary course operations and so long as the Total Leverage Ratio (as defined therein) (after giving pro forma effect to such distribution, redemption or repurchase) is (i) less than or equal to 4.5x for distributions, redemptions or repurchases occurring prior to January 1, 2024 and (ii) less than or equal to 4.0x for distributions, redemptions or repurchases occurring on or after January 1, 2024 (provided, however, that the Series A Preferred Units (and any accrued but unpaid distributions thereon) are treated as debt solely for the purpose of calculating the Total Leverage Ratio for distributions, redemptions or repurchases occurring on or after January 1, 2024).

The foregoing description of the Partnership LPA is a summary only and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Partnership LPA, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 10.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

Dividend and Distribution Reinvestment Agreement

In connection with the Closing, on the Closing Date, the Company entered into a Dividend and Distribution Reinvestment Agreement (the “Reinvestment Agreement”) with the Partnership, APA Corporation, Apache Midstream, ISQ, the BX Holders, Contributor, and certain other individuals associated with Contributor (collectively, the “Reinvestment Holders”).

The Reinvestment Agreement obligates each Reinvestment Holder to reinvest in shares of Class A Common Stock at least 20% of all distributions on Common Units or dividends on shares of Class A Common Stock held by such Reinvestment Holder immediately after the Closing, including shares of Class A Common Stock received at a later date in exchange for Common Units held immediately after Closing. The Reinvestment Agreement provides the audit committee of the Board with the authority to at any time increase the percentage of the mandatory dividend reinvestment to up to 100% of such distributions or dividends or decrease such percentage to not less than 20%. The mandatory obligations of each Reinvestment Holder will continue from Closing until the earliest of (i) March 31, 2024, (ii) the date dividends and distributions are paid by the Company and the Partnership, respectively, in respect of the quarter ending December 31, 2023, and (iii) such other date determined by the audit committee of the Board. All shares of Class A Common Stock issued pursuant to the Dividend and Distribution Reinvestment Agreement will be issued at a 3% discount to the volume-weighted average price of the Class A Common Stock for the five trading days immediately preceding, but excluding, the dividend or distribution payment date.

The Reinvestment Agreement also provides an obligation for the Company to establish a dividend reinvestment plan that provides all other holders of Class A Common Stock the optional right to reinvest all or part of any dividends on shares of Class A Common Stock held by such holder on substantially the same terms as the Reinvestment Holders.

The foregoing description of the Reinvestment Agreement is a summary only and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Reinvestment Agreement, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 10.2 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

Limited Waiver and Third Amendment to the Partnership’s Credit Agreement

On the Closing Date, in connection with the Closing of the Transaction, the Limited Waiver and Third Amendment to Credit Agreement, dated as of October 15, 2021, among the Partnership, as borrower, the lenders party thereto (the “Lenders”), the issuing banks party thereto (the “Issuing Banks”), JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent (the “Administrative Agent”) and the other agents party thereto (the “Limited Waiver and Third Amendment”), which amends that certain Credit Agreement, dated as of November 9, 2018, among such parties (as previously amended, the “Credit Agreement”), became effective.


Pursuant to the Limited Waiver and Third Amendment, the Administrative Agent, the Lenders, and Issuing Banks waived the change-in-control default under the Credit Agreement that would have otherwise occurred upon consummation of the Transaction. In addition, the Limited Waiver and Third Amendment amends certain provisions of the Credit Agreement, including replacing the existing change-in-control event of default with a provision that would be triggered in the event that any person or group of persons (with the meaning of Section 13 or 14 of the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) (other than an “Existing Owner”) acquires beneficial ownership (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) under the Exchange Act) of more than 50% of the outstanding common equity of the Partnership. For purposes of this provision, “Existing Owner” means any person that directly or indirectly owns 10% or more of the Partnership’s outstanding common equity upon consummation of the Transaction and thereafter continuously owns, directly or indirectly, at least 10% of the Partnership’s outstanding common equity.

The foregoing description of the Limited Waiver and Third Amendment is a summary only and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Limited Waiver and Third Amendment, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 10.7 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

 

Item 1.02.

Termination of a Material Definitive Agreement.

Construction, Operations, and Maintenance Agreement

On the Closing Date, in connection with the Transaction, (i) the Construction, Operations, and Maintenance Agreement, dated as of November 9, 2018, by and between Apache Corporation and ALTM (the “COMA”), and (ii) the April 23, 2019 letter from Apache Corporation to ALTM regarding Waiver of Direct General and Administrative costs under the COMA (the “G&A Costs Waiver”), were each terminated.

The foregoing description of the COMA and the G&A Costs Waiver is not complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the COMA and the G&A Costs Waiver, copies of which are filed as Exhibit 10.3 to ALTM’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on November 13, 2018, and Exhibit 10.1 to ALTM’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on May 2, 2019, respectively.

License Agreements

On the Closing Date, (i) the Trademark License Agreement, dated as of November 9, 2018, by and between Apache Corporation and the Partnership, and (ii) the Trademark License Agreement, dated as of November 9, 2018, by and between Apache Corporation and ALTM (collectively, the “License Agreements”), each terminated automatically as a result of the Transaction. The trademarks licensed to the Partnership and ALTM pursuant to the License Agreements were assigned by Apache Corporation to ALTM on February 10, 2022 in connection with the Transaction.

The foregoing description of the License Agreements is not complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of License Agreements, copies of which are filed as Exhibit 10.6 and 10.7 to ALTM’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on November 13, 2018.

 

Item 2.01.

Completion of Acquisition or Disposition of Assets.

The disclosure set forth in the Introductory Note is incorporated into this Item 2.01 by reference.

On the Closing Date, the Company completed the Transaction. At the Closing, pursuant to the Contribution Agreement, Contributor contributed all of the equity interests of the Contributed Entities to the Partnership in exchange for 50,000,000 Common Units and 50,000,000 shares of Class C Common Stock. As a result of the Transaction, the Contributed Entities are wholly owned subsidiaries of the Partnership.

In connection with the Transaction, pursuant to the Waiver and Consent Agreement dated October 21, 2021 among the Partnership and the requisite holders of Series A Preferred Units, on the Closing Date the Company redeemed for cash 100,000 Series A Preferred Units for the redemption price calculated in accordance with the Partnership


LPA, in an amount equal to approximately $120,072,000 in the aggregate. In addition, in connection with the Transaction and pursuant to the Series A Waiver and Consent Agreement, on the Closing Date the Partnership paid a consent fee of $2,625,000 to the holders of Series A Preferred Units.

The foregoing description of the Contribution Agreement and the Transaction is a summary only and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by reference to, the full text of the Contribution Agreement, which was filed as Exhibit 2.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed by ALTM with the SEC on October 21, 2021.

 

Item 2.02.

Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

On February 23, 2022, the Company issued a press release providing financial guidance for 2022. On February 24, 2022, the Company hosted a conference call to discuss, among other things, the financial guidance for 2022. Copies of the press release and the transcript are attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and incorporated into this Item 2.02 by reference.

In accordance with General Instruction B.2 of Form 8-K, the information contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K under Item 2.02 and set forth in the attached Exhibit 99.1 and Exhibit 99.2 is deemed to be “furnished” solely pursuant to Item 2.02 of Form 8-K and shall not be deemed to be “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall such information be deemed incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or the Exchange Act, except as expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing.

 

Item 2.03

Creation of a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement

Upon consummation of the Transaction, BCP and its subsidiaries became subsidiaries of the Company and, therefore, the financial obligations of such subsidiaries arising from the below described agreements are financial obligations of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries.

2017 Credit Facility

On June 22, 2017, BCP entered into a credit agreement with its lenders and with Jefferies Finance LLC, as administrative agent, for a term loan in and initial aggregate principal amount of $1.25 billion with a tenor of seven years, maturing on June 22, 2024. Fixed principal payments equal to 0.25% of the initial principal amount are required to be paid quarterly. Interest is paid on the term loan periodically at a rate equal to 4.25% plus LIBOR subject to a floor of 1%.

In addition, contemporaneously with the credit agreement described above, BCP entered into a super-priority revolving credit agreement with its lenders and with Jefferies Finance LLC, as administrative agent, in an initial aggregate principal amount of $100.0 million that is expandable up to $125.0 million with a tenor of five years, maturing on June 22, 2022. On January 16, 2020, BCP entered into an amendment to its revolving credit agreement providing for $25.0 million in incremental commitments, thereby increasing the aggregate revolving credit commitments of all lenders to $125.0 million. On January 4, 2021, BCP entered into an amendment to the $125.0 million revolving credit agreement extending the maturity date from June 22, 2022 to November 3, 2023.

Interest is paid on the revolver periodically at a rate equal to LIBOR (0% floor) plus 4%, which decreases to LIBOR (0% floor) plus 3.7% when BCP’s consolidated net leverage ratio is no greater than 4.50 to 1.00. BCP must pay commitment fees quarterly in an amount equal to 0.50% per annum, which decreases to 0.375% per annum when BCP’s consolidated net leverage is no greater than 4.50 to 1.00, in each case on the unused portion of the commitment.

The obligations arising under the foregoing debt agreements are (a) guaranteed by substantially all of BCP’s wholly-owned domestic subsidiaries and its direct parent company and (b) secured by first priority liens on substantially all personal property assets of BCP and such guarantors, including by a pledge of the equity issued by BCP and its subsidiaries that are guarantors and on certain material real property owned by BCP and its subsidiaries that are guarantors.

The foregoing debt agreements contain various covenants or restriction provisions that, among other things, require BCP to comply with cash waterfall requirements and maintain deposit account control agreements on their deposit accounts and limit or restrict BCP’s ability to incur or guarantee additional debt, incur certain liens on assets, dispose of assets, make certain restricted payments, change the nature of the business, engage in fundamental changes, make investments, prepay subordinated debt, enter into burdensome agreements or enter into certain restricted transactions with affiliates above certain thresholds. These debt agreements also contain a financial covenant requiring maintenance of a 1.10 to 1.00 debt service coverage ratio, tested quarterly, and the debt agreement for the super-priority revolving credit facility contains a financial covenant requiring maintenance of a 1.25 to 1.00 super senior leverage ratio, tested quarterly.

2018 Credit Facility

On November 1, 2018, BCP entered into a credit agreement with its lenders and with Barclays Bank PLC, as administrative agent, for a term loan in an initial aggregate principal amount of $690.0 million with a tenor of seven years, maturing on November 3, 2025. Fixed principal payments equal to 0.25% of the initial principal amount are required to be paid quarterly. Interest is paid on the term loan periodically at a rate equal to 4.75% plus LIBOR (0% floor).

In addition, BCP entered into a revolving credit facility in an initial aggregate principal amount of $50.0 million with a tenor of five years, maturing on November 3, 2023. On January 16, 2020, BCP entered into an amendment to the revolving credit agreement that increased the revolving commitment in an aggregate principal amount of $10.0 million, thereby increasing the aggregate revolving credit commitments of all lenders to $60.0 million. Interest is paid on the revolver periodically at a rate equal to LIBOR plus the applicable margin based on our consolidated total leverage ratio, which is between 4.25% and 4.75%. Any unpaid interest and principal are due at maturity. BCP must pay quarterly commitment fees of 0.5% on the unused portion of the commitment, which commenced in September 2019.

The foregoing debt agreements contain various covenants or restriction provisions that, amongst other things limit or restrict BCP’s ability to incur certain liens on assets, property or revenue, engage in certain mergers, dissolutions, investments or acquisitions, incur indebtedness or guarantee debt, make certain dispositions, and enter into certain transactions with subsidiaries or affiliates that exceed a specified threshold. These agreements also contain defined financial covenants, including a debt service coverage ratio.

2019 Credit Facility

On September 18, 2019, BCP entered into a credit agreement with its lenders for a term facility with an initial term commitment of $483.0 million and a conversion date term commitment of $30.2 million and a letter of credit facility up to $32.7 million. On the closing date, $232.1 million was drawn down on the term commitment and additional drawdowns totaling $250.9 million were borrowed over the subsequent months to fund BCP’s capital contributions to Permian Highway Pipeline, LLC (“PHP”). The tenor of the agreement is equal to the earlier of six and two-tenths years from the closing date, or four years after the term conversion date. The term conversion date is essentially the final completion date of the PHP pipeline project, which occurred on March 3, 2021. On March 3, 2021, all conditions of the term conversion were met, and BCP borrowed the additional $30.2 million associated with the conversion date term commitment, which was subsequently distributed to our equity sponsors. Given the establishment of the term conversion date, the maturity of the associated debt is due March 3, 2025 in accordance with the credit agreement.

Fixed principal payments are required to be paid quarterly commencing with the first full quarter ending after the term conversion date, which was June 30, 2021. Interest is paid on the outstanding borrowings monthly at a rate equal to 1.625% plus adjusted LIBOR (subject to a 1% floor) for four years after the closing date and at a rate equal to 1.875% plus adjusted LIBOR (subject to a 1% floor) thereafter.

BCP must also pay quarterly commitment fees of 35% of the applicable margin then in effect on the undrawn portion of the available commitments.

The foregoing debt agreement contains various covenants or restrictive provisions that, amongst other things, limit or restrict BCP’s ability to incur certain liens on assets, make or hold certain new investments, incur or guarantee additional debt, dispose of certain assets, make certain restricted payments, change the nature of the business, or enter into any transactions with affiliates in excess of $5.0 million, all of which BCP is in compliance. The foregoing debt agreement also pledges the equity interests held by BCP in PHP as collateral.

 

Item 3.02.

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities.

The disclosure set forth in the Introductory Note, Item 1.01, and Item 2.01, in so far as it relates to the issuance of Common Units and shares of Class C Common Stock and the terms by which such Common Units and shares of Class C Common Stock may be redeemed or exchanged for shares of Class A Common Stock, is incorporated into this Item 3.02 by reference.

In connection with the receipt of the Common Units and shares of Class C Common Stock described in the Introductory Note, 2,650,000 Common Units were redeemed on a one-for-one basis for shares of Class A Common Stock, with those shares being subject to forfeiture back to the Company in certain circumstances (“Restricted Shares”), and a corresponding number of shares of Class C Common Stock were cancelled. The Company agreed that it would re-issue, on a one-for-one basis, shares of Class A Common Stock to the extent Restricted Shares are forfeited (such rights, “Consideration Allocation Rights”, and together with Common Units and Class C Common Stock received at Closing, the “Equity Consideration”). Class A Common Stock will be issued pursuant to Consideration Allocation Rights solely to the extent a corresponding forfeiture of Restricted Shares has occurred. Contributor then distributed the Equity Consideration on a pro rata basis, subject to certain transfer restrictions and, in the case of the shares of Class A Common Stock, forfeiture provisions set forth on the legends thereto.

The issuance of Common Units, shares of Class C Common Stock and Consideration Allocation Rights to Contributor were made in reliance on the exemption from registration requirements under the Securities Act, pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) thereof.

 

Item 3.03

Material Modification of Rights of Security Holders.

The disclosure set forth in Item 5.03 regarding the Charter and the Bylaws (each as defined in Item 5.03) is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. The descriptions of the Charter and the Bylaws are summaries only and are qualified in their entirety by reference to the full text of the respective documents, copies of which are attached as Exhibit 3.1 and Exhibit 3.2, respectively, to this Current Report on Form 8-K and are incorporated herein by reference.

 

Item 4.01

Change in Registrant’s Certifying Accountant.

In connection with the Closing of the Transaction, the Company engaged KPMG LLP (“KPMG”) as its independent registered public accounting firm effective February 22, 2022. KPMG has served as the independent registered public accounting firm of BCP since 2017.

During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 and through the date of filing this Current Report on Form 8-K, the Company has not, nor has anyone on the Company’s behalf, consulted with KPMG with respect to either (1) the application of accounting principles to a specified transaction, either completed or proposed, or the type of audit opinion that might be rendered on the Company’s consolidated financial statements, and neither a written report nor oral advice was provided to the Company that KPMG concluded was an important factor the Company considered in reaching a decision as to any accounting, auditing or financial reporting issue; or (2) any matter that was either the subject of a disagreement (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K and the related instructions to Item 304 of Regulation S-K) or a reportable event (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K).

Concurrent with the appointment of KPMG, Ernst & Young LLP (“Ernst & Young”), principal accountant, was dismissed as independent registered public accounting firm of the Company effective February 22, 2022. The decision to change the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm has been approved by the audit committee of the Company’s Board.


The audit report of Ernst & Young on the consolidated balance sheet of the Company as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income (loss), cash flows and changes in equity and noncontrolling interests for the years then ended did not contain an adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion, nor was it qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principles.

During the Company’s fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 and through February 22, 2022 (including any subsequent interim period), there were no (i) disagreements (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K and the related instructions to Item 304 of Regulation S-K) between the Company and Ernst & Young on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedures, which disagreements if not resolved to the satisfaction of Ernst & Young would have caused them to make reference in connection with their opinion on the subject matter of the disagreement, and (ii) no “reportable events” (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K), except for the previously reported material weakness in internal control over financial reporting as disclosed in Part I, Item 4 of the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2021 and as described in Note 1—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies—Revision of Previously Issued Consolidated Financial Statements for Immaterial Adjustment in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements set forth in Part I, Item 1 of those Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. The Company determined that the material weakness was remediated as of September 30, 2021.

The Company has provided Ernst & Young a copy of the disclosure it is making in this Current Report on Form 8-K and has requested that Ernst & Young furnish it with a letter addressed to the SEC stating whether or not it agrees with the Company’s statements in this Item 4.01. A copy of the letter furnished by Ernst & Young in response to that request, dated February 28, 2022, is attached as Exhibit 16.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.

 

Item 5.01.

Changes in Control of Registrant.

The disclosure set forth in the Introductory Note and Item 1.01 is incorporated by reference into this Item 5.01 by reference.

The consummation of the Transaction resulted in a change in control of the Company. As a result of the Transaction, (i) Contributor or its designees own approximately 75% of the issued and outstanding Common Stock, (ii) Apache Midstream owns approximately 20% of the issued and outstanding Common Stock, and (iii) the Company’s remaining stockholders own approximately 5% of the issued and outstanding Common Stock.

Each of (i) Apache Midstream and APA Corporation, (ii) ISQ, and (iii) the BX Holders entered into separate voting agreements with ALTM, each dated as of October 21, 2021 (each a “voting agreement” and collectively, the “voting agreements”), which voting agreements became effective as of Closing. The voting agreements require each of the stockholders party thereto to cast all votes to which such stockholder is entitled in respect of shares of Common Stock beneficially owned by such stockholder, whether at any annual or special meeting, by written consent or otherwise, so as to cause to be elected to the Board the directors designated by the other stockholder parties pursuant to the stockholders agreement (excluding any independent directors). To the extent there are directors to be selected in addition to the directors designated pursuant to the stockholders agreement, each stockholder is free to vote for its preferred candidate or candidates. The voting agreements also provide that each stockholder may not take action to remove any director designated by another stockholder pursuant to the stockholders agreement (excluding any independent directors). The voting agreements each terminate automatically as to the applicable stockholder upon such stockholder ceasing to beneficially own 10% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock.

The foregoing description of the voting agreements is summary only and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the voting agreements, copies of which are attached as Exhibit 10.4, Exhibit 10.5 and Exhibit 10.6 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and are incorporated herein by reference.

 

Item 5.02.

Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

The disclosure set forth in Item 1.01 regarding the Stockholders Agreement is incorporated by reference into this Item 5.02. The description of the Stockholders Agreement is a summary only and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Stockholders Agreement, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 4.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

Directors

Effective as of the Closing Date, in connection with the Transaction, Mark Borer, Clay Bretches, Staci L. Burns, Joe C. Frana, Christopher J. Monk, Stephen P. Noe, Robert S. Purgason, and Jon W. Sauer each resigned from the Board. The resignations of Messrs. Borer, Bretches, Frana, Monk, Noe, Purgason, Sauer, and Ms. Burns were not a result of any disagreement with the Company. Effective as of the Closing Date, the Board appointed Elizabeth P. Cordia, David I. Foley, Thomas Lefebvre, John-Paul (JP) Munfa, Joseph Payne, Laura A. Sugg, and Jamie Welch to fill the newly created vacancies on the Board.


As of the Closing Date, the Board consisted of Elizabeth P. Cordia, David I. Foley, D. Mark Leland, Thomas Lefebvre, Kevin S. McCarthy, John-Paul (JP) Munfa, Joseph Payne, Ben C. Rodgers, Laura A. Sugg, Jamie Welch, and one vacancy. Biographical information for these individuals is set forth in the Proxy Statement in the section entitled “The Transaction—Directors and Management of Altus Following the Transaction,” which is incorporated herein by reference.

Independence of Directors

The Board has determined that each of D. Mark Leland, Kevin S. McCarthy, Laura A. Sugg, David I. Foley, JP Munfa, Elizabeth P. Cordia, Thomas Lefebvre and Joseph Payne are independent within the meaning of Nasdaq Rule 5605(a)(2) and the rules and regulations of the SEC.

Committees of the Board

As of and immediately following the Closing, the Board appointed the following directors to serve on the following committees:

 

   

Audit Committee: D. Mark Leland, Laura A. Sugg, Kevin S. McCarthy

 

   

Compensation Committee: David I. Foley, Laura A. Sugg, Kevin S. McCarthy

 

   

Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee: Laura A. Sugg, D. Mark Leland, Thomas Lefebvre

 

   

Conflicts Committee: D. Mark Leland, Laura A. Sugg, Kevin S. McCarthy

Mr. Foley was appointed chairperson of the compensation committee, Mr. Leland was appointed chairperson of the audit committee and the conflicts committee and Ms. Sugg was appointed chairperson of the corporate governance and nominating committee and lead independent director.

Executive Officers

On the Closing Date, in connection with the Transaction, Clay Bretches resigned as the Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company, Ben C. Rodgers resigned as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of the Company, P. Anthony Lannie resigned as the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the Company, Rebecca A. Hoyt resigned as the Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer, and Controller of the Company, and Stephen P. Noe resigned as the Vice President, Business Development of the Company.

Effective as of the Closing Date, the following individuals were appointed by the Board as executive officers of the Company:

 

Name

    

Position

Jamie Welch      Chief Executive Officer, President, Chief Financial Officer
Matthew Wall      EVP, Chief Operating Officer
Steven Stellato      EVP, Chief Accounting and Administrative Operating Officer
Todd Carpenter      General Counsel, Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer
Anne Psencik      Chief Strategy Officer

Biographical information for each of the foregoing individuals is set forth in the Proxy Statement in the section entitled “The Transaction—Directors and Management of Altus Following the Transaction,” which is incorporated herein by reference.


Liquidation of RSU Awards

On the Closing Date, the Board voted to approve the termination and liquidation of all outstanding restricted stock unit awards, which were held by then-current and former members of the Board who were not officers, employees, or non-independent appointees of Apache Midstream, whether vested or unvested, granted under the Altus Midstream Company Restricted Stock Units Plan, dated December 17, 2018 (the “RSU Awards”), contingent upon the Closing of the Transaction. On the Closing Date, the RSU Awards were settled through initiation of payment by the Company to each member of the Board holding such RSU Awards an amount equal to the product of (i) the number of restricted stock units subject to the applicable RSU Award, multiplied by (ii) the closing price of one share of Class A Common Stock on the Closing Date, plus all dividend equivalents accumulated with respect to the applicable RSU Award, plus any amounts due under any other agreements and arrangements aggregated with the RSU Awards.

Indemnification of Directors and Officers

As of the Closing Date, the Company has entered into indemnification agreements with each of its officers and directors. These agreements require us to indemnify these individuals to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware law against liabilities that may arise by reason of their service to us, and to advance expenses incurred as a result of any proceeding against them as to which they could be indemnified.

The foregoing description of the indemnification agreements is a summary only and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by reference to, the form of indemnification agreement, a copy of which is filed as Exhibit 10.3 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

 

Item 5.03.

Amendments to Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws; Changes in Fiscal Year.

Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation

On the Closing Date, the Company adopted the Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (as amended and restated, the “Charter”) amending the Company’s Second Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation, to, among other things:

 

   

provide that stockholders of the Company may act by consent in accordance with the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”) in lieu of holding a meeting of the stockholders;

 

   

revise director removal procedures so that directors on the Board may be removed with or without cause;

 

   

provide that stockholders of the Company that own at least 10% of the voting power of all then-outstanding shares of the Company’s Common Stock may call a special meeting of the stockholders;

 

   

revise the corporate opportunities article to modify and clarify the obligations and duties owed by Contributor or its designees and their non-employee directors and affiliates;

 

   

revise the voting requirements to require the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 6623% of the voting power of all then outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class, to amend the corporate opportunities article of the Charter; and

 

   

change the name of the Company to “Kinetik Holdings Inc.”

The foregoing description of the Charter is a summary only and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Charter, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 3.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.


Amended and Restated Bylaws

On the Closing Date, the Company amended and restated its bylaws (as amended and restated, the “Bylaws”) to, among other things:

 

   

provide that any stockholder of the Company that owns at least 10% of the voting power of all then-outstanding shares of the Company’s Common Stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors may call a special meeting of the stockholders; and

 

   

provide that the Company’s stockholders may act by written consent in accordance with the DGCL in lieu of holding a meeting of the stockholders.

The foregoing description of the Bylaws is a summary only and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Bylaws, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 3.2 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

 

Item 5.05.

Amendments to Registrant’s Code of Ethics or Waiver of a Provision of the Code of Ethics.

Effective February 22, 2022, the Board adopted a new Code of Conduct (the “Revised Code”). The Revised Code applies to all employees, officers and directors of the Company, as well as to the Company’s agents, representatives and consultants. The Revised Code was adopted to make certain technical, administrative, non-substantive amendments to the prior Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. The adoption of the Revised Code did not relate to or result in any waiver, explicit or implicit, of any provision of the prior Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.

The above description of the Revised Code does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Revised Code, a copy of which is filed as Exhibit 14.1 hereto and incorporated herein by reference. The Revised Code is also available on the Company’s investor relations website (ir.kinetik.com) under the link “Governance.” The contents of the Company’s website are not incorporated by reference in this Current Report or made a part hereof for any purpose.

 

Item 7.01.

Regulation FD Disclosure

The information set forth under Item 2.02 is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

On February 22, 2022, the Company issued a press release announcing the Closing of the Transaction, a copy of which is furnished as Exhibit 99.3 and is incorporated herein by reference.

In accordance with General Instruction B.2 of Form 8-K, the information contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K under Item 7.01 and set forth in the attached Exhibit 99.1, Exhibit 99.2 and Exhibit 99.3 is deemed to be “furnished” solely pursuant to Item 7.01 of Form 8-K and shall not be deemed to be “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall such information be deemed incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act, or the Exchange Act, except as expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing.

 

Item 8.01

Other Events.

In connection with Closing, the Company is providing certain updated disclosures regarding the Company and its business. Such disclosures are set forth in Exhibit 99.7 hereto and are incorporated herein by reference.

On February 22, 2022, the Audit Committee of the Board approved an increase in the percentage of the mandatory dividend reinvestment to 100% of such distributions or dividends received by each Reinvestment Holder.


Item 9.01.

Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(a)     Financial statements of businesses acquired.

The audited consolidated financial statements of BCP as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 and for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2021, and the related notes to the consolidated financial statements, are set forth in Exhibit 99.4 hereto and are incorporated herein by reference. Also included as Exhibit 99.6 and incorporated herein by reference is the Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of BCP for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

(b)     Pro forma financial information.

The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined financial information of the Company as of and for the year ended December 31, 2021 are set forth in Exhibit 99.5 hereto and are incorporated herein by reference.

(d)    Exhibits.

 

Exhibit
No.

  

Description

  2.1*    Contribution Agreement, dated October 21, 2021, by and among Altus Midstream Company, Altus Midstream LP, New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC, and BCP Raptor Holdco, LP (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 21, 2021).
  3.1    Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Kinetik Holdings Inc.
  3.2    Amended and Restated Bylaws of Kinetik Holdings Inc.
  4.1    Amended and Restated Stockholders Agreement, dated October 21, 2021, by and among APA Corporation, Apache Midstream LLC, Altus Midstream Company, New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC, Raptor Aggregator, LP, BX Permian Pipeline Aggregator, LP, Buzzard Midstream LLC, and BCP Raptor Holdco, LP.
  4.2    Second Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement, dated February 22, 2022, by and among Altus Midstream Company, Apache Midstream LLC, Raptor Aggregator, LP, BX Permian Pipeline Aggregator, LP, Buzzard Midstream LLC and the other holders party thereto.
10.1    Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Altus Midstream LP, dated as of October 21, 2021.
10.2    Dividend and Distribution Reinvestment Agreement, dated February 22, 2022, by and among Altus Midstream Company, Altus Midstream LP, APA Corporation, Apache Midstream LLC, Buzzard Midstream LLC, Raptor Aggregator, LP, BX Permian Pipeline Aggregator, LP and each of the other parties set forth on the signature pages thereto.
10.3    Form of Indemnification Agreement.
10.4    Voting Agreement, dated October 21, 2021, by and among BCP Raptor Aggregator LP, BX Permian Pipeline Aggregator LP and Altus Midstream Company.
10.5    Voting Agreement, dated October 21, 2021, by and among Buzzard Midstream LLC and Altus Midstream Company.
10.6    Voting Agreement, dated October 21, 2021, by and among APA Corporation, Apache Midstream LLC and Altus Midstream Company.
10.7    Limited Waiver and Third Amendment to Credit Agreement, dated as of October 15, 2021, among Altus Midstream LP, the lenders party thereto, the issuing banks party thereto, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent and the other agents party thereto.
14.1    Code of Conduct, effective February 22, 2022.
16.1    Letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission from Ernst & Young LLP, dated as of February 28, 2022.
23.1    Consent of KPMG LLP.
99.1    Press Release of Kinetik Holdings Inc., dated February 22, 2022.
99.2    Press Release of Kinetik Holdings Inc., dated February 23, 2022.
99.3    Transcript of Conference Call on February 24, 2022.


99.4    Audited consolidated financial statements of BCP as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 and for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2021.
99.5    Unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined financial statements of Kinetik Holdings Inc. as of and for the year ended December 31, 2021.
99.6    Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of BCP for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.
99.7    Information About Kinetik Holdings Inc.
104    Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document).

 

*

Schedules and exhibits to this exhibit have been omitted, pursuant to Regulation S-K Item 601(a)(5). The Company agrees to furnish supplementally a copy of any omitted schedule or exhibit to the SEC upon request; provided, however, that the Company may request confidential treatment pursuant to Rule 24b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, for any schedule or exhibit so furnished.


SIGNATURES

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

 

    KINETIK HOLDINGS INC.
Date: February 28, 2022      
    By:  

/s/ Todd Carpenter

            Todd Carpenter
            General Counsel, Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer

Exhibit 3.1

THIRD AMENDED AND RESTATED

CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION

OF

ALTUS MIDSTREAM COMPANY

February 22, 2022

Altus Midstream Company, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware (the “Corporation”), DOES HEREBY CERTIFY AS FOLLOWS:

1. The name of the Corporation is “Altus Midstream Company.” The original certificate of incorporation of the Corporation was filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on December 12, 2016 under the name “Kayne Anderson Acquisition Corp.” (the “Original Certificate”).

2. An amended and restated certificate of incorporation, which amended and restated the Original Certificate in its entirety, was filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on March 29, 2017 (the “First Amended and Restated Certificate”).

3. A Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Second Amended and Restated Certificate”), which amended and restated the provisions of the First Amended and Restated Certificate in its entirety, was filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on November 9, 2018.

4. A First Amendment to the Second Amended and Restated Certificate was effective on June 30, 2020.

5. This Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Third Amended and Restated Certificate”), which both amends and restates the provisions of the Second Amended and Restated Certificate, as amended, in its entirety, was duly adopted in accordance with Sections 242 and 245 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, as amended from time to time (the “DGCL”).

6. This Third Amended and Restated Certificate shall become effective on the date of filing with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware.

7. The text of the Second Amended and Restated Certificate is hereby amended and restated in its entirety to read as follows:

ARTICLE I

NAME

The name of the corporation is Kinetik Holdings Inc. (the “Corporation”).


ARTICLE II

PURPOSE

The purpose of the Corporation is to engage in any lawful act or activity for which corporations may be organized under the DGCL. In addition to the powers and privileges conferred upon the Corporation by law and those incidental thereto, the Corporation shall possess and may exercise all the powers and privileges that are necessary or convenient to the conduct, promotion, or attainment of the business or purposes of the Corporation.

ARTICLE III

REGISTERED AGENT

The address of the Corporation’s registered office in the State of Delaware is 251 Little Falls Drive, Wilmington, County of New Castle, State of Delaware, 19808, and the name of the Corporation’s registered agent at such address is Corporation Service Company.

ARTICLE IV

CAPITALIZATION

Section 4.1 Authorized Capital Stock. The total number of shares of all classes of capital stock, each with a par value of $0.0001 per share, which the Corporation is authorized to issue is 3,050,000,000 shares, consisting of (a) 3,000,000,000 shares of common stock (the “Common Stock”), consisting of (i) 1,500,000,000 shares of Class A Common Stock (the “Class A Common Stock”) and (ii) 1,500,000,000 shares of Class C Common Stock (the “Class C Common Stock”), and (b) 50,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Preferred Stock”).

Section 4.2 Preferred Stock. The Board of Directors of the Corporation (the “Board”) is hereby expressly authorized to provide out of the unissued shares of the Preferred Stock for one or more series of Preferred Stock and to establish from time to time the number of shares to be included in each such series and to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, and relative, participating, optional, special, and other rights, if any, of each such series and any qualifications, limitations, and restrictions thereof, as shall be stated in the resolution or resolutions adopted by the Board providing for the issuance of such series and included in a certificate of designation (a “Preferred Stock Designation”) filed pursuant to the DGCL, and the Board is hereby expressly vested with the authority to the full extent provided by law, now or hereafter, to adopt any such resolution or resolutions.

Section 4.3 Common Stock.

(a) Voting.

(i) Except as otherwise required by law or this Third Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation), the holders of the Common Stock shall exclusively possess all voting power with respect to the Corporation.

(ii) Except as otherwise required by law or this Third Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation), the holders of shares of Common Stock shall be entitled to one vote for each such share on each matter properly submitted to the stockholders on which the holders of the Common Stock are entitled to vote.

 

2


(iii) Except as otherwise required by law or this Third Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation), at any annual or special meeting of the stockholders of the Corporation, holders of the Class A Common Stock and holders of the Class C Common Stock, voting together as a single class, shall have the exclusive right to vote for the election of directors and on all other matters properly submitted to a vote of the stockholders. Notwithstanding the foregoing, except as otherwise required by law or this Third Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation), holders of shares of any series of Common Stock shall not be entitled to vote on any amendment to this Third Amended and Restated Certificate (including any amendment to any Preferred Stock Designation) that relates solely to the terms of one or more outstanding series of Preferred Stock or other series of Common Stock if the holders of such affected series of Preferred Stock or Common Stock, as applicable, are entitled exclusively, either separately or together with the holders of one or more other such series, to vote thereon pursuant to this Third Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation) or the DGCL.

(b) Class C Common Stock.

(i) Voting. Except as otherwise required by law or this Third Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation), for so long as any shares of Class C Common Stock shall remain outstanding, the Corporation shall not, without the prior vote or written consent of the holders of a majority of the shares of Class C Common Stock then outstanding, voting separately as a single class, amend, alter or repeal any provision of this Third Amended and Restated Certificate, whether by merger, consolidation or otherwise, if such amendment, alteration or repeal would alter or change the powers, preferences or relative, participating, optional or other or special rights of the Class C Common Stock. Any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the holders of Class C Common Stock may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a consent or consents, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by the holders of the outstanding Class C Common Stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares of Class C Common Stock were present and voted and shall be delivered to the Corporation in accordance with the DGCL. Prompt written notice of the taking of corporate action without a meeting by less than unanimous written consent of the holders of Class C Common Stock shall, to the extent required by law, be given to those holders of Class C Common Stock who have not consented in writing and who, if the action had been taken at a meeting, would have been entitled to notice of the meeting if the record date for notice of such meeting had been the date that written consents signed by a sufficient number of holders of Class C Common Stock to take the action were delivered to the Corporation.

(ii) Dividends. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Third Amended and Restated Certificate, other than as set forth in Section 4.3(c), dividends shall not be declared or paid on the Class C Common Stock.

 

3


(iii) Transfer of Class C Common Stock.

(1) A holder of Class C Common Stock may surrender shares of Class C Common Stock to the Corporation for no consideration at any time. Following the surrender of any shares of Class C Common Stock to the Corporation, the Corporation will take all actions necessary to retire such shares and such shares shall not be re-issued by the Corporation.

(2) A holder of Class C Common Stock may transfer shares of Class C Common Stock to any transferee (other than the Corporation) only if, and only to the extent permitted by the LP Agreement, such holder also simultaneously transfers an equal number of such holder’s Common Units to such transferee in compliance with the LP Agreement. The transfer restrictions described in this Section 4.3(b)(iii)(2) are referred to as the “Restrictions.” “Common Unit” means a common unit representing a limited partner interest in Altus Midstream LP, a Delaware limited partnership or any successor entities thereto (the “OpCo”), authorized and issued under its Third Amended and Restated Limited Partnership Agreement, dated as of October 21, 2021, as such agreement may be further amended, restated, amended and restated, supplemented, or otherwise modified from time to time (the “LP Agreement”), and constituting a “Common Unit” as defined in the LP Agreement as in effect as of the effective time of this Third Amended and Restated Certificate.

(3) Any purported transfer of shares of Class C Common Stock in violation of the Restrictions shall be null and void. If, notwithstanding the Restrictions, a person shall, voluntarily or involuntarily, purportedly become or attempt to become, the purported owner (“Purported Owner”) of shares of Class C Common Stock in violation of the Restrictions, then the Purported Owner shall not obtain any rights in and to such shares of Class C Common Stock (the “Restricted Shares”), and the purported transfer of the Restricted Shares to the Purported Owner shall not be recognized by the Corporation’s transfer agent (the “Transfer Agent”).

(4) Upon a determination by the Board that a person has attempted or may attempt to transfer or to acquire Restricted Shares in violation of the Restrictions, the Board may take such action as it deems advisable to refuse to give effect to such transfer or acquisition on the books and records of the Corporation, including without limitation to cause the Transfer Agent to record the Purported Owner’s transferor as the record owner of the Restricted Shares, and to institute proceedings to enjoin or rescind any such transfer or acquisition.

(5) The Board may, to the extent permitted by law, from time to time establish, modify, amend, or rescind, by bylaw or otherwise, regulations and procedures that are consistent with the provisions of this Section 4.3(b)(iii) for determining whether any transfer or acquisition of shares of Class C Common Stock would violate the Restrictions and for the orderly application, administration, and implementation of the provisions of this Section 4.3(b)(iii). Any such

 

4


procedures and regulations shall be kept on file with the Secretary of the Corporation and with the Transfer Agent and shall be made available for inspection by any prospective transferee and, upon written request, shall be mailed to holders of shares of Class C Common Stock.

(6) The Board shall have all powers necessary to implement the Restrictions, including without limitation the power to prohibit the transfer of any shares of Class C Common Stock in violation thereof.

(iv) Issuance of Class A Common Stock Upon Redemption; Cancellation of Class C Common Stock.

(1) To the extent that any holder of Class C Common Stock (a “Class C Owner”) exercises its right pursuant to the LP Agreement to have its Common Units redeemed by OpCo in accordance with the LP Agreement, then simultaneous with the payment of the consideration due under the LP Agreement to such Class C Owner, the Corporation shall cancel for no consideration a number of shares of Class C Common Stock registered in the name of the redeeming or exchanging Class C Owner equal to the number of Common Units held by such Class C Owner that are redeemed or exchanged in such redemption or exchange transaction. The Corporation will at all times reserve and keep available out of its authorized but unissued shares of Class A Common Stock, solely for the purpose of issuance upon redemption of the Common Units for Class A Common Stock pursuant to the LP Agreement, such number of shares of Class A Common Stock that shall be issuable upon any such redemption pursuant to the LP Agreement; provided that nothing contained herein shall be construed to preclude the Corporation from satisfying its obligations in respect of any such redemption of Common Units pursuant to the LP Agreement by delivering to the holder of Common Units upon such redemption cash in lieu of shares of Class A Common Stock in the amount permitted by and provided in the LP Agreement. All shares of Class A Common Stock that shall be issued upon any such redemption will, upon issuance in accordance with the LP Agreement, be validly issued, fully paid, and nonassessable.

(2) Notwithstanding the Restrictions, (A) in the event that an outstanding share of Class C Common Stock shall cease to be held by a registered holder of Common Units, such share of Class C Common Stock shall automatically and without further action on the part of the Corporation or any holder of Class C Common Stock be cancelled for no consideration, and the Corporation will take all actions necessary to retire such share and such share shall not be re-issued by the Corporation, (B) in the event that one or more of the Common Units held by a registered holder of Class C Common Stock ceases to be held by such holder (other than as a result of a transfer of one or more Common Units together with an equal number of shares of Class C Common Stock as permitted by the LP Agreement), a corresponding number of shares of Class C Common Stock registered in the name of such holder shall automatically and without further action on the part of the Corporation or such holder be cancelled for no consideration, the Corporation will

 

5


take all actions necessary to retire such shares, and such shares shall not be re-issued by the Corporation, and (C) in the event that no Class C Owner owns any Common Units that are redeemable pursuant to the LP Agreement, then all shares of Class C Common Stock will be cancelled for no consideration, the Corporation will take all actions necessary to retire such shares, and such shares shall not be re-issued by the Corporation.

(v) Restrictive Legend. All certificates or book entries representing shares of Class C Common Stock, as the case may be, shall bear a legend substantially in the following form (or in such other form as the Board may determine):

THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED BY THIS [CERTIFICATE][BOOK ENTRY] ARE SUBJECT TO THE RESTRICTIONS (INCLUDING RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFER) SET FORTH IN THE THIRD AMENDED AND RESTATED CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION (A COPY OF WHICH IS ON FILE WITH THE SECRETARY OF THE CORPORATION AND SHALL BE PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE TO ANY STOCKHOLDER MAKING A REQUEST THEREFOR).

(vi) Liquidation, Dissolution or Winding Up of the Corporation. The holders of Class C Common Stock shall not be entitled to receive any assets of the Corporation in the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Corporation.

(c) Dividends. Subject to applicable law and the rights, if any, of the holders of any outstanding series of the Preferred Stock, the holders of shares of Common Stock (other than holders of shares of Class C Common Stock) shall be entitled to receive such dividends and other distributions (payable in cash, property or capital stock of the Corporation) when, as, and if declared thereon by the Board from time to time out of any assets or funds of the Corporation legally available therefor and shall share equally on a per share basis in such dividends and distributions.

(d) Class A Common Stock and Class C Common Stock. In no event shall the shares of either Class A Common Stock or Class C Common Stock be split, divided, or combined (including by way of stock dividend) unless the outstanding shares of the other class shall be proportionately split, divided or combined.

(e) Liquidation, Dissolution or Winding Up of the Corporation. Subject to applicable law and the rights, if any, of the holders of any outstanding series of the Preferred Stock, in the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Corporation, after payment or provision for payment of the debts and other liabilities of the Corporation, the holders of shares of Common Stock (other than holders of shares of Class C Common Stock) shall be entitled to receive all the remaining assets of the Corporation available for distribution to its stockholders, ratably in proportion to the number of shares of Common Stock (other than shares of Class C Common Stock) held by them.

 

6


Section 4.4 Rights and Options. The Corporation has the authority to create and issue rights, warrants, and options entitling the holders thereof to acquire from the Corporation any shares of its capital stock of any class or classes, with such rights, warrants, and options to be evidenced by or in instrument(s) approved by the Board. The Board is empowered to set the exercise price, duration, times for exercise and other terms and conditions of such rights, warrants or options; provided, however, that the consideration to be received for any shares of capital stock issuable upon exercise thereof may not be less than the par value thereof.

ARTICLE V

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Section 5.1 Board Powers. The business and affairs of the Corporation shall be managed by, or under the direction of, the Board. In addition to the powers and authority expressly conferred upon the Board by statute, this Third Amended and Restated Certificate or the Bylaws of the Corporation (“Bylaws”), the Board is hereby empowered to exercise all such powers and do all such acts and things as may be exercised or done by the Corporation, subject, nevertheless, to the provisions of the DGCL, this Third Amended and Restated Certificate, and any Bylaws adopted by the stockholders; provided, however, that no Bylaws hereafter adopted by the stockholders shall invalidate any prior act of the Board that would have been valid if such Bylaws had not been adopted.

Section 5.2 Number, Election, and Term.

(a) The number of directors of the Corporation, other than those who may be elected by the holders of one or more series of the Preferred Stock voting separately by class or series, shall be fixed from time to time exclusively by the Board pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the Board.

(b) Subject to Section 5.5 hereof, a director shall be elected for a one (1) year term and shall hold office until the next annual meeting and until his or her successor has been elected and qualified, subject, however, to such director’s earlier death, resignation, retirement, disqualification, or removal.

(c) Unless and except to the extent that the Bylaws shall so require, the election of directors need not be by written ballot.

Section 5.3 Newly Created Directorships and Vacancies. Subject to Section 5.5 hereof, newly created directorships resulting from an increase in the number of directors and any vacancies on the Board resulting from death, resignation, retirement, disqualification, removal, or other cause may be filled solely and exclusively by a majority vote of the remaining directors then in office, even if less than a quorum, or by a sole remaining director (and not by stockholders), and any director so chosen shall hold office until the next annual meeting and until his or her successor has been elected and qualified, subject, however, to such director’s earlier death, resignation, retirement, disqualification, or removal. In no case shall a decrease in the number of authorized directors remove or shorten the term of any incumbent director.

Section 5.4 Removal. Subject to Section 5.5 hereof, any or all of the directors may be removed from office at any time either with or without cause and only by the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of the voting power of all then outstanding shares of capital stock of the Corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class.

 

7


Section 5.5 Preferred Stock – Directors. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article V, and except as otherwise required by law, whenever the holders of one or more series of the Preferred Stock shall have the right, voting separately by class or series, to elect one or more directors, the term of office, the filling of vacancies, the removal from office and other features of such directorships shall be governed by the terms of such series of the Preferred Stock as set forth in this Third Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation).

ARTICLE VI

BYLAWS

In furtherance and not in limitation of the powers conferred upon it by law, the Board shall have the power and is expressly authorized to adopt, amend, alter or repeal the Bylaws. The affirmative vote of a majority of the Board shall be required to adopt, amend, alter or repeal the Bylaws. The Bylaws also may be adopted, amended, altered or repealed by the stockholders; provided, however, that in addition to any vote of the holders of any class or series of capital stock of the Corporation required by law or by this Third Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation), the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the voting power of all then outstanding shares of capital stock of the Corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class, shall be required for the stockholders to adopt, amend, alter or repeal the Bylaws; and provided further, however, that no Bylaws hereafter adopted by the stockholders shall invalidate any prior act of the Board that would have been valid if such Bylaws had not been adopted.

ARTICLE VII

MEETINGS OF STOCKHOLDERS; ACTION BY WRITTEN CONSENT

Section 7.1 Meetings. Subject to the rights, if any, of the holders of any outstanding series of the Preferred Stock, and to the requirements of applicable law, special meetings of the stockholders of the Corporation for any purpose or purposes may be called at any time only by or at the direction of the Board or the Chairman of the Board, and the ability of the stockholders to call a special meeting is hereby specifically denied; provided, however, that at any time when any stockholder beneficially owns, in the aggregate, at least ten percent (10%) in voting power of the stock of the Corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, special meetings of the stockholders of the Corporation for any purpose or purposes shall also be called by or at the direction of the Board or the Chairman of the Board at the request of such stockholder.

Section 7.2 Advance Notice. Advance notice of stockholder nominations for the election of directors and of business to be brought by stockholders before any meeting of the stockholders of the Corporation shall be given in the manner provided in the Bylaws.

Section 7.3 Action by Written Consent. Except as may be otherwise provided for or fixed pursuant to this Third Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation) relating to the rights of the holders of any outstanding series of Preferred Stock, any action required or permitted to be taken at any annual or special meeting of stockholders of the Corporation may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a consent or consents, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by the holders of outstanding stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares entitled to vote thereon were present and voted and shall be delivered to the Corporation in accordance with the DGCL.

 

8


ARTICLE VIII

LIMITED LIABILITY; INDEMNIFICATION

Section 8.1 Limitation of Director Liability. A director of the Corporation shall not be personally liable to the Corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except to the extent such exemption from liability or limitation thereof is not permitted under the DGCL as the same exists or may hereafter be amended unless they violated their duty of loyalty to the Corporation or its stockholders, acted in bad faith, knowingly or intentionally violated the law, authorized unlawful payments of dividends, unlawful stock purchases or unlawful redemptions, or derived improper personal benefit from their actions as directors. Any amendment, modification or repeal of the foregoing sentence shall not adversely affect any right or protection of a director of the Corporation hereunder in respect of any act or omission occurring prior to the time of such amendment, modification or repeal.

Section 8.2 Indemnification and Advancement of Expenses.

(a) To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, as the same exists or may hereafter be amended, the Corporation shall indemnify and hold harmless each person who is or was made a party or is threatened to be made a party to or is otherwise involved in any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (a “proceeding”) by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a director or officer of the Corporation or, while a director or officer of the Corporation, is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust, other enterprise or nonprofit entity, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan (an “indemnitee”), whether the basis of such proceeding is alleged action in an official capacity as a director, officer, employee or agent, or in any other capacity while serving as a director, officer, employee or agent, against all liability and loss suffered and expenses (including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes and penalties and amounts paid in settlement) reasonably incurred by such indemnitee in connection with such proceeding. The Corporation shall to the fullest extent not prohibited by applicable law pay the expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an indemnitee in defending or otherwise participating in any proceeding in advance of its final disposition; provided, however, that, to the extent required by applicable law, such payment of expenses in advance of the final disposition of the proceeding shall be made only upon receipt of an undertaking, by or on behalf of the indemnitee, to repay all amounts so advanced if it shall ultimately be determined that the indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified under this Section 8.2 or otherwise. The rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses conferred by this Section 8.2 shall be contract rights, and such rights shall continue as to an indemnitee who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee, or agent and shall inure to the benefit of his or her heirs, executors, and administrators. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 8.2(a), except for proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses, the Corporation shall indemnify and advance expenses to an indemnitee in connection with a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such indemnitee only if such proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized by the Board.

 

9


(b) The rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses conferred on any indemnitee by this Section 8.2 shall not be exclusive of any other rights that any indemnitee may have or hereafter acquire under law, this Third Amended and Restated Certificate, the Bylaws, an agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise.

(c) Any repeal or amendment of this Section 8.2 by the stockholders of the Corporation or by changes in law, or the adoption of any other provision of this Third Amended and Restated Certificate inconsistent with this Section 8.2, shall, unless otherwise required by law, be prospective only (except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits the Corporation to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis than permitted prior thereto), and shall not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing at the time of such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision in respect of any proceeding (regardless of when such proceeding is first threatened, commenced or completed) arising out of, or related to, any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision.

(d) This Section 8.2 shall not limit the right of the Corporation, to the extent and in the manner authorized or permitted by law, to indemnify and to advance expenses to persons other than indemnitees.

ARTICLE IX

CORPORATE OPPORTUNITY

Section 9.1 Competition and Corporate Opportunities.

(a) To the extent allowed by law, the doctrine of corporate opportunity, or any other analogous doctrine, shall not apply with respect to the Corporation or any of its officers or directors, or any of their respective Affiliates, and the Corporation renounces any expectancy that any of the directors or officers of the Corporation will offer any such corporate opportunity of which he or she may become aware to the Corporation, except that the doctrine of corporate opportunity shall apply with respect to any of the directors or officers of the Corporation only with respect to a corporate opportunity (i) that was offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the Corporation, (ii) that is one the Corporation is legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for the Corporation to pursue, and (iii) to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer such opportunity to the Corporation without violating any legal obligation (such a corporate opportunity, a “Subject Opportunity”).

(b) In furtherance of the foregoing, in recognition and anticipation that (i) certain directors, principals, officers, employees or other representatives of The Blackstone Group L.P. and I Squared Capital Advisors (US) LLC (the “BCP Sponsors”) and their respective Affiliates (including Buzzard Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and controlled Affiliate of ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund II L.P. (“I Squared Party”), BCP Raptor Aggregator, LP, a Delaware limited partnership and controlled Affiliate of Blackstone Capital Partners VII L.P. and Blackstone Energy Partners II L.P. (“BX Aggregator”), BX Permian Pipeline Aggregator LP, a Delaware limited partnership and controlled Affiliate of Blackstone Capital Partners VII L.P. and Blackstone Energy Partners II L.P. (“BX Permian”), and New BCP Raptor

 

10


Holdco, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“New Raptor”)) may serve as directors, officers or agents of the Corporation, (ii) the BCP Sponsors and their respective Affiliates (including I Squared Party, BX Aggregator, BX Permian and New Raptor) may now engage and may continue to engage in the same or similar activities or related lines of business as those in which the Corporation, directly or indirectly, may engage or other business activities that overlap with or compete with those in which the Corporation, directly or indirectly, may engage and (iii) members of the Board who are not employees of the Corporation and their respective Affiliates that may be designated, nominated or elected by the BCP Sponsors or their respective Affiliates (the “Non-Employee Directors”) may now engage and may continue to engage in the same or similar activities or related lines of business as those in which the Corporation, directly or indirectly, may engage or other business activities that overlap with or compete with those in which the Corporation, directly or indirectly, may engage, the provisions of this Section 9.1(a) are set forth to regulate and define the conduct of certain affairs of the Corporation with respect to certain classes or categories of business opportunities as they may involve any of the BCP Sponsors, the Non-Employee Directors or their respective Affiliates and the powers, rights, duties and liabilities of the Corporation and its directors, officers and stockholders in connection therewith.

(c) None of (i) the BCP Sponsors or any of their respective Affiliates or (ii) any Non-Employee Director (including any Non-Employee Director who serves as an officer of the Corporation in both his or her director and officer capacities) or his or her Affiliates (the Persons identified in clauses (i) and (ii) above being referred to, individually, as an “Identified Person”) shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, have any duty to refrain from directly or indirectly (1) engaging in the same or similar business activities or lines of business in which the Corporation or any of its Affiliates now engages or proposes to engage or (2) otherwise competing with the Corporation or any of its Affiliates, and, to the fullest extent permitted by law, no Identified Person shall be liable to the Corporation or its stockholders or to any Affiliate of the Corporation for breach of any fiduciary duty solely by reason of the fact that such Identified Person engages in any such activities. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Corporation hereby renounces any interest or expectancy in, or right to be offered an opportunity to participate in, any business opportunity that may be a corporate opportunity for an Identified Person and the Corporation or any of its Affiliates, except as provided in Section 9.1(d). Subject to Section 9.1(d), in the event that any Identified Person acquires knowledge of a potential transaction or other business opportunity that may be a corporate opportunity for itself, herself or himself and the Corporation or any of its Affiliates, such Identified Person shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, have no duty to communicate or offer such transaction or other business opportunity to the Corporation or any of its Affiliates and, to the fullest extent permitted by law, shall not be liable to the Corporation or its stockholders or to any Affiliate of the Corporation for breach of any fiduciary duty as a stockholder, director or officer of the Corporation solely by reason of the fact that such Identified Person pursues or acquires such corporate opportunity for itself, herself or himself, or offers or directs such corporate opportunity to another Person.

(d) The Corporation does not renounce its interest in any Subject Opportunity offered to any Non-Employee Director (including any Non-Employee Director who serves as an officer of this Corporation), and the provisions of Section 9.1(c) and Section 9.1(e) shall not apply to any Subject Opportunity.

 

11


(e) In addition to and notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 9.1(a), a corporate opportunity shall not be deemed to be a potential corporate opportunity for the Corporation if it is a business opportunity that (i) the Corporation is neither financially or legally able, nor contractually permitted to undertake, (ii) from its nature, is not in the line of the Corporation’s business or is of no practical advantage to the Corporation or (iii) is one in which the Corporation has no interest or reasonable expectancy.

(f) For purposes of this Article IX, (i) “Affiliate” shall mean (a) in respect of any of the BCP Sponsors, any Person that, directly or indirectly, is controlled by any of the BCP Sponsors, controls any of the BCP Sponsors or is under common control with any of the BCP Sponsors and shall include any principal, member, director, partner, stockholder, officer, employee or other representative of any of the foregoing (other than the Corporation and any entity that is controlled by the Corporation), (b) in respect of a Non-Employee Director, any Person that, directly or indirectly, is controlled by such Non-Employee Director (other than the Corporation and any entity that is controlled by the Corporation) and (c) in respect of the Corporation, any Person that, directly or indirectly, is controlled by the Corporation; and (ii) “Person” shall mean any individual, corporation, general or limited partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, trust, association or any other entity.

(g) Neither the amendment nor repeal of this Article IX, nor the adoption of any provision of this Third Amended and Restated Certificate or the bylaws of the Corporation, nor, to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law, any modification of law, shall eliminate, reduce or otherwise adversely affect any right or protection of any person granted pursuant hereto existing at, or arising out of or related to any event, act or omission that occurred prior to, the time of such amendment, repeal, adoption or modification (regardless of when any proceeding (or part thereof) relating to such event, act or omission arises or is first threatened, commenced or completed).

(h) To the fullest extent permitted by law, any Person purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any shares of capital stock of the Corporation shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the provisions of this Article IX.

ARTICLE X

AMENDMENT OF THIRD AMENDED AND RESTATED CERTIFICATE OF

INCORPORATION

Section 10.1 Amendments. The Corporation reserves the right at any time and from time to time to amend, alter, change or repeal any provision contained in this Third Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation), and other provisions authorized by the laws of the State of Delaware at the time in force that may be added or inserted, in the manner now or hereafter prescribed by this Third Amended and Restated Certificate and the DGCL; and, except as set forth in Article VIII and Article IX, all rights, preferences and privileges of whatever nature herein conferred upon stockholders, directors or any other persons by and pursuant to this Third Amended and Restated Certificate in its present form or as hereafter amended are granted subject to the right reserved in this Article X. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any amendment, alteration, change or repeal of any provision contained in Article IX, or any provision inconsistent therewith or herewith, may be adopted, only by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least sixty six and two thirds percent (66 2/3%) of the voting power of all then outstanding shares of capital stock of the Corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class.

 

12


ARTICLE XI

EXCLUSIVE FORUM FOR CERTAIN LAWSUITS

Section 11.1 Forum. Unless the Corporation consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for any stockholder (including a beneficial owner) to bring (a) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Corporation, (b) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer, other employee, or stockholder of the Corporation to the Corporation or the Corporation’s stockholders, (c) any action asserting a claim against the Corporation or any director, officer, or employee of the Corporation arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or this Third Amended and Restated Certificate or the Bylaws, or (d) any action asserting a claim against the Corporation or any director, officer, or employee of the Corporation governed by the internal affairs doctrine, except for, as to each of (a) through (d) above, any claim as to which the Court of Chancery determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, or for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction; provided that the provisions of this Section 11.1 will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

Section 11.2 Consent to Jurisdiction. If any action the subject matter of which is within the scope of Section 11.1 hereof is filed in a court other than a court located within the State of Delaware (a “Foreign Action”) in the name of any stockholder, such stockholder shall be deemed to have consented to (a) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the State of Delaware in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce Section 11.1 hereof (an “FSC Enforcement Action”) and (b) having service of process made upon such stockholder in any such FSC Enforcement Action by service upon such stockholder’s counsel in the Foreign Action as agent for such stockholder.

Section 11.3 Severability. If any provision or provisions of this Article XI shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable as applied to any person or entity or circumstance for any reason whatsoever, then, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the validity, legality, and enforceability of such provisions in any other circumstance and of the remaining provisions of this Article XI (including, without limitation, each portion of any sentence of this Article XI containing any such provision held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable that is not itself held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable) and the application of such provision to other persons or entities and circumstances shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of capital stock of the Corporation shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the provisions of this Article XI.

 

13


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Altus Midstream Company has caused this Third Amended and Restated Certificate to be duly executed and acknowledged in its name and on its behalf by an authorized officer as of the date first set forth above.

 

ALTUS MIDSTREAM COMPANY
By:   /s/ Ben C. Rodgers
Name:   Ben C. Rodgers
Title:   Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

 

[Signature Page to Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation]

Exhibit 3.2

AMENDED AND RESTATED

BY LAWS

OF

KINETIK HOLDINGS INC.

(THE “CORPORATION”)

ARTICLE I

OFFICES

Section 1.1 Registered Office. The registered office of the Corporation within the State of Delaware shall be located at either (a) the principal place of business of the Corporation in the State of Delaware or (b) the office of the corporation or individual acting as the Corporation’s registered agent in Delaware.

Section 1.2 Additional Offices. The Corporation may, in addition to its registered office in the State of Delaware, have such other offices and places of business, both within and outside the State of Delaware, as the Board of Directors of the Corporation (the “Board”) may from time to time determine or as the business and affairs of the Corporation may require.

ARTICLE II

STOCKHOLDERS MEETINGS

Section 2.1 Annual Meetings. The annual meeting of stockholders shall be held at such place, either within or without the State of Delaware and time and on such date as shall be determined by the Board and stated in the notice of the meeting, provided that the Board may in its sole discretion determine that the meeting shall not be held at any place, but may instead be held solely by means of remote communication pursuant to Section 9.5(a). At each annual meeting, the stockholders entitled to vote on such matters shall elect those directors of the Corporation to fill any term of a directorship that expires on the date of such annual meeting and may transact any other business as may properly be brought before the meeting.

Section 2.2 Special Meetings. Subject to the rights, if any, of the holders of any outstanding series of the preferred stock of the Corporation (“Preferred Stock”), and to the requirements of applicable law, special meetings of the stockholders of the Corporation for any purpose or purposes may be called at any time only by or at the direction of the Board or the Chairman of the Board; provided, however, that at any time when any stockholder beneficially owns, in the aggregate, at least ten percent (10%) in voting power of the stock of the Corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, special meetings of the stockholders of the Corporation for any purpose or purposes shall also be called by or at the direction of the Board or the Chairman of the Board at the request of such stockholder. Special meetings of stockholders shall be held at such place, either within or without the State of Delaware, and at such and time and on such date as shall be determined by the Board and stated in the Corporation’s notice of the meeting, provided that the Board may in its sole discretion determine that the meeting shall not be held at any place, but may instead be held solely by means of remote communication pursuant to Section 9.5(a).

Section 2.3 Notices. Written notice of each stockholders meeting stating the place, if any, date, and time of the meeting, and the means of remote communication, if any, by which stockholders and proxy holders may be deemed to be present in person and vote at such meeting and the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting, if such date is different from the record date for determining stockholders entitled to notice of the meeting, shall be given in the manner permitted by Section 9.3 to each


stockholder entitled to vote thereat as of the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to notice of the meeting, by the Corporation not less than 10 nor more than 60 days before the date of the meeting unless otherwise required by the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”). If said notice is for a stockholders meeting other than an annual meeting, it shall in addition state the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is called, and the business transacted at such meeting shall be limited to the matters so stated in the Corporation’s notice of meeting (or any supplement thereto). Any meeting of stockholders as to which notice has been given may be postponed, and any meeting of stockholders as to which notice has been given may be cancelled, by the Board upon public announcement (as defined in Section 2.7(c)) given before the date previously scheduled for such meeting.

Section 2.4 Quorum. Except as otherwise provided by applicable law, the Corporation’s Certificate of Incorporation, as the same may be amended or restated from time to time (the “Certificate of Incorporation”) or these By Laws, the presence, in person or by proxy, at a stockholders meeting of the holders of shares of outstanding capital stock of the Corporation representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Corporation entitled to vote at such meeting shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at such meeting, except that when specified business is to be voted on by a class or series of stock voting as a class, the holders of shares representing a majority of the voting power of the outstanding shares of such class or series shall constitute a quorum of such class or series for the transaction of such business. If a quorum shall not be present or represented by proxy at any meeting of the stockholders of the Corporation, the chairman of the meeting may adjourn the meeting from time to time in the manner provided in Section 2.6 until a quorum shall attend. The stockholders present at a duly convened meeting may continue to transact business until adjournment, notwithstanding the withdrawal of enough stockholders to leave less than a quorum. Shares of its own stock belonging to the Corporation or to another corporation, if a majority of the voting power of the shares entitled to vote in the election of directors of such other corporation is held, directly or indirectly, by the Corporation, shall neither be entitled to vote nor be counted for quorum purposes; provided, however, that the foregoing shall not limit the right of the Corporation or any such other corporation to vote shares held by it in a fiduciary capacity.

Section 2.5 Voting of Shares.

(a) Voting Lists. The Secretary of the Corporation (the “Secretary”) shall prepare, or shall cause the officer or agent who has charge of the stock ledger of the Corporation to prepare and make, at least 10 days before every meeting of stockholders, a complete list of the stockholders of record entitled to vote at such meeting; provided, however, that if the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote is less than 10 days before the meeting date, the list shall reflect the stockholders entitled to vote as of the tenth day before the meeting date, arranged in alphabetical order and showing the address and the number and class of shares registered in the name of each stockholder. Nothing contained in this Section 2.5(a) shall require the Corporation to include electronic mail addresses or other electronic contact information on such list. Such list shall be open to the examination of any stockholder, for any purpose germane to the meeting, during ordinary business hours for a period of at least 10 days prior to the meeting: (i) on a reasonably accessible electronic network, provided that the information required to gain access to such list is provided with the notice of the meeting, or (ii) during ordinary business hours, at the principal place of business of the Corporation. In the event that the Corporation determines to make the list available on an electronic network, the Corporation may take reasonable steps to ensure that such information is available only to stockholders of the Corporation. If the meeting is to be held at a place, then the list shall be produced and kept at the time and place of the meeting during the whole time thereof, and may be inspected by any stockholder who is present. If a meeting of stockholders is to be held solely by means of remote communication as permitted by Section 9.5(a), the list shall be open to the examination of any stockholder during the whole time of the meeting on a reasonably accessible electronic network, and the information required to access such list shall be provided with the notice of meeting. The stock ledger shall be the only evidence as to who are the stockholders entitled to examine the list required by this Section 2.5(a) or to vote in person or by proxy at any meeting of stockholders.

 

2


(b) Manner of Voting. At any stockholders meeting, every stockholder entitled to vote may vote in person or by proxy. If authorized by the Board, the voting by stockholders or proxy holders at any meeting conducted by remote communication may be effected by a ballot submitted by electronic transmission (as defined in Section 9.3), provided that any such electronic transmission must either set forth or be submitted with information from which the Corporation can determine that the electronic transmission was authorized by the stockholder or proxy holder. The Board, in its discretion, or the chairman of the meeting of stockholders, in such person’s discretion, may require that any votes cast at such meeting shall be cast by written ballot.

(c) Proxies. Each stockholder entitled to vote at a meeting of stockholders or to express consent or dissent to corporate action in writing without a meeting may authorize another person or persons to act for such stockholder by proxy, but no such proxy shall be voted or acted upon after three years from its date, unless the proxy provides for a longer period. Proxies need not be filed with the Secretary until the meeting is called to order, but shall be filed with the Secretary before being voted. Without limiting the manner in which a stockholder may authorize another person or persons to act for such stockholder as proxy, either of the following shall constitute a valid means by which a stockholder may grant such authority. No stockholder shall have cumulative voting rights.

(i) A stockholder may execute a writing authorizing another person or persons to act for such stockholder as proxy. Execution may be accomplished by the stockholder or such stockholder’s authorized officer, director, employee or agent signing such writing or causing such person’s signature to be affixed to such writing by any reasonable means, including, but not limited to, by facsimile signature.

(ii) A stockholder may authorize another person or persons to act for such stockholder as proxy by transmitting or authorizing the transmission of an electronic transmission to the person who will be the holder of the proxy or to a proxy solicitation firm, proxy support service organization or like agent duly authorized by the person who will be the holder of the proxy to receive such transmission, provided that any such electronic transmission must either set forth or be submitted with information from which it can be determined that the electronic transmission was authorized by the stockholder. Any copy, facsimile telecommunication or other reliable reproduction of the writing or transmission authorizing another person or persons to act as proxy for a stockholder may be substituted or used in lieu of the original writing or transmission for any and all purposes for which the original writing or transmission could be used; provided that such copy, facsimile telecommunication or other reproduction shall be a complete reproduction of the entire original writing or transmission.

(d) Required Vote. Subject to the rights of the holders of one or more series of Preferred Stock, voting separately by class or series, to elect directors pursuant to the terms of one or more series of Preferred Stock, at all meetings of stockholders at which a quorum is present, the election of directors shall be determined by a plurality of the votes cast by the stockholders present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote thereon. All other matters presented to the stockholders at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be determined by the vote of a majority of the votes cast by the stockholders present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote thereon, unless the matter is one upon which, by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation, these By Laws or applicable stock exchange rules, a different vote is required, in which case such provision shall govern and control the decision of such matter.

 

3


(e) Inspectors of Election. The Board may, and shall if required by law, in advance of any meeting of stockholders, designate one or more persons as inspectors of election, who may be employees of the Corporation or otherwise serve the Corporation in other capacities, to act at such meeting of stockholders or any adjournment thereof and to make a written report thereof. The Board may appoint one or more persons as alternate inspectors to replace any inspector who fails to act. If no inspectors of election or alternates are appointed by the Board, the chairman of the meeting shall appoint one or more inspectors to act at the meeting. Each inspector, before discharging his or her duties, shall take and sign an oath faithfully to execute the duties of inspector with strict impartiality and according to the best of his or her ability. The inspectors shall ascertain and report the number of outstanding shares and the voting power of each; determine the number of shares present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and the validity of proxies and ballots; count all votes and ballots and report the results; determine and retain for a reasonable period a record of the disposition of any challenges made to any determination by the inspectors; and certify their determination of the number of shares represented at the meeting and their count of all votes and ballots. No person who is a candidate for an office at an election may serve as an inspector at such election. Each report of an inspector shall be in writing and signed by the inspector or by a majority of them if there is more than one inspector acting at such meeting. If there is more than one inspector, the report of a majority shall be the report of the inspectors.

Section 2.6 Adjournments. Any meeting of stockholders, annual or special, may be adjourned by the chairman of the meeting, from time to time, whether or not there is a quorum, to reconvene at the same or some other place. Notice need not be given of any such adjourned meeting if the date, time, and place, if any, thereof, and the means of remote communication, if any, by which stockholders and proxy holders may be deemed to be present in person and vote at such adjourned meeting are announced at the meeting at which the adjournment is taken. At the adjourned meeting the stockholders, or the holders of any class or series of stock entitled to vote separately as a class, as the case may be, may transact any business that might have been transacted at the original meeting. If the adjournment is for more than 30 days, notice of the adjourned meeting shall be given to each stockholder of record entitled to vote at the meeting. If after the adjournment a new record date for stockholders entitled to vote is fixed for the adjourned meeting, the Board shall fix a new record date for notice of such adjourned meeting in accordance with Section 9.2, and shall give notice of the adjourned meeting to each stockholder of record entitled to vote at such adjourned meeting as of the record date fixed for notice of such adjourned meeting.

Section 2.7 Advance Notice for Business.

(a) Annual Meetings of Stockholders. No business may be transacted at an annual meeting of stockholders, other than business that is either (i) specified in the Corporation’s notice of meeting (or any supplement thereto) given by or at the direction of the Board, (ii) otherwise properly brought before the annual meeting by or at the direction of the Board or (iii) otherwise properly brought before the annual meeting by any stockholder of the Corporation (x) who is a stockholder of record entitled to vote at such annual meeting on the date of the giving of the notice provided for in this Section 2.7(a) and on the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to vote at such annual meeting and (y) who complies with the notice procedures set forth in this Section 2.7(a). Notwithstanding anything in this Section 2.7(a) to the contrary, only persons nominated for election as a director to fill any term of a directorship that expires on the date of the annual meeting pursuant to Section 3.2 will be considered for election at such meeting.

(i) In addition to any other applicable requirements, for business (other than nominations) to be properly brought before an annual meeting by a stockholder, such stockholder must have given timely notice thereof in proper written form to the Secretary and such business must otherwise be a proper matter for stockholder action. Subject to Section 2.7(a)(iii), a stockholder’s notice to the Secretary with respect to such business, to be timely, must be received by the Secretary at the principal

 

4


executive offices of the Corporation not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the opening of business on the 120th day before the anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders; provided, however, that in the event that the annual meeting is called for a date that is not within 30 days before or after such anniversary date, notice by the stockholder to be timely must be so received not earlier than the opening of business on the 120th day before the meeting and not later than the later of (x) the close of business on the 90th day before the meeting or (y) the close of business on the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of the annual meeting is first made by the Corporation. The public announcement of an adjournment of an annual meeting shall not commence a new time period for the giving of a stockholder’s notice as described in this Section 2.7(a).

(ii) To be in proper written form, a stockholder’s notice to the Secretary with respect to any business (other than nominations) must set forth as to each such matter such stockholder proposes to bring before the annual meeting (A) a brief description of the business desired to be brought before the annual meeting, the text of the proposal or business (including the text of any resolutions proposed for consideration and in the event such business includes a proposal to amend these By Laws, the language of the proposed amendment) and the reasons for conducting such business at the annual meeting, (B) the name and record address of such stockholder and the name and address of the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made, (C) the class or series and number of shares of capital stock of the Corporation that are owned beneficially and of record by such stockholder and by the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made, (D) a description of all arrangements or understandings between such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made and any other person or persons (including their names) in connection with the proposal of such business by such stockholder, (E) any material interest of such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made in such business and (F) a representation that such stockholder (or a qualified representative of such stockholder) intends to appear in person or by proxy at the annual meeting to bring such business before the meeting.

(iii) The foregoing notice requirements of this Section 2.7(a) shall be deemed satisfied by a stockholder as to any proposal (other than nominations) if the stockholder has notified the Corporation of such stockholder’s intention to present such proposal at an annual meeting in compliance with Rule 14a-8 (or any successor thereof) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and such stockholder has complied with the requirements of such rule for inclusion of such proposal in a proxy statement prepared by the Corporation to solicit proxies for such annual meeting. No business shall be conducted at the annual meeting of stockholders except business brought before the annual meeting in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Section 2.7(a), provided, however, that once business has been properly brought before the annual meeting in accordance with such procedures, nothing in this Section 2.7(a) shall be deemed to preclude discussion by any stockholder of any such business. If the Board or the chairman of the annual meeting determines that any stockholder proposal was not made in accordance with the provisions of this Section 2.7(a) or that the information provided in a stockholder’s notice does not satisfy the information requirements of this Section 2.7(a), such proposal shall not be presented for action at the annual meeting. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 2.7(a), if the stockholder (or a qualified representative of the stockholder) does not appear at the annual meeting of stockholders of the Corporation to present the proposed business, such proposed business shall not be transacted, notwithstanding that proxies in respect of such matter may have been received by the Corporation.

(iv) In addition to the provisions of this Section 2.7(a), a stockholder shall also comply with all applicable requirements of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder with respect to the matters set forth herein. Nothing in this Section 2.7(a) shall be deemed to affect any rights of stockholders to request inclusion of proposals in the Corporation’s proxy statement pursuant to Rule 14a-8 under the Exchange Act.

 

5


(b) Special Meetings of Stockholders. Only such business shall be conducted at a special meeting of stockholders as shall have been brought before the meeting pursuant to the Corporation’s notice of meeting. Nominations of persons for election to the Board may be made at a special meeting of stockholders at which directors are to be elected pursuant to the Corporation’s notice of meeting only pursuant to Section 3.2.

(c) Public Announcement. For purposes of these By Laws, “public announcement” shall mean disclosure in a press release reported by the Dow Jones News Service, Associated Press or comparable national news service or in a document publicly filed by the Corporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Sections 13, 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (or any successor thereto).

Section 2.8 Conduct of Meetings. The chairman of each annual and special meeting of stockholders shall be the Chairman of the Board or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer (if he or she shall be a director) or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act of the Chief Executive Officer or if the Chief Executive Officer is not a director, the President (if he or she shall be a director) or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the President or if the President is not a director, such other person as shall be appointed by the Board. The date and time of the opening and the closing of the polls for each matter upon which the stockholders will vote at a meeting shall be announced at the meeting by the chairman of the meeting. The Board may adopt such rules and regulations for the conduct of the meeting of stockholders as it shall deem appropriate. Except to the extent inconsistent with these By Laws or such rules and regulations as adopted by the Board, the chairman of any meeting of stockholders shall have the right and authority to convene and to adjourn the meeting, to prescribe such rules, regulations and procedures and to do all such acts as, in the judgment of such chairman, are appropriate for the proper conduct of the meeting. Such rules, regulations or procedures, whether adopted by the Board or prescribed by the chairman of the meeting, may include, without limitation, the following: (a) the establishment of an agenda or order of business for the meeting; (b) rules and procedures for maintaining order at the meeting and the safety of those present; (c) limitations on attendance at or participation in the meeting to stockholders of record of the Corporation, their duly authorized and constituted proxies or such other persons as the chairman of the meeting shall determine; (d) restrictions on entry to the meeting after the time fixed for the commencement thereof; and (e) limitations on the time allotted to questions or comments by participants. Unless and to the extent determined by the Board or the chairman of the meeting, meetings of stockholders shall not be required to be held in accordance with the rules of parliamentary procedure. The secretary of each annual and special meeting of stockholders shall be the Secretary or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Secretary, an Assistant Secretary so appointed to act by the chairman of the meeting. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Secretary and all Assistant Secretaries, the chairman of the meeting may appoint any person to act as secretary of the meeting.

Section 2.9 Consents in Lieu of Meeting. Unless otherwise provided by the Certificate of Incorporation, any action required or permitted to be taken at any annual or special meeting of stockholders of the Corporation may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a consent or consents, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by the holders of outstanding stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares entitled to vote thereon were present and voted and shall be delivered to the Corporation in accordance with the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”).

 

6


ARTICLE III

DIRECTORS

Section 3.1 Powers. The business and affairs of the Corporation shall be managed by or under the direction of the Board, which may exercise all such powers of the Corporation and do all such lawful acts and things as are not by statute or by the Certificate of Incorporation or by these By Laws required to be exercised or done by the stockholders. Directors need not be stockholders or residents of the State of Delaware.

Section 3.2 Advance Notice for Nomination of Directors.

(a) Only persons who are nominated in accordance with the following procedures shall be eligible for election as directors of the Corporation, except as may be otherwise provided by the terms of one or more series of Preferred Stock with respect to the rights of holders of one or more series of Preferred Stock to elect directors. Nominations of persons for election to the Board at any annual meeting of stockholders, or at any special meeting of stockholders called for the purpose of electing directors as set forth in the Corporation’s notice of such special meeting, may be made (i) by or at the direction of the Board or (ii) by any stockholder of the Corporation (x) who is a stockholder of record entitled to vote in the election of directors on the date of the giving of the notice provided for in this Section 3.2 and on the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to vote at such meeting and (y) who complies with the notice procedures set forth in this Section 3.2.

(b) In addition to any other applicable requirements, for a nomination to be made by a stockholder, such stockholder must have given timely notice thereof in proper written form to the Secretary. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice to the Secretary must be received by the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation (i) in the case of an annual meeting, not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the opening of business on the 120th day before the anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders; provided, however, that in the event that the annual meeting is called for a date that is not within 30 days before or after such anniversary date, notice by the stockholder to be timely must be so received not earlier than the opening of business on the 120th day before the meeting and not later than the later of (x) the close of business on the 90th day before the meeting or (y) the close of business on the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of the annual meeting was first made by the Corporation; and (ii) in the case of a special meeting of stockholders called for the purpose of electing directors, not later than the close of business on the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of the special meeting is first made by the Corporation. In no event shall the public announcement of an adjournment or postponement of an annual meeting or special meeting commence a new time period (or extend any time period) for the giving of a stockholder’s notice as described in this Section 3.2.

(c) Notwithstanding anything in paragraph (b) to the contrary, in the event that the number of directors to be elected to the Board at an annual meeting is greater than the number of directors whose terms expire on the date of the annual meeting and there is no public announcement by the Corporation naming all of the nominees for the additional directors to be elected or specifying the size of the increased Board before the close of business on the 90th day prior to the anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders, a stockholder’s notice required by this Section 3.2 shall also be considered timely, but only with respect to nominees for the additional directorships created by such increase that are to be filled by election at such annual meeting, if it shall be received by the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation not later than the close of business on the 10th day following the date on which such public announcement was first made by the Corporation.

 

7


(d) To be in proper written form, a stockholder’s notice to the Secretary must set forth (i) as to each person whom the stockholder proposes to nominate for election as a director (A) the name, age, business address and residence address of the person, (B) the principal occupation or employment of the person, (C) the class or series and number of shares of capital stock of the Corporation that are owned beneficially or of record by the person and (D) any other information relating to the person that would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with solicitations of proxies for election of directors pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder; and (ii) as to the stockholder giving the notice (A) the name and record address of such stockholder as they appear on the Corporation’s books and the name and address of the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination is made, (B) the class or series and number of shares of capital stock of the Corporation that are owned beneficially and of record by such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination is made, (C) a description of all arrangements or understandings relating to the nomination to be made by such stockholder among such stockholder, the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination is made, each proposed nominee and any other person or persons (including their names), (D) a representation that such stockholder (or a qualified representative of such stockholder) intends to appear in person or by proxy at the meeting to nominate the persons named in its notice and (E) any other information relating to such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination is made that would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with solicitations of proxies for election of directors pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. Such notice must be accompanied by a written consent of each proposed nominee to being named as a nominee and to serve as a director if elected.

(e) If the Board or the chairman of the meeting of stockholders determines that any nomination was not made in accordance with the provisions of this Section 3.2, or that the information provided in a stockholder’s notice does not satisfy the information requirements of this Section 3.2, then such nomination shall not be considered at the meeting in question. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 3.2, if the stockholder (or a qualified representative of the stockholder) does not appear at the meeting of stockholders of the Corporation to present the nomination, such nomination shall be disregarded, notwithstanding that proxies in respect of such nomination may have been received by the Corporation.

(f) In addition to the provisions of this Section 3.2, a stockholder shall also comply with all of the applicable requirements of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder with respect to the matters set forth herein. Nothing in this Section 3.2 shall be deemed to affect any rights of the holders of Preferred Stock to elect directors pursuant to the Certificate of Incorporation.

Section 3.3 Compensation. Unless otherwise restricted by the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws, the Board shall have the authority to fix the compensation of directors. The directors may be reimbursed their expenses, if any, of attendance at each meeting of the Board, including for service on a committee of the Board, and may be paid either a fixed sum for attendance at each meeting of the Board or other compensation as director. No such payment shall preclude any director from serving the Corporation in any other capacity and receiving compensation therefor. Members of committees of the Board may be allowed like compensation and reimbursement of expenses for service on the committee.

 

8


ARTICLE IV

BOARD MEETINGS

Section 4.1 Annual Meetings. The Board shall meet as soon as practicable after the adjournment of each annual stockholders meeting at the place of the annual stockholders meeting unless the Board shall fix another time and place and give notice thereof in the manner required herein for special meetings of the Board. No notice to the directors shall be necessary to legally convene this meeting, except as provided in this Section 4.1.

Section 4.2 Regular Meetings. Regularly scheduled, periodic meetings of the Board may be held without notice at such times, dates and places (within or without the State of Delaware) as shall from time to time be determined by the Board.

Section 4.3 Special Meetings. Special meetings of the Board (a) may be called by the Chairman of the Board or President and (b) shall be called by the Chairman of the Board, President or Secretary on the written request of at least a majority of directors then in office, or the sole director, as the case may be, and shall be held at such time, date and place (within or without the State of Delaware) as may be determined by the person calling the meeting or, if called upon the request of directors or the sole director, as specified in such written request. Notice of each special meeting of the Board shall be given, as provided in Section 9.3, to each director (i) at least 24 hours before the meeting if such notice is oral notice given personally or by telephone or written notice given by hand delivery or by means of a form of electronic transmission and delivery; (ii) at least two days before the meeting if such notice is sent by a nationally recognized overnight delivery service; and (iii) at least five days before the meeting if such notice is sent through the United States mail. If the Secretary shall fail or refuse to give such notice, then the notice may be given by the officer who called the meeting or the directors who requested the meeting. Any and all business that may be transacted at a regular meeting of the Board may be transacted at a special meeting. Except as may be otherwise expressly provided by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation, or these By Laws, neither the business to be transacted at, nor the purpose of, any special meeting need be specified in the notice or waiver of notice of such meeting. A special meeting may be held at any time without notice if all the directors are present or if those not present waive notice of the meeting in accordance with Section 9.4.

Section 4.4 Quorum; Required Vote. A majority of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting of the Board, and the act of a majority of the directors present at any meeting at which there is a quorum shall be the act of the Board, except as may be otherwise specifically provided by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws. If a quorum shall not be present at any meeting, a majority of the directors present may adjourn the meeting from time to time, without notice other than announcement at the meeting, until a quorum is present.

Section 4.5 Consent In Lieu of Meeting. Unless otherwise restricted by the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws, any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the Board or any committee thereof may be taken without a meeting if all members of the Board or committee, as the case may be, consent thereto in writing or by electronic transmission, and the writing or writings or electronic transmission or transmissions (or paper reproductions thereof) are filed with the minutes of proceedings of the Board or committee. Such filing shall be in paper form if the minutes are maintained in paper form and shall be in electronic form if the minutes are maintained in electronic form.

 

9


Section 4.6 Organization. The chairman of each meeting of the Board shall be the Chairman of the Board or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer (if he or she shall be a director) or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chief Executive Officer or if the Chief Executive Officer is not a director, the President (if he or she shall be a director) or in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the President or if the President is not a director, a chairman elected from the directors present. The Secretary shall act as secretary of all meetings of the Board. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Secretary, an Assistant Secretary shall perform the duties of the Secretary at such meeting. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Secretary and all Assistant Secretaries, the chairman of the meeting may appoint any person to act as secretary of the meeting.

ARTICLE V

COMMITTEES OF DIRECTORS

Section 5.1 Establishment. The Board may by resolution passed by a majority of the Board designate one or more committees, each committee to consist of one or more of the directors of the Corporation. Each committee shall keep regular minutes of its meetings and report the same to the Board when required. The Board shall have the power at any time to fill vacancies in, to change the membership of, or to dissolve any such committee.

Section 5.2 Available Powers. Any committee established pursuant to Section 5.1 hereof, to the extent permitted by applicable law and by resolution of the Board, shall have and may exercise all of the powers and authority of the Board in the management of the business and affairs of the Corporation, and may authorize the seal of the Corporation to be affixed to all papers that may require it.

Section 5.3 Alternate Members. The Board may designate one or more directors as alternate members of any committee, who may replace any absent or disqualified member at any meeting of such committee. In the absence or disqualification of a member of the committee, the member or members thereof present at any meeting and not disqualified from voting, whether or not he, she or they constitute a quorum, may unanimously appoint another member of the Board to act at the meeting in place of any such absent or disqualified member.

Section 5.4 Procedures. Unless the Board otherwise provides, the time, date, place, if any, and notice of meetings of a committee shall be determined by such committee. At meetings of a committee, a majority of the number of members of the committee (but not including any alternate member, unless such alternate member has replaced any absent or disqualified member at the time of, or in connection with, such meeting) shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The act of a majority of the members present at any meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of the committee, except as otherwise specifically provided by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation, these By Laws or the Board. If a quorum is not present at a meeting of a committee, the members present may adjourn the meeting from time to time, without notice other than an announcement at the meeting, until a quorum is present. Unless the Board otherwise provides and except as provided in these By Laws, each committee designated by the Board may make, alter, amend and repeal rules for the conduct of its business. In the absence of such rules each committee shall conduct its business in the same manner as the Board is authorized to conduct its business pursuant to Article III and Article IV of these By Laws.

 

10


ARTICLE VI

OFFICERS

Section 6.1 Officers. The officers of the Corporation elected by the Board shall be a Chairman of the Board, a Chief Executive Officer, a President, a Chief Financial Officer, a Secretary and such other officers (including without limitation, Vice Presidents, Assistant Secretaries and a Treasurer) as the Board from time to time may determine. Officers elected by the Board shall each have such powers and duties as generally pertain to their respective offices, subject to the specific provisions of this Article VI. Such officers shall also have such powers and duties as from time to time may be conferred by the Board. The Chief Executive Officer or President may also appoint such other officers (including without limitation one or more Vice Presidents and Controllers) as may be necessary or desirable for the conduct of the business of the Corporation. Such other officers shall have such powers and duties and shall hold their offices for such terms as may be provided in these By Laws or as may be prescribed by the Board or, if such officer has been appointed by the Chief Executive Officer or President, as may be prescribed by the appointing officer.

(a) Chairman of the Board. The Chairman of the Board shall preside when present at all meetings of the stockholders and the Board. The Chairman of the Board shall have general supervision and control of the acquisition activities of the Corporation subject to the ultimate authority of the Board, and shall be responsible for the execution of the policies of the Board with respect to such matters. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer (if he or she shall be a director) shall preside when present at all meetings of the stockholders and the Board. The powers and duties of the Chairman of the Board shall not include supervision or control of the preparation of the financial statements of the Corporation (other than through participation as a member of the Board). The position of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer may be held by the same person.

(b) Chief Executive Officer. The Chief Executive Officer shall be the chief executive officer of the Corporation, shall have general supervision of the affairs of the Corporation and general control of all of its business subject to the ultimate authority of the Board, and shall be responsible for the execution of the policies of the Board with respect to such matters, except to the extent any such powers and duties have been prescribed to the Chairman of the Board pursuant to Section 6.1(a) above. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer (if he or she shall be a director) shall preside when present at all meetings of the stockholders and the Board. The position of Chief Executive Officer and President may be held by the same person.

(c) President. The President shall make recommendations to the Chief Executive Officer on all operational matters that would normally be reserved for the final executive responsibility of the Chief Executive Officer. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, the President (if he or she shall be a director) shall preside when present at all meetings of the stockholders and the Board. The President shall also perform such duties and have such powers as shall be designated by the Board. The position of President and Chief Executive Officer may be held by the same person.

(d) Vice Presidents. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the President, the Vice President (or in the event there be more than one Vice President, the Vice Presidents in the order designated by the Board) shall perform the duties and have the powers of the President. Any one or more of the Vice Presidents may be given an additional designation of rank or function.

(e) Secretary.

(i) The Secretary shall attend all meetings of the stockholders, the Board and (as required) committees of the Board and shall record the proceedings of such meetings in books to be kept for that purpose. The Secretary shall give, or cause to be given, notice of all meetings of the stockholders and special meetings of the Board and shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the Board, the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer or President. The Secretary shall have custody of the corporate seal of the Corporation and the Secretary, or any Assistant Secretary, shall have authority to affix the same to any instrument requiring it, and when so affixed, it may be attested by his or her signature or by the signature of such Assistant Secretary. The Board may give general authority to any other officer to affix the seal of the Corporation and to attest the affixing thereof by his or her signature.

 

11


(ii) The Secretary shall keep, or cause to be kept, at the principal executive office of the Corporation or at the office of the Corporation’s transfer agent or registrar, if one has been appointed, a stock ledger, or duplicate stock ledger, showing the names of the stockholders and their addresses, the number and classes of shares held by each and, with respect to certificated shares, the number and date of certificates issued for the same and the number and date of certificates cancelled.

(f) Assistant Secretaries. The Assistant Secretary or, if there be more than one, the Assistant Secretaries in the order determined by the Board shall, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Secretary, perform the duties and have the powers of the Secretary.

(g) Chief Financial Officer. The Chief Financial Officer shall perform all duties commonly incident to that office (including, without limitation, the care and custody of the funds and securities of the Corporation, which from time to time may come into the Chief Financial Officer’s hands and the deposit of the funds of the Corporation in such banks or trust companies as the Board, the Chief Executive Officer or the President may authorize).

(h) Treasurer. The Treasurer shall, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chief Financial Officer, perform the duties and exercise the powers of the Chief Financial Officer.

Section 6.2 Term of Office; Removal; Vacancies. The elected officers of the Corporation shall be appointed by the Board and shall hold office until their successors are duly elected and qualified by the Board or until their earlier death, resignation, retirement, disqualification, or removal from office. Any officer may be removed, with or without cause, at any time by the Board. Any officer appointed by the Chief Executive Officer or President may also be removed, with or without cause, by the Chief Executive Officer or President, as the case may be, unless the Board otherwise provides. Any vacancy occurring in any elected office of the Corporation may be filled by the Board. Any vacancy occurring in any office appointed by the Chief Executive Officer or President may be filled by the Chief Executive Officer, or President, as the case may be, unless the Board then determines that such office shall thereupon be elected by the Board, in which case the Board shall elect such officer.

Section 6.3 Other Officers. The Board may delegate the power to appoint such other officers and agents, and may also remove such officers and agents or delegate the power to remove same, as it shall from time to time deem necessary or desirable.

Section 6.4 Multiple Officeholders; Stockholder and Director Officers. Any number of offices may be held by the same person unless the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws otherwise provide. Officers need not be stockholders or residents of the State of Delaware.

ARTICLE VII

SHARES

Section 7.1 Certificated and Uncertificated Shares. The shares of the Corporation may be certificated or uncertificated, subject to the sole discretion of the Board and the requirements of the DGCL.

 

12


Section 7.2 Multiple Classes of Stock. If the Corporation shall be authorized to issue more than one class of stock or more than one series of any class, the Corporation shall (a) cause the powers, designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights of each class of stock or series thereof and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions of such preferences and/or rights to be set forth in full or summarized on the face or back of any certificate that the Corporation issues to represent shares of such class or series of stock or (b) in the case of uncertificated shares, within a reasonable time after the issuance or transfer of such shares, send to the registered owner thereof a written notice containing the information required to be set forth on certificates as specified in clause (a) above; provided, however, that, except as otherwise provided by applicable law, in lieu of the foregoing requirements, there may be set forth on the face or back of such certificate or, in the case of uncertificated shares, on such written notice a statement that the Corporation will furnish without charge to each stockholder who so requests the powers, designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights of each class of stock or series thereof and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions of such preferences or rights.

Section 7.3 Signatures. Each certificate representing capital stock of the Corporation shall be signed by or in the name of the Corporation by (a) the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, the President or a Vice President and (b) the Treasurer, an Assistant Treasurer, the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary of the Corporation. Any or all the signatures on the certificate may be a facsimile. In case any officer, transfer agent or registrar who has signed or whose facsimile signature has been placed upon a certificate shall have ceased to be such officer, transfer agent or registrar before such certificate is issued, such certificate may be issued by the Corporation with the same effect as if such person were such officer, transfer agent or registrar on the date of issue.

Section 7.4 Consideration and Payment for Shares.

(a) Subject to applicable law and the Certificate of Incorporation, shares of stock may be issued for such consideration, having in the case of shares with par value a value not less than the par value thereof, and to such persons, as determined from time to time by the Board. The consideration may consist of any tangible or intangible property or any benefit to the Corporation including cash, promissory notes, services performed, contracts for services to be performed or other securities, or any combination thereof.

(b) Subject to applicable law and the Certificate of Incorporation, shares may not be issued until the full amount of the consideration has been paid, unless upon the face or back of each certificate issued to represent any partly paid shares of capital stock or upon the books and records of the Corporation in the case of partly paid uncertificated shares, there shall have been set forth the total amount of the consideration to be paid therefor and the amount paid thereon up to and including the time said certificate representing certificated shares or said uncertificated shares are issued.

Section 7.5 Lost, Destroyed or Wrongfully Taken Certificates.

(a) If an owner of a certificate representing shares claims that such certificate has been lost, destroyed or wrongfully taken, the Corporation shall issue a new certificate representing such shares or such shares in uncertificated form if the owner: (i) requests such a new certificate before the Corporation has notice that the certificate representing such shares has been acquired by a protected purchaser; (ii) if requested by the Corporation, delivers to the Corporation a bond sufficient to indemnify the Corporation against any claim that may be made against the Corporation on account of the alleged loss, wrongful taking or destruction of such certificate or the issuance of such new certificate or uncertificated shares; and (iii) satisfies other reasonable requirements imposed by the Corporation.

 

13


(b) If a certificate representing shares has been lost, apparently destroyed or wrongfully taken, and the owner fails to notify the Corporation of that fact within a reasonable time after the owner has notice of such loss, apparent destruction or wrongful taking and the Corporation registers a transfer of such shares before receiving notification, the owner shall be precluded from asserting against the Corporation any claim for registering such transfer or a claim to a new certificate representing such shares or such shares in uncertificated form.

Section 7.6 Transfer of Stock.

(a) If a certificate representing shares of the Corporation is presented to the Corporation with an endorsement requesting the registration of transfer of such shares or an instruction is presented to the Corporation requesting the registration of transfer of uncertificated shares, the Corporation shall register the transfer as requested if:

(i) in the case of certificated shares, the certificate representing such shares has been surrendered;

(ii) (A) with respect to certificated shares, the endorsement is made by the person specified by the certificate as entitled to such shares; (B) with respect to uncertificated shares, an instruction is made by the registered owner of such uncertificated shares; or (C) with respect to certificated shares or uncertificated shares, the endorsement or instruction is made by any other appropriate person or by an agent who has actual authority to act on behalf of the appropriate person;

(iii) the Corporation has received a guarantee of signature of the person signing such endorsement or instruction or such other reasonable assurance that the endorsement or instruction is genuine and authorized as the Corporation may request;

(iv) the transfer does not violate any restriction on transfer imposed by the Corporation that is enforceable in accordance with Section 7.8(a); and

(v) such other conditions for such transfer as shall be provided for under applicable law have been satisfied.

(b) Whenever any transfer of shares shall be made for collateral security and not absolutely, the Corporation shall so record such fact in the entry of transfer if, when the certificate for such shares is presented to the Corporation for transfer or, if such shares are uncertificated, when the instruction for registration of transfer thereof is presented to the Corporation, both the transferor and transferee request the Corporation to do so.

Section 7.7 Registered Stockholders. Before due presentment for registration of transfer of a certificate representing shares of the Corporation or of an instruction requesting registration of transfer of uncertificated shares, the Corporation may treat the registered owner as the person exclusively entitled to inspect for any proper purpose the stock ledger and the other books and records of the Corporation, vote such shares, receive dividends or notifications with respect to such shares and otherwise exercise all the rights and powers of the owner of such shares, except that a person who is the beneficial owner of such shares (if held in a voting trust or by a nominee on behalf of such person) may, upon providing documentary evidence of beneficial ownership of such shares and satisfying such other conditions as are provided under applicable law, may also so inspect the books and records of the Corporation.

 

14


Section 7.8 Effect of the Corporation’s Restriction on Transfer.

(a) A written restriction on the transfer or registration of transfer of shares of the Corporation or on the amount of shares of the Corporation that may be owned by any person or group of persons, if permitted by the DGCL and noted conspicuously on the certificate representing such shares or, in the case of uncertificated shares, contained in a notice, offering circular or prospectus sent by the Corporation to the registered owner of such shares within a reasonable time prior to or after the issuance or transfer of such shares, may be enforced against the holder of such shares or any successor or transferee of the holder including an executor, administrator, trustee, guardian or other fiduciary entrusted with like responsibility for the person or estate of the holder.

(b) A restriction imposed by the Corporation on the transfer or the registration of shares of the Corporation or on the amount of shares of the Corporation that may be owned by any person or group of persons, even if otherwise lawful, is ineffective against a person without actual knowledge of such restriction unless: (i) the shares are certificated and such restriction is noted conspicuously on the certificate; or (ii) the shares are uncertificated and such restriction was contained in a notice, offering circular or prospectus sent by the Corporation to the registered owner of such shares prior to or within a reasonable time after the issuance or transfer of such shares.

Section 7.9 Regulations. The Board shall have power and authority to make such additional rules and regulations, subject to any applicable requirement of law, as the Board may deem necessary and appropriate with respect to the issue, transfer or registration of transfer of shares of stock or certificates representing shares. The Board may appoint one or more transfer agents or registrars and may require for the validity thereof that certificates representing shares bear the signature of any transfer agent or registrar so appointed.

ARTICLE VIII

INDEMNIFICATION

Section 8.1 Right to Indemnification. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, as the same exists or may hereafter be amended, the Corporation shall indemnify and hold harmless each person who was or is made a party or is threatened to be made a party to or is otherwise involved in any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (hereinafter a “proceeding”), by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a director or officer of the Corporation or, while a director or officer of the Corporation, is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust, other enterprise or nonprofit entity, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan (hereinafter an “Indemnitee”), whether the basis of such proceeding is alleged action in an official capacity as a director, officer, employee or agent, or in any other capacity while serving as a director, officer, employee or agent, against all liability and loss suffered and expenses (including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes and penalties and amounts paid in settlement) reasonably incurred by such Indemnitee in connection with such proceeding; provided, however, that, except as provided in Section 8.3 with respect to proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification, the Corporation shall indemnify an Indemnitee in connection with a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such Indemnitee only if such proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized by the Board.

Section 8.2 Right to Advancement of Expenses. In addition to the right to indemnification conferred in Section 8.1, an Indemnitee shall also have the right to be paid by the Corporation to the fullest extent not prohibited by applicable law the expenses (including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees) incurred in defending or otherwise participating in any such proceeding in advance of its final disposition

 

15


(hereinafter an “advancement of expenses”); provided, however, that, if the DGCL requires, an advancement of expenses incurred by an Indemnitee in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the Corporation (and not in any other capacity in which service was or is rendered by such Indemnitee, including, without limitation, service to an employee benefit plan) shall be made only upon the Corporation’s receipt of an undertaking (hereinafter an “undertaking”), by or on behalf of such Indemnitee, to repay all amounts so advanced if it shall ultimately be determined that such Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified under this Article VIII or otherwise.

Section 8.3 Right of Indemnitee to Bring Suit. If a claim under Section 8.1 or Section 8.2 is not paid in full by the Corporation within 60 days after a written claim therefor has been received by the Corporation, except in the case of a claim for an advancement of expenses, in which case the applicable period shall be 20 days, the Indemnitee may at any time thereafter bring suit against the Corporation to recover the unpaid amount of the claim. If successful in whole or in part in any such suit, or in a suit brought by the Corporation to recover an advancement of expenses pursuant to the terms of an undertaking, the Indemnitee shall also be entitled to be paid the expense of prosecuting or defending such suit. In (a) any suit brought by the Indemnitee to enforce a right to indemnification hereunder (but not in a suit brought by an Indemnitee to enforce a right to an advancement of expenses) it shall be a defense that, and (b) in any suit brought by the Corporation to recover an advancement of expenses pursuant to the terms of an undertaking, the Corporation shall be entitled to recover such expenses upon a final judicial decision from which there is no further right to appeal (hereinafter a “final adjudication”) that, the Indemnitee has not met any applicable standard for indemnification set forth in the DGCL. Neither the failure of the Corporation (including its directors who are not parties to such action, a committee of such directors, independent legal counsel, or its stockholders) to have made a determination prior to the commencement of such suit that indemnification of the Indemnitee is proper in the circumstances because the Indemnitee has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in the DGCL, nor an actual determination by the Corporation (including a determination by its directors who are not parties to such action, a committee of such directors, independent legal counsel, or its stockholders) that the Indemnitee has not met such applicable standard of conduct, shall create a presumption that the Indemnitee has not met the applicable standard of conduct or, in the case of such a suit brought by the Indemnitee, shall be a defense to such suit. In any suit brought by the Indemnitee to enforce a right to indemnification or to an advancement of expenses hereunder, or by the Corporation to recover an advancement of expenses pursuant to the terms of an undertaking, the burden of proving that the Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified, or to such advancement of expenses, under this Article VIII or otherwise shall be on the Corporation.

Section 8.4 Non-Exclusivity of Rights. The rights provided to any Indemnitee pursuant to this Article VIII shall not be exclusive of any other right, which such Indemnitee may have or hereafter acquire under applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation, these By Laws, an agreement, a vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise.

Section 8.5 Insurance. The Corporation may maintain insurance, at its expense, to protect itself and/or any director, officer, employee or agent of the Corporation or another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any expense, liability or loss, whether or not the Corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such expense, liability or loss under the DGCL.

Section 8.6 Indemnification of Other Persons. This Article VIII shall not limit the right of the Corporation to the extent and in the manner authorized or permitted by law to indemnify and to advance expenses to persons other than Indemnitees. Without limiting the foregoing, the Corporation may, to the extent authorized from time to time by the Board, grant rights to indemnification and to the advancement of expenses to any employee or agent of the Corporation and to any other person who is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan, to the fullest extent of the provisions of this Article VIII with respect to the indemnification and advancement of expenses of Indemnitees under this Article VIII.

 

16


Section 8.7 Amendments. Any repeal or amendment of this Article VIII by the Board or the stockholders of the Corporation or by changes in applicable law, or the adoption of any other provision of these By Laws inconsistent with this Article VIII, will, to the extent permitted by applicable law, be prospective only (except to the extent such amendment or change in applicable law permits the Corporation to provide broader indemnification rights to Indemnitees on a retroactive basis than permitted prior thereto), and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing hereunder in respect of any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision; provided however, that amendments or repeals of this Article VIII shall require the affirmative vote of the stockholders holding at least 66.7% of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Corporation.

Section 8.8 Certain Definitions. For purposes of this Article VIII, (a) references to “other enterprise” shall include any employee benefit plan; (b) references to “fines” shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to an employee benefit plan; (c) references to “serving at the request of the Corporation” shall include any service that imposes duties on, or involves services by, a person with respect to any employee benefit plan, its participants, or beneficiaries; and (d) a person who acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interest of the Corporation” for purposes of Section 145 of the DGCL.

Section 8.9 Contract Rights. The rights provided to Indemnitees pursuant to this Article VIII shall be contract rights and such rights shall continue as to an Indemnitee who has ceased to be a director, officer, agent or employee and shall inure to the benefit of the Indemnitee’s heirs, executors and administrators.

Section 8.10 Severability. If any provision or provisions of this Article VIII shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason whatsoever: (a) the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions of this Article VIII shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby; and (b) to the fullest extent possible, the provisions of this Article VIII (including, without limitation, each such portion of this Article VIII containing any such provision held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable) shall be construed so as to give effect to the intent manifested by the provision held invalid, illegal or unenforceable.

ARTICLE IX

MISCELLANEOUS

Section 9.1 Place of Meetings. If the place of any meeting of stockholders, the Board or committee of the Board for which notice is required under these By Laws is not designated in the notice of such meeting, such meeting shall be held at the principal business office of the Corporation; provided, however, if the Board has, in its sole discretion, determined that a meeting shall not be held at any place, but instead shall be held by means of remote communication pursuant to Section 9.5 hereof, then such meeting shall not be held at any place.

 

17


Section 9.2 Fixing Record Dates.

(a) In order that the Corporation may determine the stockholders entitled to notice of any meeting of stockholders or any adjournment thereof, the Board may fix a record date, which shall not precede the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted by the Board, and which record date shall not be more than 60 nor less than 10 days before the date of such meeting. If the Board so fixes a date, such date shall also be the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote at such meeting unless the Board determines, at the time it fixes such record date, that a later date on or before the date of the meeting shall be the date for making such determination. If no record date is fixed by the Board, the record date for determining stockholders entitled to notice of and to vote at a meeting of stockholders shall be at the close of business on the business day next preceding the day on which notice is given, or, if notice is waived, at the close of business on the business day next preceding the day on which the meeting is held. A determination of stockholders of record entitled to notice of or to vote at a meeting of stockholders shall apply to any adjournment of the meeting; provided, however, that the Board may fix a new record date for the adjourned meeting, and in such case shall also fix as the record date for stockholders entitled to notice of such adjourned meeting the same or an earlier date as that fixed for determination of stockholders entitled to vote in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this Section 9.2(a) at the adjourned meeting.

(b) In order that the Corporation may determine the stockholders entitled to receive payment of any dividend or other distribution or allotment of any rights or the stockholders entitled to exercise any rights in respect of any change, conversion or exchange of stock, or for the purpose of any other lawful action, the Board may fix a record date, which record date shall not precede the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted, and which record date shall be not more than 60 days prior to such action. If no record date is fixed, the record date for determining stockholders for any such purpose shall be at the close of business on the day on which the Board adopts the resolution relating thereto.

Section 9.3 Means of Giving Notice.

(a) Notice to Directors. Whenever under applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws notice is required to be given to any director, such notice shall be given either (i) in writing and sent by mail, or by a nationally recognized delivery service, (ii) by means of facsimile telecommunication or other form of electronic transmission, or (iii) by oral notice given personally or by telephone. A notice to a director will be deemed given as follows: (i) if given by hand delivery, orally, or by telephone, when actually received by the director, (ii) if sent through the United States mail, when deposited in the United States mail, with postage and fees thereon prepaid, addressed to the director at the director’s address appearing on the records of the Corporation, (iii) if sent for next day delivery by a nationally recognized overnight delivery service, when deposited with such service, with fees thereon prepaid, addressed to the director at the director’s address appearing on the records of the Corporation, (iv) if sent by facsimile telecommunication, when sent to the facsimile transmission number for such director appearing on the records of the Corporation, (v) if sent by electronic mail, when sent to the electronic mail address for such director appearing on the records of the Corporation, or (vi) if sent by any other form of electronic transmission, when sent to the address, location or number (as applicable) for such director appearing on the records of the Corporation.

(b) Notice to Stockholders. Whenever under applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws notice is required to be given to any stockholder, such notice may be given (i) in writing and sent either by hand delivery, through the United States mail, or by a nationally recognized overnight delivery service for next day delivery, or (ii) by means of a form of electronic transmission consented to by the stockholder, to the extent permitted by, and subject to the conditions set forth in Section 232 of the DGCL. A notice to a stockholder shall be deemed given as follows: (i) if given by hand delivery, when actually received by the stockholder, (ii) if sent through the United States mail, when deposited in the United States mail, with postage and fees thereon prepaid, addressed to the stockholder at the stockholder’s

 

18


address appearing on the stock ledger of the Corporation, (iii) if sent for next day delivery by a nationally recognized overnight delivery service, when deposited with such service, with fees thereon prepaid, addressed to the stockholder at the stockholder’s address appearing on the stock ledger of the Corporation, and (iv) if given by a form of electronic transmission consented to by the stockholder to whom the notice is given and otherwise meeting the requirements set forth above, (A) if by facsimile transmission, when directed to a number at which the stockholder has consented to receive notice, (B) if by electronic mail, when directed to an electronic mail address at which the stockholder has consented to receive notice, (C) if by a posting on an electronic network together with separate notice to the stockholder of such specified posting, upon the later of (1) such posting and (2) the giving of such separate notice, and (D) if by any other form of electronic transmission, when directed to the stockholder. A stockholder may revoke such stockholder’s consent to receiving notice by means of electronic communication by giving written notice of such revocation to the Corporation. Any such consent shall be deemed revoked if (1) the Corporation is unable to deliver by electronic transmission two consecutive notices given by the Corporation in accordance with such consent and (2) such inability becomes known to the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary or to the Corporation’s transfer agent, or other person responsible for the giving of notice; provided, however, the inadvertent failure to treat such inability as a revocation shall not invalidate any meeting or other action.

(c) Electronic Transmission. “Electronic transmission” means any form of communication, not directly involving the physical transmission of paper, that creates a record that may be retained, retrieved and reviewed by a recipient thereof, and that may be directly reproduced in paper form by such a recipient through an automated process, including but not limited to transmission by telex, facsimile telecommunication, electronic mail, telegram and cablegram.

(d) Notice to Stockholders Sharing Same Address. Without limiting the manner by which notice otherwise may be given effectively by the Corporation to stockholders, any notice to stockholders given by the Corporation under any provision of the DGCL, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws shall be effective if given by a single written notice to stockholders who share an address if consented to by the stockholders at that address to whom such notice is given. A stockholder may revoke such stockholder’s consent by delivering written notice of such revocation to the Corporation. Any stockholder who fails to object in writing to the Corporation within 60 days of having been given written notice by the Corporation of its intention to send such a single written notice shall be deemed to have consented to receiving such single written notice.

(e) Exceptions to Notice Requirements. Whenever notice is required to be given, under the DGCL, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws, to any person with whom communication is unlawful, the giving of such notice to such person shall not be required and there shall be no duty to apply to any governmental authority or agency for a license or permit to give such notice to such person. Any action or meeting that shall be taken or held without notice to any such person with whom communication is unlawful shall have the same force and effect as if such notice had been duly given. In the event that the action taken by the Corporation is such as to require the filing of a certificate with the Secretary of State of Delaware, the certificate shall state, if such is the fact and if notice is required, that notice was given to all persons entitled to receive notice except such persons with whom communication is unlawful.

Whenever notice is required to be given by the Corporation, under any provision of the DGCL, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws, to any stockholder to whom (1) notice of two consecutive annual meetings of stockholders and all notices of stockholder meetings or of the taking of action by written consent of stockholders without a meeting to such stockholder during the period between such two consecutive annual meetings, or (2) all, and at least two payments (if sent by first-class mail) of dividends or interest on securities during a 12-month period, have been mailed addressed to such stockholder at such stockholder’s address as shown on the records of the Corporation and have been returned undeliverable,

 

19


the giving of such notice to such stockholder shall not be required. Any action or meeting that shall be taken or held without notice to such stockholder shall have the same force and effect as if such notice had been duly given. If any such stockholder shall deliver to the Corporation a written notice setting forth such stockholder’s then current address, the requirement that notice be given to such stockholder shall be reinstated. In the event that the action taken by the Corporation is such as to require the filing of a certificate with the Secretary of State of Delaware, the certificate need not state that notice was not given to persons to whom notice was not required to be given pursuant to Section 230(b) of the DGCL. The exception in subsection (1) of the first sentence of this paragraph to the requirement that notice be given shall not be applicable to any notice returned as undeliverable if the notice was given by electronic transmission.

Section 9.4 Waiver of Notice. Whenever any notice is required to be given under applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation, or these By Laws, a written waiver of such notice, signed before or after the date of such meeting by the person or persons entitled to said notice, or a waiver by electronic transmission by the person entitled to said notice, shall be deemed equivalent to such required notice. All such waivers shall be kept with the books of the Corporation. Attendance at a meeting shall constitute a waiver of notice of such meeting, except where a person attends for the express purpose of objecting to the transaction of any business on the ground that the meeting was not lawfully called or convened.

Section 9.5 Meeting Attendance via Remote Communication Equipment.

(a) Stockholder Meetings. If authorized by the Board in its sole discretion, and subject to such guidelines and procedures as the Board may adopt, stockholders entitled to vote at such meeting and proxy holders not physically present at a meeting of stockholders may, by means of remote communication:

(i) participate in a meeting of stockholders; and

(ii) be deemed present in person and vote at a meeting of stockholders, whether such meeting is to be held at a designated place or solely by means of remote communication, provided that (A) the Corporation shall implement reasonable measures to verify that each person deemed present and permitted to vote at the meeting by means of remote communication is a stockholder or proxy holder, (B) the Corporation shall implement reasonable measures to provide such stockholders and proxy holders a reasonable opportunity to participate in the meeting and, if entitled to vote, to vote on matters submitted to the applicable stockholders, including an opportunity to read or hear the proceedings of the meeting substantially concurrently with such proceedings, and (C) if any stockholder or proxy holder votes or takes other action at the meeting by means of remote communication, a record of such votes or other action shall be maintained by the Corporation.

(b) Board Meetings. Unless otherwise restricted by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws, members of the Board or any committee thereof may participate in a meeting of the Board or any committee thereof by means of conference telephone or other communications equipment by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each other. Such participation in a meeting shall constitute presence in person at the meeting, except where a person participates in the meeting for the express purpose of objecting to the transaction of any business on the ground that the meeting was not lawfully called or convened.

Section 9.6 Dividends. The Board may from time to time declare, and the Corporation may pay, dividends (payable in cash, property or shares of the Corporation’s capital stock) on the Corporation’s outstanding shares of capital stock, subject to applicable law and the Certificate of Incorporation.

 

20


Section 9.7 Reserves. The Board may set apart out of the funds of the Corporation available for dividends a reserve or reserves for any proper purpose and may abolish any such reserve.

Section 9.8 Contracts and Negotiable Instruments. Except as otherwise provided by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws, any contract, bond, deed, lease, mortgage or other instrument may be executed and delivered in the name and on behalf of the Corporation by such officer or officers or other employee or employees of the Corporation as the Board may from time to time authorize. Such authority may be general or confined to specific instances as the Board may determine. The Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer, the President, the Chief Financial Officer, the Treasurer or any Vice President may execute and deliver any contract, bond, deed, lease, mortgage or other instrument in the name and on behalf of the Corporation. Subject to any restrictions imposed by the Board, the Chairman of the Board Chief Executive Officer, President, the Chief Financial Officer, the Treasurer or any Vice President may delegate powers to execute and deliver any contract, bond, deed, lease, mortgage or other instrument in the name and on behalf of the Corporation to other officers or employees of the Corporation under such person’s supervision and authority, it being understood, however, that any such delegation of power shall not relieve such officer of responsibility with respect to the exercise of such delegated power.

Section 9.9 Fiscal Year. The fiscal year of the Corporation shall be fixed by the Board.

Section 9.10 Seal. The Board may adopt a corporate seal, which shall be in such form as the Board determines. The seal may be used by causing it or a facsimile thereof to be impressed, affixed or otherwise reproduced.

Section 9.11 Books and Records. The books and records of the Corporation may be kept within or outside the State of Delaware at such place or places as may from time to time be designated by the Board.

Section 9.12 Resignation. Any director, committee member or officer may resign by giving notice thereof in writing or by electronic transmission to the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer, the President or the Secretary. The resignation shall take effect at the time specified therein, or at the time of receipt of such notice if no time is specified or the specified time is earlier than the time of such receipt. Unless otherwise specified therein, the acceptance of such resignation shall not be necessary to make it effective.

Section 9.13 Surety Bonds. Such officers, employees and agents of the Corporation (if any) as the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, President or the Board may direct, from time to time, shall be bonded for the faithful performance of their duties and for the restoration to the Corporation, in case of their death, resignation, retirement, disqualification or removal from office, of all books, papers, vouchers, money and other property of whatever kind in their possession or under their control belonging to the Corporation, in such amounts and by such surety companies as the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, President or the Board may determine. The premiums on such bonds shall be paid by the Corporation and the bonds so furnished shall be in the custody of the Secretary.

Section 9.14 Securities of Other Corporations. Powers of attorney, proxies, waivers of notice of meeting, consents in writing and other instruments relating to securities owned by the Corporation may be executed in the name of and on behalf of the Corporation by the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, President, any Vice President or any officers authorized by the Board. Any such officer, may, in the name of and on behalf of the Corporation, take all such action as any such officer may deem advisable to vote in person or by proxy at any meeting of security holders of any corporation in which the Corporation may own securities, or to consent in writing, in the name of the Corporation as such holder, to any action by such corporation, and at any such meeting or with respect to any such consent shall possess and may exercise any and all rights and power incident to the ownership of such securities and which, as the owner thereof, the Corporation might have exercised and possessed. The Board may from time to time confer like powers upon any other person or persons.

 

21


Section 9.15 Amendments. The Board shall have the power to adopt, amend, alter or repeal the By Laws. The affirmative vote of a majority of the Board shall be required to adopt, amend, alter or repeal the By Laws. The By Laws also may be adopted, amended, altered or repealed by the stockholders; provided, however, that in addition to any vote of the holders of any class or series of capital stock of the Corporation required by applicable law or the Certificate of Incorporation, the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the voting power (except as otherwise provided in Section 8.7) of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class, shall be required for the stockholders to adopt, amend, alter or repeal the By Laws.

 

22

Exhibit 4.1

AMENDED AND RESTATED

STOCKHOLDERS AGREEMENT

This AMENDED AND RESTATED STOCKHOLDERS AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”), dated as of October 21, 2021, is entered into by and among Altus Midstream Company, a Delaware corporation (the “Corporation”), APA Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“APA Corporation”), Apache Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Apache Midstream”), Buzzard Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and controlled Affiliate of ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund II L.P. (“ISQ”), BCP Raptor Aggregator, LP, a Delaware limited partnership and controlled Affiliate of Blackstone Capital Partners VII L.P. and Blackstone Energy Partners II L.P. (“BX Aggregator”), BX Permian Pipeline Aggregator LP, a Delaware limited partnership and controlled Affiliate of Blackstone Capital Partners VII L.P. and Blackstone Energy Partners II L.P. (“BX Permian”), New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“New Raptor”), and solely for purposes of Section 2(a)(iv) and Section 2(a)(v), BCP Raptor Holdco, LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“Raptor”). Each of the Corporation, APA Corporation, Apache Midstream, ISQ, BX Aggregator, BX Permian and New Raptor is sometimes referred to herein individually as a “Party” and collectively as the “Parties.”

WHEREAS, the Corporation, Apache Midstream and Kayne Anderson Sponsor, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Kayne Anderson”), previously entered into that certain Stockholders Agreement dated as of November 9, 2018 (the “Existing Stockholders Agreement”), pursuant to which, among other things, Apache Midstream and its Affiliates have certain Board designation rights;

WHEREAS, pursuant to the terms thereof, the Existing Stockholders Agreement has terminated with respect to Kayne Anderson;

WHEREAS, the current parties to the Existing Stockholders Agreement desire to amend and restate the Existing Stockholders Agreement in its entirety as provided herein; and

WHEREAS, in connection with the transactions (the “Business Combination”) contemplated by that certain Contribution Agreement, dated as of the date hereof, by and among the Corporation, Altus Midstream LP, a Delaware limited partnership, BCP Raptor Holdco, LP, a Delaware limited partnership, and New Raptor (the “Contribution Agreement”), the Corporation, APA Corporation, Apache Midstream, BX Aggregator, BX Permian, ISQ and New Raptor are entering into this Agreement, effective concurrently with the Closing (as defined below), to set forth certain understandings among themselves following the Closing.


NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the promises and of the mutual consents and obligations hereinafter set forth, the Parties hereby agree as follows:

Section 1. Definitions; Interpretation.

(a) Definitions. As used herein, the following terms shall have the following respective meanings:

Affiliate” means (a) with respect to any Person, other than an individual, any other Person that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, such Person (solely for purposes of Section 20, including any principal, member, director, partner, stockholder, officer, employee or other representative of any of the foregoing) and (b) as to any individual, (i) any member of the immediate family of an individual Stockholder, including parents, siblings, spouse, and children (including those by adoption) of such individual Stockholder, and, in any such case, any trust whose primary beneficiary is such individual Stockholder or one or more members of such individual Stockholder’s immediate family or such individual Stockholder’s lineal descendants, (ii) the legal representative or guardian of such individual Stockholder or of any such immediate family member in the event such individual Stockholder or any such immediate family member becomes mentally incompetent, and (iii) any Person controlling, controlled by, or under common control with, such individual Stockholder. As used in this definition, the term “control,” (and its correlative terms) means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a Person, whether through ownership of voting securities, by contract, or otherwise. For purposes of this Agreement other than Section 20, (i) the Corporation shall not constitute an Affiliate of any other Party and (ii) no Party shall be deemed to be an Affiliate of another Party solely by reason of the execution and delivery of this Agreement or the Registration Rights Agreement.

Agreement” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

Altus Dividend” means the dividend as set forth on Schedule 1 hereto.

APA Corporation” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

Apache” means Apache Midstream and any Permitted Transferee to whom the rights and obligations of “Apache” have been assigned in compliance with Section 11(b).

Apache Director” has the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(i).

Apache Midstream” has the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

BX Aggregator” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

BCP Sponsors” has the meaning set forth in Section 20(b).

Beneficial Owner” means, with respect to any security, any Person who directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship or otherwise, has or shares (a) voting power, which includes the power to vote, or to direct the voting of, such security or (b) investment power, which includes the power to dispose, or to direct the disposition of, such security; provided, however, that (i) the Shares underlying the Warrants shall be deemed to not be Beneficially Owned by any Person for purposes of calculating Beneficial Ownership pursuant to Section 2 and Section 6 until such time as such Warrants are exercised in accordance with their terms and (ii) for purposes of Section 2 only, any shares issued by the Corporation in any primary issuance that occurs on a date between the date of this Agreement and December 31, 2022 shall not be considered outstanding until the day following the Corporation’s annual meeting that occurs in the 2023 calendar year. The terms “Beneficially Own” and “Beneficial Ownership” will have correlative meanings. For the avoidance of doubt, for purposes of this Agreement, no Stockholder shall be deemed to Beneficially Own the Shares of another Stockholder, solely due to the fact that such Shares are subject to this Agreement.

 

2


Blackstone” means BX Aggregator and any Permitted Transferee to whom the rights and obligations of “Blackstone” have been assigned in compliance with Section 11(b).

Blackstone Directors” has the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(iii).

Board” means the board of directors of the Corporation.

Business Combination” has the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

BX Permian” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

Change of Control” means any transaction or series of related transactions, however structured, the result of which is that any “person” or “group” (within the meaning of Sections 13(d) or 14(d)(2) of the Exchange Act), other than any Stockholder and its Affiliates, acquires Beneficial Ownership of more than fifty percent (50%) of the voting stock of the Corporation, measured by voting power rather than number of shares, units or the like.

Class A Common Stock” means the Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Corporation.

Class C Common Stock” means the Class C common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Corporation.

Closing” means the closing of the Business Combination.

Closing Date” means the date of the closing of the Business Combination.

Common Stock” means (a) the Class A Common Stock, (b) the Class C Common Stock and (c) any capital stock of the Corporation into which such Common Stock may hereafter be changed or for which such Common Stock may be exchanged, and shall also include any Common Stock of the Corporation of any class hereafter authorized.

Confidential Information” has the meaning set forth in Section 25.

Contribution Agreement” has the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

Corporation” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

Covered Related Party Transaction” means any transaction for which disclosure would be required pursuant to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act, but with all references to (a) “registrant” being deemed to be references to “the Corporation”, (b) “any related person” being deemed to be references to “the Stockholder (or the Affiliate of the Stockholder) entering into the transaction in question” and (c) “$120,000” being deemed to be references to “$5,000,000”. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any transaction (y) contemplated by the Contribution Agreement, the LPA or any other Ancillary Agreement (as defined in the

 

3


Contribution Agreement), or (z) entered into prior to the date of this Agreement shall, in each case, be deemed to not be a Covered Related Party Transaction; provided, however, that any amendment, waiver, consent or election by the Corporation or its controlled Affiliates after the date hereof in respect of any transaction that is the subject of foregoing clause (y) or (z) shall be deemed a Covered Related Party Transaction.

Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

Existing Stockholders Agreement” has the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

I Squared” means ISQ and any Permitted Transferee to whom the rights and obligations of “I Squared” have been assigned in compliance with Section 11(b).

I Squared Directors” has the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(ii).

Identified Person” has the meaning set forth in Section 20(c).

Independent Director” has the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(iv).

ISQ” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

Joinder Agreement” has the meaning set forth in Section 3(a).

Kayne Anderson” has the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

LPA” means the Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Altus Midstream LP, dated as of the date hereof, as it may be amended, restated, supplemented and otherwise modified from time to time.

National Securities Exchange” means the principal national securities exchange on which the Class A Common Stock is then listed for trading.

New Raptor” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

Non-Employee Directors” has the meaning set forth in Section 20(b).

Opt-Out Notice” “has the meaning set forth in Section 24(d).

Permitted Transferee” means, in respect of a Stockholder, any Affiliate of such Stockholder.

Person” means any individual, corporation, firm, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, estate, trust, business association, organization, any court, administrative agency, regulatory body, commission or other governmental authority, board, bureau or instrumentality, domestic or foreign and any subdivision thereof or other entity, and also includes any managed investment account.

Recipient Parties” has the meaning set forth in Section 24.

 

4


Registration Rights Agreement” means that certain Second Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of the date hereof, by and among the Corporation, Apache Midstream, ISQ, BX Aggregator, BX Permian, New Raptor and the other Persons party thereto.

SEC” means the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Shares” means the shares of Common Stock of the Corporation.

Stockholders” means each of APA Corporation, Apache Midstream, ISQ, BX Aggregator, BX Permian, New Raptor and any Person who becomes a Stockholder pursuant to Section 3(a) as a result of a Transfer from a Stockholder.

Subject Opportunity” has the meaning set forth in Section 20(a).

Subject Securities” means (a) Shares and Units Beneficially Owned by (x) APA Corporation, if any, and Apache Midstream immediately following the Closing, (y) BX Aggregator, BX Permian, ISQ and New Raptor immediately following the Closing and (z) a Permitted Transferee to whom any such Shares or Units set forth in the foregoing clause (x) and (y) are transferred in accordance with Section 3, (b) shares of Class A Common Stock that may be received at a later date upon the redemption or exchange of any Units and shares of Class C Common Stock covered by clause (a), (c) the Warrants Beneficially Owned by Apache Midstream immediately following the Closing and (d) shares of Class A Common Stock that may be received at a later date upon the exercise of Warrants covered by clause (c).

Transfer” has the meaning set forth in Section 3(a).

Units” has the meaning given to such term in the LPA as of the date hereof.

Warrants” means the warrants exercisable for shares of Class A Common Stock.

Any capitalized term used in any Section of this Agreement that is not defined in this Section 1 shall have the meaning ascribed to it in such other Section or as otherwise defined herein.

(b) Rules of Construction. The headings and captions herein are inserted for convenience of reference only and are not intended to govern, limit, or aid in the construction of any term or provision hereof. The Parties recognize that this Agreement is the product of the joint efforts of the Parties. It is the intention of the Parties that every covenant, term, and provision of this Agreement shall be construed simply according to its fair meaning and not strictly for or against any Party (notwithstanding any rule of law requiring an agreement to be strictly construed against the drafting party), it being understood that the Parties are sophisticated and have had adequate opportunity and means to retain counsel to represent their interests and to otherwise negotiate the provisions of this Agreement. Further, unless the context requires otherwise:

(i) terms defined in Section 1 or elsewhere in this Agreement have the meanings assigned to them in that Section for purposes of this Agreement;

(ii) the gender (or lack of gender) of all words used in this Agreement includes the masculine, feminine, and neuter;

 

5


(iii) references to Sections (other than in connection with laws) refer to Sections, respectively, of this Agreement unless otherwise indicated by the context thereof;

(iv) the words “herein,” “hereof,” “hereunder,” and other words of similar import refer to this Agreement as a whole and not to any particular Section;

(v) “include,” “includes,” and “including” mean “include, without limitation,” “includes, without limitation,” and “including, without limitation,” respectively;

(vi) terms defined herein include the plural as well as the singular;

(vii) “or” is not exclusive;

(viii) all references to “$” and dollars shall be deemed to refer to United States currency unless otherwise specifically provided;

(ix) if a provision or defined term is incorporated into this Agreement by referencing another contract and such contract is terminated, such termination shall have no effect on such provision or defined term as used in this Agreement; and

(x) the serial comma is sometimes included and sometimes omitted. Its inclusion or omission shall not affect the interpretation of any phrase.

Section 2. Board of Directors.

(a) Designation of Directors. Following the Closing Date:

(i) Apache shall have the right to designate to the Board one (1) director for so long as Apache and its Affiliates Beneficially Own 10% or more of the outstanding Shares (the director designated by Apache, the “Apache Director”);

(ii) I Squared shall have the right to designate to the Board (A) two (2) directors for so long as I Squared and its Affiliates Beneficially Own 20% or more of the outstanding Shares and (B) one (1) director for so long as I Squared and its Affiliates Beneficially Own 10% or more but less than 20% of the outstanding Shares (the directors designated by I Squared, the “I Squared Directors”); and

(iii) Blackstone shall have the right to designate to the Board on the Closing Date (A) three (3) directors for so long as Blackstone and its Affiliates Beneficially Own 30% or more of the outstanding Shares, (B) two (2) directors for so long as Blackstone and its Affiliates Beneficially Own 20% or more but less than 30% of the outstanding Shares and (C) one (1) director for so long as Blackstone and its Affiliates Beneficially Own 10% or more but less than 20% of the outstanding Shares (the directors designated by Blackstone, the “Blackstone Directors”).

(iv) Apache shall have the one-time right to designate to the Board on the Closing Date two (2) directors who qualify as independent under the listing rules of the National Securities Exchange (each an “Independent Director”); provided, that Raptor shall be entitled to reject one such proposed designee and, in the event of such rejection, Apache shall have the right to designate an alternative Independent Director.

 

6


(v) Blackstone shall have the one-time right to designate to the Board on the Closing Date two (2) Independent Directors; provided, that Apache shall be entitled to reject one such proposed designee and, in the event of such rejection, Blackstone shall have the right to designate an alternative Independent Director.

(b) Chairperson of the Board. Blackstone shall have the right to designate a Blackstone Director as the Non-Executive Chairperson of the Board until the earlier of December 31, 2024 and such time as Blackstone is no longer entitled to designate pursuant to Section 2(a)(iii).

(c) Election of Directors. The Corporation shall take all necessary action to cause all individuals designated pursuant to Section 2(a) to be included in the slate of nominees recommended by the Board (or any authorized committee thereof) to the Corporation’s stockholders for election as directors at each annual meeting of the stockholders of the Corporation (or in connection with any election by written consent) and the Corporation shall use reasonable best efforts to cause the election of each such designee, including nominating each such individual to be elected as a director of the Corporation, recommending such individual’s election and soliciting proxies in favor of the election of such designee.

(d) Replacement of Directors. If at any time Apache, I Squared or Blackstone has designated fewer than the total number of individuals that Apache, I Squared or Blackstone, as applicable, is then entitled to designate pursuant to this Section 2, or in the event that a vacancy is created at any time by the death, disability, retirement, resignation, disqualification, removal (with or without cause) or failure to be elected at an annual or special meeting of the stockholders of an Apache Director, I Squared Director or Blackstone Director designated pursuant to this Section 2 (which, for the avoidance of doubt, does not include the Independent Directors appointed by Apache or Blackstone pursuant to this Section 2), then Apache, I Squared or Blackstone, as applicable depending on whether such vacancy or vacancies relate to an Apache Director, I Squared Director or Blackstone Director, shall have the right to designate such additional individuals or replacements to fill such vacancy or vacancies so long as the total number of persons that will serve on the Board immediately thereafter pursuant to Section 2(a) as designees of Apache, I Squared or Blackstone, as applicable, will not exceed the total number of persons Apache, I Squared or Blackstone, as applicable, is entitled to designate pursuant to Section 2(a) on the date of such designation. In any such case, the Corporation shall promptly take all necessary action to effect the appointment of such additional or replacement designee(s), and the Board or authorized committee thereof shall promptly appoint such designee to the Board. The Corporation shall not reduce the size of the Board if the effect thereof would deny any Party its designation rights provided in Section 2(a).

(e) Laws and Regulations. Nothing in this Section 2 shall be deemed to require that any Party, or any Affiliate thereof, act or be in violation of any applicable provision of law, regulation, legal duty (including fiduciary duty) or requirement, or rule of any National Securities Exchange.

 

7


(f) Reimbursement of Expenses. The Corporation shall reimburse the directors designated pursuant to this Section 2 for all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with their attendance at meetings of the Board and any committees thereof, including travel, lodging and meal expenses, but the directors designated pursuant to Section 2(a)(i), (ii), and (iii) shall not be entitled to receive compensation for service as directors of the Corporation. In addition, the Independent Directors shall be entitled to receive additional compensation as determined by the Board.

(g) Indemnity Agreements. Simultaneously with any person designated in accordance with this Agreement becoming a director, the Corporation shall execute and deliver to each such director a customary director indemnification agreement dated the date such director becomes a director of the Corporation.

Section 3. Lockup and Transfer Restrictions.

(a) For twelve (12) months following the Closing Date, no Stockholder shall, without the prior written consent of the Corporation, (i) offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, give, assign, distribute (including to any limited partners), hypothecate, pledge, encumber, grant a security interest in, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend or otherwise transfer or dispose of (including through any hedging or other similar transaction) any economic, voting or other rights in or to Subject Securities, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, Subject Securities or (ii) enter into any swap or other agreement that transfers, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of Beneficial Ownership of Subject Securities (any such transaction described in clause (i) or (ii) above, a “Transfer”). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the restrictions set forth in this Section 3(a) shall not apply to (A) a Transfer pursuant to a Change of Control or (B) a Transfer by a Stockholder to any of its Affiliates otherwise in compliance with this Agreement; provided, however, that (i) any such Affiliate must agree in writing to be bound by Section 3 of this Agreement (and any related section of this Agreement) by execution of a Joinder Agreement in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A (“Joinder Agreement”) (which such execution shall be deemed, for all purposes, to be the execution of this Agreement), with such transferee being deemed to be such transferor Stockholder and a Party for purposes of Section 3 of this Agreement (and any related section of this Agreement) and (ii) the Corporation is provided with an executed copy of the Joinder Agreement.

(b) Notwithstanding Section 3(a), APA Corporation and Apache Midstream shall be free to engage in any Permitted Apache Offering (as defined in the Registration Rights Agreement) during the Apache Priority Window (as defined in the Registration Rights Agreement).

(c) For the avoidance of doubt, the redemption or exchange of Units for shares of Class A Common Stock pursuant to the terms of the LPA (and corresponding cancellations of shares of Class C Common Stock) shall not be deemed to be a Transfer under this Section 3; provided for the avoidance of doubt that any shares of Class A Common Stock issued pursuant to such redemption or exchange shall be subject to the restrictions in this Section 3.

 

8


Section 4. Directors and Officers Insurance.

The Corporation shall maintain directors’ and officers’ liability insurance covering the Corporation’s and its subsidiaries’ directors and officers and issued by reputable insurers, with appropriate policy limits, terms, and conditions (including “tail” insurance if necessary or appropriate). The provisions of this Section 4 are intended to be for the benefit of, and will be enforceable by, each indemnified party, his or her heirs, and his or her representatives and are in addition to, and not in substitution for, any other rights to indemnification or contribution that any such Person may have by contract or otherwise.

Section 5. Effectiveness.

(a) This Agreement shall become effective immediately prior to, and conditioned upon, the Closing. If the Closing does not occur, the Existing Stockholders Agreement shall be deemed to be in effect without any further action by the parties thereto.

(b) Notwithstanding the foregoing clause (a), the provisions in Section 23 shall be effective as of the date hereof. All obligations under Section 23 shall terminate upon the termination of the Contribution Agreement.

Section 6. Duration of Agreement.

This Agreement shall terminate automatically as to an individual Stockholder (a) upon the written agreement of such Stockholder and the Corporation or (b) upon the later of (i) twelve (12) months from the Closing Date and (ii) when such Stockholder (including any Affiliate of such Stockholder) ceases to Beneficially Own at least 10% of the outstanding Shares; provided, however, that Section 20 shall survive the termination of this Agreement.

Section 7. Governing Law.

(a) This Agreement shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware without regard to the principles of conflicts of law.

(b) The Parties hereby irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the State of Delaware and the federal courts of the United States of America located in the State of Delaware, over any dispute between the Parties arising out of this Agreement, and the Parties irrevocably agree that all such claims in respect of such dispute shall be heard and determined in such courts. The Parties hereby irrevocably waive, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any objection which they may now or hereafter have to the venue of any such dispute arising out of this Agreement brought in such court or any defense of inconvenient forum for the maintenance of such dispute. The Parties agree that a judgment in any such dispute may be enforced in other jurisdictions by suit on the judgment or in any other manner provided by law.

 

9


(c) Should any term or provision of this Agreement for any reason be declared invalid or unenforceable, such decision shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any of the other terms or provisions of this Agreement, which other terms and provisions shall remain in full force and effect and the application of such invalid or unenforceable term or provision to Persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid or unenforceable shall be valid and be enforced to the fullest extent permitted by law. If a final judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction declares that any term or provision of this Agreement is invalid or unenforceable, the Parties agree that the court making such determination shall have the power to limit such term or provision, to delete specific words or phrases or to replace such term or provision with a term or provision that is valid and enforceable and that comes closest to expressing the intention of the invalid or unenforceable term or provision, and that this Agreement shall be valid and enforceable as so modified.

(d) EACH PARTY IRREVOCABLY AND UNCONDITIONALLY WAIVES ANY RIGHT IT MAY HAVE TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN RESPECT OF ANY LEGAL ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT.

Section 8. Stock Dividends, Etc.

The provisions of this Agreement shall apply to any and all Shares and to any and all shares of capital stock of the Corporation or any successor or assignee of the Corporation (whether by merger, consolidation, sale of assets, or otherwise) which may be issued in respect of, in exchange for or in substitution for the Shares, by reason of any stock dividend, split, reverse split, combination, recapitalization, reclassification, merger, consolidation, or otherwise in such a manner and with such appropriate adjustments as to reflect the intent and meaning of the provisions hereof and so that the rights, privileges, duties, and obligations hereunder shall continue with respect to the capital stock of the Corporation as so changed.

Section 9. No Third-Party Benefit.

This Agreement (a) is for the sole benefit of the Parties hereto and (b) is not intended to benefit any other Person. No Person that is not a Party to this Agreement may enforce any part of this Agreement or rely upon any data or information disclosed or developed pursuant to this Agreement.

Section 10. Amendments.

(a) No amendment, supplement, or waiver of this Agreement shall be binding unless executed in writing by the Party to be bound thereby.

(b) If a provision or a defined term incorporated by reference into this Agreement is amended, supplemented, or modified in the agreement from which such provision or defined term is incorporated, such amendment, supplement, or modification shall have no effect on such provision or defined term as used in this Agreement unless such amendment, supplement, or modification is approved as provided in this Section 10.

Section 11. Assignment.

(a) Except as expressly required by Section 3 in connection with a Transfer by a Stockholder to an Affiliate who executes a Joinder Agreement or Section 11(b), no Party shall assign the rights and obligations contained in this Agreement without the prior written consent of each other Person then-party to this Agreement, and any such action without the required consent shall be void ab initio.

 

10


(b) Notwithstanding Section 11(a), any Person who is Apache, Blackstone or I Squared as of the time of determination shall be permitted to assign the rights (but only with all related obligations) of Apache, Blackstone or I Squared, as applicable, under Section 2 and Section 21 (and any related section of this Agreement) to its Permitted Transferee that agrees in writing to be bound by this Agreement by execution of a Joinder Agreement (which such execution shall be deemed, for all purposes, to be the execution of this Agreement) and the Corporation is provided with an executed copy of the Joinder Agreement and is notified of the change in Apache, Blackstone or I Squared, as applicable. For the avoidance of doubt, only one Person shall be Apache, only one Person shall be Blackstone and only one Person shall be I Squared under this Agreement at any given time.

(c) This Agreement shall bind and inure to the benefit of the Parties and any permitted successors or assigns to the original Parties to this Agreement, but such assignment shall not relieve any Party of any obligations hereunder.

Section 12. Notices.

Any notice, designation, demand, request, including a request for consent under this Agreement, and other communication required or permitted to be given or made hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been duly given or made if (a) delivered personally, (b) transmitted by first class registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, (c) delivered by prepaid overnight courier service or (d) delivered by confirmed facsimile transmission or electronic mail to a Party at the following addresses (or at such other addresses as shall be specified by a Party by similar notice):

In the case of notice to the Corporation, to:

Altus Midstream Company

2000 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 100

Houston, Texas 77056

Attention: Ben C. Rodgers

With a copy to (which copy shall not constitute notice):

Bracewell LLP

711 Louisiana Street, Suite 2300

Houston, Texas 77002

Attention: Jason Jean

 

11


and to:

Apache Midstream LLC

2000 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 100

Houston, Texas 77056

Attention: Legal Department

In the case of notice to Apache, APA Corporation or Apache Midstream, to:

Apache Midstream LLC

One Post Oak Central, 2000 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 100

Houston, Texas 77056

Attention: Ben C. Rodgers

With copies to (which copies shall not constitute notice):

Apache Legal

2000 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 100

Houston, Texas 77056

Attention: General Counsel

and

Bracewell LLP

711 Louisiana Street, Suite 2300

Houston, Texas 77002

Attention: Jason Jean

In the case of notice to Blackstone, BX Aggregator or BX Permian, to:

Blackstone Management Partners L.L.C.

345 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10154

Attention: David Foley

With a copy to (which copy shall not constitute notice):

Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.

1001 Fannin Street

Houston, Texas 77002

Attention: Keith Fullenweider; Douglas E. McWilliams

 

12


In the case of notice to I Squared or ISQ, to:

Buzzard Midstream LLC

c/o I Squared Capital Advisors (US) LLC

410 Park Avenue, Suite 830

New York, NY 10022

With copies to (which copies shall not constitute notice):

I Squared Capital Advisors (US) LLC

410 Park Avenue, Suite 830

New York, NY 10022

and

I Squared Capital Advisors (US) LLC

410 Park Avenue, Suite 830

New York, NY 10022

and

Sidley Austin LLP

1000 Louisiana, Suite 5900

Houston, TX 77002

Attention: Glenn L. Pinkerton; Atman Shukla

In the case of notice to New Raptor, to:

New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC

2700 Post Oak Blvd, Suite 300

Houston, TX 77056

Attention: Todd Carpenter

 

13


With copies to (which copies shall not constitute notice):

Blackstone Management Partners L.L.C.

345 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10154

Attention: David Foley

and

Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.

1001 Fannin Street

Houston, Texas 77002

Attention: Keith Fullenweider; Douglas E. McWilliams

Notices shall be effective (i) if delivered personally or sent by courier service, upon actual receipt by the intended recipient, (ii) if mailed, upon the earlier of five (5) days after deposit in the mail or the date of delivery as shown by the return receipt therefor, (iii) if sent by facsimile transmission, when confirmation of transmission is received or (iv) if sent by electronic mail, when confirmation is received. Whenever any notice is required to be given by law or this Agreement, a written waiver thereof, signed by the Person entitled to notice, whether before or after the time stated therein, shall be deemed equivalent to the giving of such notice.

Section 13. Waiver.

(a) No waiver by any Party hereto of any of the provisions hereof shall be effective unless explicitly set forth in writing and signed by the Party so waiving. No waiver by any Party shall operate or be construed as a waiver in respect of any failure, breach, or default not expressly identified by such written waiver, whether of a similar or different character, and whether occurring before or after that waiver. Except as specifically set forth in this Agreement, no failure by a Party hereto to exercise, or delay in exercising, any right, remedy, power or privilege hereunder shall operate or be construed as a waiver thereof, nor shall any single or partial exercise thereof preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right, remedy, power or privilege.

(b) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, the Corporation shall not waive the Transfer restrictions set forth in Section 3(a) unless such waiver has been approved by a majority of the disinterested directors on the Board, as determined by the Board.

Section 14. Entire Agreement.

This Agreement and the Contribution Agreement constitute the entire agreement among the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersede all prior agreements and understandings, both written and oral, among the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof. There are no restrictions, promises, warranties, covenants or undertakings between the Parties, other than those expressly set forth or referred to herein or therein. Unless otherwise provided herein, any consent required by the Corporation may be withheld by the Corporation in its sole discretion.

 

14


Section 15. Inconsistent Arrangements; Specific Performance.

(a) No Party shall enter into any agreements or arrangements of any kind with any Person with respect to any Shares on terms inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement (whether or not such agreements or arrangements are with Persons that are Parties to this Agreement), including agreements or arrangements with respect to the acquisition or disposition of any Shares in a manner inconsistent with this Agreement.

(b) Each Party acknowledges that irreparable damage would occur in the event that any of the provisions of this Agreement were not performed in accordance with its specific terms and that a remedy at law for any breach or attempted breach of this Agreement will be inadequate. It is accordingly agreed that the Parties shall be entitled to specific performance and injunctive and other equitable relief in case of any such breach or attempted breach and to enforce specifically the terms and provisions hereof, and further agrees to waive (to the extent legally permissible) any legal conditions required to be met for the obtaining of any such injunctive or other equitable relief (including securing or posting any bond in order to obtain equitable relief). Each Party further agrees that, in the event of any action for an injunction or other equitable remedy in respect of such breach or enforcement of specific performance, it will not assert the defense that a remedy at law would be adequate.

Section 16. Counterparts.

This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, all of which together shall constitute an agreement binding on all Parties hereto, notwithstanding that all such Parties are not signatories to the original or the same counterpart. Facsimile copies of signatures shall constitute original signatures for all purposes of this Agreement and any enforcement hereof. The failure of any Stockholder to execute this Agreement shall not make it invalid as against any other Stockholder.

Section 17. Further Assurances.

Each Party hereto shall do and perform or cause to be done and performed all such further acts and things and shall execute and deliver all such other agreements, certificates, instruments, and other documents as any other Party hereto reasonably may request in order to carry out the provisions of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby.

Section 18. Director and Officer Actions.

No director or officer of the Corporation shall be personally liable to the Corporation or any Stockholder as a result of any acts or omissions taken under this Agreement in good faith.

 

15


Section 19. No Recourse.

This Agreement may only be enforced against, and any claims or cause of action that may be based upon, arise out of or relate to this Agreement, or the negotiation, execution or performance of this Agreement may only be made against, the Persons that are expressly identified as Parties hereto and no past, present or future Affiliate, director, officer, employee, incorporator, member, manager, partner, stockholder, agent, attorney or representative of any Party hereto shall have any liability for any obligations or liabilities of the Parties to this Agreement or for any claim based on, in respect of, or by reason of, the transactions contemplated hereby.

Section 20. Waiver of Corporate Opportunities.

(a) To the extent allowed by law, the doctrine of corporate opportunity, or any other analogous doctrine, shall not apply with respect to the Corporation or any of its officers or directors, or any of their respective Affiliates, and the Corporation renounces any expectancy that any of the directors or officers of the Corporation will offer any such corporate opportunity of which he or she may become aware to the Corporation, except that the doctrine of corporate opportunity shall apply with respect to any of the directors or officers of the Corporation only with respect to a corporate opportunity (i) that was offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the Corporation, (ii) that is one the Corporation is legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for the Corporation to pursue and (iii) to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer such opportunity to the Corporation without violating any legal obligation (such a corporate opportunity, a “Subject Opportunity”).

(b) In furtherance of the foregoing, in recognition and anticipation that (i) certain directors, principals, officers, employees or other representatives of The Blackstone Group L.P. and ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund II L.P. (the “BCP Sponsors”) and their respective Affiliates (including ISQ, BX Aggregator, BX Permian and New Raptor) may serve as directors, officers or agents of the Corporation, (ii) the BCP Sponsors and their respective Affiliates (including ISQ, BX Aggregator, BX Permian and New Raptor) may now engage and may continue to engage in the same or similar activities or related lines of business as those in which the Corporation, directly or indirectly, may engage or other business activities that overlap with or compete with those in which the Corporation, directly or indirectly, may engage and (iii) members of the Board who are not employees of the Corporation and their Affiliates that may be designated, nominated or elected by the BCP Sponsors or their respective Affiliates (the “Non-Employee Directors”) may now engage and may continue to engage in the same or similar activities or related lines of business as those in which the Corporation, directly or indirectly, may engage or other business activities that overlap with or compete with those in which the Corporation, directly or indirectly, may engage, the provisions of this Section 20 are set forth to regulate and define the conduct of certain affairs of the Corporation with respect to certain classes or categories of business opportunities as they may involve any of the BCP Sponsors, the Non-Employee Directors or their respective Affiliates and the powers, rights, duties and liabilities of the Corporation and its directors, officers and stockholders in connection therewith.

(c) None of (i) the BCP Sponsors or any of their respective Affiliates or (ii) any Non-Employee Director (including any Non-Employee Director who serves as an officer of the Corporation in both his or her director and officer capacities) or his or her Affiliates (the Persons identified in clauses (i) and (ii) above being referred to, individually, as an “Identified Person”) shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, have any duty to refrain from directly or indirectly (1) engaging in the same or similar business activities or lines of business in which the Corporation or any of its Affiliates now engages or proposes to engage or (2) otherwise competing

 

16


with the Corporation or any of its Affiliates, and, to the fullest extent permitted by law, no Identified Person shall be liable to the Corporation or its stockholders or to any Affiliate of the Corporation for breach of any fiduciary duty solely by reason of the fact that such Identified Person engages in any such activities. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Corporation hereby renounces any interest or expectancy in, or right to be offered an opportunity to participate in, any business opportunity that may be a corporate opportunity for an Identified Person and the Corporation or any of its Affiliates, except as provided in Section 20(d). Subject to Section 20(d), in the event that any Identified Person acquires knowledge of a potential transaction or other business opportunity that may be a corporate opportunity for itself, herself or himself and the Corporation or any of its Affiliates, such Identified Person shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, have no duty to communicate or offer such transaction or other business opportunity to the Corporation or any of its Affiliates and, to the fullest extent permitted by law, shall not be liable to the Corporation or its stockholders or to any Affiliate of the Corporation for breach of any fiduciary duty as a stockholder, director or officer of the Corporation solely by reason of the fact that such Identified Person pursues or acquires such corporate opportunity for itself, herself or himself, or offers or directs such corporate opportunity to another Person.

(d) The Corporation does not renounce its interest in any Subject Opportunity offered to any Non-Employee Director (including any Non-Employee Director who serves as an officer of this Corporation), and the provisions of Section 20(c) and Section 20(e) shall not apply to any such Subject Opportunity.

(e) In addition to and notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 20, a corporate opportunity shall not be deemed to be a potential corporate opportunity for the Corporation if it is a business opportunity that (i) the Corporation is neither financially or legally able, nor contractually permitted to undertake, (ii) from its nature, is not in the line of the Corporation’s business or is of no practical advantage to the Corporation or (iii) is one in which the Corporation has no interest or reasonable expectancy.

Section 21. Dividends and Distributions.

Subject to the Corporation’s governing documents and applicable provisions of law, regulation, legal duty (including fiduciary duty) or requirement, or rule of any National Securities Exchange, for so long as Apache, I Squared or Blackstone is entitled to designate a director pursuant to Section 2(a), the Corporation shall not take any action to reduce, delay or discontinue the Altus Dividend prior to December 31, 2023 without the prior written consent of each of Apache, I Squared and Blackstone, as applicable, permitting such action. For the avoidance of doubt, in the event that Apache, I Squared or Blackstone is no longer entitled to designate a director pursuant to Section 2(a), such Stockholder’s prior written consent shall not be required under this Section 21.

Section 22. Covered Related Party Transactions.

Any transaction between the Corporation or its subsidiaries, on the one hand, and a Stockholder or Affiliate of a Stockholder, on the other hand, that constitutes a Covered Related Party Transaction shall require the prior approval of 66% or more of the disinterested directors on the Board, as determined by the Board.

 

17


Section 23. Dividend Reinvestment Plan.

The Parties shall negotiate and enter into definitive documentation reasonably promptly following the date of this Agreement related to a dividend reinvestment plan with the terms described in Exhibit B hereto, to be implemented promptly following the Closing Date.

Section 24. Financial Statements. The Corporation shall use commercially reasonable efforts to deliver or cause to be delivered to each Stockholder (so long as such Stockholder and its Affiliates Beneficially Own 10% or more of the outstanding Shares) (together, the “Recipient Parties”), at such Stockholder’s request:

(a) No later than 30 days after the end of each of the first three calendar quarters of each fiscal year, an unaudited consolidated balance sheet, consolidated income statement, and consolidated statement of cash flows of the Corporation and its subsidiaries for such calendar quarter;

(b) No later than 30 days after the end of each fiscal year, a draft consolidated balance sheet, draft consolidated income statement, and draft consolidated statement of cash flows of the Corporation and its subsidiaries for such fiscal year; and

(c) No later than 55 days after the end of each fiscal year, the Corporation Annual Financials (as defined in the LPA) for such fiscal year.

(d) Any Recipient Party may deliver written notice (an “Opt-Out Notice”) to the Corporation requesting that such Person not receive from the Corporation any information provided pursuant to clauses (a), (b) or (c) of this Section 24; provided, however, that such Person may later revoke any such Opt-Out Notice in writing. Following receipt of an Opt-Out Notice (unless subsequently revoked), the Corporation shall not deliver such information pursuant to this Section 24.

Section 25. Disclosure of Information. The Recipient Parties acknowledge that they will receive information from or regarding the Corporation and its subsidiaries in the nature of trade secrets or that otherwise is confidential information or proprietary information (as further defined below, Confidential Information), the release of which would be damaging to the Corporation or Persons with which the Corporation conducts business. Each Recipient Party shall hold in strict confidence any Confidential Information that such recipient receives pursuant to this Agreement, and each Recipient Party shall not disclose such Confidential Information to any Person (including any Affiliates) other than another Recipient Party or a director or officer of the Corporation, or otherwise use such information for any purpose other than to evaluate, analyze, and keep apprised of the Corporations and its subsidiaries’ assets and their interest therein and for the internal use thereof by a Recipient Party or its Affiliates, except for disclosures (i) to comply with any laws (including applicable stock exchange or quotation system requirements), provided, that a Recipient Party must notify the Corporation promptly of any disclosure of Confidential Information which is required by law, and any such disclosure of Confidential Information shall be to the minimum extent required by law, (ii) to Affiliates, partners, members, stockholders, investors, directors, officers, employees, agents, attorneys, consultants, lenders, professional advisers or representatives of the Recipient Party or its Affiliates (provided, that such Recipient Party shall be

 

18


responsible for assuring such partners’, members’, stockholders’, investors’, directors’, officers’, employees’, agents’, attorneys’, consultants’, lenders’, professional advisers’ and representatives’ compliance with the terms hereof, except to the extent any such Person who is not a partner, member, stockholder, director, officer or employee has agreed in writing addressed to the Corporation to be bound by customary undertakings with respect to confidential and proprietary information similar to this Section 25), or to Persons to which that Recipient Party’s Shares are proposed to be transferred, but only if the recipients of such information have agreed to be bound by customary confidentiality undertakings similar to this Section 25, (iii) of information that a Recipient Party also has received from a source independent of the Corporation and that such Recipient Party reasonably believes such source obtained without breach of any obligation of confidentiality to the Corporation, (iv) of information obtained prior to the formation of the Corporation, provided, that this clause (iv) shall not relieve any Recipient Party or any of its Affiliates from any obligations it may have to any other Recipient Party or any of its Affiliates under any existing confidentiality agreement, (v) that have been or become independently developed by a Recipient Party or its Affiliates or on their behalf without using any of the Confidential Information, (vi) that are or become generally available to the public (other than as a result of a prohibited disclosure by such Recipient Party or its representatives), (vii) in connection with any proposed transfer of all or part of a Recipient Party’s Shares or the proposed sale of all or substantially all of a Recipient Party or its direct or indirect parent, to (A) advisers or representatives of the Recipient Party, (B) its direct or indirect parent or (C) Persons to which such interests may be transferred, but only if the recipients of such information have agreed to be bound by customary undertakings with respect to confidential and proprietary information similar to this Section 25 or (viii) to the extent the Corporation shall have consented to such disclosure in writing. The term “Confidential Information” shall include any information pertaining to the Corporation’s or any of its subsidiaries’ business which is not available to the public, whether written, oral, electronic, visual form or in any other media, including, without limitation, such information that is proprietary, confidential or concerning the Corporation’s (or any of its subsidiaries’) ownership and operation of their respective assets or related matters, including any actual or proposed operations or development project or strategies, other operations and business plans, actual or projected revenues and expenses, finances, contracts and books and records. Notwithstanding the foregoing, to the extent applicable, the Recipient Parties and their Affiliates may make disclosures to their respective direct and indirect limited partners and members such information (including Confidential Information) as is customarily provided to current or prospective limited partners in private equity funds sponsored or managed by Affiliates of Blackstone and ISQ. Each Recipient Party acknowledges that Confidential Information furnished to it pursuant to this Agreement may include material nonpublic information concerning the Corporation and its related parties or their respective securities and hereby confirms that it is familiar with the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

[Signature Page to Follow]

 

19


The Parties have signed this agreement as of the date first written above.

THE CORPORATION:
ALTUS MIDSTREAM COMPANY
By:   /s/ Ben C. Rodgers
Name:   Ben C. Rodgers
Title:   Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
STOCKHOLDERS:
APA CORPORATION
By:   /s/ Stephen J. Riney
Name:   Stephen J. Riney
Title:   Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
APACHE MIDSTREAM LLC
By:   /s/ Stephen J. Riney
Name:   Stephen J. Riney
Title:   Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
BCP RAPTOR AGGREGATOR, LP
By:   /s/ David Foley
Name:   David Foley
Title:   Senior Managing Director
BX PERMIAN PIPELINE AGGREGATOR LP
By:   /s/ David Foley
Name:   David Foley

Title:

 

Senior Managing Director

 

SIGNATURE PAGE TO AMENDED AND RESTATED

STOCKHOLDERS AGREEMENT


BUZZARD MIDSTREAM LLC
By:   /s/ Thomas Lefebvre
Name:   Thomas Lefebvre
Title:   Authorized Person
NEW BCP RAPTOR HOLDCO, LLC
By:   /s/ Jamie Welch
Name:   Jamie Welch
Title:   Chief Executive Officer, President and Chief Financial Officer
And solely for purposes of Section 2(a)(iv) and Section 2(a)(v):
BCP RAPTOR HOLDCO, LP
By:   /s/ Jamie Welch
Name:   Jamie Welch
Title:   Chief Executive Officer, President and Chief Financial Officer

 

SIGNATURE PAGE TO AMENDED AND RESTATED

STOCKHOLDERS AGREEMENT


Exhibit A

FORM OF JOINDER AGREEMENT

[DATE]

The undersigned hereby absolutely, unconditionally and irrevocably agrees to be bound by the terms and provisions of [Section 3 of]1 that certain Amended and Restated Stockholders Agreement, dated as of October [•], 2021, by and among Altus Midstream Company, a Delaware corporation, APA Corporation, a Delaware corporation, Apache Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, Buzzard Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and controlled affiliate of ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund II L.P., BCP Raptor Aggregator, LP, a Delaware limited partnership and controlled affiliate of Blackstone Capital Partners VII L.P. and Blackstone Energy Partners II L.P., BX Permian Pipeline Aggregator LP, a Delaware limited partnership and controlled affiliate of Blackstone Capital Partners VII L.P. and Blackstone Energy Partners II L.P., New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and solely for purposes of Section 2(a)(iv) and Section 2(a)(v) thereof, BCP Raptor Holdco, LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the “Stockholders Agreement”) [(and any related section of the Stockholders Agreement)], and to join in the Stockholders Agreement as a Party and a Stockholder (each as defined in the Stockholders Agreement) [for purposes of Section 3 of the Stockholders Agreement (and any related section of the Stockholders Agreement)] with the same force and effect as if the undersigned were originally a party thereto.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned has executed this Joinder Agreement as of [DATE].

 

 
Name:
Notice Information:
 
 
 

 

1 

Italicized language to be included if the Joinder Agreement is not being executed in connection with an assignment of the rights and obligations of Apache, Blackstone or I Squared pursuant to Section 11(b).

 

EXHIBIT A TO AMENDED AND RESTATED

STOCKHOLDERS AGREEMENT


Exhibit B

DRIP TERM SHEET

 

Mandatory DRIP:    Apache Midstream, ISQ, BX Aggregator, BX Permian and New Raptor agree that, with respect to Common Units in Altus Midstream LP and shares of Class A Common Stock held by such Person immediately following Closing, at least 20% of all distributions or dividends received shall be reinvested in shares of Class A Common Stock. This mandatory dividend reinvestment program shall apply (i) between Closing and the date dividends are declared for the quarter ending December 31, 2023 (the “End Date”) and (ii) to any shares of Class A Common Stock issued pursuant to the redemption or exchange of such Common Units until the End Date. The audit committee of the Board shall have the authority to increase the percentage of the mandatory dividend reinvestment to up to 100%. The audit committee shall issue resolutions compliant with Rule 16b-3(d)(1) under the Exchange Act for each participant.
Optional Drip:    All holders of shares of Class A Common Stock shall be entitled to reinvest all or part of their dividends from shares of Class A Common Stock on substantially the same terms as the Mandatory DRIP.
VWAP:    All shares of Class A Common Stock issued in connection with the Mandatory DRIP and Optional Drip shall be valued at a 3% discount to the volume weighted average price for the five trading days prior to the applicable record date.
Pro Rata:    The audit committee’s approval of any Mandatory DRIP reinvestment shall be pro rata such that each Person subject to the Mandatory DRIP reinvests the same percentage of each distribution/dividend for shares of Class A Common Stock.
No Prohibition on Transfers:    Subject to the terms of Section 3 of this Agreement, nothing in this Exhibit B shall restrict a Person from Transferring its Common Units or shares of Common Stock; provided that any Transfers to Affiliates shall remain subject to the terms of the Mandatory DRIP.

[Remainder of page intentionally blank.]

 

EXHIBIT B TO AMENDED AND RESTATED

STOCKHOLDERS AGREEMENT


Schedule 1

The Corporation shall pay to the holders of Class A Common Stock a dividend in the amount of $1.50 per share per quarter ($6.00 per share per year) during the period commencing on the Closing Date and ending on December 31, 2023.

 

SCHEDULE 1

Exhibit 4.2

SECOND AMENDED AND RESTATED

REGISTRATION RIGHTS AGREEMENT

THIS SECOND AMENDED AND RESTATED REGISTRATION RIGHTS AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”), dated as of February 22, 2022, is made and entered into by and among Altus Midstream Company, a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), Apache Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Apache Midstream”), Buzzard Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and controlled Affiliate of ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund II L.P. (“I Squared”), BCP Raptor Aggregator, LP, a Delaware limited partnership and controlled Affiliate of Blackstone Capital Partners VII L.P. and Blackstone Energy Partners II L.P. (“BX Aggregator”), BX Permian Pipeline Aggregator LP, a Delaware limited partnership and controlled Affiliate of Blackstone Capital Partners VII L.P. and Blackstone Energy Partners II L.P. (“BX Permian”), New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“New Raptor”), and the other Persons listed on Annex I attached hereto, to the extent such Persons hold Registrable Securities as of the date hereof (such other Persons, together with Apache Midstream, the “Existing Holders”).

RECITALS

WHEREAS, on November 9, 2018, the Company and the Existing Holders entered into that certain Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement (the “Existing Registration Rights Agreement”), pursuant to which the Company granted the Existing Holders certain registration rights with respect to certain securities of the Company;

WHEREAS, in connection with the transactions (the “Transactions”) contemplated by that certain Contribution Agreement dated as of October 21, 2021, by and among the Company, Altus Midstream LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“OpCo”), New Raptor and BCP Raptor Holdco, LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the “Contribution Agreement”), among other things, I Squared, BX Aggregator, BX Permian and New Raptor will each receive common units in OpCo (“Common Units”) and shares of Class C common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company (“Class C Common Stock”);

WHEREAS, in accordance with the Third Amended and Restated Limited Partnership Agreement of OpCo, dated as of the date hereof, as it may be amended, restated, supplemented and otherwise modified from time to time (the “OpCo LP Agreement”), Apache Midstream, I Squared, BX Aggregator and BX Permian will be entitled to cause OpCo to redeem or exchange all or a portion of their Common Units and Class C Common Stock for cash or shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company (“Class A Common Stock”) at the Company’s election;

WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 5.5 of the Existing Registration Rights Agreement, the provisions, covenants and conditions set forth therein may be amended or modified upon the written consent of the Company and the Majority-in-Interest of the Existing Holders at the time in question; and


WHEREAS, the Company and the Majority-in-Interest of the Existing Holders desire to amend and restate the Existing Registration Rights Agreement in order to provide the Holders (as defined below) certain registration rights with respect to certain securities of the Company, as set forth in this Agreement, and the Majority-in-Interest of the Existing Holders have executed and delivered this Agreement.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the representations, covenants and agreements contained herein, and certain other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto, intending to be legally bound, hereby agree as follows:

ARTICLE I

DEFINITIONS

1.1 Definitions. The terms defined in this Article I shall, for all purposes of this Agreement, have the respective meanings set forth below:

Adoption Agreement” shall have the meaning given in subsection 5.2.2.

Adverse Disclosure” shall mean any public disclosure of material non-public information, which disclosure, in the good faith judgment of the chief executive officer or principal financial officer of the Company, after consultation with counsel to the Company, (i) would be required to be made in any Registration Statement or Prospectus in order for the applicable Registration Statement or Prospectus not to contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements contained therein (in the case of any prospectus and any preliminary prospectus, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made) not misleading, (ii) would not be required to be made at such time if the Registration Statement were not being filed, and (iii) the Company has a bona fide business purpose for not making such information public.

Affiliate” means, with respect to any Person, any other Person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by or under common control with such Person, provided that no securityholder of the Company shall be deemed an Affiliate of any other securityholder solely by reason of any investment in the Company. For the purpose of this definition, the term “control” (including, with correlative meanings, the terms “controlling”, “controlled by” and “under common control with”), as used with respect to any Person, shall mean the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of such Person, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise. Notwithstanding the foregoing, solely for purposes of this Agreement, the Company, on the one hand, and the Holders, on the other hand, shall not be considered Affiliates. For purposes of this Agreement, (i) the Company shall not constitute an Affiliate of any other Party, (ii) no Party shall be deemed to be an Affiliate of another Party solely by reason of the execution and delivery of this Agreement or the Stockholders Agreement, and (iii) the Management Holders shall be deemed to not be Affiliates of the Blackstone Holders or I Squared Holders.

Agreement” shall have the meaning given in the Preamble.

Apache Holders” shall mean Apache Midstream, together with their respective Permitted Transferees.

 

2


Apache Midstream” shall have the meaning given in the Preamble.

Apache Notice Period” shall have the meaning given in Section 2.6.3.

Apache Notice Price” shall mean the closing price of the Class A Common Stock on the trading day immediately preceding the date on which the Apache Proposed Offering Notice is delivered to the I Squared Holders under Section 2.6.3.

Apache Proposed Offering” shall mean any sale of Registrable Securities in an Underwritten Offering pursuant to Section 2.2.2 or a Piggyback Registration that the Apache Holders desire to consummate during the I Squared Apache Priority Window.

Apache Proposed Offering Notice” shall have the meaning given in Section 2.6.3.

Apache Proposed Offering Window” shall have the meaning given in Section 2.6.4.

Apache Warrants” shall mean warrants to purchase shares of Class A Common Stock held by Apache Midstream.

Apache Priority Window” shall mean the period beginning on the Contribution Closing Date and ending on the date that is 90 days after the Contribution Closing Date. If, during the Apache Priority Window, the Company exercises its rights pursuant to Section 3.5 of this Agreement, the Apache Priority Window shall be extended by the number of days in any such Suspension Period or Blackout Period, as applicable.

Automatic Shelf Registration Statement” shall mean an “automatic shelf registration statement” as defined under Rule 405 promulgated by the Commission pursuant to the Securities Act.

Blackstone Holders” shall mean BX Aggregator and BX Permian, together with their respective Permitted Transferees.

Blackstone Notice Period” shall have the meaning given in Section 2.7.3.

Blackstone Notice Price” shall mean the closing price of the Class A Common Stock on the trading day immediately preceding the date on which the Blackstone Proposed Offering Notice is delivered to the I Squared Holders under Section 2.7.3.

Blackstone Proposed Offering” shall mean any sale of Registrable Securities in an Underwritten Offering pursuant to Section 2.2.2 or a Piggyback Registration that the Blackstone Holders desire to consummate during the I Squared Blackstone Priority Window.

Blackstone Proposed Offering Notice” shall have the meaning given in Section 2.7.3.

Blackstone Proposed Offering Window” shall have the meaning given in Section 2.7.4.

Blackout Period” shall have the meaning given in subsection 3.5.2.

Class A Common Stock” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto.

 

3


Class C Common Stock” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto.

Commission” shall mean the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Common Stock” shall mean the Class A Common Stock, the Class C Common Stock and any capital stock of the Company into which such Common Stock may hereafter be changed or for which such Common Stock may be exchanged, and shall also include any Common Stock of the Company of any class hereafter authorized.

Common Units” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto.

Company” shall have the meaning given in the Preamble.

Contribution Agreement” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto.

Contribution Closing Date” means the date hereof.

Demand Registration” shall have the meaning given in subsection 2.2.1.

Demanding Holder(s)” means, as applicable, the Holder(s) making a written demand for the Registration of Registrable Securities or making a written demand for an Underwritten Offering, in each case, pursuant to Section 2.2.

DRIP” shall mean the mandatory dividend reinvestment plan that will be entered into following the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Contribution Agreement pursuant to Section 23 of the Stockholders Agreement.

Exchange Act” shall mean the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as it may be amended from time to time.

Existing Holders” shall have the meaning given in the Preamble, together with their Permitted Transferees.

Existing Registration Rights Agreement” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto.

Existing Registration Statement” shall mean the Registration Statement on Form S-3 (Registration No. 333-228467) covering Registrable Securities owned by the Existing Holders.

Form S-1” shall have the meaning given in Section 2.1.

Form S-3” shall have the meaning given in Section 2.1.

Holder” and “Holders” means the Existing Holders, the Apache Holders, the I Squared Holders, the Blackstone Holders and the Management Holders.

I Squared” shall have the meaning given in the Preamble.

I Squared Apache Priority Offering” shall have the meaning given in Section 2.6.3.

 

4


I Squared Blackstone Priority Offering” shall have the meaning given in Section 2.7.3.

I Squared Closing Date Shares” shall mean 13,744,582 shares of Common Stock beneficially owned by the I Squared Holders as of the Contribution Closing Date.

I Squared Holders” shall mean I Squared, together with its Permitted Transferees.

I Squared Apache Priority Window” shall mean the period beginning on the expiration of the Lock-up Period and ending on the earlier of (i) the date that is three (3) months following the expiration of the Lock-up Period; provided, that such period shall be extended by the number of days in any Suspension Period or Blackout Period if the Company exercises its rights pursuant to Section 3.5 of this Agreement during the I Squared Apache Priority Window and (ii) the time at which the I Squared Holders cease to Beneficially Own twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the I Squared Closing Date Shares (such 25% of the I Squared Closing Date Shares being referred to herein as the “I Squared Priority Shares”) such that the I Squared Holders Beneficially Own seventy-five percent (75%) or less of the I Squared Closing Date Shares (such remaining 75% of the I Squared Closing Date Shares being referred to herein as the “I Squared Non-Priority Shares”).

I Squared Blackstone Priority Window” shall mean the period beginning on the expiration of the Lock-up Period and ending on the earlier of (i) the date that is six (6) months following the expiration of the Lock-up Period; provided, that such period shall be extended by the number of days in any Suspension Period or Blackout Period if the Company exercises its rights pursuant to Section 3.5 of this Agreement during the I Squared Blackstone Priority Window, and (ii) the time at which the I Squared Holders cease to Beneficially Own the portion of the I Squared Closing Date Shares constituting I Squared Priority Shares.

Individual Holders” shall mean the undersigned individuals listed under Holders on the signature page hereto.

IPO” shall mean the Company’s initial public offering.

Kayne Anderson” shall mean Kayne Anderson Sponsor, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.

Lock-up Period” shall mean, with respect to the Principal Holders, twelve (12) months following the Contribution Closing Date.

Majority-in-Interest” shall mean, with respect to the Existing Holders, Principal Holders, Demanding Holders, Apache Holders, Blackstone Holders, I Squared Holders, Management Holders or all Holders, the holders of more than fifty percent (50%) of the Registrable Securities held by such group of Holders.

Management Holders” shall mean New Raptor, together with its Permitted Transferees.

Maximum Number of Securities” shall have the meaning given in subsection 2.2.3.

Minimum Amount” shall have the meaning given in subsection 2.2.1(a).

 

5


Misstatement” shall mean an untrue statement of a material fact or an omission to state a material fact required to be stated in a Registration Statement or Prospectus, or necessary to make the statements in a Registration Statement or Prospectus in the light of the circumstances under which they were made not misleading.

OpCo” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto.

OpCo LP Agreement” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto.

Overnight Underwritten Offering” shall mean an Underwritten Offering that is expected to be launched after the close of trading on one trading day and priced before the open of trading on the next succeeding trading day.

Permitted Apache Offering” shall mean a registered offering by the Apache Holders of up to four (4) million shares of Class A Common Stock in the aggregate (less any shares of Class A Common Stock sold by APA Corporation or Apache Midstream between the date of the Contribution Agreement and the Closing Date) in one or more offerings during the Apache Priority Window; provided, that (i) the Apache Holders agree to use at least $100 million of the aggregate proceeds from such offerings for well drilling and completion activity at the Alpine High resource play within twenty-four (24) months of the closing of the earliest of such offerings; provided, that the Apache Holders shall be credited for any reasonably documented investment by the Apache Holders or their Affiliates (other than the Company and its Subsidiaries) in well drilling and completion activity at the Alpine High resource play incurred after October 21, 2021, which credit shall reduce the foregoing $100 million obligation dollar-for-dollar and (ii) with respect to each such offering that is not an underwritten offering, the Apache Holders shall use commercially reasonable efforts to sell such shares of Class A Common Stock to no fewer than eight (8) unaffiliated Persons.

Permitted Transferees” shall mean (1) with respect to any Holder other than the Principal Holders, an Affiliate to whom Registrable Securities are Transferred by such Holder, and (2) with respect to the Principal Holders, any Person to whom Registrable Securities are Transferred by such Principal Holder; provided, in each case, that (i) such Transfer does not violate any agreements between such Holder and the Company or any of the Company’s subsidiaries, (ii) such Transfer is not made in a registered offering or pursuant to Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act (or any successor rule promulgated thereafter by the Commission), and (iii) such transferee shall only be a Permitted Transferee if and to the extent the transferor designates the transferee as a Permitted Transferee entitled to rights hereunder pursuant to subsection 5.2.2, including the execution of the Adoption Agreement to the Company’s sole satisfaction.

Person” shall mean an individual, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, association, trust or other entity or organization, including a government or political subdivision or an agency or instrumentality thereof.

Piggyback Notice” shall mean a Piggyback Registration Notice and/or an Underwritten Offering Piggyback Notice.

Piggyback Registration” shall have the meaning given in subsection 2.3.1(a).

 

6


Piggyback Registration Notice” shall have the meaning given in subsection 2.3.1(a).

Preferred Registration Rights Agreement” shall mean that certain Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of June 12, 2019, by and among the Company the other parties thereto.

Principal Holders” shall mean each of the Apache Holders, I Squared Holders, Blackstone Holders and Management Holders.

Private Placement Warrants” shall mean the Company’s warrants purchased by Kayne Anderson in a private placement transaction occurring simultaneously with the closing of the IPO pursuant to that certain Sponsor Warrants Purchase Agreement, dated as of January 4, 2017, by and between the Company and Kayne Anderson, that were subsequently transferred to the Individual Holders.

Prospectus” shall mean the prospectus included in any Registration Statement, as supplemented by any and all prospectus supplements and as amended by any and all post-effective amendments and including all material incorporated by reference in such prospectus.

Registrable Security” shall mean (a) the Private Placement Warrants (including any shares of Class A Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise of any Private Placement Warrants), (b) any outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock or any other equity security (including the shares of Class A Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise of any other equity security) of the Company owned by any Holder as of the date of this Agreement, (c) the shares of Class A Common Stock issued or issuable upon the redemption or exchange of any Common Units and Class C Common Stock owned by any Holder, in each case in accordance with the terms of the OpCo LP Agreement, (d) any shares of Class A Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise of any Apache Warrants, (e) any other equity security of the Company issued or issuable with respect to any Registrable Security by way of a stock dividend or stock split or in connection with a combination of shares, recapitalization, merger, consolidation or reorganization, (f) the shares of Common Stock, if any, issued to Apache Midstream in connect with the Earn-Out Consideration (as defined in the Contribution Agreement dated August 8, 2018 by and among the Company, OpCo, Altus Midstream and the other parties thereto) and (g) any shares of Class A Common Stock issued to any Holder in connection with the DRIP; provided, however, that, as to any particular Registrable Security, such securities shall cease to be Registrable Securities when: (A) a Registration Statement with respect to the sale of such securities shall have become effective under the Securities Act and such securities shall have been Transferred in accordance with such Registration Statement; (B) such securities shall have been otherwise Transferred, new certificates for such securities not bearing a legend restricting further Transfer shall have been delivered by the Company and subsequent public distribution of such securities shall not require registration under the Securities Act; (C) such securities shall have ceased to be outstanding; (D) the later of (x) the Holder of such securities owns less than five percent (5%) of the then-outstanding Common Stock and (y) such securities may be sold without registration pursuant to Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act (or any successor rule promulgated thereafter by the Commission) (but with no volume or other restrictions or limitations); or (E) such securities have been sold to, or through, a broker, dealer or Underwriter in a public distribution or other public securities transaction.

 

7


Registration” shall mean a registration effected by preparing and filing a Registration Statement or similar document in compliance with the requirements of the Securities Act, and the applicable rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, and such Registration Statement becoming effective.

Registration Expenses” shall mean all expenses of a Registration, including, without limitation, the following:

(A) all registration and filing fees (including fees with respect to filings required to be made with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.) and any securities exchange on which the Common Stock is then listed;

(B) fees and expenses of compliance with securities or blue sky laws (including reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with blue sky qualifications of Registrable Securities);

(C) printing, messenger, telephone and delivery expenses;

(D) reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Company;

(E) reasonable fees and disbursements of all independent registered public accountants of the Company incurred specifically in connection with such Registration (including the expenses of any special audit and “comfort letters” required by or incident to such performance); and

(F) reasonable fees and expenses of one (1) legal counsel selected by the Majority-in-Interest of the Demanding Holders initiating a Demand Registration to be registered for offer and sale in the applicable Registration.

Registration Statement” shall mean any registration statement that covers the Registrable Securities pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement, including the Prospectus included in such registration statement, amendments (including post-effective amendments) and supplements to such registration statement, and all exhibits to and all material incorporated by reference in such registration statement.

Requesting Holder” shall mean each Holder that requests to include all or a portion of such Holder’s Registrable Securities in (a) an Underwritten Offering pursuant to subsection 2.2.2 or (b) a Piggyback Registration or Underwritten Piggyback Offering pursuant to Section 2.3.

Securities Act” shall mean the Securities Act of 1933, as amended from time to time.

Shelf Registration Statement” shall mean a Registration Statement of the Company filed with the Commission on Form S-3, or Form S-1 if Form S-3 is not available for use by the Company at such time (or any successor form or other appropriate form under the Securities Act), for an offering to be made on a continuous or delayed basis pursuant to Rule 415 (or any similar rule that may be adopted by the Commission) covering the Registrable Securities, as applicable.

Sponsor” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto.

 

8


Stockholders Agreement” means the Amended and Restated Stockholders Agreement, dated as of the date of this Agreement, by and among the Corporation and each of the Principal Holders as of the date of this Agreement.

Suspension Period” shall have the meaning given in subsection 3.5.1.

Trading Market” shall mean the principal national securities exchange on which the Registrable Securities are listed.

Transactions” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto.

Transfer” means, with respect to any Registrable Securities, (i) when used as a verb, to sell, assign, dispose of, exchange, pledge, encumber, hypothecate or otherwise transfer such Registrable Securities or any participation or interest therein, whether directly or indirectly, or agree or commit to do any of the foregoing and (ii) when used as a noun, a direct or indirect sale, assignment, disposition, exchange, pledge, encumbrance, hypothecation, or other transfer of such Registrable Securities or any participation or interest therein or any agreement or commitment to do any of the foregoing.

Underwriter” shall mean a securities dealer who purchases any Registrable Securities as principal in an Underwritten Offering and not as part of such dealer’s market-making activities.

Underwritten Offering” shall mean an offering in which securities of the Company are sold to an Underwriter in a firm commitment underwriting for distribution to the public.

Underwritten Offering Piggyback Notice” shall have the meaning given in subsection 2.3.1(b).

Underwritten Offering Piggyback Request” shall have the meaning given in subsection 2.3.1(b).

VWAP” shall mean, as of a specified date and in respect of Registrable Securities, the volume weighted average price for such security on the Trading Market for the specified number of trading days immediately preceding, but excluding, such date.

ARTICLE II

REGISTRATIONS

2.1 Initial Registration. The Company shall, within ninety (90) days of the Contribution Closing Date, file a Registration Statement under the Securities Act to permit the public resale of all the Registrable Securities held by the Principal Holders, other than any Registrable Securities that are registered for sale on a Registration Statement filed prior to the date hereof and effective as of the Contribution Closing Date, from time to time as permitted by Rule 415 under the Securities Act (or any successor or similar provision adopted by the Commission then in effect) on the terms and conditions specified in this Section 2.1 and shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause such Registration Statement to be declared effective as soon as practicable after the filing thereof, but in any event no later than the earlier of (i) ninety (90) days (or one hundred and twenty (120) days if the Commission notifies the Company that it will “review” the

 

9


Registration Statement) after the Contribution Closing Date and (ii) the tenth (10th) business day after the date the Company is notified (orally or in writing, whichever is earlier) by the Commission that such Registration Statement will not be “reviewed” or will not be subject to further review. The Registration Statement filed with the Commission pursuant to this Section 2.1 shall be on Form S-3 or similar short form registration statement that may be available at such time (“Form S-3”), or, if Form S-3 is not then available to the Company, on Form S-1 (“Form S-1”) or on such other form of registration statement as is then available to effect a Registration for resale of the Registrable Securities; provided, however, that if the Company has filed the Registration Statement on Form S-1 and subsequently becomes eligible to use Form S-3 or any equivalent or successor form, the Company shall (i) file a post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement converting such Registration Statement on Form S-1 to a Registration Statement on Form S-3 or any equivalent or successor form or (ii) withdraw the Registration Statement on Form S-1 and file a subsequent Registration Statement on Form S-3 or any equivalent or successor form, and shall contain a Prospectus in such form as to permit any Principal Holder to sell such Registrable Securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act (or any successor or similar provision adopted by the Commission then in effect) at any time beginning on the effective date for such Registration Statement. A Registration Statement filed pursuant to this Section 2.1 shall provide for the resale pursuant to any method or combination of methods legally available to, and requested by, the Principal Holders. The Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to cause a Registration Statement filed pursuant to this Section 2.1 and the Existing Registration Statement to remain effective, and to be supplemented and amended to the extent necessary to ensure that such Registration Statement is available or, if not available, that another registration statement is available, for the resale of all the Registrable Securities held by the Holders until all such Registrable Securities have ceased to be Registrable Securities or the earlier termination of this Agreement pursuant to Section 5.7. As soon as practicable following the effective date of a Registration Statement filed pursuant to this Section 2.1, but in any event within three (3) business days of such date, the Company shall notify the Holders of the effectiveness of such Registration Statement. When effective, a Registration Statement filed pursuant to this Section 2.1 (including the documents incorporated therein by reference) will comply as to form in all material respects with all applicable requirements of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act and will not contain a Misstatement.

2.2 Demand Registration.

2.2.1 Request for Registration.

(a) Subject to the provisions of subsection 2.2.3, Section 2.4, Section 2.5, Section 2.6 and Section 2.7 hereof, any Holder may make a written demand for Registration of all or part of their Registrable Securities (such written demand, a “Demand Registration”), which shall describe the amount and type of securities to be included in such Registration and the intended method(s) of distribution thereof, which may include sales on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to a Shelf Registration Statement, as permitted by Rule 415 (or any successor or similar provision adopted by the Commission then in effect) under the Securities Act. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, in no event shall the Company be required to effectuate a Registration unless the dollar amount of the Registrable Securities of the Demanding Holder(s) and their respective Affiliates to be included therein is reasonably likely to result in gross sale proceeds of at least $75 million based on the five (5)-day VWAP as of the date of the Demand Registration (the “Minimum Amount”).

 

10


(b) Within forty-five (45) days of receipt of the Demand Registration, the Company shall, subject to the limitations of this subsection 2.2.1, file a Registration Statement with respect to all Registrable Securities requested by the Demanding Holder(s) and Requesting Holder(s) (if any) pursuant to such Demand Registration. The Company shall use all commercially reasonable efforts to cause such Registration Statement to become effective as soon as reasonably practicable after the filing thereof under the Securities Act. The Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to cause a Registration Statement filed pursuant to this subsection 2.2.1 to remain effective, and to be supplemented and amended to the extent necessary to ensure that such Registration Statement is available or, if not available, that another registration statement is available, for the resale of all the Registrable Securities held by the Demanding Holder(s) and Requesting Holders (if any) until all such Registrable Securities have ceased to be Registrable Securities or the earlier termination of this Agreement pursuant to Section 5.7.

(c) The Registration Statement filed with the Commission pursuant to this subsection 2.2.1 shall be on Form S-3, or, if Form S-3 is not then available to the Company, on Form S-1 or on such other form of registration statement as is then available to effect a Registration for resale of the Registrable Securities of the Demanding Holder(s) and Requesting Holders (if any); provided, however, that if the Company has filed the Registration Statement on Form S-1 and subsequently becomes eligible to use Form S-3 or any equivalent or successor form, the Company shall (i) file a post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement converting such Registration Statement on Form S-1 to a Registration Statement on Form S-3 or any equivalent or successor form or (ii) withdraw the Registration Statement on Form S-1 and file a subsequent Registration Statement on Form S-3 or any equivalent or successor form, and shall contain a Prospectus in such form as to permit the Demanding Holder(s) and the Requesting Holders (if any) to sell such Registrable Securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act (or any successor or similar provision adopted by the Commission then in effect) at any time beginning on the effective date for such Registration Statement. A Registration Statement filed pursuant to this subsection 2.2.1 shall provide for the resale pursuant to any method or combination of methods legally available to, and requested by, the Demanding Holder(s) and Requesting Holders (if any).

(d) Subject to the other limitations contained in this Agreement, the Company is not obligated hereunder to effect (i) more than a total of four (4) Registrations pursuant to Demand Registrations for the same Demanding Holder(s) and their respective Affiliates within any twelve (12)-month period or (ii) a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration if a Registration Statement covering all of the Registrable Securities held by the Demanding Holder(s) shall have become effective after the Contribution Closing Date and remains effective under the Securities Act and is sufficient to permit offers and sales of the number and type of Registrable Securities on the terms and conditions specified in the Demand Registration in accordance with the intended timing and method or methods of distribution thereof specified in the Demand Registration.

 

11


2.2.2 Underwritten Offering. Any Holder then able to effect a Demand Registration pursuant to subsection 2.2.1 shall have the option and right, exercisable by delivering written notice to the Company of its intention to distribute Registrable Securities by means of an Underwritten Offering, to require the Company, subject to the provisions of subsection 2.2.1, subsection 2.2.3, Section 2.4 and Section 2.5 hereof, to effectuate a distribution of any or all of its Registrable Securities by means of an Underwritten Offering pursuant to a new Demand Registration. Any Holder shall have the option and right, exercisable by delivering written notice to the Company of its intention to distribute Registrable Securities by means of an Underwritten Offering, to require the Company, subject to the provisions of subsection 2.2.3, Section 2.4 and Section 2.5 hereof, to effectuate a distribution of any or all of its Registrable Securities by means of an Underwritten Offering pursuant to an existing effective Registration Statement covering such Registrable Securities. All such Demanding Holders proposing to distribute their Registrable Securities through an Underwritten Offering under this subsection 2.2.2 shall enter into an underwriting agreement in customary form with the Underwriter(s) selected for such Underwritten Offering by the Majority-in-Interest of the Demanding Holders initiating the Underwritten Offering, which Underwriter(s) must be reasonably satisfactory to the Company. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company is not obligated to effect (i) an Underwritten Offering pursuant to this subsection 2.2.2, unless the dollar amount of the Registrable Securities of the Demanding Holder(s) and their respective Affiliates to be included therein is reasonably likely to result in gross sale proceeds of at least the Minimum Amount, (ii) an Underwritten Offering pursuant to this subsection 2.2.2, other than a Permitted Apache Offering, within ninety (90) days after the closing of another Underwritten Offering, or (iii) more than four (4) Underwritten Offerings for the same Demanding Holder(s) and their respective Affiliates within any twelve (12)-month period.

2.2.3 Reduction of Underwritten Offering. If the managing Underwriter or Underwriters in an Underwritten Offering pursuant to subsection 2.2.2, in good faith, advises the Company, the Demanding Holder(s) and the Requesting Holders (if any) in writing that the dollar amount or number of Registrable Securities that the Demanding Holder(s) and the Requesting Holders (if any) desire to sell, taken together with all other Class A Common Stock or other equity securities that the Company desires to sell, and the Class A Common Stock, if any, as to which a Registration has been requested pursuant to separate written contractual piggyback registration rights held by any other stockholders who desire to sell, exceeds the maximum dollar amount or maximum number of equity securities that can be sold in such Underwritten Offering without adversely affecting the proposed offering price, the timing, the distribution method or the probability of success of such offering (such maximum dollar amount or maximum number of such securities, as applicable, the “Maximum Number of Securities”), then the Company shall include in such Underwritten Offering, as follows: (i) first, the Registrable Securities of the Demanding Holder(s) and Requesting Holders (if any) (if such amount exceeds the Maximum Number of Securities, pro rata based on the respective number of Registrable Securities that each Demanding Holder and Requesting Holder (including any Affiliates of such Holders) owns at such time) that can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; provided, that, for the avoidance of doubt, if the Demanding Holder is an Apache Holder in connection with a Permitted Apache Offering, the Apache Holders shall not be subject to reduction pursuant to this subsection 2.2.3; (ii) second, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clause (i), the Class A Common Stock or other equity securities that the Company desires to sell, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; and (iii) third, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clauses (i) and (ii), the Class A Common Stock or other equity securities of other Persons that the Company is obligated to register in a Registration pursuant to separate written contractual arrangements with such Persons and that can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities.

 

12


2.2.4 Demand Registration Withdrawal. A Demanding Holder or a Requesting Holder shall have the right to withdraw all or any portion of its Registrable Securities included in a Demand Registration for any or no reason whatsoever upon written notification to the Company of its intention to so withdraw at any time prior to the effectiveness of the applicable Registration Statement; provided, however, that upon withdrawal by (i) any Demanding Holder of an amount of its Registrable Securities from the Demand Registration such that the remaining amount of Registrable Securities of the Demanding Holder(s) and their respective Affiliates to be included in the Demand Registration is reasonably likely to result in gross sale proceeds below the Minimum Amount or (ii) the Majority-in-Interest of the Demanding Holders initiating a Demand Registration, the Company shall (with respect to clause (ii)), and shall have the right, but not the obligation (with respect to clause (i)), to cease all efforts to secure effectiveness of the applicable Registration. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, the Company shall be responsible for the Registration Expenses incurred in connection with a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration prior to its withdrawal under this subsection 2.2.4.

2.3 Piggyback Registration.

2.3.1 Piggyback Rights.

(a) If at any time the Company proposes to file a Registration Statement under the Securities Act with respect to an offering of equity securities, or securities or other obligations exercisable or exchangeable for, or convertible into equity securities, for its own account or for the account of stockholders of the Company (or by the Company and by the stockholders of the Company including, without limitation, pursuant to subsection 2.2.1), other than a Registration Statement (i) filed pursuant to Section 2.1 hereof, (ii) with respect to the Principal Holders, filed in connection with a Permitted Apache Offering (which shall be deemed to include the Existing Registration Statement), (iii) filed in connection with any employee stock option or other benefit plan, (iv) for an exchange offer or offering of securities solely to the Company’s existing stockholders, (v) for an offering of debt that is convertible into equity securities of the Company, (vi) for a dividend reinvestment plan, or (vii) on Form S-4, then the Company shall within ten (10) days (or if the Registration Statement will be a Shelf Registration Statement, within five (5) days) of the anticipated filing date of such Registration Statement give written notice of such proposed filing to all of the Holders of Registrable Securities (the “Piggyback Registration Notice”), which notice shall (A) describe the amount and type of securities to be included in such Registration and the intended method(s) of distribution and (B) offer to all of the Holders of Registrable Securities the opportunity to register the sale of such number of Registrable Securities as such Holders may request in writing within five (5) days after receipt of such written notice (such Registration a “Piggyback Registration”). The Company shall, in good faith, cause such Registrable Securities to be included in such Piggyback Registration and to permit the sale or other disposition of such Registrable Securities in accordance with the intended method(s) of distribution thereof.

 

13


(b) If at any time the Company proposes to conduct an Underwritten Offering (including an Underwritten Offering pursuant to a Demand Registration), for its own account or for the account of stockholders of the Company (or by the Company and by the stockholders of the Company) other than, with respect to the Principal Holders only, a Permitted Apache Offering, then the Company shall promptly notify all Holders of such proposal reasonably in advance (and in any event at least two (2) business days before in connection with a “bought deal” or Overnight Underwritten Offering) of the commencement of the offering, which notice shall set forth the principal terms and conditions of the issuance, including the proposed offering price (or range of offering prices), the anticipated filing date of the related registration statement (if applicable) and the number of shares of Class A Common Stock that are proposed to be registered (the “Underwritten Offering Piggyback Notice”). Receipt of any Underwritten Offering Piggyback Notice required to be provided in this subsection 2.3.1(b) to Holders shall be kept confidential by the Holder until such proposed Underwritten Offering is (i) publicly announced or (ii) such Holder receives notice that such proposed Underwritten Offering has been abandoned, which such notice shall be provided promptly by the Company to each Holder. The Underwritten Offering Piggyback Notice shall offer Holders the opportunity to include in such Underwritten Offering (and any related registration, if applicable) the number of Registrable Securities as they may request in writing (an “Underwritten Piggyback Offering”); provided, however, that in the event that the Company proposes to effectuate the subject Underwritten Offering pursuant to an effective Shelf Registration Statement of the Company other than an Automatic Shelf Registration Statement, only Registrable Securities of Holders which are subject to an effective Shelf Registration Statement may be included in such Underwritten Piggyback Offering, unless the Company is then able to file an Automatic Shelf Registration Statement and in the reasonable judgment of the Company, the filing of the same including Registrable Securities of Holders that are not otherwise included in an effective Shelf Registration Statement would not have a material adverse effect on the price, timing or distribution of the Class A Common Stock in such Underwritten Piggyback Offering. The Company shall use commercially reasonable efforts to include in each such Underwritten Piggyback Offering such Registrable Securities for which the Company has received written requests for inclusion therein (“Underwritten Offering Piggyback Request”) within three (3) business days after sending the Underwritten Offering Piggyback Notice (or one (1) business day in connection with a “bought deal” or Overnight Underwritten Offering). All Holders requesting to include their Registrable Securities in an Underwritten Piggyback Offering under this subsection 2.3.1(b) shall enter into an underwriting agreement in customary form with the Underwriter(s) selected for such Underwritten Offering by the Company.

2.3.2 Reduction of Underwritten Piggyback Offering. If the managing Underwriter or Underwriters in an Underwritten Piggyback Offering, in good faith, advises the Company and the Holders of Registrable Securities participating in the Underwritten Piggyback Offering in writing that the dollar amount or number of the Class A Common Stock that the Company desires to sell, taken together with (i) the Class A Common Stock, if any, as to which Registration has been demanded pursuant to separate written contractual arrangements with Persons other than the Holders of Registrable Securities hereunder, (ii) the Registrable Securities as to which registration has been requested pursuant to Section 2.2.2 hereof, and (iii) the Class A Common Stock, if any, as to which Registration has been requested pursuant to separate written contractual piggyback registration rights of other stockholders of the Company, exceeds the Maximum Number of Securities, then:

 

14


(a) If the Underwritten Piggyback Offering is undertaken for the Company’s account, the Company shall include in any such Underwritten Piggyback Offering (A) first, the Common Stock or other equity securities that the Company desires to sell, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; (B) second, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clause (A), the Registrable Securities of Holders exercising their rights to register their Registrable Securities pursuant to subsection 2.3.1 hereof (pro rata based on the respective number of Registrable Securities that each Holder owns at such time (including any Affiliates of such Holder)), which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; and (C) third, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clauses (A) and (B), the Class A Common Stock, if any, as to which Registration has been requested pursuant to written contractual piggyback registration rights of other stockholders of the Company, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities;

(b) If the Underwritten Piggyback Offering is pursuant to a request by Persons other than the Holders of Registrable Securities, then the Company shall include in any such Underwritten Piggyback Offering (A) first, the Class A Common Stock or other equity securities, if any, of such requesting Persons, other than the Holders of Registrable Securities, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; (B) second, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clause (A), the Registrable Securities of Holders exercising their rights to register their Registrable Securities pursuant to subsection 2.3.1 (pro rata based on the number of Registrable Securities that each Holder owns at such time (including any Affiliates of such Holder)), which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; (C) third, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clauses (A) and (B), the Class A Common Stock or other equity securities that the Company desires to sell, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; and (D) fourth, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clauses (A), (B) and (C), the Class A Common Stock or other equity securities for the account of other Persons that the Company is obligated to register pursuant to separate written contractual arrangements with such Persons, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities.

2.3.3 Piggyback Registration Withdrawal. Any Holder of Registrable Securities shall have the right to withdraw all or any portion of its Registrable Securities included in a Piggyback Registration or an Underwritten Piggyback Offering, as applicable, for any or no reason whatsoever upon written notification to the Company and the Underwriter or Underwriters (if any) of his, her or its intention to withdraw such Registrable Securities from such Piggyback Registration prior to (x) in the case of a Piggyback Registration, the effectiveness of the applicable Registration Statement or (y) in the case of any Underwritten Piggyback Offering, prior to the pricing of such Underwritten Piggyback Offering. The Company (whether on its own good faith determination or as the result of a request for withdrawal by Persons pursuant to separate written contractual obligations) may withdraw a Registration Statement filed with the Commission in connection with a Piggyback Registration at any time prior to the effectiveness of such Registration Statement. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, the Company shall be responsible for the Registration Expenses incurred in connection with the Piggyback Registration prior to its withdrawal under this subsection 2.3.3.

 

15


2.3.4 Opt-Out Notice. Any Holder of Registrable Securities may deliver written notice (an “Opt-Out Notice”) to the Company requesting that such Holder of Registrable Securities not receive from the Company any Piggyback Notice; provided, however, that such Holder of Registrable Securities may later revoke any such Opt-Out Notice in writing. Following receipt of an Opt-Out Notice from a Holder of Registrable Securities (unless subsequently revoked), the Company shall not deliver any notice to such Holder of Registrable Securities pursuant to this Section 2.3.

2.4 Restrictions on Registration Rights. During the period that is forty-five (45) days before the Company’s good faith estimate of the date of an Underwritten Offering (including an Underwritten Offering pursuant to a Demand Registration), for the Company’s own account, the Company shall have the right to defer for up to forty-five (45) days any Registration pursuant to Section 2.2, other than a Permitted Apache Offering during the Apache Priority Window; provided that the Company is actively employing in good faith commercially reasonable efforts to cause such Company-initiated Registration to become effective and may only exercise this right once in any 12-month period.

2.5 Lock-up Period. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement and (i) except for a Permitted Apache Offering or as required pursuant to Section 2.1 of this Agreement and (ii) subject to Section 2.6 and Section 2.7 of this Agreement, no Registration shall be effected (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any Underwritten Offering Piggyback Request) or permitted and no Registration Statement shall become effective, with respect to any Registrable Securities held by any Holder, until after the expiration of the Lock-up Period; provided, however, the Apache Holders may effect a Permitted Apache Offering during the Apache Priority Window.

2.6 I Squared Apache Priority Rights.

2.6.1 The Apache Holders may not consummate any sale of Registrable Securities in an Underwritten Offering pursuant to Section 2.2.2 or a Piggyback Registration during the I Squared Apache Priority Window except as set forth in this Section 2.6.

2.6.2 The Apache Holders may pursue one (1) Apache Proposed Offering during the I Squared Apache Priority Window so long as such Apache Proposed Offering complies with the terms and conditions set forth in this Section 2.6.

2.6.3 If the Apache Holders desire to make or consummate any Apache Proposed Offering during the I Squared Apache Priority Window, Apache Midstream shall provide I Squared with fifteen (15) days’ advance written notice of such Apache Proposed Offering (such notice, the “Apache Proposed Offering Notice” and such fifteen (15)-day period, the “Apache Notice Period”). At any time during the Apache Notice Period, I Squared may elect to consummate a sale of I Squared Priority Shares in an Underwritten Offering pursuant to Section 2.2.2 (an “I Squared Apache Priority Offering”) by providing written notice to Apache Midstream, in which case the Apache Holders shall not pursue the Apache Proposed Offering; provided, that (i) I Squared must initiate such I Squared Apache Priority Offering within fifteen (15) days of making such election and (ii) the Apache Holders and the Blackstone Holders shall be permitted to participate (in equal proportions and with allocations among the Apache Holders designated by Apache Midstream and with allocations among the Blackstone Holders designated by BX Aggregator) alongside the I Squared Holders in such I Squared Apache Priority Offering

 

16


only to the extent that it is determined that there is demand in excess of the I Squared Priority Shares that the I Squared Holders propose to sell in such I Squared Apache Priority Offering (which determination shall be made independently and in good faith by the placement agent, sales agent or Underwriter, as applicable, for such I Squared Apache Priority Offering). In the event that the I Squared Holders consummate an I Squared Apache Priority Offering in accordance with the immediately preceding sentence, the Apache Holders will be deemed to have not pursued an Apache Proposed Offering for purposes of Section 2.6.2.

2.6.4 In the event that either (i) I Squared notifies Apache Midstream in writing during the Apache Notice Period that the I Squared Holders do not intend to consummate an I Squared Apache Priority Offering or (ii) the I Squared Holders do not otherwise pursue an I Squared Apache Priority Offering during the Apache Notice Period, then within fifteen (15) days following the earlier of the receipt by Apache Midstream of such notification in writing and the expiration of the Apache Notice Period (such fifteen (15)-day period, the “Apache Proposed Offering Window”), the Apache Holders may execute a definitive agreement in connection with such Apache Proposed Offering subject to the other terms and provisions of this Agreement but without further limitation under this Section 2.6. In the event that (i) the Apache Holders elect not to proceed with the Apache Proposed Offering in accordance with the immediately preceding sentence and the closing price of the Class A Common Stock on the date of the expiration of the Apache Proposed Offering Window (or, if such date is not a trading day, the trading day immediately preceding the date of such expiration) is below the Apache Notice Price or (ii) the Company prevents the Apache Holders from consummating the Apache Proposed Offering by exercising its rights pursuant to Section 3.5 of this Agreement to initiate a Suspension Period or Blackout Period, then, in each case, the Apache Holders will be deemed to have not pursued an Apache Proposed Offering for purposes of Section 2.6.2.

2.7 I Squared Blackstone Priority Rights.

2.7.1 The Blackstone Holders may not consummate any sale of Registrable Securities in an Underwritten Offering pursuant to Section 2.2.2 or a Piggyback Registration during the I Squared Blackstone Priority Window except as set forth in this Section 2.7.

2.7.2 The Blackstone Holders may pursue one (1) Blackstone Proposed Offering during the I Squared Blackstone Priority Window so long as such Blackstone Proposed Offering complies with the terms and conditions set forth in this Section 2.7.

2.7.3 If the Blackstone Holders desire to make or consummate any Blackstone Proposed Offering during the I Squared Blackstone Priority Window, BX Aggregator shall provide I Squared with fifteen (15) days’ advance written notice of such Blackstone Proposed Offering (such notice, the “Blackstone Proposed Offering Notice” and such fifteen (15)-day period, the “Blackstone Notice Period”). At any time during the Blackstone Notice Period, I Squared may elect to consummate a sale of I Squared Priority Shares in an Underwritten Offering pursuant to Section 2.2.2 (an “I Squared Blackstone Priority Offering”) by providing written notice to BX Aggregator, in which case the Blackstone Holders shall not pursue the Blackstone Proposed Offering; provided, that (i) I Squared must initiate such I Squared Blackstone Priority Offering within fifteen (15) days of making such election and (ii) the Apache Holders and the Blackstone Holders shall be permitted to participate (in equal proportions and with allocations among the

 

17


Apache Holders designated by Apache Midstream and with allocations among the Blackstone Holders designated by BX Aggregator) alongside the I Squared Holders in such I Squared Blackstone Priority Offering only to the extent that it is determined that there is demand in excess of the I Squared Priority Shares that the I Squared Holders propose to sell in such I Squared Blackstone Priority Offering (which determination shall be made independently and in good faith by the placement agent, sales agent or Underwriter, as applicable, for such I Squared Blackstone Priority Offering). In the event that the I Squared Holders consummate an I Squared Blackstone Priority Offering in accordance with the immediately preceding sentence, the Blackstone Holders will be deemed to have not pursued an Blackstone Proposed Offering for purposes of Section 2.7.2.

2.7.4 In the event that either (i) I Squared notifies BX Aggregator in writing during the Blackstone Notice Period that the I Squared Holders do not intend to consummate an I Squared Blackstone Priority Offering or (ii) the I Squared Holders do not otherwise pursue an I Squared Blackstone Priority Offering during the Blackstone Notice Period, then within fifteen (15) days following the earlier of the receipt by BX Aggregator of such notification in writing and the expiration of the Blackstone Notice Period (such fifteen (15)-day period, the “Blackstone Proposed Offering Window”), the Blackstone Holders may execute a definitive agreement in connection with such Blackstone Proposed Offering subject to the other terms and provisions of this Agreement but without further limitation under this Section 2.7. In the event that (i) the Blackstone Holders elect not to proceed with the Blackstone Proposed Offering in accordance with the immediately preceding sentence and the closing price of the Class A Common Stock on the date of the expiration of the Blackstone Proposed Offering Window (or, if such date is not a trading day, the trading day immediately preceding the date of such expiration) is below the Blackstone Notice Price or (ii) the Company prevents the Blackstone Holders from consummating the Blackstone Proposed Offering by exercising its rights pursuant to Section 3.5 of this Agreement to initiate a Suspension Period or Blackout Period, then, in each case, the Blackstone Holders will be deemed to have not pursued an Blackstone Proposed Offering for purposes of Section 2.7.2.

2.8 Apache and Blackstone Joint Transaction. In the event that the Apache Holders and the Blackstone Holders desire to concurrently pursue an Apache Proposed Offering and a Blackstone Proposed Offering, respectively (such concurrent offering, a “Combined Offering”), during the I Squared Apache Priority Window, the provisions of Section 2.6 and Section 2.7 shall apply to the Apache Holders and the Blackstone Holders, respectively, and any Combined Offering that is ultimately consummated shall be allocated among the Apache Holders and the Blackstone Holders in equal proportions.

ARTICLE III

COMPANY PROCEDURES

3.1 General Procedures. If the Company is required to effect the Registration of Registrable Securities, the Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to effect such Registration to permit the sale of such Registrable Securities in accordance with the intended plan of distribution thereof, and pursuant thereto the Company shall, as expeditiously as possible:

3.1.1 prepare and file with the Commission as soon as practicable a Registration Statement with respect to such Registrable Securities and use its reasonable best efforts to cause such Registration Statement to become effective and remain effective until all Registrable Securities have ceased to be Registrable Securities or the earlier termination of this Agreement pursuant to Section 5.7;

 

18


3.1.2 prepare and file with the Commission such amendments and post-effective amendments to the Registration Statement, and such supplements to the Prospectus, as may be requested by the Holders or any Underwriter of Registrable Securities or as may be required by the rules, regulations or instructions applicable to the registration form used by the Company or by the Securities Act or rules and regulations thereunder to keep the Registration Statement effective until all Registrable Securities covered by such Registration Statement are sold in accordance with the intended plan of distribution set forth in such Registration Statement or supplement to the Prospectus;

3.1.3 prior to filing a Registration Statement or prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, furnish without charge to the Underwriters, if any, and the Holders of Registrable Securities included in such Registration, and one legal counsel to such Holders, copies of such Registration Statement as proposed to be filed, each amendment and supplement to such Registration Statement (in each case including all exhibits thereto and documents incorporated by reference therein), the Prospectus included in such Registration Statement (including each preliminary Prospectus), and such other documents as the Underwriters and the Holders of Registrable Securities included in such Registration or the one legal counsel for such Holders may request in order to facilitate the disposition of the Registrable Securities owned by such Holders;

3.1.4 prior to any public offering of Registrable Securities, use its reasonable best efforts to (i) register or qualify the Registrable Securities covered by the Registration Statement under such securities or “blue sky” laws of such jurisdictions in the United States as the Holders of Registrable Securities included in such Registration Statement (in light of their intended plan of distribution) may request and (ii) take such action necessary to cause such Registrable Securities covered by the Registration Statement to be registered with or approved by such other governmental authorities as may be necessary by virtue of the business and operations of the Company and do any and all other acts and things that may be necessary or advisable to enable the Holders of Registrable Securities included in such Registration Statement to consummate the disposition of such Registrable Securities in such jurisdictions; provided, however, that the Company shall not be required to qualify generally to do business in any jurisdiction where it would not otherwise be required to qualify or take any action to which it would be subject to general service of process or taxation in any such jurisdiction where it is not then otherwise so subject;

3.1.5 use its reasonable best efforts to cause all such Registrable Securities to be listed on each securities exchange or automated quotation system on which similar securities issued by the Company are then listed;

3.1.6 provide a transfer agent or warrant agent, as applicable, and registrar for all such Registrable Securities no later than the effective date of such Registration Statement;

3.1.7 advise each seller of such Registrable Securities, promptly after it shall receive notice or obtain knowledge thereof, of the issuance of any stop order by the Commission suspending the effectiveness of such Registration Statement or the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for such purpose and promptly use its reasonable best efforts to prevent the issuance of any stop order or to obtain its withdrawal if such stop order should be issued;

 

19


3.1.8 at least five (5) days prior to the filing of any Registration Statement or Prospectus or any amendment or supplement to such Registration Statement or Prospectus or any document that is to be incorporated by reference into such Registration Statement or Prospectus, furnish a copy thereof to each seller of such Registrable Securities or one counsel on behalf of such sellers;

3.1.9 notify the Holders at any time when a Prospectus relating to such Registration Statement is required to be delivered under the Securities Act, of the happening of any event as a result of which the Prospectus included in such Registration Statement, as then in effect, includes a Misstatement, and then to correct such Misstatement as set forth in Section 3.5 hereof;

3.1.10 permit a representative of the Holders (such representative to be selected by a majority of the participating Holders), the Underwriters, if any, and any attorney or accountant retained by such Holders or Underwriter to participate, at each such Person’s own expense, in the preparation of the Registration Statement, and cause the Company’s officers, directors and employees to supply all information reasonably requested by any such representative, Underwriter, attorney or accountant in connection with the Registration; provided, however, that such representatives or Underwriters enter into a confidentiality agreement, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Company, prior to the release or disclosure of any such information;

3.1.11 obtain a “cold comfort” letter from the Company’s independent registered public accountants in the event of an Underwritten Offering, in customary form and covering such matters of the type customarily covered by “cold comfort” letters as the managing Underwriter may reasonably request, and reasonably satisfactory to the Majority-in-Interest of the participating Holders;

3.1.12 on the date the Registrable Securities are delivered for sale pursuant to such Registration, obtain an opinion, dated as of such date, of counsel representing the Company for the purposes of such Registration, addressed to the Holders, the placement agent or sales agent, if any, and the Underwriters, if any, covering such legal matters with respect to the Registration in respect of which such opinion is being given as the Holders, placement agent, sales agent, or Underwriter may reasonably request and as are customarily included in such opinions and negative assurance letters, and reasonably satisfactory to a majority in interest of the participating Holders;

3.1.13 in the event of any Underwritten Offering, enter into and perform its obligations under an underwriting agreement, in usual and customary form on terms agreed to by the Company, with the managing Underwriter of such offering;

3.1.14 make available to its security holders, as soon as reasonably practicable, an earnings statement (which need not be audited) covering the period of at least twelve (12) months beginning with the first day of the Company’s first full calendar quarter after the effective date of the Registration Statement which satisfies the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Securities Act and Rule 158 thereunder (or any successor rule promulgated thereafter by the Commission);

 

20


3.1.15 if the Registration involves the Registration of Registrable Securities involving gross proceeds in excess of $75 million, use its reasonable efforts to make available senior executives of the Company to participate in customary “road show” presentations that may be reasonably requested by the Underwriter in such Underwritten Offering; and

3.1.16 otherwise, in good faith, cooperate reasonably with, and take such customary actions as may reasonably be requested by the Holders, in connection with such Registration.

3.2 Registration Expenses. The Registration Expenses of all Registrations shall be borne by the Company. It is acknowledged by the Holders that the Holders shall bear all incremental selling expenses relating to the sale of Registrable Securities, such as Underwriters’ commissions and discounts, brokerage fees, Underwriter marketing costs and, other than as set forth in the definition of “Registration Expenses,” all reasonable fees and expenses of any legal counsel representing the Holders.

3.3 Requirements for Participation in Underwritten Offerings. No Person may participate in any Underwritten Offering for equity securities of the Company unless such Person (i) agrees to sell such Person’s securities on the basis provided in any underwriting arrangements approved by the Company and (ii) completes and executes all customary questionnaires, powers of attorney, indemnities, lock-up agreements, underwriting agreements and other customary documents as may be reasonably required under the terms of such underwriting arrangements.

3.4 Customary Lock-Up Agreements. In connection with each Underwritten Offering pursuant to Section 2.2.2, each Holder, other than the Apache Holders in connection with any Permitted Apache Offering, who at the time of such Underwritten Offering holds, together with its Affiliates, at least 10% of the then-outstanding Common Stock, agrees, if requested, to become bound by and to execute and deliver a customary lock-up agreement restricting such Holder’s right to (i) Transfer any equity securities of the Company held by such Holder or (ii) enter into any swap or other arrangement that Transfers to another any of the economic consequences of ownership of such securities during the period commencing on the date of the final Prospectus relating to such Registration and ending on the date sixty (60) days thereafter; provided that no Holder shall be required to agree to a lock-up period longer than the lock-up period for the Company, the Demanding Holder(s), or the directors and “executive officers” (as defined under Section 16 of the Exchange Act) of the Company. The terms of such lock-up agreements shall include customary carve-outs from the restrictions on Transfer set forth therein and each Holder’s lock-up agreement shall require equal treatment of all Holders in the event of any early release from the lock-up. The Company shall, if requested by the Majority-in-Interest of the Holders participating in such Registration, cause its directors and executive officers to agree to become bound by and to execute and deliver a similar lock-up agreement.

3.5 Suspension of Sales; Adverse Disclosure.

3.5.1 Upon receipt of written notice from the Company that a Registration Statement or Prospectus contains a Misstatement, each of the Holders shall forthwith discontinue disposition of Registrable Securities until it has received copies of a supplemented or amended Prospectus correcting the Misstatement (it being understood that the Company hereby covenants to prepare and file such supplement or amendment as soon as practicable after the time of such notice), or until it is advised in writing by the Company that the use of the Prospectus may be resumed (any such period, a “Suspension Period”).

 

21


3.5.2 If the filing, initial effectiveness or continued use of (including in connection with any Underwritten Offering) a Registration Statement in respect of any Registration at any time would (i) require the Company to make an Adverse Disclosure or (ii) require the inclusion in such Registration Statement of financial statements that are unavailable to the Company for reasons beyond the Company’s control, then the Company may, upon giving prompt written notice of such action to the Holders, delay the filing or initial effectiveness of, or suspend use of (including in connection with any Underwritten Offering), such Registration Statement for the shortest period of time, but in no event more than sixty (60) days, determined in good faith by the Company to be necessary for such purpose (any such period, a “Blackout Period”). In the event the Company exercises its rights under the preceding sentence, the Holders agree to suspend, immediately upon their receipt of the notice referred to above, their use of the Prospectus relating to any Registration in connection with any sale or offer to sell Registrable Securities.

3.5.3 The Company shall immediately notify the Holders of the expiration of any period during which it exercised its rights under Section 2.4 or this Section 3.5. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section 3.5, in no event shall any period during which the Company exercised its rights under Section 2.4, Blackout Periods and any Suspension Periods continue for more than sixty (60) days in the aggregate during any 180-day period or more than one hundred twenty (120) days in the aggregate during any 365-day period.

3.6 Reporting Obligations. As long as any Holder shall own Registrable Securities, the Company, at all times while it shall be a reporting company under the Exchange Act, covenants to file timely (or obtain extensions in respect thereof and file within the applicable grace period) all reports required to be filed by the Company after the date hereof pursuant to Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act and to promptly furnish the Holders with true and complete copies of all such filings (the delivery of which will be satisfied by the Company’s filing of such reports on the Commission’s EDGAR system). The Company further covenants that it shall take such further action as any Holder may reasonably request, all to the extent required from time to time to enable such Holder to sell shares of Common Stock held by such Holder without registration under the Securities Act within the limitation of the exemptions provided by Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act (or any successor rule promulgated thereafter by the Commission), including providing any legal opinions. Upon the request of any Holder, the Company shall deliver to such Holder a written certification of a duly authorized officer as to whether it has complied with such requirements.

 

22


ARTICLE IV

INDEMNIFICATION AND CONTRIBUTION

4.1 Indemnification.

4.1.1 The Company agrees to indemnify, to the extent permitted by law, each Holder of Registrable Securities, its officers and directors, and each Person who controls such Holder (within the meaning of the Securities Act) against all losses, claims, damages, liabilities, and expenses (including attorneys’ fees) caused by any untrue or alleged untrue statement of material fact contained in any Registration Statement, Prospectus, preliminary Prospectus, or any amendment thereof or supplement thereto or any omission or alleged omission of a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, except insofar as the same are caused by or contained in any information furnished in writing to the Company by such Holder expressly for use therein. The Company shall indemnify the Underwriters, their officers and directors, and each Person who controls such Underwriters (within the meaning of the Securities Act) to the same extent as provided in the foregoing with respect to the indemnification of the Holder.

4.1.2 In connection with any Registration Statement in which a Holder of Registrable Securities is participating, such Holder shall furnish to the Company in writing such information and affidavits as the Company reasonably requests for use in connection with any such Registration Statement or Prospectus and, to the extent permitted by law, shall indemnify the Company, its directors and officers and agents, and each Person who controls the Company (within the meaning of the Securities Act) against any losses, claims, damages, liabilities and expenses (including without limitation reasonable attorneys’ fees) resulting from any untrue statement of material fact contained in the Registration Statement, Prospectus, preliminary Prospectus or any amendment thereof or supplement thereto or any omission of a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, but only to the extent that such untrue statement or omission is contained in any information or affidavit so furnished in writing by such Holder expressly for use therein; provided, however, that the obligation to indemnify shall be several, not joint and several, among such Holders of Registrable Securities, and the liability of each such Holder of Registrable Securities shall be in proportion to and limited to the net proceeds received by such Holder from the sale of Registrable Securities pursuant to such Registration Statement. The Holders of Registrable Securities shall indemnify the Underwriters, their officers, directors and each Person who controls such Underwriters (within the meaning of the Securities Act) to the same extent as provided in the foregoing with respect to indemnification of the Company.

4.1.3 Any Person entitled to indemnification herein shall (i) give prompt written notice to the indemnifying party of any claim with respect to which it seeks indemnification (provided that the failure to give prompt notice shall not impair any Person’s right to indemnification hereunder to the extent such failure has not materially prejudiced the indemnifying party) and (ii) unless in such indemnified party’s reasonable judgment a conflict of interest between such indemnified and indemnifying parties may exist with respect to such claim, permit such indemnifying party to assume the defense of such claim with counsel reasonably satisfactory to the indemnified party. If such defense is assumed, the indemnifying party shall not be subject to any liability for any settlement made by the indemnified party without its consent (but such consent shall not be unreasonably withheld). An indemnifying party who is not entitled to, or elects not to, assume the defense of a claim shall not be obligated to pay the fees and expenses of more than one counsel for all parties indemnified by such indemnifying party with respect to such claim, unless in the reasonable judgment of any indemnified party a conflict of interest may exist between such indemnified party and any other of such indemnified parties with respect to such claim. No indemnifying party shall, without the consent of the indemnified party, consent to the entry of any judgment or enter into any settlement which cannot be settled in all respects by the payment of money (and such money is so paid by the indemnifying party pursuant to the terms of such settlement) or which settlement does not include as an unconditional term thereof the giving by the claimant or plaintiff to such indemnified party of a release from all liability in respect to such claim or litigation.

 

23


4.1.4 The indemnification provided for under this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of the indemnified party or any officer, director or controlling person of such indemnified party and shall survive the Transfer of securities. The Company and each Holder of Registrable Securities participating in an offering also agrees to make such provisions as are reasonably requested by any indemnified party for contribution to such party in the event the Company’s or such Holder’s indemnification is unavailable for any reason.

4.1.5 If the indemnification provided under Section 4.1 hereof from the indemnifying party is unavailable or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party in respect of any losses, claims, damages, liabilities, and expenses referred to herein, then the indemnifying party, in lieu of indemnifying the indemnified party, shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by the indemnified party as a result of such losses, claims, damages, liabilities, and expenses in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative fault of the indemnifying party and the indemnified party, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative fault of the indemnifying party and indemnified party shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether any action in question, including any untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or omission or alleged omission to state a material fact, was made by, or relates to information supplied by, such indemnifying party or indemnified party, and the indemnifying party’s and indemnified party’s relative intent, knowledge, access to information, and opportunity to correct or prevent such action; provided, however, that the liability of any Holder under this subsection 4.1.5 shall be limited to the amount of the net proceeds received by such Holder in such offering giving rise to such liability. The amount paid or payable by a party as a result of the losses or other liabilities referred to above shall be deemed to include, subject to the limitations set forth in subsections 4.1.1, 4.1.2 and 4.1.3 above, any legal or other fees, charges, or expenses reasonably incurred by such party in connection with any investigation or proceeding. The parties hereto agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this subsection 4.1.5 were determined by pro rata allocation or by any other method of allocation, which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to in this subsection 4.1.5. No Person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution pursuant to this subsection 4.1.5 from any Person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation.

ARTICLE V

MISCELLANEOUS

5.1 Notices. Any notice or communication under this Agreement must be in writing and given by (i) deposit in the United States mail, addressed to the party to be notified, postage prepaid and registered or certified with return receipt requested, (ii) delivery in person or by courier service providing evidence of delivery, or (iii) transmission by hand delivery, electronic mail, telecopy, telegram or facsimile. Each notice or communication that is mailed, delivered or transmitted in the manner described above shall be deemed sufficiently given, served, sent and

 

24


received, in the case of mailed notices, on the third business day following the date on which it is mailed and, in the case of notices delivered by courier service, hand delivery, electronic mail, telecopy, telegram or facsimile, at such time as it is delivered to the addressee or at such time as delivery is refused by the addressee upon presentation. Any notice or communication under this Agreement must be addressed, if to the Company, to: Altus Midstream Company, 2000 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 100, Houston, Texas 77056, and, if to any Holder, at such Holder’s address or facsimile number as set forth on the signature pages to this Agreement (or, as to any Existing Holder not a party hereto, at such Existing Holder’s address or facsimile number as set forth on the signature pages to the Existing Registration Rights Agreement or such other address changed in accordance with the Existing Registration Rights Agreement). Any party may change its address for notice at any time and from time to time by written notice to the other parties hereto, and such change of address shall become effective thirty (30) days after delivery of such notice as provided in this Section 5.1.

5.2 Assignment; No Third-Party Beneficiaries.

5.2.1 This Agreement and the rights, duties and obligations of the Company hereunder may not be assigned or delegated by the Company in whole or in part.

5.2.2 No Holder may assign or delegate such Holder’s rights, duties or obligations under this Agreement, in whole or in part, except in connection with a Transfer of Registrable Securities by such Holder to a Permitted Transferee. Any such Permitted Transferee shall (unless already bound hereby) execute and deliver to the Company an agreement (the “Adoption Agreement”) to be bound by this Agreement in the form of Exhibit A hereto and shall thenceforth be a “Holder.”

5.2.3 This Agreement and the provisions hereof shall be binding upon and shall inure to the benefit of each of the parties and its successors and the permitted assigns of the Holders, which, for the avoidance of doubt, include a Permitted Transferee following such Permitted Transferee’s execution and delivery of an Adoption Agreement (unless already bound hereby).

5.2.4 This Agreement shall not confer any rights or benefits on any Persons that are not parties hereto, other than as expressly set forth in this Agreement and Section 5.2 hereof.

5.2.5 No assignment by any party hereto of such party’s rights, duties and obligations hereunder shall be binding upon or obligate the Company unless and until the Company shall have received (i) written notice of such assignment as provided in Section 5.1 hereof and (ii) an executed Adoption Agreement. Any Transfer or assignment made other than as provided in this Section 5.2 shall be null and void.

5.3 Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in multiple counterparts (including facsimile or PDF counterparts), each of which shall be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute the same instrument, but only one of which need be produced.

 

25


5.4 Governing Law; Venue. NOTWITHSTANDING THE PLACE WHERE THIS AGREEMENT MAY BE EXECUTED BY ANY OF THE PARTIES HERETO, THE PARTIES EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT (I) THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK AS APPLIED TO AGREEMENTS AMONG NEW YORK RESIDENTS ENTERED INTO AND TO BE PERFORMED ENTIRELY WITHIN NEW YORK, WITHOUT REGARD TO THE CONFLICT OF LAW PROVISIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION AND (II) THE VENUE FOR ANY ACTION TAKEN WITH RESPECT TO THE AGREEMENT SHALL BE ANY STATE OR FEDERAL COURT IN NEW YORK COUNTY IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

5.5 Amendments and Modifications. Upon the written consent of the Company and the Majority-in-Interest Holders at the time in question, compliance with any of the provisions, covenants and conditions set forth in this Agreement may be waived, or any of such provisions, covenants or conditions may be amended or modified; provided, however, that notwithstanding the foregoing, (i) any amendment hereto or waiver hereof that adversely affects one Holder, solely in its capacity as a holder of the shares of capital stock of the Company, in a manner that is materially different from the other Holders (in such capacity) shall require the consent of the Holder so affected and (ii) any amendment hereto or waiver hereof that adversely affects the Existing Holders, the Apache Holders, the Blackstone Holders the I Squared Holders or the Management Holders, as applicable, solely in their respective capacity as Existing Holdings, Apache Holders, Blackstone Holders, I Squared Holders, or Management Holders, as applicable, in a manner that is materially different from the other Holders, shall require the consent of the Existing Holders, the Apache Holders, the Blackstone Holders, the I Squared Holders or the Management Holders, as applicable. No course of dealing between any Holder or the Company and any other party hereto or any failure or delay on the part of a Holder or the Company in exercising any rights or remedies under this Agreement shall operate as a waiver of any rights or remedies of any Holder or the Company. No single or partial exercise of any rights or remedies under this Agreement by a party shall operate as a waiver or preclude the exercise of any other rights or remedies hereunder or thereunder by such party.

5.6 Other Registration Rights. Other than pursuant to the terms of the Preferred Registration Rights Agreement, the Company represents and warrants that no Person, other than a Holder of Registrable Securities, has any right to require the Company to register any securities of the Company for sale or to include such securities of the Company in any Registration filed by the Company for the sale of securities for its own account or for the account of any other Person. Further, the Company represents and warrants that this Agreement supersedes any other registration rights agreement or agreement with similar terms and conditions among the parties hereto and in the event of a conflict between any such agreement or agreements and this Agreement, the terms of this Agreement shall prevail. Further, the Company shall not, prior to the termination of this Agreement, grant any registration rights that are superior to, or in any way subordinate, the rights granted to the Holders hereby, including any registration or other right that is directly or indirectly intended to violate or subordinate the rights granted to the Holders hereby.

5.7 Term. This Agreement shall terminate as to any Holder, and such Holder shall have no further rights or obligations hereunder, on such date on which such Holder, together with such Holder’s Affiliates, no longer owns any Registrable Securities. The provisions of Section 3.6 and Article IV shall survive any termination.

 

26


5.8 Holder Action. Whenever the Existing Holders, Principal Holders, Apache Holders, Blackstone Holders, I Squared Holders or Management Holders are entitled to act or refrain from acting, the Existing Holders, Principal Holders, Apache Holders, Blackstone Holders, I Squared Holders or Management Holders, as applicable, shall do so by the determination of the Majority-in-Interest of the Existing Holders, Principal Holders, Apache Holders, Blackstone Holders, I Squared Holders or Management Holders, as applicable.

[SIGNATURE PAGES FOLLOW]

 

27


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have caused this Agreement to be executed as of the date first written above.

 

COMPANY:

ALTUS MIDSTREAM COMPANY,

a Delaware corporation

By:   /s/ Ben C. Rodgers
Name:   Ben C. Rodgers
Title:   Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

 

[Signature Page to Second Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement]


APACHE MIDSTREAM LLC,

a Delaware limited liability company

By:   /s/ Stephen J. Riney
Name:   Stephen J. Riney
Title:   Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Address:
One Post Oak Central
2000 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 100
Houston, Texas 77056

 

[Signature Page to Second Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement]


BUZZARD MIDSTREAM LLC,

a Delaware limited liability company

By:   /s/ Thomas Lefebvre
Name:   Thomas Lefebvre
Title:   Authorized Signatory
Address:

Buzzard Midstream LLC

c/o I Squared Capital Advisors (US) LLC

600 Brickell Avenue, Penthouse

Miami, FL 33131

 

[Signature Page to Second Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement]


BCP RAPTOR AGGREGATOR, LP,

a Delaware limited partnership

By: BCP VII/BEP II Holdings Manager L.L.C., its general partner
By:   /s/ David Foley
Name:   David Foley
Title:   Senior Managing Director
Address:

Blackstone Management Partners L.L.C.

345 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10154

 

[Signature Page to Second Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement]


BX PERMIAN PIPELINE AGGREGATOR LP,

a Delaware limited partnership

By: BCP VII/BEP II Holdings Manager L.L.C., its general partner
By:   /s/ David Foley
Name:   David Foley
Title:   Senior Managing Director
Address:

Blackstone Management Partners L.L.C.

345 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10154

 

[Signature Page to Second Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement]


NEW BCP RAPTOR HOLDCO, LLC,
a Delaware limited liability company
By:   /s/ Jamie Welch
Name:   Jamie Welch
Title:   Chief Executive Officer, President and Chief Financial Officer
Address:
New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC
2700 Post Oak Blvd, Suite 300

Houston, TX 77056

 

[Signature Page to Second Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement]


ANNEX I

EXISTING HOLDERS

 

  1.

D. Mark Leland

 

  2.

Mark Borer

 

Annex I


EXHIBIT A

ADOPTION AGREEMENT

This Adoption Agreement (“Adoption Agreement”) is executed by the undersigned transferee (“Transferee”) pursuant to the terms of the Second Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of February 22, 2022, by and among the Company, Apache Midstream, I Squared, BX Aggregator, BX Permian, New Raptor and the individuals party thereto (as amended from time to time, the “Registration Rights Agreement”). Capitalized terms used and not otherwise defined in this Adoption Agreement have the meanings given to them in the Registration Rights Agreement.

By the execution of this Adoption Agreement, Transferee agrees as follows:

1. Acknowledgement. Transferee acknowledges that Transferee is acquiring the securities indicated under Transferee’s signature below (the “Acquired Securities”) subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Registration Rights Agreement.

2. Agreement. Transferee (a) agrees that the Acquired Securities shall be bound by and subject to the terms of the Registration Rights Agreement, pursuant to the terms thereof and (b) hereby adopts the Registration Rights Agreement with the same force and effect as if Transferee were originally a party thereto.

3. Joinder. The spouse of Transferee, if applicable, executes this Adoption Agreement to acknowledge its fairness and that it is in such spouse’s best interest, and to bind such spouse’s community interest, if any, in the Acquired Securities to the terms of the Registration Rights Agreement.

 

Signature:
 

 

Address for Notice:
   
   
   
Attention:    
Email:    

 

Acquired Securities:

Type (check applicable box):

  Number

☐    Shares of Class A Common Stock issued on

exercise of Private Placement Warrants

 
 

 

☐    Shares of Class A Common Stock issued

on exercise of Apache Warrants

 
 

 

☐    Shares of Class A Common Stock  
 

 

 

A-1


Acquired Securities:

Type (check applicable box):

  Number

☐    Shares of Class A Common Stock issued in

exchange for Common Units and Class C Common Stock

 
 

 

☐    Other equity security issued by dividend, stock split, etc.  
 

 

☐    Shares of Common Stock (including issuable in connection with Earn-Out Consideration)  
 

 

 

A-2

Exhibit 10.1

THIRD AMENDED AND RESTATED

AGREEMENT OF LIMITED PARTNERSHIP

OF

ALTUS MIDSTREAM LP

Dated as of October 21, 2021

 

 

THE UNITS REPRESENTED BY THIS THIRD AMENDED AND RESTATED AGREEMENT OF LIMITED PARTNERSHIP HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR UNDER ANY OTHER APPLICABLE SECURITIES LAWS. SUCH UNITS MAY NOT BE SOLD, ASSIGNED, PLEDGED OR OTHERWISE DISPOSED OF AT ANY TIME WITHOUT EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION UNDER SUCH ACT AND LAWS OR EXEMPTION THEREFROM, AND COMPLIANCE WITH THE OTHER SUBSTANTIAL RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFERABILITY SET FORTH HEREIN.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

         Page  
ARTICLE I DEFINITIONS    6  
ARTICLE II ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS    34  

Section 2.01

  Formation of Partnership      34  

Section 2.02

  Third Amended and Restated Limited Partnership Agreement      34  

Section 2.03

  Name      34  

Section 2.04

  Purpose      34  

Section 2.05

  Principal Office; Registered Office      34  

Section 2.06

  Term      35  

Section 2.07

  No Joint Venture      35  
ARTICLE III PARTNERS; UNITS; CAPITALIZATION    35  

Section 3.01

  Partners      35  

Section 3.02

  Units      35  

Section 3.03

  Apache Partner’s Contribution; Warrants; the Corporation’s Capital Contribution; the Corporation’s Purchase of Common Units      35  

Section 3.04

  Authorization and Issuance of Additional Units      36  

Section 3.05

  Repurchases or Redemptions      39  

Section 3.06

  Certificates Representing Units; Lost, Stolen or Destroyed Certificates; Registration and Transfer of Units      40  

Section 3.07

  Negative Capital Accounts      40  

Section 3.08

  No Withdrawal      40  

Section 3.09

  Loans From Partners      40  

Section 3.10

  Tax Treatment of Corporate Stock Option Plans and Equity Plans      40  

Section 3.11

  Dividend Reinvestment Plan, Cash Option Purchase Plan, Stock Incentive Plan or Other Plan      42  

Section 3.12

  Series A Preferred Units      42  
ARTICLE IV DISTRIBUTIONS    43  

Section 4.01

  Distributions      43  

Section 4.02

  Restricted Distributions      46  
ARTICLE V CAPITAL ACCOUNTS; ALLOCATIONS; TAX MATTERS    46  

Section 5.01

  Capital Accounts      46  

Section 5.02

  Allocations      47  

Section 5.03

  Regulatory and Special Allocations      47  

Section 5.04

  Tax Allocations      49  

Section 5.05

  Withholding; Indemnification and Reimbursement for Payments on Behalf of a Partner      50  

 

i


ARTICLE VI MANAGEMENT    51  

Section 6.01

  Authority of General Partner      51  

Section 6.02

  Actions of the General Partner      55  

Section 6.03

  Transfer and Withdrawal of General Partner      55  

Section 6.04

  Transactions Between Partnership and General Partner      56  

Section 6.05

  Reimbursement for Expenses      56  

Section 6.06

  Delegation of Authority      57  

Section 6.07

  Limitation of Liability of the General Partner      57  

Section 6.08

  Investment Company Act      58  

Section 6.09

  Activities of the Corporation and the General Partner      58  

Section 6.10

  Standard of Care      60  

Section 6.11

  Certain Compliance Matters      60  
ARTICLE VII RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF PARTNERS    60  

Section 7.01

  Limitation of Liability and Duties of Partners; Investment Opportunities      60  

Section 7.02

  Lack of Authority      62  

Section 7.03

  No Right of Partition      62  

Section 7.04

  Indemnification      62  

Section 7.05

  Limited Partners’ Right to Act      63  

Section 7.06

  Inspection Rights      64  
ARTICLE VIII BOOKS, RECORDS, ACCOUNTING AND REPORTS    65  

Section 8.01

  Records and Accounting; Other Partnership Information      65  

Section 8.02

  Fiscal Year      66  
ARTICLE IX TAX MATTERS    67  

Section 9.01

  Preparation of Tax Returns      67  

Section 9.02

  Tax Elections      67  

Section 9.03

  Texas Margin Tax Sharing Arrangement      68  

Section 9.04

  Tax Controversies      68  
ARTICLE X RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFER OF UNITS    70  

Section 10.01

  Transfers of Common Units      70  

Section 10.02

  Transfers and Drag of Series A Preferred Units      70  

Section 10.03

  Restricted Units Legend      72  

Section 10.04

  Transfer      73  

Section 10.05

  Assignee’s Rights      73  

Section 10.06

  Assignor’s Rights and Obligations      73  

Section 10.07

  Overriding Provisions      74  
ARTICLE XI REDEMPTION, CONVERSION AND EXCHANGE RIGHTS; OTHER PROTECTIVE PROVISIONS    75  

Section 11.01

  Redemption Right of a Common Unitholder      75  

Section 11.02

  Contribution of the Corporation      79  

Section 11.03

  Exchange Right of the Corporation      79  

Section 11.04

  Redemption of Series A Preferred Units      80  

Section 11.05

  Exchange of Series A Preferred Units for shares of Class A Common Stock      82  

 

ii


Section 11.06

  Reservation of Shares of Class A Common Stock; Listing; Registration Rights; Certificate of the Corporation      87  

Section 11.07

  Effect of Exercise of Redemption or Exchange Right      89  

Section 11.08

  Tax Treatment      89  

Section 11.09

  No Restrictions on Class A Common Stock      90  
ARTICLE XII ADMISSION OF LIMITED PARTNERS    90  

Section 12.01

  Substituted Limited Partners      90  

Section 12.02

  Additional Limited Partners      90  
ARTICLE XIII WITHDRAWAL AND RESIGNATION; TERMINATION OF RIGHTS    90  

Section 13.01

  Withdrawal and Resignation of Limited Partners      90  
ARTICLE XIV DISSOLUTION AND LIQUIDATION    91  

Section 14.01

  Dissolution      91  

Section 14.02

  Liquidation and Termination      91  

Section 14.03

  Deferment; Distribution in Kind      92  

Section 14.04

  Cancellation of Certificate      92  

Section 14.05

  Reasonable Time for Winding Up      93  

Section 14.06

  Return of Capital      93  
ARTICLE XV VALUATION    93  

Section 15.01

  Determination      93  

Section 15.02

  Dispute Resolution      93  
ARTICLE XVI GENERAL PROVISIONS    94  

Section 16.01

  Power of Attorney      94  

Section 16.02

  Confidentiality      94  

Section 16.03

  Amendments      96  

Section 16.04

  Title to Partnership Assets      96  

Section 16.05

  Addresses and Notices      96  

Section 16.06

  Binding Effect; Intended Beneficiaries      97  

Section 16.07

  Creditors      97  

Section 16.08

  Waiver      98  

Section 16.09

  Counterparts      98  

Section 16.10

  Applicable Law      98  

Section 16.11

  Severability      98  

Section 16.12

  Further Action      98  

Section 16.13

  Delivery by Electronic Transmission      98  

Section 16.14

  Right of Offset      99  

Section 16.15

  Expenses      99  

Section 16.16

  Effectiveness      99  

Section 16.17

  Entire Agreement      99  

Section 16.18

  Remedies      99  

Section 16.19

  Descriptive Headings; Interpretation      99  

Section 16.20

  No Recourse      100  

 

iii


Schedules

 

Schedule 1   Schedule of Limited Partners

 

Exhibits     
Exhibit A    Form of Joinder Agreement
Exhibit B    Form of Board Observer Confidentiality Agreement

 

iv


THIRD AMENDED AND RESTATED

AGREEMENT OF LIMITED PARTNERSHIP

OF ALTUS MIDSTREAM LP

This THIRD AMENDED AND RESTATED AGREEMENT OF LIMITED PARTNERSHIP (this “Agreement”) of Altus Midstream LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the “Partnership”), dated as of October 21, 2021, is adopted, executed and agreed to by and among Altus Midstream GP LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, as the sole general partner of the Partnership, and each of the Limited Partners (as defined herein) set forth on the signature pages hereto.

WHEREAS, the Partnership was formed as a limited partnership pursuant to and in accordance with the Delaware Act (as defined herein) by filing a Certificate of Limited Partnership of the Partnership (the “Certificate”) with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on August 3, 2018;

WHEREAS, the General Partner, as the sole general partner of the Partnership, entered into an Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of the Partnership, dated as of November 9, 2018 (as amended, restated, amended and restated, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time to but excluding the date hereof, together with all schedules, exhibits and annexes thereto, the “A&R Limited Partnership Agreement”), with each of the Limited Partners (as defined herein) set forth on the signature pages thereto;

WHEREAS, the Partnership previously entered into a Preferred Unit Purchase Agreement, dated as of May 8, 2019 (the “Series A Preferred Unit Purchase Agreement”), among the Partnership, the parties identified as “Purchasers” therein, and the Corporation (as defined below), pursuant to which the Partnership issued the Series A Preferred Units (as defined below), and, in connection therewith, the A&R Limited Partnership Agreement was amended on June 12, 2019 (as amended, the “Existing Limited Partnership Agreement”);

WHEREAS, the Partners desire to amend and restate the Existing Limited Partnership Agreement in its entirety to provide for (i) the transactions contemplated by that certain Contribution Agreement, dated October 21, 2021 (the “EagleClaw Contribution Agreement”), by and among the Corporation (as defined below), the Partnership, New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“New BCP Raptor”), and, solely with respect to the provisions of the Contribution Agreement to which it is made a party, BCP Raptor Holdco, LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“Raptor”), (ii) other necessary and appropriate changes in connection therewith, and (iii) the admittance of BCP Raptor Aggregator, LP (“BX Aggregator”), BX Permian Pipeline Aggregator LP (“BX Permian” and, together with BX Aggregator, collectively, the Blackstone Partners”), ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund II L.P. (“ISQ Partner”) and New BCP Raptor as Limited Partners; and

WHEREAS, contemporaneously herewith, certain Partners and the Partnership entered into that certain Consent and Waiver Letter, dated October 21, 2021 (the “Consent and Waiver Letter”), whereby such Partners and the Partnership agreed to certain matters in connection with the EagleClaw Contribution Agreement.

 

5


NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants, rights and obligations set forth herein and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which each Partner (as defined herein) hereby acknowledges and confesses, the parties hereto hereby agree as follows:

ARTICLE I

DEFINITIONS

The following definitions shall be applied to the terms used in this Agreement for all purposes, unless otherwise clearly indicated to the contrary.

A&R Limited Partnership Agreement” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.

Acquisition Period” means, if the Partnership has provided a Qualified Acquisition Notice, the period beginning with the Qualified Acquisition Closing Date and ending on the earliest of (a) the first anniversary of such Qualified Acquisition Closing Date, and (b) the date on which the Partnership notifies the Series A Preferred Unitholders that it desires to end the Acquisition Period for such Qualified Acquisition.

Additional Limited Partner” has the meaning set forth in Section 12.02.

Adjusted Capital Account Deficit” means, with respect to the Capital Account of any Partner as of the end of any Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period, the amount by which the balance in such Capital Account is less than zero. For this purpose, such Partner’s Capital Account balance shall be:

(a) reduced for any items described in Treasury Regulations Sections 1.704-1(b)(2)(ii)(d)(4), (5) and (6); and

(b) increased for any amount such Partner is obligated to contribute or is treated as being obligated to contribute to the Partnership pursuant to Treasury Regulations Sections 1.704-1(b)(2)(ii)(c) (relating to partner liabilities to a partnership) or 1.704-2(g)(1) and 1.704-2(i) (relating to minimum gain).

Admission Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 10.06.

Affiliate” (and, with a correlative meaning, “Affiliated”) means, with respect to a specified Person, any existing or future private equity funds, investment funds, investment vehicles and managed accounts managed by or affiliated with such Person as of the date hereof and each other Person that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, Controls or is Controlled by, or is under common Control with, the Person specified. Notwithstanding the foregoing, solely for purposes of this Agreement (other than Section 6.01(e)(v), Section 6.01(e)(xiii) and Section 6.04), (i) the Corporation, the General Partner and their respective Subsidiaries shall not be deemed Affiliates of Apache Partner, the Blackstone Partners, ISQ Partner or New BCP Raptor and (ii) no portfolio company of either Blackstone Partner or any of their respective affiliated funds shall be considered an Affiliate of either Blackstone Partner and no portfolio company of ISQ Partner or any of its affiliated funds shall be considered an Affiliate of ISQ Partner.

 

6


Agreement” has the meaning set forth in the preamble to this Agreement.

Allocable Margin Tax Liability” has the meaning set forth in Section 9.03.

Anti-Corruption Laws” means the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 and all other laws, rules, and regulations of any jurisdiction concerning bribery, corruption or money laundering, including, without limitation, the Bribery Act 2010 of the United Kingdom.

APA” means Apache Corporation, a Delaware corporation.

APA Material Agreements” means, collectively, (a) that certain Construction, Operations and Maintenance Agreement, dated as of November 9, 2018, by and between APA and the Corporation, including that certain letter agreement dated April 23, 2019, (b) that certain Gas Processing Agreement, dated as of July 1, 2018, by and between Alpine High Processing LP and APA and (c) that certain Gas Gathering Agreement, dated as of July 1, 2018, by and between Alpine High Gathering LP and APA, as amended from time to time.

Apache Contributed Interests” has the meaning set forth in the Apache Contribution Agreement.

Apache Contribution” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.03(a).

Apache Contribution Agreement” means that certain Contribution Agreement, dated as of August 8, 2018, by and among the Corporation, Apache Contributor, the Partnership and the other parties signatory thereto (as may be amended or supplemented from time to time).

Apache Contribution Closing Date” means November 9, 2018.

Apache Partner” means Apache Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.

Applicable Share” has the meaning set forth in Section 9.03.

Appraisers” has the meaning set forth in Section 15.02.

Asset Disposition” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(d)(i).

Asset Disposition Notice” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(d)(iii).

Asset Disposition Redeemable Units” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(d)(iii).

Asset Disposition Redeemed Partner” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(d)(iii).

Asset Disposition Redeemed Units” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(d)(iii).

Asset Disposition Redemption” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(d)(i).

 

7


Asset Disposition Redemption Amount” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(d)(i).

Asset Disposition Redemption Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(d)(iii).

Asset Disposition Redemption Election” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(d)(iii).

Asset Disposition Redemption Notice” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(d)(iii).

Asset Disposition Repayment” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(d)(i).

Assignee” means a Person to whom a Limited Partner Interest has been transferred but who has not become a Limited Partner pursuant to Article XII.

Assumed Tax Liability” means, with respect to any Limited Partner at any Tax Advance Date, an amount equal to the cumulative amount of U.S. federal, state and local income taxes (including any applicable estimated taxes) for the current Taxable Year, and all prior Taxable Years, determined taking into account the character of income and loss allocated as it affects the Assumed Tax Rate, any guaranteed payments for the use of capital pursuant to Section 707(c) of the Code, and, in the case of any Limited Partner or any direct or indirect partner or member of such Limited Partner that is classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, any applicable limitation on the deductibility of net operating losses, that the General Partner estimates would be due from such Limited Partner as of the relevant Tax Advance Date, assuming that such Limited Partner (a) earned solely the items of income, gain, deduction, loss and/or credit allocated to such Limited Partner pursuant to Article V and (b) is subject to tax at the Assumed Tax Rate. The General Partner shall reasonably determine the Assumed Tax Liability for each Partner based on such assumptions as the General Partner deems necessary. For the avoidance of doubt, each Limited Partner’s Assumed Tax Liability shall take into account any items of income, gain, deduction, loss and/or credit and any guaranteed payments taken into account by such Limited Partner with respect to any Taxable Years as a result of an examination of the Partnership’s affairs by tax authorities or any resulting administrative and judicial proceedings.

Assumed Tax Rate” means, for any Partner for any Taxable Year, the highest marginal rate of U.S. federal, state and local income tax applicable to an individual, or, if higher, a corporation, resident in New York, New York or San Francisco, California (whichever is higher), including any tax rate imposed under Section 1411 of the Code, determined by applying the rates applicable to ordinary income (in cases where taxes are being determined on ordinary income allocated to a Partner) and capital gains (in cases where taxes are being determined on capital gains allocated to a Partner).

Available Cash” shall mean, with respect to any Quarter prior to the Liquidation Date:

(a) all cash and cash equivalents of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries on hand at the end of such Quarter; less

(b) the amount of any cash reserves established by the General Partner for satisfaction during the subsequent Quarter of (i) all debts, liabilities and obligations of the Partnership and any reserves for any expenditures, working capital needs, other capital requirements or contingencies and (ii) any restrictions on distributions contained in any agreement to which the Partnership is bound.

 

8


Notwithstanding the foregoing, “Available Cash” with respect to the Quarter in which the Liquidation Date occurs and any subsequent Quarter shall equal zero.

Base Rate” means, on any date, a variable rate per annum equal to the rate of interest most recently published by The Wall Street Journal as the “prime rate” at large U.S. money center banks.

Black-Out Period” means any “black-out” or similar period under the Corporation’s policies covering trading in the Corporation’s securities to which the applicable Common Redeemed Partner is subject, which period restricts the ability of such Common Redeemed Partner to immediately resell shares of Class A Common Stock to be delivered to such Common Redeemed Partner in connection with a Share Settlement.

Blackstone Partners” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.

Board Observer” has the meaning set forth in Section 6.09(c).

Book Value” means, with respect to any Partnership asset, the Partnership’s adjusted basis in such asset for U.S. federal income tax purposes, except as follows:

(a) the initial Book Value of any asset contributed by a Partner to the Partnership shall be the gross Fair Market Value of such asset as of the date of such contribution;

(b) the Book Values of all Partnership properties shall be adjusted to equal their respective gross Fair Market Values as of the following times (including in connection with any Optional Exchange if reasonably determined by the General Partner to be necessary or appropriate): (i) the acquisition of an interest or additional interest in the Partnership by any new or existing Partner in exchange for more than a de minimis Capital Contribution to the Partnership or the acquisition of an interest or additional interest in the Partnership by any new or existing Partner in exchange for the performance of more than a de minimis amount of services to or for the benefit of the Partnership; (ii) the distribution by the Partnership to a Partner of more than a de minimis amount of Partnership assets as consideration for an interest in the Partnership; (iii) the liquidation of the Partnership within the meaning of Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-1(b)(2)(ii)(g)(1), (iv) the acquisition of an interest in the Partnership by any new or existing Partner upon the exercise of a noncompensatory option in accordance with Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv)(s); or (v) any other event to the extent determined by the General Partner to be permitted and necessary or appropriate to properly reflect Book Values in accordance with the standards set forth in Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv)(q); provided, however, that adjustments pursuant to clauses (i), (ii) and (iv) above shall be made only if the General Partner reasonably determines that such adjustments are necessary or appropriate to reflect the relative economic interests of the Partners in the Partnership. If any noncompensatory options (including the Warrants) are outstanding upon the occurrence of an event described in this subsection (b)(i) through (b)(v), the Partnership shall adjust the Book Values of its properties to properly reflect any change in the Fair Market Value of such noncompensatory options in accordance with Treasury Regulations Sections 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv)(f)(1) and 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv)(h)(2);

 

9


(c) the Book Value of any Partnership asset distributed to any Partner shall be adjusted to equal the gross Fair Market Value of such asset on the date of such distribution;

(d) the Gross Asset Values of Partnership assets shall be increased (or decreased) to reflect any adjustments to the adjusted basis of such assets pursuant to Section 734(b) of the Code (including any such adjustments pursuant to Treasury Regulations Section 1.734-2(b)(1)), but only to the extent that such adjustments are taken into account in determining Capital Accounts pursuant to Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv)(m) and subsection (e) in the definition of “Profits” or “Losses” below or Section 5.03(e); provided, however, that the Book Value of a Partnership assets shall not be adjusted pursuant to this subsection to the extent the General Partner determines that an adjustment pursuant to subsection (b) of this definition is necessary or appropriate in connection with a transaction that would otherwise result in an adjustment pursuant to this subsection (d); and

(e) if the Book Value of a Partnership asset has been determined or adjusted pursuant to subsections (a), (b) or (d) of this definition of Book Value, such Book Value shall thereafter be adjusted by the Depreciation taken into account with respect to such asset for purposes of computing Profits, Losses, and other items allocated pursuant to Article V.

Business Day” means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a day on which national banking associations located in Houston, Texas are closed.

BX Aggregator” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.

BX Permian” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.

Capital Account” means, with respect to any Partner, the capital account maintained for such Partner in accordance with Section 5.01.

Capital Contribution” means, with respect to any Partner, the amount of any cash, cash equivalents, or the initial Book Value of any other property that such Partner contributes (or is deemed to contribute) to the Partnership. Any reference to the Capital Contribution of a Partner will include any Capital Contributions made by a predecessor holder of such Partner’s Units to the extent that such Capital Contribution was made in respect of Units Transferred to such Partner.

Capital Stock” means any and all shares, interests, participations or other equivalents (however designated) of capital stock of a corporation, and any and all equivalent ownership interests in a Person (other than a corporation).

Cash from Ordinary Course Operations” means cash generated from ordinary course operations of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries (taken as a whole) consistent with past practice, excluding, for the avoidance of doubt, cash generated from asset sales or dispositions, capital contributions from the Partners (including the purchase of the Series A Preferred Units pursuant to the Series A Preferred Unit Purchase Agreement) and borrowings of any Indebtedness.

Cash Settlement” means immediately available funds in U.S. dollars in an amount equal to the product of (a) the Share Settlement and (b) the Common Unit Redemption Price.

 

10


Certificate” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.

Change of Control Transaction” means (a) a sale of all or substantially all of the Partnership’s assets determined on a consolidated basis, (b) a sale of a majority of the Partnership’s outstanding Common Units (other than (i) to the Corporation , (ii) in connection with a Common Redemption or Direct Exchange in accordance with Article XI or (iii) to the Permitted Owners) or (c) a sale of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of any Material Subsidiary of the Partnership; in any such case, whether by merger, recapitalization, consolidation, reorganization, combination or otherwise; provided, however, that neither (A) a transaction solely between the Partnership or any of its wholly-owned Subsidiaries, on the one hand, and the Partnership or any of its wholly-owned Subsidiaries, on the other hand, nor (B) a transaction solely for the purpose of changing the jurisdiction of domicile of the Partnership, nor (C) a transaction solely for the purpose of changing the form of entity of the Partnership, nor (D) a sale of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock, whether by merger, recapitalization, consolidation, reorganization, combination or otherwise, shall in each case of clauses (A), (B), (C) and (D) constitute a Change of Control Transaction.

Class A Common Stock” means the Class A Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Corporation.

Class C Common Stock” means the Class C Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Corporation.

COC Notice” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(c).

COC Redeemed Partner” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(c).

COC Redeemed Units” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(c).

COC Redemption” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(c).

COC Redemption Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(c).

COC Redemption Notice” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(c).

COC Redemption Right” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(c).

Code” means the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and any successor statute, as amended from time to time.

Commercial Operation Date” means the date on which a Qualified Project is substantially complete and commercially operable.

Common Redeemed Partner” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.01(a).

Common Redeemed Units” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.01(a).

Common Redemption” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.01(a).

 

11


Common Redemption Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.01(a).

Common Redemption Notice” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.01(a).

Common Redemption Notice Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.01(a).

Common Redemption Right” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.01(a).

Common Stock” means all classes and series of common stock of the Corporation, including the Class A Common Stock and the Class C Common Stock.

Common Unit” means a Unit representing certain Limited Partner Interests of the Limited Partners and having the rights and obligations specified with respect to the Common Units in this Agreement.

Common Unit Percentage Interest” means, with respect to a Partner at a particular time, such Partner’s percentage interest in the Partnership determined by dividing such Partner’s Common Units by the total Common Units of all Partners outstanding at such time. The Common Unit Percentage Interest of each Common Unitholder shall be calculated to the fourth (4th) decimal place, and the Common Unit Percentage Interest with respect to the General Partner Interest and any Series A Preferred Unit shall at all times be zero.

Common Unit Redemption Price” means the average of the volume-weighted closing price for a share of Class A Common Stock on the principal National Securities Exchange or automated or electronic quotation system on which the Class A Common Stock trades, as reported by Bloomberg, L.P., or its successor, for each of the five (5) consecutive full Trading Days ending on and including the last full Trading Day immediately prior to the Common Redemption Notice Date, subject to appropriate and equitable adjustment for any stock splits, reverse splits, stock dividends or similar events affecting the Class A Common Stock. If the Class A Common Stock no longer trades on a securities exchange or automated or electronic quotation system, then the Common Unit Redemption Price shall be the fair market value of one share of Class A Common Stock, as determined by a majority of the Independent Directors in good faith, that would be obtained in an arms-length transaction between an informed and willing buyer and an informed and willing seller, with neither party having any compulsion to buy or sell, and without regard to the particular circumstances of the buyer or seller.

Common Unitholder” means, with respect to each Common Unit, the Unitholder of such Common Unit.

Competitor” means a Person who is engaged, as one of its principal businesses, in the gathering, processing, distribution, transportation, storage, or treatment of water, crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids, condensate, other hydrocarbons, or related substances in either the Permian Basin or the State of Texas (a “Midstream Business”), but excluding any Person whose primary business is being a lender or private equity sponsor to companies engaged in any aspect of, or a passive investor in, a Midstream Business, in each case, other than any Person that directly operates any Midstream Business and any private equity fund that Controls any Person that directly operates a Midstream Business (excluding, for avoidance of doubt, any existing or future private equity funds, investment funds, investment vehicles and managed accounts within a private equity fund enterprise, in each case, that do not Control such a Midstream Business).

 

12


Confidential Information” has the meaning set forth in Section 16.02(a).

Consent and Waiver Letter” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.

Consolidated Net Income” means, for any period, the net income (loss) of the Partnership and its Restricted Subsidiaries for such period determined on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP.

Control” (including with correlative meanings, “Controlled by” and “under common Control with”) means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a Person, whether through ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise.

Corporate Board” means the Board of Directors of the Corporation.

Corporation” means Altus Midstream Company or, whenever required by or consistent with the context of the terms and provisions of this Agreement, any Subsidiary thereof that is not a Group Member.

Corporation Annual Financials” has the meaning set forth in Section 8.01.

Corporation Related Party Transaction Policy and Procedures” means that certain Related Party Transaction Policy and Procedures of the Corporation as in effect on the Series A Issue Date.

Covered Audit Adjustment” means an adjustment to any partnership-related item (within the meaning of Section 6241(2)(B) of the Code) to the extent such adjustment results in an “imputed underpayment” as described in Section 6225(b) of the Code or any analogous provision of state or local Law.

Credit Agreement” means any credit facility or obligation of the Partnership or any of its Subsidiaries, as borrower, including the Existing Credit Agreement while the same is in effect, in each case as may be amended, restated, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time, and including any one or more refinancings or replacements thereof, in whole or in part, with any other debt facility or debt obligation.

Debt” of any Person means indebtedness, including capital leases that are shown as debt on a consolidated balance sheet of such Person prepared in accordance with GAAP and Debt Securities.

Debt Securities” means any and all debt instruments or debt securities that are not convertible or exchangeable into Equity Securities of the Corporation.

Delaware Act” means the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act, 6 Del.C. § 17-101, et seq., as it may be amended from time to time, and any successor thereto.

 

13


Depreciation” means, for each Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period, an amount equal to the depreciation, amortization or other cost recovery deduction allowable for U.S. federal income tax purposes with respect to an asset for such Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period, except that (a) if the Book Value of any such asset differs from its adjusted tax basis for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and if such difference is being eliminated by use of the “remedial method” pursuant to Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-3(d), Depreciation for such Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period shall be the amount of book basis recovered for such Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period under the rules prescribed by Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-3(d)(2), and (b) with respect to any other such asset, the Book Value of which differs from its adjusted tax basis for U.S. federal income tax purposes at the beginning of such Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period, Depreciation shall be an amount which bears the same ratio to such beginning Book Value as the U.S. federal income tax depreciation, amortization or other cost recovery deduction for such Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period bears to such beginning adjusted tax basis; provided, however, that if the adjusted tax basis for U.S. federal income tax purposes of a property at the beginning of such Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period is zero dollars ($0.00), Depreciation with respect to such asset shall be determined with reference to such beginning Book Value using any reasonable method selected by the General Partner.

Direct Exchange” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.03(a).

Distribution” (and, with a correlative meaning, “Distribute”) means each distribution made by the Partnership to a Limited Partner with respect to such Limited Partner’s Units, whether in cash, property or securities of the Partnership and whether by liquidating distribution or otherwise; provided, however, that none of the following shall be a Distribution: (a) any recapitalization that does not result in the distribution of cash or property to Limited Partners or any exchange of securities of the Partnership, and any subdivision (by Unit split or otherwise) or any combination (by reverse Unit split or otherwise) of any outstanding Units, (b) any other payment made by the Partnership to a Limited Partner in redemption of all or a portion of such Limited Partner’s Units or (c) any amounts payable pursuant to Section 6.05.

EagleClaw Contribution Agreement” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.

EagleClaw Contribution Closing” means the closing of the transactions contemplated by the EagleClaw Contribution Agreement.

Earn-Out Consideration” has the meaning set forth in the Apache Contribution Agreement.

EBITDA” means, for any period, the Consolidated Net Income for such period,

(a) excluding, without duplication and to the extent included in determining such consolidated net income: (i) consolidated interest expense for such period, (ii) consolidated income tax expense for such period, (iii) all amounts attributable to depreciation and accretion for such period and amortization of intangible assets for such period, (iv) nonrecurring or unusual noncash gains or losses (including (A) gains and losses in respect of dispositions of assets and (B) impairment charges in respect of tangible or

 

14


intangible assets) for such period, (v) noncash increases and decreases in net income for such period due to the accounting for trading and hedging agreements, (vi) the cumulative effect for such period of a change in accounting principles, (vii) any fees and expenses for such period relating to the Transactions, (viii) the income or loss of any Person other than a Restricted Subsidiary in which the Partnership or any Restricted Subsidiary has an ownership interest, (ix) the income or loss of, and any cash dividends or similar cash distributions paid to, any Restricted Subsidiary that is not wholly owned, directly or indirectly, by the Partnership to the extent such income or loss or such amounts are attributable to the noncontrolling interests in such Restricted Subsidiary, and (x) any undistributed net income of a Restricted Subsidiary to the extent that the ability of such Restricted Subsidiary to make Restricted Payments to the Partnership or another Restricted Subsidiary is, as of the date of determination of “EBITDA” hereunder, restricted by its organizational documents, any contractual obligations (other than any Credit Agreement) or any applicable Law;

(b) (i) during the period commencing on the Series A Issue Date and ending on the fifth (5th) anniversary of the Series A Issue Date, including, without duplication, solely to the extent such amount is included in the calculation of EBITDA (or such similar term, as defined in the Credit Agreement), the amount of any Qualified Project EBITDA Adjustment, if applicable, and which is a reasonable projection of revenue based on an executed midstream contract (provided that the aggregate amount of all Qualified Project EBITDA Adjustments during any period shall be limited to twenty percent (20%) of the total actual consolidated EBITDA of the Partnership and its Restricted Subsidiaries for such period (which total actual consolidated EBITDA shall be determined without including any Qualified Project EBITDA Adjustments) and (ii) thereafter, excluding, the amount of any Qualified Project EBITDA Adjustment;

(c) including, without duplication, any cash dividends or similar cash distributions made by any Person to the Partnership or to any Restricted Subsidiary; and

(d) including, without duplication and solely to the extent such amount is included in the calculation of EBITDA (or such similar term, as defined in the Credit Agreement), the EBITDA of (x) any Restricted Subsidiary or (y) attributable to any business, property or asset acquired (in the case of each of the preceding clauses (x) and (y)) by the Partnership or its Restricted Subsidiaries during such period, including a Qualified Acquisition but not, for the avoidance of doubt, including the EBITDA of any Unrestricted Subsidiary or any business, property or asset acquired by an Unrestricted Subsidiary (each such Person, business, property or asset acquired and not subsequently disposed of, an “Acquired Entity or Business”), based on the actual EBITDA of such Acquired Entity or Business for such period (irrespective, for the avoidance of doubt, of whether such actual EBITDA of such Acquired Entity or Business for such period occurred prior to such acquisition by the Partnership or its Restricted Subsidiaries).

Effective Time” has the meaning set forth in Section 16.16.

Effective Time Series A Redemption” means the redemption of Series A Preferred Units occurring pursuant to the terms of the Consent and Waiver Letter at the Effective Time.

 

15


Effectiveness Period” has the meaning set forth Section 11.06(c)(i).

Equity Plan” means any stock or equity purchase plan, restricted stock or equity plan or other similar equity compensation plan now or hereafter adopted by the Partnership or the Corporation.

Equity Securities” means (a) with respect to the Partnership or any of its Subsidiaries, (i) Units or other equity interests in the Partnership or any Subsidiary of the Partnership (including other classes or groups thereof having such relative rights, powers and duties as may from time to time be established by the General Partner pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement, including rights, powers and/or duties senior to existing classes and groups of Units and other equity interests in the Partnership or any Subsidiary of the Partnership), (ii) obligations, evidences of indebtedness or other securities or interests convertible or exchangeable into Units or other equity interests in the Partnership or any Subsidiary of the Partnership and (iii) warrants, options or other rights to purchase or otherwise acquire Units or other equity interests in the Partnership or any Subsidiary of the Partnership and (b) with respect to the Corporation, any and all shares, interests, participation or other equivalents (however designated) of corporate stock, including all Common Stock and preferred stock, or warrants, options or other rights to acquire any of the foregoing, including any debt instrument convertible or exchangeable into any of the foregoing.

Event of Withdrawal” means the expulsion, bankruptcy or dissolution of a Partner or the occurrence of any other event that terminates the continued partnership of a Partner in the Partnership. “Event of Withdrawal” shall not include an event that does not terminate the existence of such Partner under applicable state law (or, in the case of a trust that is a Partner, does not terminate the trusteeship of the fiduciaries under such trust with respect to all the Limited Partner Interests of such trust that is a Limited Partner).

Excess Tax Amount” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.05(b).

Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

Exchange Election Notice” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.03(b).

Existing Credit Agreement” means the credit facility, dated as of the November 9, 2018, by and among the Partnership, the lenders party thereto, the issuing banks party thereto, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as Administrative Agent, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Syndication Agent, and Citibank, N.A., Bank of America, N.A., the Toronto-Dominion Bank, New York Branch, MUFG Bank Ltd., and the Bank of Nova Scotia, Houston Branch, as Co-Documentation Agents, as amended by the First Amendment thereto, effective as of May 8, 2019, the Second Amendment thereto, dated as of February 7, 2020, and the Limited Waiver and Third Amendment thereto, dated as of October 15, 2021, without giving effect to any other amendments or supplements.

Existing Limited Partnership Agreement” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.

Existing Pipeline Joint Venture” means (i) PHP and (ii) any of the Persons not Controlled by the Partnership but through which the Partnership or any of its Subsidiaries directly or indirectly owns an interest in the pipelines commonly known as the “Shin Oak Pipeline” and the “Gulf Coast Express Pipeline.”

 

16


Fair Market Value” means, with respect to any asset, its fair market value determined according to Article XV.

Fiscal Period” means any interim accounting period within a Taxable Year established by the Partnership and which is permitted or required by Section 706 of the Code.

Fiscal Year” means the Partnership’s annual accounting period established pursuant to Section 8.02.

GAAP” means generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America as in effect from time to time, applied on a basis consistent with the most recent financial statements of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries delivered to the Lenders (as defined in the Credit Agreement) pursuant to the Credit Agreement.

General Partner” means Altus Midstream GP LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and its successors and permitted assigns as general partner of the Partnership. The General Partner, in its capacity as such, has no obligation to make Capital Contributions or right to receive Distributions under this Agreement.

General Partner Interest” means the non-economic management interest of the General Partner in the Partnership (in its capacity as a general partner without reference to any Limited Partner Interest held by it) and includes any and all rights, powers and benefits to which the General Partner is entitled as provided in this Agreement, together with all obligations of the General Partner to comply with the terms and provisions of this Agreement. The General Partner Interest does not include any rights to Profits or Losses or any rights to receive Distributions from operations or upon the liquidation or winding-up of the Partnership.

Governmental Entity” means any legislature, court, tribunal, authority, agency, commission, division, board, bureau, branch, official or other instrumentality of the United States, or any domestic state, county, city or other political subdivision, governmental department or similar governing entity, and including any governmental body exercising similar powers of authority and jurisdiction, in each case with jurisdiction over the parties hereto or their respective businesses.

Group Member” means any of the Partnership or any Subsidiary thereof.

Indebtedness” of any Person means all (a) Debt and (b) guaranties or other contingent obligations in respect of the Debt of any other Person.

Indemnified Person” has the meaning set forth in Section 7.04(a).

Independent Directors” means the members of the Corporate Board who are “independent” under the standards set forth in Rule 10A-3 promulgated under the Securities Act and the corresponding rules of the applicable exchange on which the Class A Common Stock is traded or quoted.

 

17


Initial Period” has the meaning assigned to such term in the Existing Credit Agreement.

Investment Company Act” means the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended from time to time.

IRR” means, with respect to each outstanding Series A Preferred Unit (excluding any Series A PIK Unit), as of any time of determination, the actual annual rate of return on the Series A Issue Price, taking into account any cash Distributed in respect of such Series A Preferred Unit by the Partnership, including any cash Distributions and Tax Advances paid in respect of, and any amounts of cash paid in redemption of, such Series A Preferred Unit. IRR shall be calculated using the XIRR function in the most recent version of Microsoft Excel. For the avoidance of doubt, in no event shall any calculation of IRR take into account (a) any transaction expenses of the Series A Preferred Unitholders reimbursed by the Partnership or the Corporation, (b) any payments or accretions to the Series A Investment Amount in respect of the Series A Distribution Default Rate, any payments made to the Series A Preferred Unitholders pursuant to Article 7 of the Series A Preferred Unit Purchase Agreement or any payments made to the Series A Preferred Unitholders pursuant to Section 11.06 or arising out of the remedies permitted in Section 16.18 or (c) any payments made to the Series A Preferred Unitholders pursuant to the Consent and Waiver Letter, other than payments made pursuant to the Effective Time Series A Redemption.

ISQ Partner” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.

Issuable Maximum” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.05(e).

Joinder” means a joinder to this Agreement, in form and substance substantially similar to Exhibit A to this Agreement.

JV Asset Disposition” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(d).

JV Asset Disposition Redemption” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(d).

JV Asset Disposition Redemption Amount” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(d).

Law” means any applicable constitutional provision, statute, act, code (including the Code), law, regulation, rule, order or decree of a Governmental Entity.

Limited Partner” means, as of any date of determination, (a) each of the partners named on the Schedule of Limited Partners and (b) any Person admitted to the Partnership as a Substituted Limited Partner or Additional Limited Partner in accordance with Article XII, but in each case only so long as such Person is shown on the Partnership’s books and records as the owner of one or more Units.

Limited Partner Interest” means the interest of a Partner in Profits and Losses (or items thereof) and Distributions.

Liquidated Damages Multiplier” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.06(c)(ii).

 

18


Liquidation Date” means the date on which an event giving rise to the dissolution of the Partnership occurs.

Liquidation Exchange” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.05(d).

Liquidation Exchange Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.05(d).

Liquidation Exchange Notice” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.05(d).

Liquidation Exchange Right” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.05(d).

Liquidation Exchanged Units” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.05(d).

Liquidation Exchanging Partner” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.05(d).

Market Price” means, with respect to a share of Class A Common Stock as of a specified date, the last sale price per share of Class A Common Stock, regular way, or if no such sale took place on such day, the average of the closing bid and asked prices per share of Class A Common Stock, regular way, in either case as reported in the principal consolidated transaction reporting system with respect to securities listed or admitted to trading on the Stock Exchange or, if the Class A Common Stock is not listed or admitted to trading on the Stock Exchange, as reported on the principal consolidated transaction reporting system with respect to securities listed on the principal National Securities Exchange on which the Class A Common Stock is listed or admitted to trading or, if the Class A Common Stock is not listed or admitted to trading on any National Securities Exchange, the last quoted price, or, if not so quoted, the average of the high bid and low asked prices in the over-the-counter market, as reported by the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. Automated Quotation System or, if such system is no longer in use, the principal other automated quotation system that may then be in use or, if the Class A Common Stock is not quoted by any such organization, the average of the closing bid and asked prices as furnished by a professional market maker making a market in the Class A Common Stock selected by the Corporate Board or, in the event that no trading price is available for the shares of Class A Common Stock, the fair market value of a share of Class A Common Stock, as determined in good faith by the Corporate Board.

Material Asset Disposition” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(d).

Material Subsidiary” means any direct or indirect Subsidiary of the Partnership that, as of any date of determination, represents more than (a) fifty percent (50%) of the consolidated net tangible assets of the Partnership or (b) fifty percent (50%) of the consolidated net income of the Partnership before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. For purposes of this Agreement, PHP shall not be considered a Subsidiary or Material Subsidiary of the Partnership.

Midstream Business” has the meaning set forth in the definition of “Competitor.”

MOIC” means, with respect to each outstanding Series A Preferred Unit (excluding any Series A PIK Unit), as of any time of determination, the number obtained by dividing (a) the cumulative amount of any cash Distributed in respect of such Series A Preferred Unit by the Partnership, including any cash Distributions and Tax Advances paid in respect of, and any

 

19


amounts of cash paid in redemption of, such Series A Preferred Unit by (b) the Series A Issue Price. For the avoidance of doubt, in no event shall any calculation of MOIC take into account (i) any transaction expenses of the Series A Preferred Unitholders reimbursed by the Partnership or the Corporation, (ii) any payments or accretions to the Series A Investment Amount in respect of the Series A Distribution Default Rate, any payments made to the Series A Preferred Unitholders pursuant to Article 7 of the Series A Preferred Unit Purchase Agreement or any payments made to the Series A Preferred Unitholders pursuant to Section 11.06 or arising out of the remedies permitted in Section 16.18 or (iii) any payments made to the Series A Preferred Unitholders pursuant to the Consent and Waiver Letter, other than payments made pursuant to the Effective Time Series A Redemption.

National Securities Exchange” means any of the following markets or exchanges: the NASDAQ Capital Market, the NASDAQ Global Market, the NASDAQ Global Select Market, the New York Stock Exchange or the NYSE American (or any successors to any of the foregoing).

New BCP Raptor” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.

Officer(s)” has the meaning set forth in Section 6.01(b).

Optional Exchange” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.05(a).

Optional Exchange Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.05(a).

Optional Exchange Notice” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.05(a).

Optional Exchange Notice Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.05(a).

Optional Exchange Retraction Notice” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.05(b).

Optional Exchange Right” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.05(a).

Optional Exchange Settlement Method Notice” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.05(b).

Optional Exchanged Units” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.05(a).

Optional Exchanging Partner” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.05(a).

Optionee” means a Person to whom a stock option is granted under any Stock Option Plan.

Other Agreements” has the meaning set forth in Section 10.04.

Partner” means the General Partner or any Limited Partner.

Partner Minimum Gain” means “partner nonrecourse debt minimum gain” as set forth in Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-2(i)(3).

Partnership” has the meaning set forth in the preamble to this Agreement.

 

20


Partnership Employee” means an employee of, or other service provider to, the Partnership or any of its Subsidiaries, in each case acting in such capacity.

Partnership Level Taxes” means any U.S. federal, state, or local taxes, additions to tax, penalties, and interest with respect to such taxes payable by any Group Member as a result of any examination of any Group Member’s affairs by any U.S. federal, state, or local tax authorities, including resulting administrative and judicial proceedings under the Partnership Tax Audit Rules.

Partnership Minimum Gain” means “partnership minimum gain” determined pursuant to Treasury Regulations Sections 1.704-2(b)(2) and 1.704-2(d).

Partnership Representative” has the meaning set forth in Section 9.04.

Partnership Tax Audit Rules” means Sections 6221 through 6241 of the Code, together with any final, temporary or, to the extent taxpayers are permitted to rely upon them, proposed Treasury Regulations, Revenue Rulings, and case law interpreting Sections 6221 through 6241 of the Code (and any analogous provision of state or local tax Law).

Partnership Unaudited Annual Financials” has the meaning set forth in Section 8.01.

Permitted Lender” means a commercial or investment bank that, as of the time of determination, has a senior, non-credit enhanced long-term indebtedness rating of at least BBB+ or Baa1 from Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLP or Moody’s Investor Services, respectively.

Permitted Loan” means any bona fide loans or other extensions of credit entered into by a Series A Preferred Unitholder or any of its Affiliates with one or more Permitted Lenders for the purposes of acquiring or otherwise financing the acquisition of Series A Preferred Units and secured in whole or in part by a pledge, hypothecation or other grant of a security interest in such Series A Preferred Units.

Permitted Owners” means the Corporation and its Subsidiaries, APA and its Affiliates, the Blackstone Partners and their respective Affiliates (other than their and their Affiliates’ respective portfolio companies), and ISQ Partner and its Affiliates (other than its and their respective portfolio companies).

Permitted Transfer” has the meaning set forth in Section 10.01(b).

Person” means any individual, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, association, joint stock company, trust, enterprise, unincorporated organization or Governmental Entity.

PHP” means Permian Highway Pipeline LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.

Pipeline Joint Venture” means any Person not Controlled by the Partnership but through which the Partnership or any of its Subsidiaries indirectly owns an interest in a water, oil, natural gas or natural gas liquids midstream or upstream business with one or more joint venture partners, including the Existing Pipeline Joint Ventures.

 

21


Pro rata,” “proportional,” “in proportion to” and other similar terms, means, with respect to the holder of Units, pro rata based upon the number of Units of a particular class or series held by such holder as compared to the total number of Units of that class or series outstanding.

Profits” or “Losses” means, for each Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period, an amount equal to the Partnership’s taxable income or loss, respectively, for such year or period, determined in accordance with Code Section 703(a) (for this purpose, all items of income, gain, loss, or deduction required to be stated separately pursuant to Code Section 703(a)(1) shall be included in taxable income or loss), with the following adjustments (without duplication):

(a) The computation of all items of income, gain, loss and deduction shall include those items described in Code Section 705(a)(1)(B) or Code Section 705(a)(2)(B) and Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv)(i), without regard to the fact that such items are not includable in gross income or are not deductible for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

(b) If the Book Value of any Partnership asset is adjusted pursuant to subsection (b) or (c) of the definition of Book Value above, the amount of such adjustment shall be taken into account (except to the extent allocated pursuant to Section 5.03) as gain or loss from the disposition of such asset.

(c) Items of income, gain, loss or deduction attributable to the disposition of a Partnership asset having a Book Value that differs from its adjusted basis for tax purposes shall be computed by reference to the Book Value of such asset.

(d) In lieu of the depreciation, amortization and other cost recovery deductions taken into account in computing Profits or Losses, there shall be taken into account Depreciation for such Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period.

(e) To the extent an adjustment to the adjusted tax basis of any Partnership asset pursuant to Code Section 734(b) is required, pursuant to Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv)(m)(4), to be taken into account in determining Capital Accounts as a result of a distribution other than in liquidation of a Partner’s interest in the Partnership, the amount of such adjustment to the Capital Accounts shall be treated as an item of gain (if the adjustment increases the basis of the asset) or loss (if the adjustment decreases such basis) from the disposition of such asset.

(f) Items specially allocated under Section 5.03 shall be excluded from the computation of Profits and Losses, but such items available to be specially allocated pursuant to Section 5.03 will be determined by applying rules analogous to those set forth in subparagraphs (a) through (e) above.

If the Partnership’s taxable income or taxable loss for a Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period, as adjusted in the manner provided above in clauses (a) through (f) above, is (A) a positive amount, such amount shall be the Profits for such Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period, or (B) a negative amount, such amount shall be the Losses for such Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period.

 

22


Qualified Acquisition” means any one or more transactions (a) pursuant to which the Partnership or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries acquires, for an aggregate purchase price of not less than $35,000,000, (i) more than 50% (or if such percent or more is already owned, any additional incremental amount) of the issued and outstanding Capital Stock of any other Person or (ii) other property or assets of, or of any operating division or business unit of, any other Person (other than acquisitions of Capital Stock of such Person and acquisitions by the Partnership or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of inventory or supplies in the ordinary course of business) and (b) which is designated by the Partnership by a Qualified Acquisition Notice.

Qualified Acquisition Closing Date” means the closing date for a Qualified Acquisition.

Qualified Acquisition Notice” means the Partnership’s written notice (i) of its election to designate a transaction as a Qualified Acquisition and (ii) delivered to the Series A Preferred Unitholders on or after the Qualified Acquisition Closing Date.

Qualified Project” means the acquisition, construction or expansion of any capital project by the Partnership or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries, the aggregate capital cost of which exceeds or is reasonably expected to exceed $20,000,000.

Qualified Project EBITDA Adjustment” means with respect to each Qualified Project:

(a) prior to the Commercial Operation Date of a Qualified Project (but including the fiscal quarter in which such Commercial Operation Date occurs), a percentage (based on the then-current completion percentage of such Qualified Project) of an amount (determined by the Partnership in good faith in a commercially reasonable manner and certified by the chief financial officer of the general partner of the Partnership) equal to the projected consolidated EBITDA attributable to such Qualified Project for the first twelve-month period following the scheduled Commercial Operation Date of such Qualified Project (such amount referred to as “Projected Post-Operation EBITDA” and to be determined based on projected revenues from such Qualified Project, scheduled Commercial Operation Date, and other reasonable factors), which may, at the Partnership’s option, be added to actual consolidated EBITDA for the fiscal quarter in which construction of such Qualified Project commences and for each fiscal quarter thereafter until the Commercial Operation Date of such Qualified Project (including the fiscal quarter in which such Commercial Operation Date occurs, but net of any actual consolidated EBITDA attributable to such Qualified Project following such Commercial Operation Date); provided that if the actual Commercial Operation Date does not occur by the scheduled Commercial Operation Date, then the foregoing amount shall be reduced, for quarters ending after the scheduled Commercial Operation Date to (but excluding) the first full quarter after its actual Commercial Operation Date, by the following percentage amounts depending on the period of delay (based on the period of actual delay or then-estimated delay, whichever is longer): (i) 90 days or less, 0%, (ii) longer than 90 days, but not more than 180 days, 25%, (iii) longer than 180 days but not more than 270 days, 50%, (iv) longer than 270 days but not more than 365 days, 75%, and (v) longer than 365 days, 100%; provided, further, however, that if the Commercial Operation Date occurs on a date other than the last day of a fiscal quarter, then the applicable reduction shall beprorated by multiplying the applicable reduction percent by a fraction, the numerator of which is the

 

23


number of days during the period beginning on the scheduled Commercial Operation Date through (and including) the last day before the actual Commercial Operation Date and the denominator of which is the number of days during the period beginning on (and including) the scheduled Commercial Operation Date through (and including) the last day of the fiscal quarter during which the actual Commercial Operation Date occurs; and

(b) for each of the first four full fiscal quarters after the Commercial Operation Date, the difference between Projected Post-Operation EBITDA and actual consolidated EBITDA through the end of the applicable quarter attributable to such Qualified Project; provided that, in the event such actual consolidated EBITDA shall materially differ from Projected Post-Operation EBITDA through the end of the applicable quarter, Projected Post-Operation EBITDA shall be redetermined in respect of the then unexpired portion of the first four fiscal quarters after the Commercial Operation Date in the same manner as set forth in clause (a) above, such amount to be approved by the administrative agent under the Credit Agreement, which may, at the Partnership’s option, be added to actual consolidated EBITDA for the Partnership and its Restricted Subsidiaries for such fiscal quarters.

Notwithstanding the foregoing:

(i) the aggregate amount of all Qualified Project EBITDA Adjustments during any period shall be limited to twenty percent (20%) of the total actual consolidated EBITDA of the Partnership and its Restricted Subsidiaries for such period (which total actual consolidated EBITDA shall be determined without including any Qualified Project EBITDA Adjustments); and

(ii) for the avoidance of doubt, the foregoing consolidated EBITDA adjustments shall be adjusted with respect to the portion of consolidated EBITDA which would be attributable to any non-wholly owned Subsidiaries of the Partnership to reflect only the Partnership’s pro rata ownership interest in such Subsidiaries and joint ventures.

Quarter” means a fiscal quarter of the Partnership.

Reclassification Event” means any of the following: (a) any reclassification or recapitalization of Common Stock (other than a change in par value, or from par value to no par value, or from no par value to par value, or as a result of a subdivision or combination or any transaction subject to Section 3.04), (b) any merger, consolidation or other combination involving the Corporation or (c) any sale, conveyance, lease or other disposal of all or substantially all the properties and assets of the Corporation to any other Person, in each of clauses (a), (b) or (c), as a result of which holders of Common Stock shall be entitled to receive cash, securities or other property for their shares of Common Stock.

Record Date” means the date established by the General Partner or otherwise in accordance with this Agreement for determining (a) the identity of the Unitholders entitled to notice of, or to vote at, any meeting of Limited Partners or entitled to vote by ballot or give approval of Partnership action in writing or by electronic transmission without a meeting or entitled to exercise rights in respect of any lawful action of Limited Partners or (b) the identity of Unitholders entitled to receive any report or Distribution or to participate in any offer.

 

24


Refinancing” means, following the date hereof, the refinancing of the Debt of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries, including the Existing Credit Agreement.

Registration Default” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.06(c)(ii).

Registration Rights Agreement” means that certain Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of the date hereof, by and between the Corporation, Apache Partner, BX Aggregator, BX Permian, ISQ Partner and the other parties thereto (together with any joinder thereto from time to time by any successor or assign to any party to such Agreement).

Regulatory Allocations” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.03(f).

Related Person” has the meaning set forth in Section 7.01(c).

Relative” means, with respect to any natural person: (a) such natural person’s spouse; (b) any lineal descendant, parent, grandparent, great grandparent or sibling or any lineal descendant of such sibling (in each case whether by blood or legal adoption); and (c) the spouse of a natural person described in clause (b) of this definition.

Reporting Partner” has the meaning set forth in Section 9.03.

Representatives” has the meaning set forth in Section 16.02(a).

Requisite Stockholder Approval” has the meaning assigned to such term in the Series A Preferred Unit Purchase Agreement.

Restricted Payment” means, with respect to any Person, any dividend or other distribution (whether in cash, securities or other property) by a Person with respect to any Capital Stock issued by such Person or any payment (whether in cash, securities or other property) by a Person on account of the purchase, redemption, retirement, acquisition, cancellation or termination of Capital Stock issued by such Person or of any option, warrant or other right to acquire any such Capital Stock.

Restricted Subsidiary” means any Subsidiary of the Partnership that is not an Unrestricted Subsidiary.

Retraction Notice” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.01(b).

Sanctions” means economic or financial sanctions or trade embargoes imposed, administered or enforced from time to time by (a) the U.S. government, including those administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury or the U.S. Department of State, or (b) the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, any European Union member state or Her Majesty’s Treasury of the United Kingdom.

Schedule of Limited Partners” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.01(b).

SEC” means the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including any governmental body or agency succeeding to the functions thereof.

 

25


Securities Act” means the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and applicable rules and regulations thereunder, and any successor to such statute, rules or regulations. Any reference herein to a specific section, rule or regulation of the Securities Act shall be deemed to include any corresponding provisions of future Law.

Series A Cash Settlement” means, with respect to each Series A Preferred Unit for which the Partnership elects to settle an Optional Exchange in cash pursuant to Section 11.05, immediately available funds in U.S. dollars in an amount equal to the Series A Redemption Price for such Series A Preferred Unit (substituting the applicable Optional Exchange Date for the term “Series A Redemption Date” in the definition of “Series A Redemption Price”).

Series A Change of Control” means a Change of Control Transaction or any of the following:

(a) the acquisition, directly or indirectly, in one or a series of related transactions and however structured, including by way of any consolidation, conversion, merger or other similar business combination of any nature, of more than fifty percent (50%) of the beneficial ownership of the voting equity interests of the Corporation by any Person or group (other than the Permitted Owners);

(b) the acquisition, directly or indirectly, in one or a series of related transactions and however structured, including by way of any consolidation, conversion, merger or other similar business combination of any nature, of more than fifty percent (50%) of the beneficial ownership of voting equity interests of the General Partner by any Person or group (other than the Corporation and the Permitted Owners);

(c) the Corporation, the Partnership, or any of their respective Subsidiaries becoming subject to registration as an investment company pursuant to the Investment Company Act; provided that, for the avoidance of doubt, during any period that any such Person is exempt from registration under the Investment Company Act pursuant to Rule 3a-2 promulgated under the Investment Company Act, Section 3(b)(2) of the Investment Company Act, or other exemption that is or becomes available under applicable law, such Person shall not be considered subject to registration as an investment company under the Investment Company Act;

(d) the Corporation ceases to directly own at least one percent (1%) of the outstanding Common Units;

(e) any Transfer, directly or indirectly, in one or a series of related transactions and however structured, including by way of any consolidation, conversion, merger or other similar business combination of any nature, of Common Units in the Partnership by the Corporation unless such Transfer would not result in the Corporation owning less than fifty percent (50%) of the outstanding Common Units;

(f) the Class A Common Stock is no longer listed or admitted to trading on a National Securities Exchange; or

 

26


(g) any dissolution, liquidation or winding-up of the Partnership or the General Partner;

provided, however, that neither (i) a transaction solely between the Partnership or any of its Subsidiaries, on the one hand, and the Partnership or any of its Subsidiaries, on the other hand, nor (ii) a transaction solely for the purpose of changing the jurisdiction of domicile of the Partnership, nor (iii) a transaction solely for the purpose of changing the form of entity of the Partnership, shall in each case of clauses (i), (ii) and (iii) constitute a Series A Change of Control; provided, further, that for purposes of determining indirect ownership in clauses (a) through (b), ownership by any person or group or changes in ownership of APA or any entity Controlling APA shall not be considered indirect ownership of the Corporation or any of its Subsidiaries.

Series A Distribution Amount” means an amount per Quarter equal to the applicable Series A Distribution Rate (or the Series A Distribution Rate plus the Series A Distribution Default Rate, if and when applicable) multiplied by the Series A Investment Amount; provided, that the Series A Distribution Amount will be calculated based on a 360-day year consisting of four (4) ninety-day (90-day) Quarters.

Series A Distribution Default Rate” means an additional percentage per annum equal to the Series A Payment Default Percentage, cumulative to the Series A Distribution Rate, computed on the basis of a 360-day year comprised of 30-day months.

Series A Distribution Payment Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 4.01(b)(i).

Series A Distribution Rate” means (a) in respect of each Quarter ending on or before December 31, 2023, seven percent (7%) per annum and (b) in respect of each Quarter ending after December 31, 2023, ten percent (10%) per annum, each computed on the basis of a 360-day year comprised of 30-day months.

Series A Exchange Amount” means, with respect to any Series A Preferred Unit, a number of shares of Class A Common Stock equal to the Series A Redemption Price (substituting the applicable Optional Exchange Date for the term “Series A Redemption Date” in the definition of “Series A Redemption Price”) divided by the Series A Reference Price, as such amount may be adjusted in accordance with Section 11.05(f).

Series A Initial Distribution Period” has the meaning set forth in Section 4.01(b)(i).

Series A Investment Amount” means, with respect to each Series A Preferred Unit (including any Series A PIK Units), the Series A Issue Price plus any Series A Unpaid Distributions with respect to such Series A Preferred Unit.

Series A Issue Date” means June 12, 2019.

Series A Issue Price” means $1,000 per Series A Preferred Unit.

Series A Junior Securities” means any class or series of Units that, with respect to Distributions on such Units and Distributions upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Partnership or maturity or redemption of such Units, ranks junior to the Series A Preferred Units, including Common Units, but excluding any Series A Parity Securities and Series A Senior Securities.

 

27


Series A Parity Securities” means any class or series of Units that, with respect to Distributions on such Units or Distributions upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Partnership, ranks pari passu with (but not senior to) the Series A Preferred Units, but shall not include any Series A Senior Securities.

Series A Payment Default Percentage” means, with respect to each Series A Preferred Unit, as applicable: (a) during any period for which there are any unpaid Series A Quarterly Distributions but no unpaid Distributions required to be made pursuant to Section 4.01(d), two percent (2%) per annum; (b) during any period for which there are unpaid Distributions required to be made pursuant to Section 4.01(d) but no unpaid Series A Quarterly Distributions, one and one half percent (1.5%) per annum; (c) during any period for which there are any unpaid Series A Quarterly Distributions and any unpaid Distributions required to be made pursuant to Section 4.01(d), three and one half percent (3.5%) per annum; provided that, the “Series A Payment Default Percentage” shall instead be, (i) in the event the Partnership fails to pay in cash any portion of the Series A Quarterly Distributions required to be paid in cash pursuant to Section 4.01(b) for two (2) consecutive Quarters, (A) for purposes of preceding clause (a), four percent (4%) per annum; and (B) for purposes of preceding clause (c), five and one half percent (5.5%) per annum and (ii) in the event the Corporation fails to obtain Requisite Stockholder Approval in respect of an exchange of any Series A Preferred Units or a Series A Restricted Action occurs, for all purposes of this definition, five and one half percent (5.5%) per annum. For the avoidance of doubt, during any period for which there are no unpaid Series A Quarterly Distributions or unpaid Distributions required to be made pursuant to Section 4.01(d) or if at a given time the Corporation has not failed to obtain Requisite Stockholder Approval in respect of an exchange of any Series A Preferred Units or a Series A Restricted Action has not occurred, the Series A Payment Default Percentage shall be zero. For purposes of this definition, Distributions shall be treated as required to be made pursuant to Section 4.01(d) notwithstanding whether or not the Partnership has available proceeds or cash therefor.

Series A PIK Payment Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 4.01(b)(ii).

Series A PIK Units” means any Series A Preferred Units issued as part of a Series A Quarterly Distribution in accordance with Section 4.01(b)(ii).

Series A Preferred Representative” means MTP Energy Management LLC or such other Series A Preferred Unitholder as agreed to by the Series A Preferred Unitholders representing the Series A Required Voting Percentage.

Series A Preferred Unit Closing” has the meaning given the term “Closing” in the Series A Preferred Unit Purchase Agreement.

Series A Preferred Unit Drag Notice” has the meaning set forth in Section 10.02(d).

Series A Preferred Unit Drag Price” has the meaning set forth in Section 10.02(d).

Series A Preferred Unit Drag Transaction” has the meaning set forth in Section 10.02(d).

 

28


Series A Preferred Unit Percentage Interest” means, with respect to a Partner at a particular time, such Partner’s percentage interest in the Partnership determined by dividing such Partner’s Series A Preferred Units by the total Series A Preferred Units of all Partners outstanding at such time. The Series A Preferred Unit Percentage Interest of each Series A Preferred Unitholder shall be calculated to the fourth (4th) decimal place, and the Series A Preferred Unit Percentage Interest with respect to the General Partner Interest and any Common Unit shall at all times be zero.

Series A Preferred Unit Purchase” means the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Series A Preferred Unit Purchase Agreement.

Series A Preferred Unit Purchase Agreement” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.

Series A Preferred Unitholder” means, with respect to each Series A Preferred Unit, the Unitholder of such Series A Preferred Unit.

Series A Preferred Unitholder Permitted Transfer” means, with respect to any Series A Preferred Unitholder, (a) a Transfer of all or any portion of the Series A Preferred Units of such Series A Preferred Unitholder to (i) an Affiliate of such Series A Preferred Unitholder, (ii) any other Series A Preferred Unitholder or an Affiliate thereof, (iii) any private equity fund, investment fund, investment vehicle or managed accounts managed by Magnetar Financial LLC or CALTM Holdings, LLC or an Affiliate or limited partner of any such private equity fund, investment fund, investment vehicle or managed account or (iv) an investor holding direct or indirect passive non-Controlling Equity Securities in such Series A Preferred Unitholder or one of its Affiliates in accordance with the constituent terms of the governing documents of such Series A Preferred Unitholder or such Affiliate; provided that, for so long as no Series A Restricted Action has occurred that has not been cured by a Series A Remediation and except for any transfer of Series A Preferred Units by a Series A Preferred Unitholder to another Series A Preferred Unitholder, no transferee in clauses (i) through (iv) above may be a Competitor, and (b) a pledge of all or any portion of the Series A Preferred Units of such Series A Preferred Unitholder to a Permitted Lender in connection with a Permitted Loan or the foreclosure of any such pledged Series A Preferred Units by a pledgee or counterparty who has foreclosed or exercised remedies or rights on any such pledged Series A Preferred Units.

Series A Preferred Units” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.12(a).

Series A Purpose” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.04.

Series A Quarterly Distribution” has the meaning set forth in Section 4.01(b)(i).

Series A Redeemed Units” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(a).

Series A Redemption” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(a).

Series A Redemption Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(a).

Series A Redemption Notice” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(a).

 

29


Series A Redemption Notice Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.04(a).

Series A Redemption Price” means a dollar amount per Series A Preferred Unit (excluding any Series A PIK Units) equal to (a) the greater of (i) a 1.3x MOIC and (ii) an IRR of (A) 11.5% (accruing from the Series A Issue Date) with respect to a Series A Redemption Date occurring on or before December 31, 2023, or (B) 15% (accruing from the Series A Issue Date) with respect to a Series A Redemption Date occurring after December 31, 2023 plus (b) (i) to the extent any Distribution arrearages are owed in respect of such Series A Preferred Unit as of such date of determination, the portion of such arrearages attributable to the accrual in respect of the Series A Distribution Default Rate and (ii) any unpaid amounts owed to the Series A Preferred Unitholders pursuant to Section 11.06(c)(ii).

Series A Reference Price” means the volume-weighted average price for a share of Class A Common Stock on the principal National Securities Exchange or automated or electronic quotation system on which the Class A Common Stock is listed or admitted for trading, as reported by Bloomberg, L.P., or its successor, for the twenty (20) Trading Days immediately preceding the second (2nd) Trading Day prior to the applicable Optional Exchange Date or the Liquidation Exchange Date, as the case may be, less six percent (6%).

Series A Registration Rights Agreement” means that certain Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of the Series A Preferred Unit Closing, by and among the Corporation and the Series A Preferred Unitholders.

Series A Remediation” means, with respect to any Series A Restricted Action, the Partnership has, within sixty (60) days of receipt of notice of a Series A Preferred Unitholder’s intent to Transfer Series A Preferred Units to a Competitor, cured such Series A Restricted Action to the reasonable satisfaction of such Series A Preferred Unitholder.

Series A Required Minimum” means (a) prior to the sixth (6th) anniversary of the Series A Issue Date, 16,500,000 shares of Class A Common Stock and (b) following the sixth (6th) anniversary of the Series A Issue Date, 16,500,000 or such greater number of shares of Class A Common Stock necessary to effect the Optional Exchange or Liquidation Exchange of all the then-outstanding Series A Preferred Units, as determined by the Corporate Board.

Series A Required Voting Percentage” means greater than sixty-seven percent (67%) of the outstanding Series A Preferred Units held by the Series A Preferred Unitholders, voting separately as a class, and excluding any Series A Preferred Units held by APA, the Corporation, Apache Partner, the General Partner, the Blackstone Partners, ISQ Partner and any of their respective Controlled Affiliates.

Series A Restricted Action” means any of the following: (a) the General Partner (or any Officer thereof) or the Partnership taking any action in violation of Section 6.01(e) or any other action that expressly requires approval of any Series A Preferred Unitholder pursuant to this Agreement without obtaining such approval of such Series A Preferred Unitholder, (b) the Partnership’s failure to pay in cash any portion of the Series A Distribution Amount required to be paid in cash pursuant to Section 4.01(b) or Distributions required to be paid pursuant to Section 4.01(d), in each case, for eight (8) consecutive Quarters, (c) any material breach that is

 

30


materially adverse to the Partnership, its Subsidiaries or the Series A Preferred Unitholders by the Corporation, APA or any of their respective Affiliates (other than the Partnership and its Subsidiaries) of any of their respective obligations under any of the APA Material Agreements or any agreement with any of the Pipeline Joint Ventures and, to the extent such breach is reasonably capable of being cured, the Corporation, APA or any of their respective Affiliates (other than the Partnership and its Subsidiaries), as applicable, has not cured such breach within ninety (90) days after receipt of written notice thereof by such Series A Preferred Unitholder, and (d) any material noncompliance by the Corporation with the Corporation Conflicts Committee Charter or the Corporation Related Party Transaction Policy and Procedures that has not been cured within ninety (90) days after receipt of written notice thereof by any Series A Preferred Unitholder which cure shall include, at a minimum, termination of the transaction or series of related transactions for which compliance by the Corporation with the Corporation Conflicts Committee Charter or the Corporation Related Party Transaction Policy and Procedures is required pursuant to the terms thereof.

Series A Senior Securities” means any class or series of Units that, with respect to Distributions on such Units or Distributions upon liquidation of the Partnership, ranks senior to the Series A Preferred Units.

Series A Unpaid Distribution” means the portion of any Series A Quarterly Distribution not paid in cash or, if during the Series A Initial Distribution Period, not paid in Series A PIK Units, in each case, in accordance with Section 4.01(b)(i) on the Series A Distribution Payment Date or Series A PIK Payment Date, as applicable, for such Quarter.

Settlement Method Notice” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.01(b).

Share Settlement” means a number of shares of Class A Common Stock equal to the number of Common Redeemed Units.

Sponsor Person” has the meaning set forth in Section 7.04(d).

Stand-Alone Margin Tax Liability” has the meaning set forth in Section 9.03.

Stock Exchange” means the NASDAQ Capital Market or such other National Securities Exchange as the Class A Common Stock is then listed for trading.

Stock Option Plan” means any stock option plan now or hereafter adopted by the Partnership or by the Corporation.

Stockholders Agreement” means that certain Amended and Restated Stockholders Agreement, dated as of the date of the EagleClaw Contribution Closing, by and among BX Aggregator, BX Permian, ISQ Partner, APA Corporation, Apache Partner, the Corporation, New BCP Raptor and, for limited purpose set forth therein, Raptor.

Subsidiary” means, with respect to a Person, any Person, whether incorporated or unincorporated, of which (a) more than fifty percent (50%) of the securities or ownership interests having by their terms ordinary voting power to elect a majority of the board of directors or other Persons performing similar functions, (b) a general partner interest or (c) a managing member

 

31


interest, is directly or indirectly owned or Controlled by the subject Person or by one or more of its respective Subsidiaries. For purposes hereof, references to a “Subsidiary” of the Partnership shall be given effect only at such times that the Partnership has one or more Subsidiaries, and, unless otherwise indicated, the term “Subsidiary” refers to a Subsidiary of the Partnership.

Substituted Limited Partner” has the meaning set forth in Section 12.01.

Tax Advance” has the meaning set forth in Section 4.01(d)(ii).

Tax Advance Date” means any date that is three (3) Business Days prior to the date on which estimated U.S. federal income tax payments are required to be made by corporate taxpayers and the due date for U.S. federal income tax returns of corporate taxpayers (without regard to extensions).

Tax Contribution Obligation” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.05(b).

Tax-Exempt Partner” means any (a) direct partner, member or owner of Series A Preferred Units or (b) indirect partner, member, or owner of Series A Preferred Units holding such Units through one or more partnerships or other pass-through entities that is, in either case, a “tax-exempt entity” (unless such Person would be subject to tax under Code Section 511 on all income from the Partnership) or “tax-exempt controlled entity” (unless with respect to a “tax-exempt controlled entity,” an election is made under Code Section 168(h)(6)(F)(ii)) as those terms are defined in Code Section 168(h).

Tax Offset” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.05(b).

Taxable Year” means the Partnership’s accounting period for U.S. federal income tax purposes determined pursuant to Section 9.02.

Total Leverage Ratio” means, as of the date of determination, the ratio of (a) the consolidated Indebtedness of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries (other than Unrestricted Subsidiaries) on the date of such calculation to (b) EBITDA of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries (other than Unrestricted Subsidiaries) for the twelve (12) months ending immediately before such date.

Total Separate Company Margin Tax Liability” has the meaning set forth in Section 9.03.

Trading Day” means a day on which the Stock Exchange or such other principal National Securities Exchange on which the Class A Common Stock is listed or admitted to trading is open for the transaction of business (unless such trading shall have been suspended for the entire day).

Transactions” means the execution, delivery and performance by the Partnership of any Credit Agreement and the other loan documents thereunder to which it is a party, the borrowing of any loans made by the lenders under such Credit Agreement and the use of the proceeds thereof and the issuance of letters of credit under the such Credit Agreement.

 

32


Transfer” (and, with a correlative meaning, “Transferring”) means any sale, transfer, assignment, pledge, encumbrance or other disposition of (whether directly or indirectly, whether with or without consideration and whether voluntarily or involuntarily or by operation of Law) (a) any interest (legal or beneficial) in any Equity Securities of the Partnership or (b) any equity or other interest (legal or beneficial) in any Partner if substantially all of the assets of such Partner consist solely of Units; provided, that no sale, transfer, pledge, encumbrance or other disposition of any Equity Securities of the Corporation shall be considered a Transfer for purposes of this Agreement.

Treasury Regulations” means the regulations promulgated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury pursuant to and in respect of provisions of the Code and any corresponding provisions of succeeding regulations.

Unit” means a Limited Partner Interest of a Limited Partner (however designated) or a permitted Assignee in the Partnership and shall include Common Units and Series A Preferred Units, but shall not include the General Partner Interest.

United States Person” means a “United States person” as such term is defined in Section 7701(a)(30) of the Code.

Unitholder” means, with respect to each Unit, the Person in whose name any Unit is registered on the books that the General Partner has caused to be kept as of the opening of business on a particular Business Day or, if not a Business Day, the nearest preceding Business Day.

Unrestricted Person” means (a) each Indemnified Person, (b) each Partner, (c) each Person who is or was a member, partner, director, officer, employee or agent of any Group Member, a General Partner or former General Partner or any Affiliate of any Group Member, a General Partner or former General Partner and (d) any Person the General Partner designates as an “Unrestricted Person” for purposes of this Agreement from time to time.

Unrestricted Subsidiary” has the meaning assigned to such term in the Credit Agreement; provided that a Subsidiary shall only constitute an Unrestricted Subsidiary to the extent that (i) the incurrence of Indebtedness and liens by such Subsidiary is not restricted by the Credit Agreement and (ii) the consolidated net income of such Subsidiary is not included in the calculation of EBITDA (or such similar term, as defined in the Credit Agreement).

Value” means (a) for any Stock Option Plan, the Market Price for the Trading Day immediately preceding the date of exercise of a stock option under such Stock Option Plan and (b) for any Equity Plan other than a Stock Option Plan, the Market Price for the Trading Day immediately preceding the day on which the relevant shares of stock or other equity interests are granted.

Warrants” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.03(b).

 

33


ARTICLE II

ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS

Section 2.01 Formation of Partnership. The Partnership was formed on August 3, 2018 pursuant to the provisions of the Delaware Act.

Section 2.02 Third Amended and Restated Limited Partnership Agreement. The Partners hereby execute this Agreement for the purpose of continuing the affairs of the Partnership and the conduct of its business in accordance with the provisions of the Delaware Act. The Partners hereby agree that during the term of the Partnership set forth in Section 2.06, the rights and obligations of the Partners with respect to the Partnership will be determined in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement and the Delaware Act. On any matter upon which this Agreement is silent, the Delaware Act shall control. No provision of this Agreement shall be in violation of the Delaware Act and, to the extent any provision of this Agreement is in violation of the Delaware Act, such provision shall be void and of no effect to the extent of such violation without affecting the validity of the other provisions of this Agreement; provided, however, that where the Delaware Act provides that a provision of the Delaware Act shall apply “unless otherwise provided in a limited partnership agreement” or words of similar effect, the provisions of this Agreement shall in each instance control; provided, further, that notwithstanding the foregoing, Section 15-120 of the Delaware Act shall not apply or be incorporated into this Agreement.

Section 2.03 Name. The name of the Partnership shall be “Altus Midstream LP”. The General Partner in its sole discretion may change the name of the Partnership at any time and from time to time. Notification of any such change shall be given to all of the Partners and, to the extent practicable, to all of the holders of any Equity Securities then outstanding. The Partnership’s business may be conducted under its name and/or any other name or names deemed advisable by the General Partner.

Section 2.04 Purpose. The primary business and purpose of the Partnership shall be (a) at any time when one or more Series A Preferred Units are outstanding, to engage in activities reasonably related to any water, crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids, condensate, other hydrocarbons, or related substances midstream businesses in the Permian Basin, including gathering, processing, distribution, transportation, storage, and treatment activities (the “Series A Purpose”), or (b) at any other time, to engage in such activities as are permitted under the Delaware Act, in each case as determined from time to time by the General Partner in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

Section 2.05 Principal Office; Registered Office. The principal office of the Partnership shall be at One Post Oak Central, 2000 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 100, Houston, Texas 77056, or such other place as the General Partner may from time to time designate. The address of the registered office of the Partnership in the State of Delaware shall be 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, County of New Castle, DE 19801, and the registered agent for service of process on the Partnership in the State of Delaware at such registered office shall be The Corporation Trust Company. The General Partner may from time to time change the Partnership’s registered agent and registered office in the State of Delaware.

 

34


Section 2.06 Term. The term of the Partnership commenced upon the filing of the Certificate in accordance with the Delaware Act and shall continue in existence until termination and dissolution of the Partnership in accordance with the provisions of Article XIV.

Section 2.07 No Joint Venture. The Partners intend that the Partnership not be a joint venture, and that no Partner be a joint venturer of any other Partner by virtue of this Agreement, and neither this Agreement nor any other document entered into by the Partnership or any Partner relating to the subject matter hereof shall be construed to suggest otherwise.

ARTICLE III

PARTNERS; UNITS; CAPITALIZATION

Section 3.01 Partners.

(a) The Corporation, Apache Partner and each Series A Preferred Unitholder previously were admitted as Limited Partners and shall remain Limited Partners of the Partnership, and the General Partner previously was admitted as the sole general partner of the Partnership and shall remain the sole general partner of the Partnership, in each case, upon the Effective Time. At the Effective Time, each of BX Aggregator, BX Permian, ISQ Partner and New BCP Raptor shall be admitted to the Partnership as a Limited Partner.

(b) The Partnership shall maintain a schedule setting forth: (i) the name and address of each Limited Partner and (ii) the aggregate number of outstanding Units and the number and class of Units held by each Limited Partner (such schedule, the “Schedule of Limited Partners”). The applicable Schedule of Limited Partners in effect as of the Effective Time is set forth as Schedule 1 to this Agreement. The Schedule of Limited Partners shall be the definitive record of ownership of each Unit of the Partnership and all relevant information with respect to each Limited Partner. The Partnership shall be entitled to recognize the exclusive right of a Person registered on its records as the owner of Units for all purposes and shall not be bound to recognize any equitable or other claim to or interest in Units on the part of any other Person, whether or not it shall have express or other notice thereof, except as otherwise provided by the Delaware Act.

(c) No Limited Partner shall be required or, except as approved by the General Partner pursuant to Section 6.01 and in accordance with the other provisions of this Agreement, permitted to loan any money or property to the Partnership or borrow any money or property from the Partnership.

Section 3.02 Units. Interests in the Partnership shall be represented by Units, comprised of a single class of Common Units and the Series A Preferred Units, or such other securities of the Partnership, in each case as the General Partner may establish in its discretion in accordance with the terms and subject to the restrictions hereof. Without limiting the foregoing, to the extent required pursuant to Section 3.04(a), but subject to Section 6.01(e), the General Partner may create one or more classes or series of Common Units or preferred Units solely to the extent they are in the aggregate substantially equivalent to a class of Common Stock or class or series of preferred stock of the Corporation.

Section 3.03 Apache Partners Contribution; Warrants; the Corporations Capital Contribution; the Corporations Purchase of Common Units.

 

35


(a) Apache Partners Contribution. Pursuant to the Apache Contribution Agreement, on the Apache Contribution Closing Date, Apache Partner contributed to the Partnership, as a Capital Contribution, the Contributed Interests and received in exchange therefor the number of Common Units set forth next to Contributor’s name on SCHEDULE 1* (the “Apache Contribution”).

(b) The Corporations Unit Purchase. Pursuant to the Apache Contribution Agreement, on the Apache Contribution Closing Date and prior to giving effect to Section 3.04, the Corporation (i) contributed to the Partnership, as a Capital Contribution, cash in exchange for the amount of Common Units set forth on the Schedule of Limited Partners and (ii) purchased from the Partnership, in exchange for cash, warrants (the “Warrants”) exercisable for a number of Common Units equal to the number of shares of Class A Common Stock underlying the warrants of the Corporation outstanding immediately prior to such issuance of Warrants pursuant to this Section 3.03(b). For U.S. federal income tax purposes, the Partnership and the Partners intend (A) to treat each Warrant as a “noncompensatory option” within the meaning of Treasury Regulations Sections 1.721-2(f) and 1.761-3(b)(2) and (B) not to treat any Warrant as a partnership interest prior to the exercise of such Warrant pursuant to Treasury Regulations Section 1.761-3(a).

(c) Additional Contributor Consideration.

(i) On the Apache Contribution Closing Date, the Corporation also contributed 7,313,028 shares of Class A Common Stock to the Partnership and 3,182,140 warrants of the Corporation to the Partnership in exchange for 7,313,028 Common Units.

(ii) On the Apache Contribution Closing Date, following the contributions described in Section 3.03(c)(i), and pursuant to the Apache Contribution Agreement, Apache Partner also received from the Partnership in exchange for the Apache Contributed Interests (A) 7,313,028 shares of Class A Common Stock, (B) 3,182,140 warrants of the Corporation and (C) the right to receive the Earn-Out Consideration.

(iii) The Corporation has reserved for issuance 37,500,000 shares of Class A Common Stock in connection with the consideration contemplated by Section 3.03(c)(ii)(C); provided, that, when and if any Earn-Out Consideration is payable by the Partnership to Apache Partner, the Corporation shall contribute the number of shares of Class A Common Stock payable in connection with such Earn-Out Consideration to the Partnership in exchange for a corresponding number of Common Units.

Section 3.04 Authorization and Issuance of Additional Units.

(a) If at any time the Corporation issues a share of its Class A Common Stock or any other Equity Security of the Corporation, (i) the Partnership shall issue to the Corporation one Common Unit (if the Corporation issues a share of Class A Common Stock), or such other Equity Security of the Partnership (if the Corporation issues Equity Securities other than Class A Common Stock) corresponding to the Equity Securities issued by the Corporation, and with substantially the same rights to dividends and distributions (including distributions upon liquidation) and other economic rights as those of such Equity Securities of the Corporation and (ii) the net proceeds received by the Corporation with respect to the corresponding share of Class A Common Stock or

 

36


other Equity Security, if any, shall be concurrently contributed by the Corporation to the Partnership as a Capital Contribution; provided, that if the Corporation issues any shares of Class A Common Stock in order to directly purchase (or fund the purchase of) from another Limited Partner (other than the Corporation) a number of Common Units pursuant to Section 11.03 (and a corresponding number of shares of Class C Common Stock), then the Partnership shall not issue any new Common Units in connection therewith and the Corporation shall not be required to transfer such net proceeds to the Partnership (it being understood that such net proceeds shall instead be transferred to such other Limited Partner as consideration for such purchase). For the avoidance of doubt, if the Corporation issues any Class A Common Stock or other Equity Security for cash to be used to fund the direct or indirect acquisition by the Corporation of any Person or the assets of any Person, then the Corporation shall not be required to transfer such cash proceeds to the Partnership but instead the Corporation shall be required to contribute (or cause to be contributed) such Person or the material assets and liabilities of such Person to the Partnership or any of its Subsidiaries. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this Section 3.04(a) shall not apply to (x) the issuance and distribution to holders of shares of Class A Common Stock of rights to purchase Equity Securities of the Corporation under a “poison pill” or similar shareholders rights plan (and upon any redemption of Units for Class A Common Stock, such Class A Common Stock will be issued together with a corresponding right under such plan) or (y) the issuance under the Corporation’s Equity Plans or Stock Option Plans of any warrants, options, other rights to acquire Equity Securities of the Corporation or rights or property that may be converted into or settled in Equity Securities of the Corporation, but shall in each of the foregoing cases apply to the issuance of Equity Securities of the Corporation in connection with the exercise or settlement of such rights, warrants, options or other rights or property. Except as pursuant to Article XI, (x) the Partnership may not issue any additional Units to the Corporation or any of its Subsidiaries unless substantially simultaneously therewith the Corporation or one of its Subsidiaries issues or sells an equal number of newly-issued shares of the Corporation’s Class A Common Stock to another Person and (y) the Partnership may not issue any other Equity Securities of the Partnership to the Corporation or any of its Subsidiaries (other than the issuance of Warrants pursuant to Section 3.03(b)) unless substantially simultaneously the Corporation or one of its Subsidiaries issues or sells, to another Person, an equal number of newly-issued shares of a new class or series of Equity Securities of the Corporation or one of its Subsidiaries with substantially the same rights to dividends and distributions (including distributions upon liquidation) and other economic rights as those of such Equity Securities of the Partnership. If at any time the Corporation issues Debt Securities, it shall transfer to the Partnership (in a manner to be determined by the General Partner in its reasonable discretion) all proceeds received by it in exchange for such Debt Securities (or if such proceeds are used to fund the direct or indirect acquisition by the Corporation of any Person or the assets of any Person, then such Person or the material assets and liabilities of such Person) in a manner that directly or indirectly burdens the Partnership with the repayment of the Debt Securities. If any Equity Security outstanding at the Corporation is exercised or otherwise converted or exchanged and, as a result, any Class A Common Stock or other Equity Securities of the Corporation are issued, (1) the corresponding Equity Security outstanding at the Partnership shall be similarly exercised or otherwise converted or exchanged, as applicable, and an equivalent number of Units or other Equity Securities of the Partnership shall be issued to the Corporation as contemplated by the first sentence of this Section 3.04(a), and (2) the Corporation shall concurrently contribute to the Partnership the net proceeds received by it from any such exercise.

 

37


(b) Subject to Section 6.01(e)(iii), the Partnership shall only be permitted to issue additional Units or other Equity Securities of the Partnership to the Persons and on the terms and conditions provided for in Section 3.02, this Section 3.04, Section 3.11 and Section 3.12.

(c) The Partnership shall not in any manner effect any subdivision (by equity split, equity distribution, reclassification, recapitalization or otherwise) or combination (by reverse equity split, reclassification, recapitalization or otherwise) of the outstanding Common Units unless accompanied by an identical subdivision or combination, as applicable, of the outstanding Common Stock, with corresponding changes made with respect to any other exchangeable or convertible securities. Unless in connection with any action taken pursuant to Section 3.04(d), the Corporation shall not in any manner effect any subdivision (by stock split, stock dividend, reclassification, recapitalization or otherwise) or combination (by reverse stock split, reclassification, recapitalization or otherwise) of the outstanding Common Stock unless accompanied by an identical subdivision or combination, as applicable, of the outstanding Common Units, with corresponding changes made with respect to any other exchangeable or convertible securities, including the Series A Preferred Units. The Partnership shall not in any manner effect any subdivision (by equity split, equity distribution, reclassification, recapitalization or otherwise) or combination (by reverse equity split, reclassification, recapitalization or otherwise) of any outstanding Equity Securities of the Partnership (other than the Common Units) unless accompanied by an identical subdivision or combination, as applicable, of the corresponding Equity Securities of the Corporation, with corresponding changes made with respect to any other exchangeable or convertible securities. Unless in connection with any action taken pursuant to Section 3.04(d), the Corporation shall not in any manner effect any subdivision (by stock split, stock dividend, reclassification, recapitalization or otherwise) or combination (by reverse stock split, reclassification, recapitalization or otherwise) of any outstanding Equity Securities of the Corporation (other than the Common Stock) unless accompanied by an identical subdivision or combination, as applicable, of the corresponding Equity Securities of the Partnership, with corresponding changes made with respect to any other exchangeable or convertible securities.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement (including Section 3.04(a), but subject to Section 6.01(e)), if the Corporation acquires or holds any material amount of cash in excess of any monetary obligations it reasonably anticipates, the Corporation may, in its sole discretion:

(i) contribute (or cause to be contributed) such excess cash amount to the Partnership in exchange for a number of Common Units or other Equity Securities of the Partnership determined in its sole discretion, and distribute to the holders of Class A Common Stock shares of Class A Common Stock (if the Partnership issues Common Units to the Corporation) or such other Equity Security of the Corporation (if the Partnership issues Equity Securities of the Partnership other than Common Units to the Corporation) corresponding to the Equity Securities issued by the Partnership and with substantially the same rights to dividends and distributions (including distributions upon liquidation, but taking into account differences resulting from any tax or other liabilities borne by the Corporation) and other economic rights as those of such Equity Securities of the Partnership issued; or

 

38


(ii) use such excess cash amount in such other manner, and make such other adjustments to or take such other actions with respect to the capitalization of the Corporation and the Partnership and to the one-to-one exchange ratio between Common Units and Class A Common Stock, as the Corporation in good faith determines to be fair and reasonable to the shareholders and other equityholders of the Corporation and to the Partners to preserve the intended economic effect of this Section 3.04, Section 11.01 and the other provisions hereof.

Section 3.05 Repurchases or Redemptions. The Corporation or any of its Subsidiaries may not redeem, repurchase or otherwise acquire (including upon forfeiture of any unvested shares of Class A Common Stock) (a) any shares of Class A Common Stock unless substantially simultaneously the Partnership redeems, repurchases or otherwise acquires from the Corporation or its Subsidiaries an equal number of Common Units for the same price per security or (b) any other Equity Securities of the Corporation unless substantially simultaneously the Partnership redeems, repurchases or otherwise acquires from the Corporation or its Subsidiaries an equal number of Equity Securities of the Partnership of a corresponding class or series with substantially the same rights to dividends and distributions (including distributions upon liquidation) and other economic rights as those of such Equity Securities of the Corporation for the same price per security. The Partnership may not redeem, repurchase or otherwise acquire (i) any Common Units from the Corporation or any of its Subsidiaries unless substantially simultaneously the Corporation or such Subsidiary redeems, repurchases or otherwise acquires an equal number of shares of Class A Common Stock for the same price per security from holders thereof or (ii) any other Equity Securities of the Partnership from the Corporation or any of its Subsidiaries unless substantially simultaneously the Corporation or such Subsidiary redeems, repurchases or otherwise acquires for the same price per security an equal number of Equity Securities of the Corporation of a corresponding class or series with substantially the same rights to dividends and distributions (including distribution upon liquidation) and other economic rights as those of such Equity Securities of the Corporation. Notwithstanding the foregoing, to the extent that any consideration payable by the Corporation in connection with the redemption or repurchase of any shares of Class A Common Stock or other Equity Securities of the Corporation or any of its Subsidiaries consists (in whole or in part) of shares of Class A Common Stock or such other Equity Securities (including, for the avoidance of doubt, in connection with the cashless exercise of an option or warrant), then the redemption or repurchase of the corresponding Common Units or other Equity Securities of the Partnership shall be effectuated in an equivalent manner. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement (but subject to Section 6.01(e) and Section 6.04, in each case to the extent the applicable acquisition or the transactions related thereto would have required the consent of the Series A Required Voting Percentage if consummated by the Partnership or its Subsidiaries), the Partnership may redeem Units from the Corporation for cash to fund any direct or indirect acquisition by the Corporation of another Person; provided, that, promptly after such redemption and acquisition the Corporation contributes or causes to be contributed, directly or indirectly, such Person or the material assets and liabilities of such Person to any Group Member in exchange for a number of Units equal to the number of Units so redeemed.

 

39


Section 3.06 Certificates Representing Units; Lost, Stolen or Destroyed Certificates; Registration and Transfer of Units.

(a) Units shall not be certificated unless otherwise determined by the General Partner. If the General Partner determines that one or more Units shall be certificated, each such certificate, representing the number of Units held by such holder, shall be signed by or in the name of the Partnership by the Chief Executive Officer and any other officer designated by the General Partner. Such certificate shall be in such form (and shall contain such legends) as the General Partner may determine. Any or all of such signatures on any certificate representing one or more Units may be a facsimile, engraved or printed, to the extent permitted by applicable Law. Subject to and without limiting Section 3.12(b), the General Partner agrees that it shall not elect to treat any Unit as a “security” within the meaning of Article 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code unless thereafter all Units then outstanding are represented by one or more certificates.

(b) If Units are certificated, the General Partner may direct that a new certificate representing one or more Units be issued in place of any certificate theretofore issued by the Partnership alleged to have been lost, stolen or destroyed, upon delivery to the General Partner of an affidavit of the owner or owners of such certificate, setting forth such allegation. The General Partner may require the owner of such lost, stolen or destroyed certificate, or such owner’s legal representative, to give the Partnership a bond sufficient to indemnify it against any claim that may be made against it on account of the alleged loss, theft or destruction of any such certificate or the issuance of any such new certificate.

(c) Upon surrender to the Partnership or the transfer agent of the Partnership, if any, of a certificate for one or more Units, duly endorsed or accompanied by appropriate evidence of succession, assignment or authority to transfer, in compliance with the provisions hereof, the Partnership shall issue a new certificate representing one or more Units to the Person entitled thereto, cancel the old certificate and record the transaction upon its books. Subject to the provisions of this Agreement, the General Partner may prescribe such additional rules and regulations as it may deem appropriate relating to the issue, Transfer and registration of Units.

Section 3.07 Negative Capital Accounts. No Partner shall be required to pay to any other Partner or the Partnership any deficit or negative balance which may exist from time to time in such Partner’s Capital Account (including upon and after dissolution of the Partnership).

Section 3.08 No Withdrawal. No Person shall be entitled to withdraw any part of such Person’s Capital Contribution or Capital Account or to receive any Distribution from the Partnership, except as expressly provided in this Agreement.

Section 3.09 Loans From Partners. Loans by Partners to the Partnership shall not be considered Capital Contributions. Subject to the provisions of Section 3.01(c), the amount of any such advances shall be a debt of the Partnership to such Partner and shall be payable or collectible in accordance with the terms and conditions upon which such advances are made.

Section 3.10 Tax Treatment of Corporate Stock Option Plans and Equity Plans.

(a) Options Granted to Persons other than Partnership Employees. If at any time or from time to time, in connection with any Stock Option Plan, a stock option granted over shares of Class A Common Stock to a Person other than a Partnership Employee is duly exercised, notwithstanding the amount of the Capital Contribution actually made pursuant to Section 3.04(a), solely for U.S. federal (and applicable state and local) income tax purposes, the Corporation shall be deemed to have contributed to the Partnership as a Capital Contribution, in lieu of the Capital Contribution actually made and in consideration of additional Common Units, an amount equal to the Value of a share of Class A Common Stock as of the date of such exercise multiplied by the number of shares of Class A Common Stock then being issued by the Corporation in connection with the exercise of such stock option.

 

40


(b) Options Granted to Partnership Employees. If at any time or from time to time, in connection with any Stock Option Plan, a stock option granted over shares of Class A Common Stock to a Partnership Employee is duly exercised, solely for U.S. federal (and applicable state and local) income tax purposes, the following transactions shall be deemed to have occurred:

(i) The Corporation shall sell to the Optionee, and the Optionee shall purchase from the Corporation, the number of shares of Class A Common Stock equal to the number of shares of Class A Common Stock as to which such stock option is being exercised multiplied by the following: (A) the exercise price payable by the Optionee in connection with the exercise of such stock option divided by (B) the Value of a share of Class A Common Stock at the time of such exercise.

(ii) The Corporation shall sell to the Partnership (or, if the Optionee is an employee of, or other service provider to, a Subsidiary of the Partnership, the Corporation shall sell to such Subsidiary), and the Partnership (or such Subsidiary, as applicable) shall purchase from the Corporation, a number of shares of Class A Common Stock equal to the excess of (x) the number of shares of Class A Common Stock as to which such stock option is being exercised over (y) the number of shares of Class A Common Stock sold pursuant to Section 3.10(b)(i) hereof. The purchase price per share of Class A Common Stock for such sale of shares of Class A Common Stock to the Partnership (or such Subsidiary) shall be the Value of a share of Class A Common Stock as of the date of exercise of such stock option.

(iii) The Partnership shall transfer to the Optionee (or, if the Optionee is an employee of, or other service provider to, a Subsidiary of the Partnership, the Subsidiary shall transfer to the Optionee) at no additional cost to such Partnership Employee and as additional compensation to such Partnership Employee, the number of shares of Class A Common Stock described in Section 3.10(b)(ii).

(iv) The Corporation shall be deemed to have contributed to the Partnership any amounts deemed to be received by the Corporation from the Optionee pursuant to Section 3.10(b)(i) and any amount deemed to be received by the Corporation from the Partnership pursuant to Section 3.10(b)(ii) in connection with the exercise of such stock option.

The transactions described in this Section 3.10(b) are intended to comply with the provisions of Treasury Regulations Section 1.1032-3 and shall be interpreted consistently therewith.

(c) Restricted Stock Granted to Partnership Employees. If at any time or from time to time, in connection with any Equity Plan (other than a Stock Option Plan), any shares of Class A Common Stock are issued to a Partnership Employee (including any shares of Class A Common Stock that are subject to forfeiture in the event such Partnership Employee terminates his or her employment with the Partnership or any Subsidiary of the Partnership) in consideration for services performed for the Partnership or any Subsidiary of the Partnership, the following events

 

41


will be deemed to have occurred solely for U.S. federal (and applicable state and local) income tax purposes: (i) the Corporation shall be deemed to have sold such shares of Class A Common Stock to the Partnership (or, if such Partnership Employee is an employee of, or other service provider to, a Subsidiary of the Partnership, to such Subsidiary) for a purchase price equal to the Value of such shares of Class A Common Stock, (ii) the Partnership (or such Subsidiary) shall be deemed to have delivered such shares of Class A Common Stock to such Partnership Employee, (iii) the Corporation shall be deemed to have contributed the purchase price for such shares of Class A Common Stock to the Partnership as a Capital Contribution and (iv) in the case where such Partnership Employee is an employee of a Subsidiary of the Partnership, the Partnership shall be deemed to have contributed such amount to the capital of the Subsidiary.

(d) Future Stock Incentive Plans. The Partners acknowledge and agree that, in the event that the Corporation adopts, modifies or terminates any stock incentive plans for the benefit of employees, directors or other business associates of the Corporation, the Partnership or any of their respective Affiliates, amendments to this Section 3.10 may become necessary or advisable and, subject to Section 6.01(e)(i), any approval or consent to any such amendments requested by the Corporation shall be deemed granted by the General Partner and the Series A Preferred Unitholders without the requirement of any further consent or acknowledgement of any other Partner.

(e) Anti-dilution adjustments. For all purposes of this Section 3.10, the number of shares of Class A Common Stock and the corresponding number of Common Units shall be determined after giving effect to all anti-dilution or similar adjustments that are applicable, as of the date of exercise or vesting, to the option, warrant, restricted stock or other equity interest that is being exercised or becomes vested under the applicable Stock Option Plan or other Equity Plan and applicable award or grant documentation.

Section 3.11 Dividend Reinvestment Plan, Cash Option Purchase Plan, Stock Incentive Plan or Other Plan. Except as may otherwise be provided in this Article III, all amounts received or deemed received by the Corporation in respect of any dividend reinvestment plan, cash option purchase plan, stock incentive or other stock or subscription plan or agreement shall be contributed by the Corporation to the Partnership in exchange for additional Common Units consistent with Section 3.04(a). Upon such contribution, the Partnership will issue to the Corporation a number of Common Units equal to the number of new shares of Class A Common Stock issued by the Corporation in respect of such amounts consistent with Section 3.04(a).

Section 3.12 Series A Preferred Units.

(a) General. On the Series A Issue Date, a class of Units was designated as “Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Units” (such Units, together with any Series A PIK Units, the “Series A Preferred Units”), with the designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights, powers and duties as set forth in this Section 3.12 and elsewhere in this Agreement.

(b) Issuance of the Series A Preferred Units. A total of 625,000 Series A Preferred Units (other than Series A PIK Units) were issued by the Partnership on the Series A Issue Date pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Series A Preferred Unit Purchase Agreement and, as set forth in Section 3.01(a), the Series A Preferred Unitholders were admitted to the Partnership as

 

42


Limited Partners and deemed Series A Preferred Unitholders on the Series A Issue Date, and the Partnership may only issue additional Series A Preferred Units in the form of Series A PIK Units in accordance with Section 4.01(b)(ii) or as otherwise permitted by Section 6.01(e)(iii). Concurrently with such issuance, the Series A Preferred Unitholders entered into the Series A Registration Rights Agreement with the Corporation. Each Series A Preferred Unit constitutes a “security” within the meaning of, and governed by, (i) Article 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code (including Section 8-102(a)(15) thereof) as in effect from time to time in the State of Delaware, and (ii) the corresponding provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code of any other applicable jurisdiction that now or hereafter substantially includes the 1994 revisions to Article 8 thereof as adopted by the American Law Institute and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and approved by the American Bar Association on February 14, 1995.

ARTICLE IV

DISTRIBUTIONS

Section 4.01 Distributions.

(a) Available Cash; Other Distributions. To the extent permitted by applicable Law and hereunder, Distributions to Limited Partners may be declared by the General Partner out of Available Cash or other funds or property legally available therefor in such amounts and on such terms (including the payment dates of such Distributions) as the General Partner shall determine; provided, however, that the General Partner shall have the obligation to make Distributions as set forth in Section 4.01(b), Section 4.01(d) and Section 14.02; provided, further, that, notwithstanding any other provision herein to the contrary, no Distributions shall be made to any Limited Partner to the extent such Distribution would violate Section 15-309 of the Delaware Act. The General Partner shall designate a Record Date for all Distributions and shall give notice to each Unitholder entitled to receive such Distribution of the Record Date, the amount and the terms of the Distribution and the payment date thereof. In furtherance of the foregoing, it is intended that the General Partner shall, to the extent permitted by applicable Law and elsewhere in this Agreement, and after giving effect to Section 4.01(b), have the right in its sole discretion to make Distributions to the Limited Partners pursuant to this Section 4.01(a) in such amounts as shall enable the Corporation to pay dividends or to meet its obligations (to the extent such obligations are not otherwise able to be satisfied as a result of the Distributions required to be made pursuant to Section 4.01(d) or reimbursements required to be made pursuant to Section 6.05).

(b) Distributions on the Series A Preferred Units. After making any Distributions and Tax Advances required to paid pursuant to Section 4.01(d):

(i) Subject to Section 4.01(b)(ii), commencing with the Quarter ending on June 30, 2019, the Series A Preferred Unitholders as of the applicable Record Date for each Quarter shall be entitled to receive, in respect of each outstanding Series A Preferred Unit, cumulative distributions in respect of such Quarter equal to the sum of (A) the Series A Distribution Amount for such Quarter, which Series A Distribution Amount shall accumulate from day to day, whether or not declared, and (B) any Series A Unpaid Distributions (collectively, a “Series A Quarterly Distribution”). With respect to any Quarter (or portion thereof for which a Series A Quarterly Distribution is due) ending on or prior to December 31, 2020 (the “Series A Initial Distribution Period”), such Series A Quarterly Distribution in respect of each Series A Preferred Unit may be

 

43


paid, as determined by the General Partner in its sole discretion, in Series A PIK Units, in cash or in a combination of Series A PIK Units and cash. Any such Series A PIK Unit issued in respect of a Series A Preferred Unit shall not be treated as separate, and shall be treated as indivisible from, such Series A Preferred Unit for purposes of all Transfers, exchanges, redemptions, repurchases and acquisitions of Series A Preferred Units hereunder, and any such Transfers, exchanges, redemptions, repurchases and acquisitions of Series A PIK Units shall be pro rata among such Series A PIK Units and the Series A Preferred Units to which such Series A PIK Units relate. For any Quarter ending after the Series A Initial Distribution Period, all Series A Quarterly Distributions in respect of each Series A Preferred Unit shall be paid in cash. If, during the Series A Initial Distribution Period, the General Partner elects to pay all or a portion of a Series A Quarterly Distribution in respect of a Series A Preferred Unit in Series A PIK Units, the General Partner shall provide notice thereof to the Series A Preferred Unitholders at least ten (10) days prior to the Series A Distribution Payment Date therefor and the number of Series A PIK Units to be issued in connection with such Series A Quarterly Distribution shall equal the quotient of (x) the Series A Distribution Amount payable in respect of such Series A Quarterly Distribution to be paid in Series A PIK Units, divided by (y) the Series A Issue Price; provided, that, with respect to each Quarter with respect to which the Partnership elects (or is deemed to have elected) to pay any Series A Quarterly Distributions in the form of Series A PIK Units, such Series A PIK Units will be allocated pro rata among the Series A Preferred Unitholders in accordance with their respective Series A Preferred Unit Percentage Interests. Each Series A Quarterly Distribution shall be due and payable quarterly no later than the forty-fifth (45th) day following the end of the applicable Quarter (each such payment date, a “Series A Distribution Payment Date”). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Series A Distribution Amount for the Quarter in which the Series A Issue Date occurs shall be prorated for such period, commencing on the Series A Issue Date and ending on, and including the last day of such Quarter.

(ii) When any Series A PIK Units are payable to a Series A Preferred Unitholder pursuant to this Section 4.01(b), the Partnership shall issue the Series A PIK Units to such holder in accordance with Section 4.01(b)(i) on the applicable Series A Distribution Payment Date (the date of issuance of such Series A PIK Units, the “Series A PIK Payment Date”). On the Series A PIK Payment Date, the Partnership shall issue such Series A PIK Units by making a notation in book-entry form in the books of the Partnership, and all such Series A PIK Units shall, when so issued, be duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable Limited Partner Interests, except as such non-assessability may be affected by Sections 17-303, 17-607 or 17-804 of the Delaware Act, and shall be free from preemptive rights and free of any lien, claim, rights or encumbrances, other than those arising under the Delaware Act or this Agreement.

(iii) The aggregate Series A Distribution Amount (excluding any portion paid in kind) to be so distributed in respect of the Series A Preferred Units outstanding as of the Record Date for a Series A Quarterly Distribution shall be paid out of Available Cash with respect to the applicable Quarter prior to making any other distribution (whether of Available Cash or other property). To the extent that any portion of a Series A Quarterly Distribution to be paid in cash with respect to any Quarter exceeds the amount of Available Cash for such Quarter, an amount of cash equal to the Available Cash for such Quarter will be paid to the Series A Preferred Unitholders pro rata in accordance with their Series A Preferred Unit Percentage Interests and the balance of such Series A Quarterly Distribution shall be deemed unpaid.

 

44


(iv) In the event of Series A Unpaid Distributions, then from and after the first date of the occurrence of such Series A Unpaid Distributions and continuing until such Series A Unpaid Distributions are cured by payment in full in cash of all such arrearages, such Series A Unpaid Distributions, unless and until paid, will accrue and accumulate from and including the first day of the Quarter immediately following the Quarter in respect of which the first such payment is due until all such Series A Unpaid Distributions are paid in full in cash.

(v) Until such time as all Series A Unpaid Distributions are paid in full in cash or if, for any Quarter, the Partnership has paid a Series A Quarterly Distribution in whole or in part in Series A PIK Units for such Quarter or has failed to make any Tax Advances for such Quarter in accordance with Section 4.01(d), the Partnership shall not be permitted to, and shall not, declare or make, any cash Distributions, redemptions or repurchases in respect of any Series A Junior Securities or Series A Parity Securities (including, for the avoidance of doubt, with respect to the Quarter for which the Partnership first failed to pay in full in cash the Series A Distribution Amount of any Series A Quarterly Distribution when due or first paid a Series A Quarterly Distribution in whole or in part in Series A PIK Units, as applicable); provided, that, the Partnership may at any time pay Distributions on Series A Junior Securities to the extent such Distribution is payable solely in Series A Junior Securities; provided further, that, the Partnership may at any time make payments of cash in lieu of the issuance of any fractional Units in connection with any subdivision or combination of Series A Junior Securities or Series A Parity Securities in accordance with Section 3.04.

(c) Common Distributions. Subject to Section 6.01(e), and only to the extent permitted by Section 4.01(b)(v), Distributions may be made to the Common Unitholders as of the close of business on the applicable Record Date on a pro rata basis in accordance with each Common Unitholder’s Common Unit Percentage Interest as of the close of business on such Record Date.

(d) Tax Distributions and Tax Advances. With respect to any Taxable Year (or portion thereof) ending after the Series A Issue Date:

(i) The Partnership shall make Distributions to all Common Unitholders pro rata, in accordance with each Common Unitholder’s Common Unit Percentage Interest, on a quarterly basis and in such amounts as necessary to enable the Corporation to timely satisfy all of its U.S. federal, state and local and non-U.S. tax liabilities.

(ii) If a Partner (other than the Corporation) has an Assumed Tax Liability at a Tax Advance Date in excess of the sum of the cumulative amount of cash distributed under Section 4.01(a), Section 4.01(b), Section 4.01(c) and Section 4.01(d)(i), any guaranteed payments made hereunder, and any Tax Advances (as defined below), without duplication, remitted to such Partner through such date, the Partnership shall, to the extent permitted by applicable Law, and subject to the availability of funds and any restrictions contained in any agreement to which the Partnership or any of its Subsidiaries is bound, make advances to such Partner in an amount equal to such excess (a “Tax Advance”). Any such Tax Advance shall be treated as an advance against and, thus, shall reduce (without duplication), any future distributions that would otherwise be made to such Partner pursuant to Section 4.01(a), Section 4.01(b), Section 4.01(c), Section 4.01(d)(i) and Section 14.02(c), and any guaranteed payments made hereunder, without duplication. Notwithstanding the foregoing, such Partner may choose to decline any Tax Advance payable to

 

45


such Partner pursuant to this Section 4.01(d)(ii). If there is a Tax Advance outstanding with respect to a Partner who (A) participates in a Common Redemption (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any Direct Exchange at the option of the Corporation pursuant to Section 11.03) or (B) Transfers Common Units pursuant to the provisions of Article X, then in each case such Partner shall indemnify and hold harmless the Partnership against such Tax Advance, and shall be required to promptly pay to the Partnership (but in all events within fifteen (15) days after the date of the applicable Common Redemption or Transfer, as the case may be) an amount of cash equal to the proportionate share of such Tax Advance relating to its Common Units subject to the Common Redemption or Transfer (determined at the time of such Common Redemption or Transfer based on the number of Units subject to such Common Redemption or Transfer as compared to the total number of Common Units held by such Partner); provided, that, in the case of a Transfer described in clause (B), such Partner shall not be required to pay such amount of cash equal to the proportionate share of such Tax Advance relating to its Common Units subject to the Transfer, if the transferee agrees to assume the Partner’s obligation to repay to the Partnership such amount equal to the proportionate share of the Partner’s existing Tax Advance relating to such Common Units subject to the Transfer, and such Partner shall be relieved from any liabilities associated with and the obligation to repay its existing Tax Advance relating to such Common Units subject to the Transfer. The obligations of each Partner pursuant to the preceding sentence shall survive the withdrawal of any Partner or the transfer of any Partner’s Units in the Partnership and shall apply to any current or former Partner. For the avoidance of doubt, any repayment of a Tax Advance pursuant to the previous sentence shall not be treated as a Capital Contribution.

(iii) At each Tax Advance Date, the Partnership shall provide to each Series A Preferred Unitholder a computation of such Series A Preferred Unitholder’s Assumed Tax Liability (including in the event that such Assumed Tax Liability is zero), together with supporting work papers or other materials providing reasonable detail with respect to such computation.

Section 4.02 Restricted Distributions. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary contained in this Agreement, the Partnership shall not make any Distribution to any Partner on account of any Limited Partner Interest if such Distribution would violate any applicable Law or the terms of the Existing Credit Agreement or any other Credit Agreement or other debt financing of the Partnership or its Subsidiaries that is, in each case, effected after the Effective Time in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, including Section 6.01(e).

ARTICLE V

CAPITAL ACCOUNTS; ALLOCATIONS; TAX MATTERS

Section 5.01 Capital Accounts. The Partnership shall maintain a separate Capital Account for each Partner according to the rules of Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv) and, to the extent consistent with such regulations, the other provisions of this Agreement. For this purpose, the Partnership shall (as reasonably determined by the General Partner), upon the occurrence of the events specified in Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv)(f), increase or decrease the Capital Accounts in accordance with the rules of such Treasury Regulations and Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv)(g) to reflect a revaluation of Partnership assets.

 

46


Section 5.02 Allocations. After giving effect to the allocations under Section 5.03, Profits and Losses for each Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period shall be allocated among the Capital Accounts of the Partners in such a manner that, after adjusting for all Capital Contributions and Distributions through the end of such Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period, the Capital Account balance of each Partner, immediately after making such allocation, is, as nearly as possible, equal to (a) the amount such Partner would receive pursuant to Section 14.02(d) if all of the assets of the Partnership on hand at the end of such Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period were sold for cash equal to their Book Values, all liabilities of the Partnership were satisfied in cash in accordance with their terms (limited with respect to each nonrecourse liability to the Book Value of the assets securing such liability), and all remaining or resulting cash was distributed, in accordance with Section 14.02(d) (for this purpose, ignoring clause (a)(i) of the definition of Series A Redemption Price), to the Partners immediately after making such allocation, minus (b) such Partner’s share of the Partnership Minimum Gain and Partner Minimum Gain, computed immediately prior to the hypothetical sale of assets, and the amount any such Partner is treated as obligated to contribute to the Partnership, computed immediately after the hypothetical sale of assets. Notwithstanding any contrary provision in this Agreement, the General Partner shall make appropriate adjustments to allocations of Profits and Losses to (or, if necessary, allocate items of gross income, gain, loss or deduction of the Partnership among) the Common Unitholders such that, to the maximum extent possible, the Capital Accounts of the Common Unitholders are proportionate to their Common Unit Percentage Interests. In each case, such adjustments or allocations shall occur, to the maximum extent possible, in the Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period of the event requiring such adjustments or allocations.

Section 5.03 Regulatory and Special Allocations.

(a) Partner nonrecourse deductions (as defined in Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-2(i)(2)) attributable to partner nonrecourse debt (as defined in Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-2(b)(4)) shall be allocated in the manner required by Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-2(i). If there is a net decrease during a Taxable Year in Partner Minimum Gain, Profits for such Taxable Year (and, if necessary, for subsequent Taxable Years) shall be allocated to the Partners in the amounts and of such character as determined according to Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-2(i)(4).

(b) Nonrecourse deductions (as determined according to Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-2(b)(1)) for any Taxable Year shall be allocated pro rata among the Partners in accordance with each Partner’s interest in the Partnership as determined by the General Partner in its reasonable discretion. Except as otherwise provided in Section 5.03(a), if there is a net decrease in the Partnership Minimum Gain during any Taxable Year, each Partner shall be allocated Profits for such Taxable Year (and, if necessary, for subsequent Taxable Years) in the amounts and of such character as determined according to Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-2(f). This Section 5.03(b) is intended to be a minimum gain chargeback provision that complies with the requirements of Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-2(f), and shall be interpreted in a manner consistent therewith.

(c) If any Partner that unexpectedly receives an adjustment, allocation or Distribution described in Treasury Regulations Sections 1.704-1(b)(2)(ii)(d)(4), (5) and (6) has an Adjusted Capital Account Deficit as of the end of any Taxable Year, computed after the application of Section 5.03(a) and Section 5.03(b) but before the application of any other provision of this Article V, then Profits for such Taxable Year shall be allocated to such Partner in proportion to, and to the extent of, such Adjusted Capital Account Deficit. This Section 5.03(c) is intended to be a qualified income offset provision as described in Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-1(b)(2)(ii)(d) and shall be interpreted in a manner consistent therewith.

 

47


(d) If the allocation of Losses to a Partner would create or increase an Adjusted Capital Account Deficit, there shall be allocated to such Partner only that amount of Losses as will not create or increase an Adjusted Capital Account Deficit. The Losses that would, absent the application of the preceding sentence, otherwise be allocated to such Partner shall be allocated to the other Partners in accordance with their respective interests in the Partnership as determined by the General Partner in its reasonable discretion.

(e) Profits and Losses described in clause (e) of the definition of Profits and Losses shall be allocated in a manner consistent with the manner that the adjustments to the Capital Accounts are required to be made pursuant to Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv)(j) and (m).

(f) The allocations set forth in Section 5.03(a) through and including Section 5.03(e) (the “Regulatory Allocations”) are intended to comply with certain requirements of Sections 1.704-1(b) and 1.704-2 of the Treasury Regulations. The Regulatory Allocations may not be consistent with the manner in which the Partners intend to allocate Profit and Loss of the Partnership or make Distributions. Accordingly, notwithstanding the other provisions of this Article V, but subject to the Regulatory Allocations, income, gain, deduction and loss shall be reallocated among the Partners so as to eliminate the effect of the Regulatory Allocations and thereby cause the respective Capital Accounts of the Partners to be in the amounts (or as close thereto as possible) that they would have been if Profit and Loss (and such other items of income, gain, deduction and loss) had been allocated without reference to the Regulatory Allocations. In general, the Partners anticipate that the foregoing will be accomplished by specially allocating other Profit and Loss (and such other items of income, gain, deduction and loss) among the Partners so that the net amount of the Regulatory Allocations and such special allocations to each such Partner is zero. In addition, if in any Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period there is a decrease in Partnership Minimum Gain, or in Partner Minimum Gain, and application of the minimum gain chargeback requirements set forth in Section 5.03(a) or Section 5.03(b) would cause a distortion in the economic arrangement among the Partners, the Partners may, if they do not expect that the Partnership will have sufficient other income to correct such distortion, request the Internal Revenue Service to waive either or both of such minimum gain chargeback requirements. If such request is granted, this Agreement shall be applied in such instance as if it did not contain such minimum gain chargeback requirement.

(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, Profits (and if necessary items of gross income or gain) for any Taxable Year or other Fiscal Period shall be allocated to each Series A Preferred Unitholder up to the amount of any Series A Quarterly Distribution that is paid in cash, and any such Distribution shall not be treated, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as a guaranteed payment for the use of capital pursuant to Section 707(c) of the Code.

(h) Items of income, gain, loss, expense or credit resulting from a Covered Audit Adjustment shall be allocated to the Members in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Partnership Tax Audit Rules.

 

48


Section 5.04 Tax Allocations.

(a) The income, gains, losses, deductions and credits of the Partnership will be allocated, for U.S. federal (and applicable state and local) income tax purposes, among the Partners in accordance with the allocation of such income, gains, losses, deductions and credits among the Partners for computing their Capital Accounts; provided, that if any such allocation is not permitted by the Code or other applicable Law, the Partnership’s subsequent income, gains, losses, deductions and credits will be allocated among the Partners so as to reflect as nearly as possible the allocation set forth herein in computing their Capital Accounts.

(b) Items of Partnership taxable income, gain, loss and deduction with respect to any asset contributed to the capital of the Partnership shall be allocated among the Partners in accordance with Code Section 704(c) so as to take account of any variation between the adjusted basis of such asset to the Partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and its Book Value using such method or methods as determined by the General Partner to be appropriate and in accordance with the applicable Treasury Regulations; provided, that with respect to any such asset contributed to the Partnership pursuant to either the EagleClaw Contribution Agreement or the Apache Contribution Agreement, the “traditional method” shall be applied.

(c) If the Book Value of any Partnership asset is adjusted pursuant to Section 5.01, subsequent allocations of items of taxable income, gain, loss and deduction with respect to such asset shall take account of any variation between the adjusted basis of such asset for U.S. federal income tax purposes and its Book Value in the same manner as under Code Section 704(c) using such method or methods as determined by the General Partner to be appropriate and in accordance with the applicable Treasury Regulations; provided, that with respect to any such asset contributed to the Partnership pursuant to either the EagleClaw Contribution Agreement or the Apache Contribution Agreement, the “traditional method” shall be applied.

(d) If, as a result of an exercise of a noncompensatory option (including the Warrants) to acquire an interest in the Partnership, a Capital Account reallocation is required under Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv)(s)(3), the Partnership shall make corrective allocations pursuant to Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-1(b)(4)(x).

(e) Allocations of tax credits, tax credit recapture and any items related thereto shall be allocated to the Partners pro rata as determined by the General Partner taking into account the principles of Treasury Regulations Section 1.704-1(b)(4)(ii).

(f) For purposes of determining a Partner’s pro rata share of the Partnership’s “excess nonrecourse liabilities” within the meaning of Treasury Regulations Section 1.752-3(a)(3), each Partner’s interest in income and gain shall be in proportion to its interest in the Partnership as determined by the General Partner in its reasonable discretion.

(g) Allocations pursuant to this Section 5.04 are solely for purposes of U.S. federal (and applicable state and local) income taxes and shall not affect, or in any way be taken into account in computing, any Partner’s Capital Account or share of Profits, Losses, Distributions or other Partnership items pursuant to any provision of this Agreement.

 

49


Section 5.05 Withholding; Indemnification and Reimbursement for Payments on Behalf of a Partner(a) .

(a) Withholding Tax Payments. The Partnership and its Subsidiaries may withhold from Distributions, allocations or portions thereof if it is required to do so by any applicable Law, and each Partner hereby authorizes the Partnership and its Subsidiaries to withhold or pay on behalf of or with respect to such Partner any amount of U.S. federal, state or local or non-U.S. taxes (including any Partnership Level Taxes) that the General Partner determines, in good faith, that the Partnership or any of its Subsidiaries is required to withhold or pay with respect to any amount distributable or allocable to such Partner pursuant to this Agreement; provided, that, the Partnership shall provide at least 10 Business Days’ written notice to a Partner if the Partnership intends to withhold or pay any such taxes with respect to such Partner under this Section 5.05(a), and the Partnership and the applicable Partner to which such withholding applies shall cooperate in good faith to minimize, to the extent permissible under applicable Law, the amount of any such withholding, including by providing any certificates or forms that are reasonably requested to establish an exemption from (or reduction in) any such withholding. To the extent that any tax is paid by (or withheld from amounts payable to) the Company or any of its Subsidiaries and the General Partner determines, in good faith, that such tax (including any Partnership Level Taxes) relates to one or more specific Partners, such tax shall be treated as an amount of taxes withheld or paid with respect to such Partner pursuant to this Section 5.05(a); provided, that, the Partnership Representative and the General Partner shall (i) consult with the Apache Partner, the Blackstone Partners, or ISQ Partner, as applicable, when determining the portion of any Partnership Level Taxes that relate to such Partner, taking into account the effect of any modifications under Section 6225(c) of the Code that reduce the amount of Partnership Level Taxes and (ii) provide notice to the Apache Partner, the Blackstone Partners, or ISQ Partner, as applicable, of any withholding of material taxes on amounts distributable or otherwise payable by any Group Member that are attributable to Apache Partner, the Blackstone Partners, or ISQ Partner as soon as reasonably practicable after the Partnership becomes aware of such withholding and the Partnership and the Apache Partner, the Blackstone Partners, or ISQ Partner, as applicable, shall cooperate in good faith to minimize, to the extent permissible under applicable Law, the amount of any such withholding, including by providing any certificates or forms that are reasonably requested to establish an exemption from (or reduction in) any such withholding. Any determinations made by the General Partner pursuant to this Section 5.05(a) shall be binding on the Partners.

(b) Tax Contribution and Indemnity Obligation. For all purposes under this Agreement, any amounts withheld or paid with respect to a Partner pursuant to Section 5.05(a) (other than the payment of Partnership Level Taxes) shall be offset against any distributions to which such Partner is entitled concurrently with such withholding or payment (a “Tax Offset”); provided, that, the reduction in the amount of any distribution as a result of a Tax Offset shall be treated as having been distributed to such Partner pursuant to Section 4.01 at the time such Tax Offset is made. To the extent that (i) the amount of such Tax Offset exceeds the distributions to which such Partner is entitled concurrently with such withholding or payment (an “Excess Tax Amount”), or (ii) there is a payment of Partnership Level Taxes relating to a Partner, the amount of such (A) Excess Tax Amount or (B) Partnership Level Taxes, as applicable, shall, upon notification to such Partner by the General Partner, give rise to an obligation of such Partner to make a capital contribution to the Partnership (a “Tax Contribution Obligation”), which Tax Contribution Obligation shall be immediately due and payable. If a Partner defaults with respect

 

50


to its Tax Contribution Obligation, the General Partner may offset Distributions to which a Partner is otherwise subsequently entitled under this Agreement against such Partner’s Tax Contribution Obligation until the full amount of such Tax Contribution Obligation has been contributed to the Partnership or has been recovered through offset against distributions and, for the avoidance of doubt, any such offset shall be treated as distributed to such Partner pursuant to Section 4.01 at the time such offset is made. In the case of a Tax Contribution Obligation arising from the payment of Partnership Level Taxes, then to the extent that the General Partner determines it is appropriate for purposes of properly maintaining Capital Accounts, (x) any payment by a Partner with respect to such Partner’s Tax Contribution Obligation shall increase such Partner’s Capital Account, but shall not reduce the amount (if any) that a Partner is otherwise obligated to contribute to the Partnership, and (y) any recovery of such Tax Contribution Obligation through an offset against distributions to such Partner shall not reduce such Partner’s Capital Account by the amount of such offset. Each Partner hereby agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Partnership, the other Partners, the Partnership Representative and the General Partner from and against any liability (including any liability for Partnership Level Taxes) with respect to income attributable to or distributions or other payments to such Partner. A Partner’s obligation to indemnify the Partnership under this Section 5.05 shall survive the termination, dissolution, liquidation and winding up of the Partnership, and for purposes of this Section 5.05, the Partnership shall be treated as continuing in existence. The Partnership may pursue and enforce all rights and remedies it may have against each Partner under this Section 5.05, including instituting a lawsuit to collect amounts owed under such indemnity with interest accruing from the date such withholding or payment is made by the Partnership at a rate per annum equal to the sum of the Base Rate (but not in excess of the highest rate per annum permitted by Law). Any income or cash from such indemnity shall not be allocated to or distributed to the Partner paying such indemnity.

(c) General Partner Discretion Regarding Recovery of Taxes. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the General Partner may choose not to recover an amount of Partnership Level Taxes or other taxes withheld or paid with respect to a Partner under this Section 5.05 to the extent that there are no distributions to which such Partner is entitled that may be offset by such amounts if the General Partner determines, in good faith, that such a decision would be in the best interests of the Partners (e.g., where the cost of recovering the amount of taxes withheld or paid with respect to such Partner is not justified in light of the amount that may be recovered from such Partner).

ARTICLE VI

MANAGEMENT

Section 6.01 Authority of General Partner.

(a) Except for situations in which the approval of any Limited Partner(s) is specifically required by this Agreement, (i) all management powers over the business and affairs of the Partnership shall be exclusively vested in the General Partner and (ii) the General Partner shall conduct, direct and exercise full Control over all activities of the Partnership. Except as otherwise expressly provided for herein and subject to the other provisions of this Agreement, no Limited Partner has the right or power to participate in the management or affairs of the Partnership, nor does any Limited Partner have the power to sign for or bind the Partnership or deal with third parties on behalf of the Partnership without the consent of the General Partner.

 

51


(b) The day-to-day business and operations of the Partnership shall be overseen and implemented by officers of the Partnership (each, an “Officer” and collectively, the “Officers”), subject to the limitations imposed by the General Partner. An Officer may, but need not, be a Partner. Each Officer shall be appointed by the General Partner and shall hold office until his or her successor shall be duly designated and shall qualify or until his or her death or until he or she shall resign or shall have been removed in the manner hereinafter provided. Any one Person may hold more than one office. Subject to the other provisions in this Agreement (including in Section 6.06), the salaries or other compensation, if any, of the Officers of the Partnership shall be fixed from time to time by the General Partner. The authority and responsibility of the Officers shall include, but not be limited to, such duties as the General Partner may, from time to time, delegate to them and the carrying out of the Partnership’s business and affairs on a day-to-day basis. An Officer may also perform one or more roles as an officer of the General Partner. The General Partner may remove any Officer from office at any time, with or without cause. If any vacancy shall occur in any office, for any reason whatsoever, then the General Partner shall have the right to appoint a new Officer to fill the vacancy.

(c) The General Partner shall have the power and authority to effectuate the sale, lease, transfer, exchange or other disposition of any, all or substantially all of the assets of the Partnership (including the exercise or grant of any conversion, option, privilege or subscription right or any other right available in connection with any assets at any time held by the Partnership) or the merger, consolidation, reorganization or other combination of the Partnership with or into another entity.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, neither the General Partner nor any Officer authorized by the General Partner shall have the authority, on behalf of the Partnership, either directly or indirectly, without the prior approval of each Partner, to take any action that would result in the failure of the Partnership to be taxable as a partnership for purposes of U.S. federal income tax, or take any position inconsistent with treating the Partnership as a partnership for purposes of U.S. federal income tax, except as required by Law.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, neither the General Partner nor any Officer authorized by the General Partner shall, on behalf of the Partnership, and the Partnership shall not, in each case, either directly or indirectly, without the prior approval of Series A Preferred Unitholders representing the Series A Required Voting Percentage, take any of the following actions:

(i) amend, alter, modify or repeal the Certificate or this Agreement (including in connection with any merger or consolidation or any of the transactions contemplated by Section 11.01) in any manner that is adverse to any of the rights, preferences or privileges of the Series A Preferred Units; provided that an amendment to this Agreement to provide for the issuance of Series A Junior Securities pursuant to any stock incentive plans of the Corporation and that does not otherwise alter, change or affect any express rights, preferences or privileges of the Series A Preferred Unitholders shall be deemed not adverse to the rights, preferences or privileges of the Series A Preferred Units;

(ii) convert the Partnership into a corporation, or take any other action resulting in the Partnership being treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes;

 

52


(iii) issue any additional Series A Preferred Units or any Series A Parity Securities or Series A Senior Securities or any securities convertible into or evidencing the right to purchase any Series A Parity Securities or Series A Senior Securities (other than Series A PIK Units);

(iv) permit any Subsidiary of the Partnership to issue any equity interests (other than equity interests issued to the Partnership or a wholly-owned Subsidiary of the Partnership);

(v) (A)(1) on or prior to the earlier of (x) the last day of the Quarter in which the Initial Period expires and (y) March 31, 2020, incur any Indebtedness or permit any Subsidiary of the Partnership to incur any Indebtedness that would not be permitted to be incurred under the terms of the Existing Credit Agreement; provided that the Partnership may incur additional pari passu revolving credit facility Indebtedness in accordance with the terms of the Credit Agreement, and (2) at any time thereafter, incur any Indebtedness or permit any Subsidiary of the Partnership to incur any Indebtedness that would cause the Partnership’s Total Leverage Ratio to exceed (x) 5.25x on a pro forma basis for such incurrence or (y) 5.5x on a pro forma basis for such incurrence during any Acquisition Period (as such term is defined in the Credit Agreement) or (B) otherwise incur any Indebtedness in respect of which APA or any of its Affiliates (other than the Partnership and its Subsidiaries), the Blackstone Partners or any of their respective Affiliates, or ISQ Partner or any of its Affiliates is a lender, other than (with respect to this clause (B)) Indebtedness the proceeds of which are used to redeem one hundred percent (100%) of the outstanding Series A Preferred Units in cash and other Indebtedness so long as, subject to the remainder of this Section 6.01(e)(v), (1) the aggregate principal amount thereof does not exceed $50 million at any time, (2) such Indebtedness does not provide for payments of interest, fees and other non-principal amounts greater than the lesser of (x) ten percent (10%) of the outstanding principal amount in the aggregate per year and (y) such amount as would be obtainable in an arms’-length transaction, (3) such Indebtedness is otherwise on arms’-length terms or terms more favorable, in the aggregate, to the Partnership and its Subsidiaries and (4) solely in the event that the Partnership seeking repayment of such Indebtedness in cash would prevent the Partnership from being able to redeem each Series A Preferred Unit in full in cash at the Series A Redemption Price as a result of insufficient cash of the Partnership at such time, such Indebtedness automatically converts immediately prior to such redemption into Series A Preferred Units or other Equity Securities junior in all respects to the Series A Preferred Units;

(vi) sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of any interest in any Existing Pipeline Joint Venture unless (A) the proceeds therefrom are in cash, (B) one hundred percent (100%) of such proceeds are used to offer to redeem outstanding Series A Preferred Units, applying the procedures of Section 11.04(d), and (C) such sale, exchange or other disposition and redemption of Series A Preferred Units do not violate the terms of the Credit Agreement;

(vii) permit the Partnership or any Subsidiary thereof to exercise any right to vote in favor of, or waive any of its voting or other rights with respect to, the incurrence of Indebtedness by any Existing Pipeline Joint Venture;

 

53


(viii) declare or pay any dividend or Distributions on, or redeem or repurchase (including, other than in cases where the Corporation is the source of the redemption proceeds, pursuant to any of the transactions contemplated by Section 11.01 or Section 11.03), any Series A Junior Securities other than (x) Distributions on Series A Junior Securities paid in-kind in Series A Junior Securities and (y) the following Distributions, redemptions or repurchases on Series A Junior Securities to the extent solely attributable to Cash from Ordinary Course Operations:

(A) Distributions, redemptions or repurchases occurring prior to January 1, 2024 that are made at such time when the Total Leverage Ratio of the Partnership is less than or equal to 4.5x (after giving pro forma effect to such Distribution, redemption or repurchase); and

(B) Distributions, redemptions or repurchases occurring on or after January 1, 2024 that are made at such time when the Total Leverage Ratio of the Partnership is less than or equal to 4.0x (after giving pro forma effect to such Distribution, redemption or repurchase), with the definition of “Total Leverage Ratio” being modified solely for purposes of this paragraph to mean: “as of the date of determination, the ratio of (a) the sum of (i) the consolidated Indebtedness of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries (other than Unrestricted Subsidiaries) plus (ii) the aggregate Series A Investment Amount in respect of all outstanding Series A Preferred Units, and in the case of (i) and (ii), on the date of such calculation to (b) EBITDA of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries (other than Unrestricted Subsidiaries) for the twelve (12) months ending immediately before such date”.

(ix) enter into any agreement that expressly prohibits the declaration or payment of dividends or Distributions on, or redemptions or repurchases of, the Series A Preferred Units, other than entry into any agreement providing for Indebtedness to the extent permitted by the terms of the Credit Agreement and the other terms and conditions of this Agreement;

(x) take any action to (A) liquidate or dissolve the Partnership outside of a bankruptcy proceeding unless, in connection with such transaction, each Series A Preferred Unit outstanding is redeemed in full in cash at the Series A Redemption Price for such Series A Preferred Unit or (B) commence or consent to any bankruptcy or other similar proceeding (excluding, for avoidance of doubt, any proceeding referenced in preceding clause (A)) unless the Series A Preferred Units are redeemed in full in cash at the Series A Redemption Price prior to commencing such transaction;

(xi) enter into any agreement to effect a Series A Change of Control unless the Partnership would have sufficient funds to redeem the Series A Preferred Units upon consummation thereof, it being understood that the foregoing shall not limit the rights of the Series A Preferred Unitholders under Section 11.04(c) with respect to such Series A Change of Control;

(xii) amend this Agreement to change the Series A Purpose or pursue any activities not related to the Series A Purpose or otherwise enter into or invest in any line of business not related to the Series A Purpose;

(xiii) enter into, amend or terminate any agreement, or engage in any other transaction or series of related transactions, in each case, involving the Partnership or any of its Subsidiaries, on the one hand, and any Affiliate of the Partnership that is not Controlled by the Partnership (other than the General Partner) or any Limited Partner or any Affiliate of such Limited Partner, on the other hand, unless such action (A) is not required to be approved by the conflicts committee of the Corporate Board pursuant to the Corporation Related Party Transaction Policy and Procedures or (B) is approved by the conflicts committee of the Corporate Board pursuant to the Corporation Related Party Transaction Policy and Procedures;

 

54


(xiv) if the Partnership has failed to comply with its obligations under Section 11.04(e), and such failure to comply has not been cured within (6) months of such failure, declare or pay any cash dividends or Distributions or make redemptions or repurchases (including, other than in cases where the Corporation is the source of the redemption proceeds, pursuant to any of the transactions contemplated by Section 11.01), in each case in excess of $25 million in the aggregate during any Quarter;

(xv) other than as contemplated in Section 4.01(d)(i), until such time as all deferred redemptions pursuant to Section 11.04(e) are paid in full, declare or pay any cash dividends or Distributions (other than amounts paid pursuant to Section 4.01(d)(i)) or make redemptions or repurchases (including, other than in cases where the Corporation is the source of the redemption proceeds, pursuant to any of the transactions contemplated by Section 11.01), in each case in excess of $6.00 in cash only, per annum, per Common Unit (as adjusted for any split, distribution or dividend, reclassification, reorganization, recapitalization or similar events affecting the Common Units) and taking into account the effect of any dividend reinvestment plan;

(xvi) permit any of the Subsidiaries of the Partnership to effect any of the foregoing; or

(xvii) enter into any agreement or otherwise commit to do any of the foregoing.

In addition to the matters expressly set forth in the preceding clauses of this Section 6.01(e), (i) until such time as all deferred redemptions pursuant to Section 11.04(e) are paid in full, the Corporation shall not declare or pay any cash dividends, Distributions, redemptions or repurchases in excess of $6.00 in cash only, per annum, per share of Class A Common Stock (as adjusted for any split, distribution or dividend, reclassification, reorganization, recapitalization or similar events affecting the Class A Common Stock and taking into account the effect of any dividend reinvestment plan) and (ii) each other matter that expressly requires approval of Series A Preferred Unitholders representing the Series A Required Voting Percentage pursuant to this Agreement shall not be undertaken by the General Partner, any Officer authorized by the General Partner on behalf of the Partnership or the Partnership, in each case, either directly or indirectly, without such approval, as applicable. The Series A Preferred Units shall not have the right to vote together with the Common Units or on any matter that is submitted to the Limited Partners for approval.

Section 6.02 Actions of the General Partner. The General Partner may act through any Officer or through any other Person or Persons to whom authority and duties have been delegated pursuant to Section 6.06.

Section 6.03 Transfer and Withdrawal of General Partner.

(a) The General Partner shall not have the right to transfer or assign the General Partner Interest, and the General Partner shall not have the right to withdraw from the Partnership; provided, that, without the consent of any of the Limited Partners, the General Partner may in good faith, at the General Partner’s expense, be reconstituted as or converted into a corporation,

 

55


partnership or other form of entity (any such reconstituted or converted entity being deemed to be the General Partner for all purposes hereof) by merger, consolidation, conversion or otherwise, or transfer or assign the General Partner Interest (in whole or in part) to one of its Affiliates that is a wholly owned Subsidiary of the Corporation so long as such other entity or Affiliate shall have assumed in writing the obligations of the General Partner under this Agreement. In the event of an assignment or other transfer of all of the General Partner Interest in accordance with this Section 6.03, such assignee or transferee shall be substituted in the General Partner’s place as general partner of the Partnership and immediately thereafter the General Partner shall withdraw as a general partner of the Partnership (but shall remain entitled to exculpation and indemnification pursuant to Section 6.07 and Section 7.04 with respect to events occurring on or prior to such date).

(b) Except as otherwise contemplated by Section 6.03(a), no assignee or transferee shall become the general partner of the Partnership by virtue of such assignee’s or transferee’s receiving all or a portion of any interest in the Partnership from the General Partner or another assignee or transferee from the General Partner without the written consent of all of the Common Unitholders to such substitution, which consent may be given or withheld, or made subject to such conditions as each Common Unitholder deems appropriate in its sole discretion.

Section 6.04 Transactions Between Partnership and General Partner. The General Partner may cause the Partnership to contract and deal with the General Partner, or any Affiliate of the General Partner; provided, that such contracts and dealings are on terms comparable to and competitive with those available to the Partnership from others dealing at arm’s length or are approved by the Common Unitholders holding a majority of the Common Units (excluding Common Units held by the General Partner and its Controlled Affiliates) then outstanding, the Series A Preferred Unitholders representing the Series A Required Voting Percentage then outstanding and otherwise are permitted by the Credit Agreement.

Section 6.05 Reimbursement for Expenses. The Limited Partners acknowledge and agree that the General Partner is and will continue to be a wholly owned Subsidiary of the Corporation, whose Class A Common Stock is and will continue to be publicly traded, and therefore the General Partner and the Corporation will have access to the public capital markets and that such status and the services performed by the General Partner will inure to the benefit of the Partnership and all Limited Partners. Therefore, in the sole discretion of the General Partner, each of the General Partner and the Corporation shall be reimbursed by the Partnership for (or the General Partner shall cause the Partnership to pay or bear) any costs, fees or expenses (a) incurred by it in connection with serving as the General Partner or (b) that are related to the business and affairs of the General Partner or the Corporation, as applicable, that are conducted through the Group Members (including expenses that relate to the business and affairs of any Group Member and that also relate to other activities of the General Partner or the Corporation), including all fees, expenses and costs of the Corporation being a public company (including public reporting obligations, proxy statements, stockholder meetings, stock exchange fees, transfer agent fees, SEC and FINRA filing fees and offering expenses) and maintaining its corporate existence, costs of securities offerings not borne directly by the Partners, board of directors compensation and meeting costs, litigation costs and damages arising from litigation, accounting costs, and legal costs; provided, however, that no Group Member shall pay or bear any income tax obligations of the Corporation or any of its Subsidiaries. To the extent practicable, expenses incurred by the General Partner or the Corporation on behalf of or for the benefit of the Partnership shall be billed directly to and paid by

 

56


the Partnership and allocable to the Common Unitholders to the extent permitted by Section 5.02, and, if and to the extent any reimbursements to the General Partner or the Corporation or any of their respective Affiliates by the Partnership pursuant to this Section 6.05 constitute gross income to such Person (as opposed to the repayment of advances made by such Person on behalf of the Partnership), such amounts shall be treated as “guaranteed payments” within the meaning of Code Section 707(c) and shall not be treated as Distributions for purposes of computing the Limited Partners’ Capital Accounts.

Section 6.06 Delegation of Authority. The General Partner (a) may, from time to time, delegate to one or more Persons such authority and duties as the General Partner may deem advisable and (b) may assign titles (including chief executive officer, president, chief executive officer, chief financial officers, chief operating officer, vice president, secretary, assistant secretary, treasurer or assistant treasurer) and delegate certain authority and duties to such Persons as the same may be amended, restated or otherwise modified from time to time. Any number of titles may be held by the same individual. The salaries or other compensation, if any, of such agents of the Partnership shall be fixed from time to time by the General Partner, subject to the other provisions in this Agreement.

Section 6.07 Limitation of Liability of the General Partner.

(a) Except as otherwise provided herein (including Section 6.10) or in an agreement entered into by such Person and the Partnership, neither the General Partner nor any of the General Partner’s Affiliates shall be liable to the Partnership or to any Partner that is not the General Partner for any act or omission performed or omitted by the General Partner in its capacity as the general partner of the Partnership pursuant to authority granted to the General Partner by this Agreement; provided, however, that, except as otherwise provided herein, such limitation of liability shall not apply to the extent the act or omission was attributable to the General Partner’s bad faith, willful misconduct or violation of Law in which the General Partner acted with knowledge that its conduct was unlawful, or for any present or future breaches of any representations, warranties, covenants or obligations by the General Partner or its Affiliates contained herein or in the other agreements with the Partnership. The General Partner may exercise any of the powers granted to it by this Agreement and perform any of the duties imposed upon it hereunder either directly or by or through its agents, and, subject to Section 6.10, shall not be responsible for any misconduct or negligence on the part of any such agent (so long as such agent was selected in good faith and with reasonable care). The General Partner shall be entitled to rely upon the advice of legal counsel, independent public accountants and other experts, including financial advisors, and, Section 6.10, any act of or failure to act by the General Partner in good faith reliance on such advice shall in no event subject the General Partner to liability to the Partnership or any Partner that is not the General Partner.

(b) Subject to Section 6.10, whenever this Agreement or any other agreement contemplated herein provides that the General Partner shall act in a manner which is, or provide terms which are, “fair and reasonable” to the Partnership or any Partner that is not the General Partner, the General Partner shall determine such appropriate action or provide such terms considering, in each case, the relative interests of each party to such agreement, transaction or situation and the benefits and burdens relating to such interests, any customary or accepted industry practices, and any applicable United States generally accepted accounting practices or principles.

 

57


(c) Subject to Section 6.10, whenever in this Agreement or any other agreement contemplated herein, the General Partner is permitted or required to take any action or to make a decision in its “sole discretion” with “complete discretion” or under a grant of similar authority or latitude, the General Partner shall be entitled to consider such interests and factors as it desires, including its own interests, and shall, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable Law, have no duty or obligation to give any consideration to any interest of or factors affecting the Partnership or other Partners.

(d) Subject to Section 6.10, whenever in this Agreement the General Partner is permitted or required to take any action or to make a decision in its “reasonable discretion,” “good faith” or under another express standard, the General Partner shall act under such express standard and, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable Law, shall not be subject to any other or different standards imposed by this Agreement or any other agreement contemplated herein, and so long as the General Partner acts in good faith, the resolution, action or terms so made, taken or provided by the General Partner shall not constitute a breach of this Agreement or any other agreement contemplated herein or impose liability upon the General Partner or any of the General Partner’s Affiliates.

Section 6.08 Investment Company Act. The General Partner shall use its best efforts to ensure that the Partnership shall not be subject to registration as an investment company pursuant to the Investment Company Act.

Section 6.09 Activities of the Corporation and the General Partner.

(a) The Corporation and the General Partner shall not, and the Corporation shall not cause or permit the General Partner to, directly or indirectly, enter into or conduct any business or operations, other than, as applicable, in connection with (a) the ownership, acquisition and disposition of Common Units, (b) the management of the business and affairs of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries, (c) the operation of the Corporation as a reporting company with a class (or classes) of securities registered under Section 12 of the Exchange Act and listed on a securities exchange, (d) the offering, sale, syndication, private placement or public offering of stock, bonds, securities or other interests, (e) financing or refinancing of any type related to the Partnership, its Subsidiaries or their assets or activities and (f) such activities as are incidental to the foregoing; provided, however, that, except as otherwise provided herein, the net proceeds of any sale of Equity Securities of the Corporation pursuant to the preceding clauses (d) and (e) shall be made available to the Partnership as Capital Contributions and the proceeds of any other financing raised by the Corporation pursuant to the preceding clauses (d) and (e) shall be made available to the Partnership as loans or otherwise as appropriate; provided, further, that the Corporation may, with approval of Series A Preferred Unitholders representing a majority of the outstanding Series A Preferred Units (excluding any Series A Preferred Units held by APA, the Corporation, Apache Partner, the General Partner, the Blackstone Partners, ISQ Partner and any of their respective Controlled Affiliates), from time to time hold or acquire assets in its own name or otherwise other than through the Partnership and its Subsidiaries so long as the Corporation takes all necessary measures to ensure that the economic benefits and burdens of such assets are otherwise vested in the Partnership or its Subsidiaries, through assignment, mortgage loan or otherwise. Subject to Section 6.01(e), nothing contained herein shall be deemed to prohibit the General Partner from executing any guarantee of indebtedness of the Partnership or its Subsidiaries.

 

58


(b) The Corporation shall not amend, alter, modify or repeal the Corporation Related Party Transaction Policy and Procedures without the prior written consent of Series A Preferred Unitholders holding a majority of the outstanding Series A Preferred Units (excluding any Series A Preferred Units held by APA, the Corporation, Apache Partner, the General Partner, the Blackstone Partners, ISQ Partner and any of their respective Controlled Affiliates).

(c) Prior to the Refinancing, at any time during which both (i) Series A Preferred Units having an aggregate Series A Issue Price of at least $100 million are outstanding and (ii) Magnetar Financial LLC, CALTM Holdings, LLC or their respective Affiliates continue to own an aggregate of at least fifty percent (50%) of the outstanding Series A Preferred Units, such Series A Preferred Unitholders shall have the right to designate from time to time to the Corporate Board one (1) observer who is not an officer, employee or Affiliate of a Competitor (the “Board Observer”). The initial Board Observer shall be designated by Magnetar Financial LLC in its sole discretion; provided that, after such appointment by Magnetar Financial LLC, such initial Board Observer may be removed or replaced at any time after the Effective Time by the approval of a majority of the outstanding Series A Preferred Units held by Magnetar Financial LLC, CALTM Holdings, LLC and their respective Affiliates and notice of the same to the Corporation. The Board Observer shall be permitted to attend each meeting of the Corporate Board and of the conflicts committee of the Corporate Board (but excluding meetings of any other committees of the Corporate Board) in a non-voting observer capacity on behalf of the Series A Preferred Unitholders and may, at its sole cost and expense, attend any such meeting of the conflicts committee of the Corporate Board with legal counsel to the extent such meeting will (or is expected to) cover any matter that is, or could reasonably be expected to be, material to the Series A Preferred Unitholders. The Board Observer shall be permitted to discuss the information presented at any meeting of the Corporate Board or conflicts committee thereof, and in the event any materials presented to the Corporate Board or conflicts committee are permitted to be removed from such meeting, to share such materials, with the Series A Preferred Unitholders in accordance with, and subject to, this Agreement. Such Board Observer’s attendance at any meeting of the Corporate Board in his or her capacity as such shall be conditioned upon the execution and delivery to the Corporation by such Board Observer of a confidentiality agreement in the form attached hereto as Exhibit B. With respect to matters relayed by the Board Observer to the Series A Preferred Unitholders, the Series A Preferred Unitholders shall be subject to the confidentiality provisions set forth in Section 16.02. Each of Magnetar Financial LLC and CALTM Holdings, LLC shall be severally, but not jointly, responsible for the failure of any Board Observer that is Affiliated with or otherwise a Representative nominated by such Person to at all times maintain the confidentiality of any confidential information related to APA, the Corporation, or any of their respective Subsidiaries received by such Board Observer in his or her capacity as the Board Observer in accordance with such obligation of confidentiality. Notwithstanding any rights to be granted or provided to the Board Observer hereunder, the chairperson of any meeting of the Corporate Board or conflicts committee thereof may exclude the Board Observer from access to any materials or meeting or portion thereof, to the extent such materials or meeting or portion thereof directly relates to a matter that, (i) in the advice of the Corporation’s outside counsel, could reasonably be expected to result in the loss of attorney-client privilege or a conflict of interest with the Corporation, or (ii) in the sole discretion of such chairperson, constitutes sensitive or proprietary information regarding existing or potential businesses, properties, or business opportunities of APA, the Corporation, or any of their respective Subsidiaries, to the extent not required to be approved by the conflicts committee of the Corporate Board pursuant to the Corporation Related Party Transaction Policy and Procedures; provided that such exclusion shall be limited to the portion of such materials or meeting that is the basis for such exclusion. The rights set forth in this Section 6.09(c) shall terminate automatically upon the consummation of the Refinancing.

 

59


Section 6.10 Standard of Care. The General Partner shall, in connection with the performance of its duties in its capacity as the General Partner, have the same fiduciary duties to the Partnership and the Partners as would be owed to a Delaware corporation and its stockholders by its directors, and shall be entitled to the benefit of the same presumptions in carrying out such duties as would be afforded to a director of a Delaware corporation (as such duties and presumptions are defined, described and explained under the Laws of the State of Delaware as in effect from time to time). The provisions of this Agreement, to the extent that they restrict or eliminate the duties (including fiduciary duties) and liabilities of the General Partner otherwise existing at law or in equity, are agreed by the Partners to replace, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable Law, such other duties and liabilities of the General Partner.

Section 6.11 Certain Compliance Matters. The Partnership shall maintain in effect policies and procedures designed to achieve compliance by the Partnership, its Subsidiaries and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents (acting in their capacity as such) with applicable Anti-Corruption Laws and Sanctions. The Partnership and each of its Subsidiaries shall comply with all applicable Anti-Corruption Laws and Sanctions in all material respects.

ARTICLE VII

RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF PARTNERS

Section 7.01 Limitation of Liability and Duties of Partners; Investment Opportunities.

(a) Except as provided in this Agreement or in the Delaware Act, no Partner (including the General Partner) shall be obligated personally for any debt, obligation, or liability solely by reason of being a Partner or acting as the General Partner of the Partnership; provided, that, in the case of the General Partner, this sentence shall not in any manner limit the liability of the General Partner to the Partnership or any Partner (other than the General Partner) attributable to a breach by the General Partner of any obligations of the General Partner under this Agreement. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, the failure of the Partnership to observe any formalities or requirements relating to the exercise of its powers or management of its business and affairs under this Agreement or the Delaware Act shall not be grounds for imposing personal liability on the Partners for liabilities of the Partnership.

(b) In accordance with the Delaware Act and the laws of the State of Delaware, a Partner may, under certain circumstances, be required to return amounts previously distributed to such Partner. It is the intent of the Partners that no Distribution to any Partner pursuant to Article IV shall be deemed a return of money or other property paid or distributed in violation of the Delaware Act. The payment of any such money or Distribution of any such property to a Partner shall be deemed to be a compromise within the meaning of Section 17-502(b) of the Delaware Act, and, to the fullest extent permitted by Law, any Partner receiving any such money or property shall not be required to return any such money or property to the Partnership or any other Person. However, if any court of competent jurisdiction holds that, notwithstanding the provisions of this Agreement, any Partner is obligated to make any such payment, such obligation shall be the obligation of such Partner and not of any other Partner.

 

60


(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement (subject to Section 6.07 and except as set forth in Section 6.10, in each case with respect to the General Partner), to the extent that, at law or in equity, any Partner (or such Partner’s Affiliate or any manager, managing member, general partner, director, officer, employee, agent, fiduciary or trustee of such Partner or of any Affiliate of such Partner (each Person described in this parenthetical, a “Related Person”)) has duties (including fiduciary duties) to the Partnership, to another Partner (including the General Partner), to any Person who acquires an interest in a Limited Partner Interest or to any other Person bound by this Agreement, all such duties (including fiduciary duties) are hereby eliminated, to the fullest extent permitted by law, and replaced with the duties or standards expressly set forth herein, if any. The elimination of duties (including fiduciary duties) to the Partnership, each of the Partners (including the General Partner), each other Person who acquires an interest in a Limited Partner Interest and each other Person bound by this Agreement and replacement thereof with the duties or standards expressly set forth herein, if any, are approved by the Partnership, each of the Partners (including the General Partner), each other Person who acquires an interest in a Limited Partner Interest and each other Person bound by this Agreement.

(d) Subject to the terms of Section 7.01(e), each Unrestricted Person (other than the General Partner) shall have the right to engage in businesses of every type and description and other activities for profit and to engage in and possess an interest in other business ventures of any and every type or description, whether in businesses engaged in or anticipated to be engaged in by any Group Member, independently or with others, including business interests and activities in direct competition with the business and activities of any Group Member, and none of the same shall constitute a breach of this Agreement or any duty otherwise existing at law, in equity or otherwise, to any Group Member or any Partner; provided such Unrestricted Person does not engage in such business or activity using confidential or proprietary information provided by or on behalf of the Partnership to such Unrestricted Person. None of any Group Member, any Limited Partner or any other Person shall have any rights by virtue of this Agreement, any Group Member Agreement, or the partnership relationship established hereby in any business ventures of any Unrestricted Person.

(e) Subject to the terms of Section 6.09 and Section 7.01(d), but otherwise notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, (i) the engaging in competitive activities by any Unrestricted Person (other than the General Partner) in accordance with the provisions of this Section 7.01 is hereby approved by the Partnership and all Partners, (ii) it shall be deemed not to be a breach of any duty otherwise existing at law, in equity or otherwise, of the General Partner or any other Unrestricted Person for the Unrestricted Persons (other than the General Partner) to engage in such business interests and activities in preference to or to the exclusion of the Partnership and (iii) the Unrestricted Persons shall have no obligation hereunder or as a result of any duty otherwise existing at law, in equity or otherwise, to present business opportunities to the Partnership. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, the doctrine of corporate opportunity, or any analogous doctrine, shall not apply to any Unrestricted Person (including the General Partner). No Unrestricted Person (including the General Partner) who acquires knowledge of a potential transaction, agreement, arrangement or other matter that may be an opportunity for the Partnership, shall have any duty to communicate or offer such

 

61


opportunity to the Partnership, and such Unrestricted Person (including the General Partner) shall not be liable to the Partnership, to any Limited Partner or any other Person bound by this Agreement for breach of any duty otherwise existing at law, in equity or otherwise, by reason of the fact that such Unrestricted Person (including the General Partner) pursues or acquires for itself, directs such opportunity to another Person or does not communicate such opportunity or information to the Partnership, provided such Unrestricted Person does not engage in such business or activity using confidential or proprietary information provided by or on behalf of the Partnership to such Unrestricted Person.

Section 7.02 Lack of Authority. No Partner, other than the General Partner or a duly appointed Officer, in each case in its capacity as such, has the authority or power to act for or on behalf of the Partnership, to do any act that would be binding on the Partnership or to make any expenditure on behalf of the Partnership. The Partners hereby consent to the exercise by the General Partner of the powers conferred on them by Law and this Agreement.

Section 7.03 No Right of Partition. No Partner, other than the General Partner, shall have the right to seek or obtain partition by court decree or operation of Law of any Partnership property, or the right to own or use particular or individual assets of the Partnership.

Section 7.04 Indemnification.

(a) Subject to Section 5.05, the Partnership hereby agrees to indemnify and hold harmless any Person (each an “Indemnified Person”) to the fullest extent permitted under the Delaware Act, as the same now exists or may hereafter be amended, substituted or replaced (but, in the case of any such amendment, substitution or replacement only to the extent that such amendment, substitution or replacement permits the Partnership to provide broader indemnification rights than the Partnership is providing immediately prior to such amendment), against all expenses, liabilities and losses (including attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines, excise taxes or penalties) reasonably incurred or suffered by such Person (or one or more of such Person’s Affiliates) by reason of the fact that such Person is or was a Partner or is or was serving as the General Partner, Officer, employee or other agent of the Partnership or is or was serving at the request of the Partnership as a manager, officer, director, principal, member, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, trust or other enterprise; provided, however, that no Indemnified Person shall be indemnified for any expenses, liabilities and losses suffered that are attributable to such Indemnified Person’s willful misconduct or violation of Law in which such Indemnified Person acted with knowledge that its conduct was unlawful; provided, further, that no Indemnified Person shall be indemnified for any expenses, liabilities and losses suffered that are attributable to any proceeding among Partners. Expenses, including attorneys’ fees, incurred by any such Indemnified Person in defending a proceeding shall be paid by the Partnership in advance of the final disposition of such proceeding, including any appeal therefrom, upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such Indemnified Person to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that such Indemnified Person is not entitled to be indemnified by the Partnership.

(b) The right to indemnification and the advancement of expenses conferred in this Section 7.04 shall not be exclusive of any other right which any Person may have or hereafter acquire under any statute, agreement, bylaw, action by the General Partner or otherwise.

 

62


(c) The Partnership shall maintain, or cause to be maintained, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, or substantially equivalent insurance, at its expense, to protect any Indemnified Person (and the investment funds, if any, they represent) against any expense, liability or loss described in Section 7.04(a), whether or not the Partnership would have the power to indemnify such Indemnified Person against such expense, liability or loss under the provisions of this Section 7.04; provided, however, that the Partnership’s inability to obtain, directly or indirectly, such insurance shall in no way limit or waive its obligations pursuant to this Section 7.04. The Partnership shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to purchase and maintain, or cause to be purchased and maintained, property and casualty insurance in types and at levels customary for companies of similar size engaged in similar lines of business, as determined in good faith by the General Partner.

(d) Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary (including in this Section 7.04), the Partnership agrees that any indemnification and advancement of expenses available to any current or former Indemnified Person from any investment fund that is an Affiliate of the Partnership who served as a director of the Partnership or as a Partner of the Partnership by virtue of such Person’s service as a member, director, partner or employee of any such fund prior to or following the Effective Time (any such Person, a “Sponsor Person”) shall be secondary to the indemnification and advancement of expenses to be provided by the Partnership pursuant to this Section 7.04, which shall be provided out of and to the extent of Partnership assets only. No Partner (unless such Partner otherwise agrees in writing or is found in a final decision by a court of competent jurisdiction to have personal liability on account thereof) shall have personal liability on account thereof or shall be required to make additional Capital Contributions to help satisfy such indemnity of the Partnership. The Partnership (i) shall be the primary indemnitor of first resort for such Sponsor Person pursuant to this Section 7.04 and (ii) shall be fully responsible for the advancement of all expenses and the payment of all damages or liabilities with respect to such Sponsor Person which are addressed by this Section 7.04.

(e) If this Section 7.04 or any portion hereof shall be invalidated on any ground by any court of competent jurisdiction, then the Partnership shall nevertheless indemnify and hold harmless each Indemnified Person pursuant to this Section 7.04 to the fullest extent permitted by any applicable portion of this Section 7.04 that shall not have been invalidated and to the fullest extent permitted by applicable Law.

Section 7.05 Limited Partners Right to Act. For matters that require the approval of the Limited Partners, the Limited Partners shall act through meetings and written consents as described in paragraphs (a) and (c) below:

(a) Except with respect to the matters requiring approval of Series A Preferred Unitholders representing the Series A Required Voting Percentage, acts by the Limited Partners holding a majority of the outstanding Common Units shall be the acts of the Limited Partners.

(b) Any Limited Partner entitled to vote at a meeting of Limited Partners or consent to an action of the General Partner may authorize another person or persons to act for it by proxy. An electronic mail, telegram, telex, cablegram or similar transmission by the Limited Partner, or a photographic, photostatic, facsimile or similar reproduction of a writing executed by the Limited Partner shall (if stated thereon) be treated as a proxy executed in writing for purposes of this

 

63


Section 7.05(b). No proxy shall be voted or acted upon after eleven (11) months from the date thereof, unless the proxy provides for a longer period. A proxy shall be revocable unless the proxy form conspicuously states that the proxy is irrevocable and that the proxy is coupled with an interest. Should a proxy designate two or more Persons to act as proxies, unless that instrument shall provide to the contrary, a majority of such Persons present at any meeting at which their powers thereunder are to be exercised shall have and may exercise all the powers of voting or giving consents thereby conferred, or, if only one be present, then such powers may be exercised by that one; or, if an even number attend and a majority do not agree on any particular issue, the Partnership shall not be required to recognize such proxy with respect to such issue if such proxy does not specify how the votes that are the subject of such proxy are to be voted with respect to such issue.

(c) The actions by the Limited Partners permitted hereunder may be taken at a meeting called by the General Partner or by the Limited Partners holding a majority of the Units entitled to vote on such matter on at least forty eight (48) hours’ prior written notice to the other Limited Partners entitled to vote, which notice shall state the purpose or purposes for which such meeting is being called. The actions taken by the Limited Partners entitled to vote or consent at any meeting (as opposed to by written consent), however called and noticed, shall be as valid as though taken at a meeting duly held after regular call and notice if (but not until), either before, at or after the meeting, the Limited Partners entitled to vote or consent as to whom it was improperly held signs a written waiver of notice or a consent to the holding of such meeting or an approval of the minutes thereof. The actions by the Limited Partners entitled to vote or consent may be taken by vote of the Limited Partners entitled to vote or consent at a meeting or by written consent, so long as such consent is signed by Limited Partners having not less than the minimum number of Units that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all Limited Partners entitled to vote thereon were present and voted. Prompt notice of the action so taken, which shall state the purpose or purposes for which such consent is required and may be delivered via email, without a meeting shall be given to those Limited Partners entitled to vote or consent who have not consented in writing; provided, however, that the failure to give any such notice shall not affect the validity of the action taken by such written consent. Any action taken pursuant to such written consent of the Limited Partners shall have the same force and effect as if taken by the Limited Partners at a meeting thereof.

Section 7.06 Inspection Rights. The Partnership shall permit each Partner and each of its designated Representatives to visit and inspect (a) the books and records of the Partnership, including its partner ledger and a list of its Partners and (b) the books and records of its Subsidiaries. Additionally, to the extent the Partnership is permitted, pursuant to the governing documents of a Pipeline Joint Venture, to allow its Partners to visit and inspect the books and records of such Pipeline Joint Venture, upon the written request of a Series A Preferred Unitholder that at such time holds (together with its Affiliates) Series A Preferred Units having an aggregate Series A Issue Price of at least $100 million, the General Partner shall cause the Partnership to permit such Series A Preferred Unitholder and up to two (2) of its designated Representatives to accompany the Representatives of the Partnership on a visit and inspection of such Pipeline Joint Venture; provided that such Series A Preferred Unitholder may not so visit and inspect a Pipeline Joint Venture more than once a year. Each such Series A Preferred Unitholder and its designated Representatives shall execute any confidentiality or similar agreements required by the Partnership or the applicable Pipeline Joint Venture in connection with such visit and inspection. The Partners have no other inspection rights with respect to any Pipeline Joint Venture unless otherwise agreed to by the General Partner.

 

64


ARTICLE VIII

BOOKS, RECORDS, ACCOUNTING AND REPORTS

Section 8.01 Records and Accounting; Other Partnership Information. The Partnership shall keep, or cause to be kept, appropriate books and records with respect to the Partnership’s business, including all books and records necessary to provide any information, lists and copies of documents required to be provided pursuant to Section 9.01 or pursuant to applicable Laws. All matters concerning (a) the determination of the relative amount of allocations and Distributions among the Limited Partners pursuant to Article III and Article IV and (b) accounting procedures and determinations, and other determinations not specifically and expressly provided for by the terms of this Agreement, shall be determined by the General Partner in good faith. Without limiting the foregoing, as long as there are Series A Preferred Units outstanding, the General Partner shall cause the Partnership to deliver (or cause to be delivered) to each Series A Preferred Unitholder the following information, unless such Series A Preferred Unitholder provides the General Partner with notice to the contrary:

(i) within ninety (90) calendar days after the end of each fiscal year of the Partnership or the Corporation, as applicable, at the election of the Partnership in respect of any particular fiscal year, either (A) a copy of the audited annual report for such fiscal year for the Partnership and its Subsidiaries, including therein consolidated balance sheets of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries as of the end of such fiscal year and consolidated statements of earnings and cash flow of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries for such fiscal year, in each case certified (without qualification) by independent public accountants of nationally recognized standing selected by the Partnership or (B) both (1) a copy of the audited annual report for such fiscal year for the Corporation and its Subsidiaries, including therein consolidated balance sheets of the Corporation and its Subsidiaries as of the end of such fiscal year and consolidated statements of earnings and cash flow of the Corporation and its Subsidiaries for such fiscal year, in each case certified (without qualification) by independent public accountants of nationally recognized standing selected by the Corporation (“Corporation Annual Financials”) and (2) unaudited consolidated balance sheets of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries as of the end of such fiscal year and consolidated statements of earnings and cash flow of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries for such fiscal year (“Partnership Unaudited Annual Financials”); provided, however, that with respect to Partnership Unaudited Annual Financials, the Partnership shall provide, within thirty (30) days after receipt of a written request of Series A Preferred Unitholders representing the Series A Required Voting Percentage, a report reconciling all material items between the Corporation Annual Financials and the Partnership Unaudited Annual Financials;

(ii) within forty five (45) calendar days after the end of each of the first three (3) Quarters of each fiscal year of the Partnership commencing with the Quarter ending June 30, 2019, unaudited consolidated balance sheets of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries as of the end of such Quarter and consolidated statements of earnings and cash flow of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries for such Quarter and for the period commencing at the end of the previous fiscal year and ending with the end of such Quarter;

 

65


(iii) reasonably promptly upon written request of such Series A Preferred Unitholder, if the Corporation is no longer subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the information with respect to the Corporation specified in, and meeting the requirements of, Rule 144A(d)(4) under the Securities Act or any successor or similar rule or regulation under the Securities Act;

(iv) a copy of any budgets of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries (and any formal updates thereto) promptly following the approval thereof by the General Partner;

(v) within ten (10) days following the end of each Quarter, a statement detailing the total number of Series A Preferred Units outstanding (including the number of which are Series A PIK Units), the amount of Series A Unpaid Distributions for each such Series A Preferred Unit and the Series A Distribution Amount as of such time;

(vi) within ten (10) days following the occurrence of any event directly concerning the Partnership or its Subsidiaries or within ten (10) days following the discovery by the Partnership of any event directly concerning any of the Pipeline Joint Ventures, in each case, that the General Partner determines in good faith is materially adverse to the Partnership, written notice of the occurrence of such event and a description thereof;

(vii) reasonably promptly upon written request of such Series A Preferred Unitholder, a current list of the name and last known business, residence or mailing address of each Partner;

(viii) reasonably promptly upon written request of such Series A Preferred Unitholder, a copy of this Agreement and the Certificate of Limited Partnership and all amendments thereto;

(ix) as promptly as practicable upon availability, copies of any compliance certificate or notice of an event of default delivered pursuant to the Credit Agreement; and

(x) quarterly in-person, or by telephonic or web conference, meetings between the Series A Preferred Unitholders and their respective Affiliates, on the one hand, and management of the Corporation, the Partnership and their Affiliates, on the other hand, to discuss the principal operating results, financial condition and forecast and operational activities of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries.

Section 8.02 Fiscal Year. The Fiscal Year of the Partnership shall end on December 31 of each year or such other date as may be established by the General Partner; provided, that the Partnership shall have the same Fiscal Year for accounting purposes as its Taxable Year for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

 

66


ARTICLE IX

TAX MATTERS

Section 9.01 Preparation of Tax Returns. The General Partner shall arrange, at the Partnership’s expense, for the preparation and timely filing of all tax returns required to be filed by the Partnership. At the reasonable request of the General Partner, each Series A Preferred Unitholder shall provide to the Partnership (a) a schedule setting forth a reasonable estimate, based on the information in the possession of, or reasonably available to, such Series A Preferred Unitholder or its Affiliates, of the percentage, if any, of the direct and indirect partners, members or owners of Series A Preferred Units that are Tax-Exempt Partners in the current (or other) Taxable Year and (b) any other information reasonably necessary for the preparation and filing of the Partnership’s tax returns, in each case, provided that such information is in the possession of, or reasonably available to, the Series A Preferred Unitholder. The General Partner shall use reasonable efforts to cause the Partnership to send to each Person who was a Partner at any time during a Taxable Year, a completed IRS Schedule K-1 within one hundred and eighty (180) days following the end of such Taxable Year. The General Partner also shall timely provide each Partner all other information reasonably requested by a Partner and necessary for the preparation of such Partner’s U.S. federal (and applicable state and local) income tax returns. In addition, the General Partner shall cause the Partnership to use commercially reasonable efforts to provide (a) each Person that was a Series A Preferred Unitholder at any time during a Taxable Year with a good faith estimate of the amounts to be included on such Person’s IRS Schedule K-1 for such Taxable Year within forty-five (45) days following the end of such Taxable Year, and (b) each other Person that was a Partner at any time during a Taxable Year with a good faith estimate of the amounts to be included on such Person’s IRS Schedule K-1 for such Taxable Year within sixty (60) days following the end of such Taxable Year. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the General Partner shall have the authority to prepare the tax returns of the Partnership using the elections set forth in Section 9.02 and such other permissible methods and elections as it determines in its reasonable discretion. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the General Partner shall consult in good faith with the Series A Preferred Representative (in the case of Series A Preferred Unitholders), Apache Partner, the Blackstone Partners, or ISQ Partner, as applicable, prior to changing any accounting method or making any tax election that would reasonably be expected to have a disproportionate adverse impact on the Series A Preferred Unitholders or such other Partner (or any of its Affiliates). Further, if the impact of such change or election on or with respect to the Series A Preferred Unitholders, the Apache Partner, the Blackstone Partners, or ISQ Partner is material, then (x) in the case of the Series A Preferred Unitholders, the Series A Preferred Representative shall seek the consent of the Series A Preferred Unitholders representing the Series A Required Voting Percentage (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), and the General Partner shall not make such change or election prior to notification by the Series A Preferred Representative that such consent was obtained, or (y) in the case of the Apache Partner, the Blackstone Partners, or ISQ Partner (or any of their respective Affiliates), the General Partner shall not make such change or election without the consent of the Apache Partner, the Blackstone Partners, or ISQ Partner, as the case may be (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed).

Section 9.02 Tax Elections. The Partnership and any eligible Subsidiary shall make an election (or continue a previously made election) pursuant to Section 754 of the Code (and any siimilar provisions of applicable U.S. state or local law), and shall not thereafter revoke such election at any time. In addition, the Partnership (and any eligible Subsidiary) shall make the following elections on the appropriate forms or tax returns:

(a) to adopt the calendar year as the Partnership’s Taxable Year, if permitted under the Code;

 

67


(b) to adopt the accrual method of accounting for U.S. federal income tax purposes;

(c) to elect to amortize the organizational expenses of the Partnership as permitted by Code Section 709(b); and

(d) except where the General Partner elects to apply Section 5.05(c), to make an election under Section 6226(a) of the Code, commonly known as the “push out” election, or any analogous election under state or local tax law, if applicable (including, for the avoidance of doubt, making a “push out” election with respect to taxes attributable to a tax period ending on or before the Effective Date).

Each Partner will, upon request of the General Partner, cooperate in good faith with the Partnership in connection with the Partnership’s efforts to make any election pursuant to this Section 9.02 (including, for the avoidance of doubt, supplying any information reasonably necessary to give proper effect to any such elections).

Section 9.03 Texas Margin Tax Sharing Arrangement. If applicable Law requires (a) a Partner (the “Reporting Partner”) and (b) the Partnership to participate in the filing of a Texas margin tax combined group report, the Partners agree that the Partnership shall be responsible for the Partnership’s Texas margin tax liability as determined prior to the application of any tax credits or similar tax assets generated by and available to any entity included in the combined group that is other than the Partnership (the “Allocable Margin Tax Liability”). The Partnership’s Allocable Margin Tax Liability shall be equal to (i) the Partnership’s Texas margin tax liability determined on a separate company basis (the “Stand-Alone Margin Tax Liability”), adjusted upward (if a positive number) or downward (if a negative number) by (ii) the Partnership’s Applicable Share, multiplied by the difference between (A) the sum of the Texas margin tax liability (determined on a separate company basis) of each separate company in the combined group (the “Total Separate Company Margin Tax Liability”) and (B) the combined group’s Texas margin tax liability; provided, that the Partnership shall not receive any downward adjustment to its Stand-Alone Margin Tax Liability for any tax credits or similar tax assets generated by and available to any entity included in the combined group that is other than the Partnership. For purposes of this Section 9.03, the term “Applicable Share” means the proportion, expressed as a percentage, that the Partnership’s Stand-Alone Margin Tax Liability bears to the Total Separate Company Margin Tax Liability.

Section 9.04 Tax Controversies. The General Partner shall be designated and may, on behalf of the Partnership, at any time, and without further notice to or consent from any Partner, act as the “partnership representative” of the Partnership, within the meaning given to such term in Section 6223 of the Code (the General Partner, in such capacity, the “Partnership Representative”) for purposes of the Code and in any similar capacity under state or local Law. The Partnership Representative shall designate a “designated individual” in accordance with Treasury Regulations Section 301.6223-1(b)(3). The Partnership and the Partners (including any Partner designated as the Partnership Representative prior to the Effective Time) shall cooperate fully with each other and shall use reasonable best efforts to cause the General Partner to become the Partnership Representative with respect to any taxable period of the Partnership with respect to which the statute of limitations has not yet expired, including (as applicable) by filing certifications pursuant to Treasury Regulations Section 301.6231(a)(7)-1(d). The Partnership

 

68


Representative may retain, at the Partnership’s expense, such outside counsel, accountants and other professional consultants as it may reasonably deem necessary in the course of fulfilling its obligations as Partnership Representative. The Partnership Representative shall, to the maximum extent possible, cause income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit of the Partnership, and adjustments thereto, to be allocated or borne by the Partners in the same manner as such items or adjustments would have been borne if the Partnership could have effectively made an election under Section 6221(b) of the Code (commonly known as the “election out”) or similar state or local provision with respect to the taxable period at issue. Further, the Partnership Representative shall have the right and obligation to take all actions authorized and required, respectively, by the Code for the Partnership Representative, 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. Each Partner agrees to cooperate with the Partnership Representative and to do or refrain from doing any or all things reasonably requested by the Partnership Representative with respect to the conduct of such proceedings. The Partnership Representative shall use reasonable efforts to (a) notify each of the other Partners upon receipt of any notice of tax examination of the Partnership by U.S. federal, state or local authorities and (b) keep all Partners informed of material developments with respect to any contacts by or discussions with the tax authorities regarding such tax examination. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Partnership Representative shall consult in good faith with the Series A Preferred Representative (in the case of Series A Preferred Unitholders), the Apache Partner, the Blackstone Partners, or ISQ Partner, as applicable, prior to taking any action (including the settlement or compromise of any examination or resulting administrative or juridical proceeding) pursuant to this Section 9.04 that would reasonably be expected to have a disproportionate adverse impact on the Series A Preferred Unitholders or such other Partner (or any of its Affiliates). Further, if the impact of such action on or with respect to the Series A Preferred Unitholders, the Apache Partner, the Blackstone Partners, or ISQ Partner (or any of their respective Affiliates) is material, then (x) in the case of the Series A Preferred Unitholders, the Series A Preferred Representative shall seek the consent of the Series A Preferred Unitholders representing the Series A Required Voting Percentage (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), and the Partnership Representative shall not take any such action prior to notification by the Series A Preferred Representative that such consent was obtained, or (y) in the case of the Apache Partner, the Blackstone Partners, or ISQ Partner (or any of their respective Affiliates), the Partnership Representative shall not take any action (including the settlement or compromise of any examination or resulting administrative or juridical proceeding) without the consent of such Partner (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed); provided, that the Series A Preferred Unitholders will indemnify and hold harmless the Partnership against any additional costs and expenses (including any interest, penalties or additions to tax) borne by the Partnership after the date of the notice of final partnership adjustment in connection with the related tax examination, audit or similar proceeding as a result of the Series A Preferred Representative’s failure to obtain the required consent.

 

69


ARTICLE X

RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFER OF UNITS

Section 10.01 Transfers of Common Units.

(a) No holder of Common Units may Transfer any interest in any Common Units, except Transfers (a) pursuant to and in accordance with Section 10.04 or (b) approved in writing by the General Partner. Notwithstanding the foregoing, “Transfer” shall not include an event that does not terminate the existence of such Limited Partner under applicable state law (or, in the case of a trust that is a Limited Partner, does not terminate the trusteeship of the fiduciaries under such trust with respect to all the Limited Partner Interests of such trust that is a Limited Partner). Notwithstanding the foregoing, this Section 10.01 shall not apply to any Common Redemption or Direct Exchange pursuant to Article XI.

(b) The restrictions contained in this Section 10.01 shall not apply to any Transfer of Common Units (each, a “Permitted Transfer”) (i) by a Limited Partner to an Affiliate of such Limited Partner, (ii) by Apache Partner, the Blackstone Partners, ISQ Partner and New BCP Raptor to the direct or indirect holders of equity interests in such Persons, (iii) by any transferee pursuant to clause (ii) of this sentence to any Affiliate of such transferee or any trust, family partnership or family limited liability company, the sole beneficiaries, partners or members of which are such transferee or Relatives of such transferee or (iv) pursuant to a Common Redemption or Direct Exchange in accordance with Article XI; provided, however, that (A) the restrictions contained in this Agreement will continue to apply to Units after any Permitted Transfer of such Common Units and (B) in the case of the foregoing clause (i), (ii) and (iii), the transferees of the Common Units so Transferred shall agree in writing to be bound by the provisions of this Agreement, and the transferor will deliver a written notice to the Partnership and the Partners, which notice will disclose in reasonable detail the identity of the proposed transferee. In the case of a Permitted Transfer (other than a Common Redemption or Direct Exchange) by any Limited Partner (other than the Corporation) of Common Units to a transferee in accordance with this Section 10.01, such Limited Partner (or any subsequent transferee of such Limited Partner) shall be required to also transfer a number of shares of Class C Common Stock corresponding to the number of such Limited Partner’s (or subsequent transferee’s) Common Units that were transferred in the transaction to such transferee; and, in the case of a Common Redemption or Direct Exchange, a number of shares of Class C Common Stock corresponding to the number of such Limited Partner’s Common Units that were transferred in such Common Redemption or Direct Exchange shall be cancelled. All Permitted Transfers are subject to the additional limitations set forth in Section 10.07(b).

Section 10.02 Transfers and Drag of Series A Preferred Units.

(a) Subject to the restrictions set forth in this Section 10.02(a), clauses (iii) and (iv) of Section 10.02(b), Section 10.04 and Section 10.07(b) and compliance with applicable securities laws (including in connection with any Transfers in connection with the matters contemplated by Section 11.06), following the first (1st) anniversary of the Series A Issue Date, holders of Series A Preferred Units may Transfer Series A Preferred Units in accordance with Section 10.04 and Section 10.07(b); provided, that, with respect to any such Transfer prior to the fifth (5th) anniversary of the Series A Issue Date other than a Series A Preferred Unitholder Permitted

 

70


Transfer, the Transfer must involve Series A Preferred Units having an aggregate Series A Issue Price of at least $5 million (or a lesser amount of Series A Preferred Units if such Transfer (i) constitutes all the remaining holdings of such Series A Preferred Unitholder or (ii) has been approved by the General Partner in its sole discretion).

(b) Without the prior written consent of the General Partner, which may be withheld in its sole discretion, no Series A Preferred Unitholder shall (i) prior to the first (1st) anniversary of the Series A Issue Date, offer, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any of its Series A Preferred Units, (ii) prior to the third (3rd) anniversary of the Series A Issue Date, directly or indirectly engage in any put or call options or short sales of any equity securities of the Corporation (including the Class A Common Stock) or the Partnership, (iii) for so long as no Series A Restricted Action has occurred and has not been cured by a Series A Remediation and except for any transfer to another Series A Preferred Unitholder, transfer any Series A Preferred Units to any Competitor, (iv) effect a direct Transfer of any Series A Preferred Units to any Person (A) other than a United States Person or (B) that is disregarded as separate from its owner for U.S. federal income tax purposes, unless the regarded owner is a United States Person, including, in each case, by means of any swap or other transaction or arrangement that directly Transfers or that is designed to, or that might reasonably be expected to, result in the direct Transfer to another, in whole or in part, of any of the economic consequences of ownership of any Series A Preferred Units, or (v) effect any Transfer of Series A Preferred Units in a manner that violates the terms of this Agreement; provided, that this Section 10.02(b) shall not restrict (i) any Series A Preferred Unitholder Permitted Transfer that complies with subclauses (iii), (iv) and (v) above or (ii) any Transfer of Series A Preferred Units made pursuant to an effective registration statement filed pursuant to Section 11.06(c). Notwithstanding the foregoing, any transferee receiving any Series A Preferred Units pursuant to this Section 10.02(b) shall agree to the restrictions set forth in this Section 10.02(b). For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 10.02 shall not restrict or prohibit any redemptions, conversions or exchanges made pursuant to and in accordance with Article XI.

(c) Prior to any Transfer of Series A Preferred Units to a Competitor following a Series A Restricted Action, the Series A Preferred Unitholder proposing to make such Transfer shall give the Partnership sixty (60) days’ notice of the anticipated date of such Transfer to give the Partnership the opportunity to cause a Series A Remediation, it being understood that there is no requirement for such Series A Preferred Unitholder to have an agreement or understanding to effect such Transfer prior to delivering its notice hereunder. Any Transfer to a Competitor not made in compliance with this Section 10.02(c) shall be void ab initio.

(d) Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, in the event that at any time from and after the fifth (5th) anniversary of the Series A Issue Date, the Partnership, the Corporation, APA, the Blackstone Partners, ISQ Partner or any of their respective Affiliates offers to redeem, repurchase or otherwise acquire from the Series A Preferred Unitholders all of the Series A Preferred Units outstanding as of such time for an amount per Series A Preferred Unit that is less than the Series A Redemption Price for such Series A Preferred Unit (the “Series A Preferred Unit Drag Price”) and the Series A Preferred Unitholders holding Series A Preferred Units constituting at least eighty percent (80%) of the then-outstanding Series A Preferred Units (it being understood that the eighty percent (80%) of Series A Preferred Units required to accept such offer shall exclude

 

71


any Series A Preferred Units held by APA, the Corporation, Apache Partner, the General Partner, the Blackstone Partners, ISQ Partner and any of their respective Controlled Affiliates) accept such offer from the Partnership, the Corporation, APA, the Blackstone Partners, ISQ Partner or such Affiliate thereof, as applicable, then such Series A Preferred Unitholders holding Series A Preferred Units constituting at least eighty percent (80%) of the then-outstanding Series A Preferred Units may, by providing written notice to the other Series A Preferred Unitholders (the “Series A Preferred Unit Drag Notice”), elect to cause all Series A Preferred Unitholders to participate in such redemption, repurchase or acquisition of Series A Preferred Units by the Partnership for such Series A Preferred Unit Drag Price (the “Series A Preferred Unit Drag Transaction”), it being understood that the Series A Preferred Units held by such Series A Preferred Unitholders shall be so redeemed, repurchased or acquired, as applicable, pro rata in accordance with the Series A Preferred Unit Percentage Interests of the Series A Preferred Unitholders. Each such Series A Preferred Unit Drag Notice shall set forth (i) the number of Series A Preferred Units subject to the Series A Preferred Unit Drag Transaction, (ii) the Series A Preferred Unit Drag Price for each Series A Preferred Unit subject to the Series A Preferred Unit Drag Transaction; (iii) the proposed date of consummation of such Series A Preferred Unit Drag Transaction and (iv) copies of all proposed transaction documents relating to such Series A Preferred Unit Drag Transaction. Upon receipt of a Series A Preferred Unit Drag Notice delivered in accordance with this Section 10.02(d), each Series A Preferred Unitholder shall take all actions as may be reasonably necessary to consummate such Series A Preferred Unit Drag Transaction by the date for consummation of such Series A Preferred Unit Drag Transaction as set forth in the Series A Preferred Unit Drag Notice therefor.

Section 10.03 Restricted Units Legend. The Units have not been registered under the Securities Act and, therefore, in addition to the other restrictions on Transfer contained in this Agreement, cannot be sold unless subsequently registered under the Securities Act or an exemption from such registration is then available. To the extent such Units have been certificated, each certificate evidencing Units and each certificate issued in exchange for or upon the Transfer of any Units (if such securities remain Units as defined herein after such Transfer) shall be stamped or otherwise imprinted with a legend in substantially the following form:

“THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “ACT”), AND MAY NOT BE SOLD OR TRANSFERRED IN THE ABSENCE OF AN EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE ACT OR AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION THEREUNDER. THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFER SPECIFIED IN THE THIRD AMENDED AND RESTATED AGREEMENT OF LIMITED PARTNERSHIP OF ALTUS MIDSTREAM LP, AS MAY BE AMENDED AND MODIFIED FROM TIME TO TIME, AND ALTUS MIDSTREAM LP RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REFUSE THE TRANSFER OF SUCH SECURITIES UNTIL SUCH CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN FULFILLED WITH RESPECT TO ANY TRANSFER. A COPY OF SUCH CONDITIONS SHALL BE FURNISHED BY ALTUS MIDSTREAM LP TO THE HOLDER HEREOF UPON WRITTEN REQUEST AND WITHOUT CHARGE.”

 

72


The Partnership shall imprint such legend on certificates (if any) evidencing Units. The legend set forth above shall be removed from the certificates (if any) evidencing any units which cease to be Units in accordance with the definition thereof.

Section 10.04 Transfer. Prior to Transferring any Units (other than (a) in connection with a Common Redemption in accordance with Article XI or (b) an indirect Transfer), the Transferring holder of Units shall cause the prospective transferee to be bound by this Agreement and any other agreements executed by the holders of Units and relating to such Units in the aggregate (collectively, the “Other Agreements”), and shall cause the prospective transferee to execute and deliver to the Partnership and the other holders of Units a Joinder (or other counterpart to this Agreement acceptable to the General Partner) and counterparts of any applicable Other Agreements. Any Transfer or attempted Transfer of any Units in violation of any provision of this Agreement (including any prohibited indirect Transfers) (i) shall be void and (ii) the Partnership shall not record such Transfer on its books or treat any purported transferee of such Units as the owner of such securities for any purpose. A Partner making a Transfer permitted by this Agreement shall (i) at least five (5) Business Days before such Transfer, deliver to the Partnership an affidavit of nonforeign status with respect to such Partner that satisfies the requirements of Section 1446(f)(2) of the Code, or (ii) contemporaneously with the Transfer, cause the Transferee to properly withhold and remit to the Internal Revenue Service the amount of tax required to be withheld upon the Transfer by Section 1446(f) of the Code (and provide evidence to the Partnership of such withholding and remittance promptly thereafter).

Section 10.05 Assignees Rights.

(a) The Transfer of a Limited Partner Interest in accordance with this Agreement shall be effective as of the date of its assignment (assuming compliance with all of the conditions to such Transfer set forth herein), and such Transfer shall be shown on the books and records of the Partnership. Profits, Losses and other Partnership items shall be allocated between the transferor and the Assignee according to Code Section 706, using any permissible method as determined in the reasonable discretion of the General Partner. Distributions made before the effective date of such Transfer shall be paid to the transferor, and Distributions made after such date shall be paid to the Assignee.

(b) Unless and until an Assignee becomes a Limited Partner pursuant to Article XII, the Assignee shall not be entitled to any of the rights granted to a Limited Partner hereunder or under applicable Law, other than the rights granted specifically to Assignees pursuant to this Agreement; provided, however, that, without relieving the transferring Limited Partner from any such limitations or obligations as more fully described in Section 10.06, such Assignee shall be bound by any limitations and obligations of a Limited Partner contained herein that a Limited Partner would be bound on account of the Assignee’s Limited Partner Interest (including the obligation to make Capital Contributions on account of such Limited Partner Interest).

Section 10.06 Assignors Rights and Obligations. Any Limited Partner who shall Transfer any Limited Partner Interest in a manner in accordance with this Agreement shall cease to be a Limited Partner with respect to such Units or other interest and shall no longer have any rights or privileges, or, except as set forth in this Section 10.06, duties, liabilities or obligations, of a Limited Partner with respect to such Units or other interest (it being understood, however, that the

 

73


applicable provisions of Section 7.01 and Section 7.04 shall continue to inure to such Person’s benefit), except that unless and until the Assignee (if not already a Limited Partner) is admitted as a Substituted Limited Partner in accordance with the provisions of Article XII (the “Admission Date”), (a) such assigning Limited Partner shall retain all of the duties, liabilities and obligations of a Limited Partner with respect to such Units or other interest and (b) the General Partner may, in its sole discretion, reinstate all or any portion of the rights and privileges of such Limited Partner with respect to such Units or other interest for any period of time prior to the Admission Date. Nothing contained herein shall relieve any Limited Partner who Transfers any Units or other interest in the Partnership from any liability of such Limited Partner to the Partnership with respect to such Limited Partner Interest that may exist on the Admission Date or that is otherwise specified in the Delaware Act and incorporated into this Agreement or for any liability to the Partnership or any other Person for any materially false statement made by such Limited Partner (in its capacity as such) or for any present or future breaches of any representations, warranties or covenants by such Limited Partner (in its capacity as such) contained herein or in the other agreements with the Partnership.

Section 10.07 Overriding Provisions.

(a) Any Transfer in violation of this Article X shall be null and void ab initio, and the provisions of Section 10.05 and Section 10.06 shall not apply to any such Transfers. For the avoidance of doubt, any Person to whom a Transfer is made or attempted in violation of this Article X shall not become a Limited Partner, shall not be entitled to vote on any matters coming before the Limited Partners and shall not have any other rights in or with respect to any rights of a Limited Partner of the Partnership. The approval of any Transfer in any one or more instances shall not limit or waive the requirement for such approval in any other or future instance. The General Partner shall promptly amend the Schedule of Limited Partners to reflect any Permitted Transfer pursuant to this Article X.

(b) Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary (including, for the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of Section 10.01, Article XI and Article XII), in no event shall any Limited Partner Transfer any Units to the extent such Transfer would:

(i) result in the violation of the Securities Act, or any other applicable U.S. federal or state or non-U.S. Laws;

(ii) subject the Partnership to registration as an investment company under the Investment Company Act;

(iii) in the reasonable and good faith determination of the General Partner be a violation of or a default (or an event that, with notice or the lapse of time or both, would constitute a default) under, or result in an acceleration of any indebtedness under, any promissory note, mortgage, loan agreement, indenture or similar instrument or agreement to which the Partnership or the General Partner is a party; provided, that the payee or creditor to whom the Partnership or the General Partner owes such obligation is not an Affiliate of the Partnership or the General Partner;

 

74


(iv) be a Transfer to a Person who is not legally competent or who has not achieved his or her majority age under applicable Law (excluding trusts for the benefit of minors); and

(v) result in the Partnership having more than one hundred (100) partners, within the meaning of Treasury Regulations Section 1.7704-1(h)(1)(ii) (determined pursuant to the rules of Treasury Regulations Section 1.7704-1(h)(3)) or present an undue risk that the Partnership be classified as a “publicly traded partnership” within the meaning of Section 7704 of the Code or a successor provision or otherwise become taxable as a corporation under the Code, in each case as determined by the Partnership in good faith and based on advice of legal counsel or a qualified tax advisor.

ARTICLE XI

REDEMPTION, CONVERSION AND EXCHANGE RIGHTS; OTHER PROTECTIVE PROVISIONS

Section 11.01 Redemption Right of a Common Unitholder.

(a) Upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in this Section 11.01 and subject to compliance with Section 6.01(e)(viii), each Common Unitholder (other than the Corporation) shall be entitled to cause the Partnership to redeem (a “Common Redemption”) all or any portion of its Common Units (together with the surrender and delivery of the same number of shares of Class C Common Stock) (the “Common Redemption Right”). A Common Unitholder desiring to exercise its Common Redemption Right (the “Common Redeemed Partner”) shall exercise such right by giving written notice (the “Common Redemption Notice”) to the Partnership with a copy to the Corporation (the date of the delivery of such Common Redemption Notice, the “Common Redemption Notice Date”). The Common Redemption Notice shall specify the number of Common Units (the “Common Redeemed Units”) that the Common Redeemed Partner intends to have the Partnership redeem. Absent the prior written consent of the General Partner, with respect to each Common Redemption, a Common Redeemed Partner shall be (A) required to redeem at least a number of Units equal to the lesser of 0.5% of the total outstanding Common Units (as adjusted for any Unit splits, combinations, subdivisions, reclassifications or similar actions or events) and all of the Units then held by such Common Redeemed Partner, (B) permitted to effect a Common Redemption no more frequently than once per calendar quarter and (C) with respect solely to any employee or former employee of Raptor or its Affiliates (or any Person through which such individual holds Units), required to redeeem at least a number of Units equal to the lesser of 20% of the Units held by such Person as of immediately following the later of the Closing (as defined in the EagleClaw Contribution Agreement) and the date such Person is admitted as a Partner (as adjusted for any Unit splits, combinations, subdivisions, reclassifications or similar actions or events) and all of the Units then held by such Common Redeemed Partner ; provided, however, that the foregoing restrictions shall not apply to a Common Redemption by Apache Partner. Notwithstanding the foregoing and subject to Section 11.01(g), a Common Redeemed Partner may exercise its Common Redemption Right with respect to at least 1% of the total outstanding Common Units (as adjusted for any Unit splits, combinations, subdivisions, reclassifications or similar actions or events) at any time. The Common Redemption shall be completed on the date that is (the “Common Redemption Date”) (i) the later of (A) the date that is three (3) Business Days following delivery of the applicable Common Redemption Notice and

 

75


(B) if the Partnership elects to make the redemption payment by means of a Cash Settlement, the first Business Day on which the Partnership has available funds to pay the Cash Settlement, which in no event shall be more than ten (10) Business Days after delivery of such Common Redemption Notice, or (ii) such later date (A) specified in the Common Redemption Notice or (B) specified in Section 11.01(c) following the date on which a contingency described in Section 11.01(c) is satisfied. A Common Redemption Notice may specify that if a Share Settlement is made the Common Redemption Date will be the date of the closing of an underwritten distribution of the shares of Class A Common Stock that would be issued in connection with such proposed Common Redemption. Unless the Common Redeemed Partner has timely delivered a Retraction Notice as provided in Section 11.01(b) or the Corporation has elected to effect a Direct Exchange as provided in Section 11.03, on the Common Redemption Date (to be effective immediately prior to the close of business on the Common Redemption Date) (i) the Common Redeemed Partner shall transfer and surrender the Common Redeemed Units to the Partnership and a corresponding number of shares of Class C Common Stock to the Corporation, in each case free and clear of all liens and encumbrances other than those arising under the Delaware Act or this Agreement; (ii) the Partnership shall (x) cancel the Common Redeemed Units, (y) transfer to the Common Redeemed Partner the consideration to which the Common Redeemed Partner is entitled under Section 11.01(b) and (z) if the Common Redeemed Units are certificated, issue to the Common Redeemed Partner a certificate for a number of Common Units equal to the difference (if any) between the number of Common Units evidenced by the certificate surrendered by the Common Redeemed Partner pursuant to clause (i) of this Section 11.01(a) and the Common Redeemed Units and (iii) the Corporation shall cancel such shares of Class C Common Stock.

(b) In exchange for its Common Redeemed Units, a Common Redeemed Partner shall be entitled to receive the Share Settlement or, at the Partnership’s election, the Cash Settlement from the Partnership. Within one (1) Business Day of delivery of the Common Redemption Notice, the Partnership shall give written notice (the “Settlement Method Notice”) to the Common Redeemed Partner (with a copy to the Corporation) of its intended settlement method; provided, that if the Partnership does not timely deliver a Settlement Method Notice, the Partnership shall be deemed to have elected the Share Settlement method. Provided that a Cash Settlement election has not been made, the Common Redeemed Partner may retract its Common Redemption Notice by giving written notice (the “Retraction Notice”) to the Partnership (with a copy to the Corporation) at any time prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the Business Day after delivery of the Settlement Method Notice; provided, however, that in no event may the Common Redeemed Partner deliver more than one Retraction Notice in any calendar quarter. The timely delivery of a Retraction Notice shall terminate all of the Common Redeemed Partner’s, the Partnership’s and the Corporation’s rights and obligations under this Section 11.01 arising from the retracted Common Redemption Notice.

(c) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Section 11.01(b), in the event the Partnership elects a Share Settlement in connection with a Common Redemption, a Common Redeemed Partner shall be entitled, at any time prior to the consummation of a Common Redemption, to revoke its Common Redemption Notice or delay the consummation of a Common Redemption if any of the following conditions exists: (i) any registration statement pursuant to which the resale of the Class A Common Stock to be registered for such Common Redeemed Partner at or immediately following the consummation of the Common Redemption shall have ceased to be effective pursuant to any action or inaction by the SEC or no such resale registration

 

76


statement has yet become effective; (ii) the Corporation shall have failed to cause any related prospectus to be supplemented by any required prospectus supplement necessary to effect such Common Redemption; (iii) the Corporation shall have exercised its right to defer, delay or suspend the filing or effectiveness of a registration statement and such deferral, delay or suspension shall affect the ability of such Common Redeemed Partner to have the resale of its Class A Common Stock registered at or immediately following the consummation of the Common Redemption; (iv) the Corporation shall have disclosed to such Common Redeemed Partner any material non-public information concerning the Corporation, the receipt of which results in such Common Redeemed Partner being prohibited or restricted from selling Class A Common Stock at or immediately following the Common Redemption without disclosure of such information (and the Corporation does not permit disclosure); (v) any stop order relating to the registration statement pursuant to which the Class A Common Stock was to be registered by such Common Redeemed Partner at or immediately following the Common Redemption shall have been issued by the SEC; (vi) there shall have occurred a material disruption in the securities markets generally or in the market or markets in which the Class A Common Stock is then traded; (vii) there shall be in effect an injunction, a restraining order or a decree of any nature of any Governmental Entity that restrains or prohibits the Common Redemption; (viii) the Corporation shall have failed to comply in all material respects with its obligations under the Registration Rights Agreement, and such failure shall have affected the ability of such Common Redeemed Partner to consummate the resale of Class A Common Stock to be received upon such redemption pursuant to an effective registration statement; or (ix) the Common Redemption Date would occur three (3) Business Days or less prior to, or during, a Black-Out Period; provided, further, that in no event shall the Common Redeemed Partner seeking to delay the consummation of such Common Redemption and relying on any of the matters contemplated in clauses (i) through (ix) above have controlled or intentionally materially influenced any facts, circumstances or Persons in connection therewith (except in the good faith performance of his or her duties as an officer or director of the Corporation) in order to provide such Common Redeemed Partner with a basis for such delay or revocation. If a Common Redeemed Partner delays the consummation of a Common Redemption pursuant to this Section 11.01(c), (A) the Common Redemption Date shall occur on the third (3rd) Business Day following the date on which the conditions giving rise to such delay cease to exist (or such earlier day as the Corporation, the Partnership and such Common Redeemed Partner may agree in writing) and (B) notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Section 11.01(b), the Common Redeemed Partner may retract its Common Redemption Notice by giving a Retraction Notice to the Partnership (with a copy to the Corporation) at any time prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the date prior to the date on which the conditions giving rise to such delay cease to exist.

(d) The amount of the Share Settlement or the Cash Settlement that a Common Redeemed Partner is entitled to receive under Section 11.01(b) shall not be adjusted on account of any Distributions previously made with respect to the Common Redeemed Units or dividends previously paid with respect to Class A Common Stock; provided, however, that if a Common Redeemed Partner causes the Partnership to redeem Common Redeemed Units and the Common Redemption Date occurs subsequent to the Record Date for any Distribution with respect to the Common Redeemed Units but prior to payment of such Distribution, the Common Redeemed Partner shall be entitled to receive such Distribution with respect to the Common Redeemed Units on the date that it is made notwithstanding that the Common Redeemed Partner transferred and surrendered the Common Redeemed Units to the Partnership prior to such date.

 

77


(e) In the event of a distribution (by dividend or otherwise) by the Corporation to all holders of Class A Common Stock of evidences of its indebtedness, securities or other assets (including Equity Securities of the Corporation), but excluding any cash dividend or Distribution of any such assets received by the Corporation in respect of its Units, then in exchange for its Common Redeemed Units, a Common Redeemed Partner shall be entitled to receive, in addition to the consideration set forth in Section 11.01(b), the amount of such security, securities or other property that the Common Redeemed Partner would have received if such Common Redemption Right had been exercised and the Common Redemption Date had occurred immediately prior to the record date or effective time of any such transaction, taking into account any adjustment as a result of any subdivision (by any split, distribution or dividend, reclassification, reorganization, recapitalization or otherwise) or combination (by reverse split, reclassification, recapitalization or otherwise) of such security, securities or other property that occurs after such record date or effective time. For the avoidance of doubt, subsequent to any such transaction, this Article XI shall apply mutatis mutandis with respect to any such security, securities or other property received by holders of Class A Common Stock in such transaction.

(f) If a Reclassification Event occurs, the General Partner or its successor, as the case may be, shall, as and to the extent necessary, amend this Agreement in compliance with Section 16.03, and enter into any necessary supplementary or additional agreements, to ensure that, following the effective date of the Reclassification Event: (i) the rights of holders of Common Units (other than the Corporation) set forth in this Section 11.01 provide that each Common Unit is redeemable for the same amount and same type of property, securities or cash (or combination thereof) that one share of Class A Common Stock becomes exchangeable for or converted into as a result of the Reclassification Event (taking into account any adjustment as a result of any subdivision (by any split, distribution or dividend, reclassification, reorganization, recapitalization or otherwise) or combination (by reverse split, reclassification, recapitalization or otherwise) of such security, securities or other property that occurs after the record date or effective time for such Reclassification Event) and (ii) the Corporation or the successor to the Corporation, as applicable, is obligated to deliver such property, securities or cash upon such redemption. The Corporation shall not consummate or agree to consummate any Reclassification Event unless the successor Person, if any, becomes obligated to comply with the obligations of the Corporation (in whatever capacity) under this Agreement.

(g) The General Partner may impose additional limitations and restrictions on Common Redemptions (including limiting Common Redemptions or creating priority procedures for Common Redemptions), to the extent it determines in good faith based on advice of legal counsel or a qualified tax advisor such limitations and restrictions to be reasonably necessary or appropriate to avoid undue risk that the Partnership may be classified as a “publicly traded partnership” within the meaning of Section 7704 of the Code. Furthermore, the General Partner may require any Partner (or group of Partners) to redeem all of its (or their) Units pursuant to the Common Redemption Right to the extent it determines in good faith based on advice of legal counsel or a qualified tax advisor that such Common Redemption is reasonably necessary or appropriate to avoid undue risk that the Partnership may be classified as a “publicly traded partnership” within the meaning of Section 7704 of the Code. Upon delivery of any notice by the General Partner to such Partner (or group of Partners) requiring such Common Redemption, such Partner (or group of Partners) shall exchange, subject to exercise by the Corporation of a Direct Exchange right pursuant to Section 11.03, all of its (or their) Units effective as of the date specified in such notice (and such date shall be deemed to be a Common Redemption Date for purposes of this Agreement) in accordance with this Section 11.01 and otherwise in accordance with the requirements set forth in such notice.

 

78


Section 11.02 Contribution of the Corporation. Subject to the Corporation’s right to elect a Direct Exchange pursuant to Section 11.03 and unless, in the event the Partnership elects a Cash Settlement, the Partnership in its discretion elects to fund any part of the consideration the Common Redeemed Partner is entitled to receive under Section 11.01(b) (including after any condition giving rise to a delay pursuant to Section 11.01(c) ceases to exist) without a contribution from the Corporation, unless the Common Redeemed Partner has timely delivered a Retraction Notice as provided in Section 11.01(b), on the Common Redemption Date (to be effective immediately prior to the close of business on the Common Redemption Date) (a) the Corporation shall make its Capital Contribution to the Partnership (in the form of the Share Settlement or the Cash Settlement, as applicable) required under this Section 11.02, and (b) the Partnership shall issue to the Corporation a number of Common Units equal to the number of Common Redeemed Units surrendered by the Common Redeemed Partner. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Agreement to the contrary, in the event that the Partnership elects a Cash Settlement that is to be funded by a sale of Class A Common Stock by the Corporation, the Corporation shall only be obligated to contribute to the Partnership an amount in respect of such Cash Settlement equal to the net proceeds (after deduction of any underwriters’ discounts or commissions and brokers’ fees or commissions) from the sale by the Corporation of a number of shares of Class A Common Stock equal to the number of Common Redeemed Units to be redeemed with such Cash Settlement.

Section 11.03 Exchange Right of the Corporation.

(a) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Article XI, the Common Redeemed Partner shall be deemed to have offered to sell its Common Redeemed Units to the Corporation, and the Corporation may, in its sole and absolute discretion, elect to effect on the Common Redemption Date the exchange of Common Redeemed Units for the Share Settlement or Cash Settlement, at the Corporation’s option, through a direct exchange of such Common Redeemed Units (together with the surrender and delivery of the same number of shares of Class C Common Stock) and such consideration between the Common Redeemed Partner and the Corporation (a “Direct Exchange”). Upon such Direct Exchange pursuant to this Section 11.03, the Corporation shall acquire the Common Redeemed Units and shall be treated for all purposes of this Agreement as the owner of such Common Redeemed Units.

(b) The Corporation may, at any time prior to a Common Redemption Date, deliver written notice (an “Exchange Election Notice”) to the Partnership and the Common Redeemed Partner setting forth its election to exercise its right to consummate a Direct Exchange; provided, that such election does not prejudice the ability of the parties to consummate a Common Redemption or Direct Exchange on the Common Redemption Date. An Exchange Election Notice may be revoked by the Corporation at any time; provided, that any such revocation does not prejudice the ability of the parties to consummate a Common Redemption on the Common Redemption Date. The right to consummate a Direct Exchange in all events shall be exercisable for all the Common Redeemed Units that would have otherwise been subject to a Common Redemption. Except as otherwise provided by this Section 11.03, a Direct Exchange shall be consummated pursuant to the same timeframe and in the same manner as the relevant Common Redemption would have been consummated if the Corporation had not delivered an Exchange Election Notice.

 

79


Section 11.04 Redemption of Series A Preferred Units.

(a) Redemption at the Partnerships Election. The Partnership shall be entitled to redeem for cash (a “Series A Redemption”) the Series A Preferred Units at any time in whole or, so long as such redemption is for no fewer than 25,000 Series A Preferred Units, in part pro rata among the Series A Preferred Unitholders in accordance with their respective Series A Preferred Unit Percentage Interests (including any Optional Exchanged Units prior to the applicable Optional Exchange Date). The Partnership shall exercise such right by giving written notice (the “Series A Redemption Notice”) to the Series A Preferred Unitholders (the date of the delivery of such Series A Redemption Notice, the “Series A Redemption Notice Date”). The Series A Redemption Notice shall specify the number of Series A Preferred Units (the “Series A Redeemed Units”) that the Partnership intends to redeem. The Series A Redemption shall be completed on the date that is three (3) Business Days following delivery of the applicable Series A Redemption Notice (the date of such completion, the “Series A Redemption Date”). On the Series A Redemption Date (to be effective immediately prior to the close of business on the Series A Redemption Date) (i) the Series A Preferred Unitholders shall transfer and surrender their pro rata portion of the Series A Redeemed Units to the Partnership free and clear of all liens and encumbrances other than those arising under the Delaware Act or this Agreement and (ii) the Partnership shall (A) cancel the Series A Redeemed Units and (B) transfer to the Series A Preferred Unitholders cash in an amount equal to the Series A Redemption Price for each Series A Redeemed Unit.

(b) No Redemption at the Series A Preferred Unitholders Election. Series A Preferred Unitholders shall not be entitled to cause the Partnership to redeem the Series A Preferred Units, except as set forth in Section 11.04(c), Section 11.04(d) and Section 11.04(e).

(c) Redemption upon a Series A Change of Control. Upon the occurrence of a Series A Change of Control, each Series A Preferred Unitholder (excluding any Series A Preferred Unitholder that is APA, the Corporation, Apache Partner, the General Partner, the Blackstone Partners, ISQ Partner and any of their respective Controlled Affiliates) shall have the right to require the Partnership to redeem for cash (the “COC Redemption Right”) with respect to a Series A Change of Control, all or a portion of such Series A Preferred Unitholder’s Series A Preferred Units. The Partnership shall deliver to all Series A Preferred Unitholders a written notice (the “COC Notice”) of the occurrence of any Series A Change of Control, (i) with respect to a Series A Change of Control other than a Series A Change of Control described in clauses (c) and (f) of the definition thereof, at least twenty (20) Business Days prior to the consummation of such Series A Change of Control or, if it is impracticable for the Partnership to provide such twenty (20) Business Days’ prior written notice, as soon as reasonably practicable in advance of consummating such Series A Change of Control and (ii) with respect to a Series A Change of Control described in either clause (c) or (f) of the definition thereof, immediately upon the Partnership becoming aware of such Series A Change of Control. Any Series A Preferred Unitholder intending to exercise its COC Redemption Right (a “COC Redeemed Partner”) shall give written notice thereof (the “COC Redemption Notice”) to the Partnership, and if the Partnership delivered a COC Notice to such Series A Preferred Unitholder pursuant to the preceding sentence, such Series A Preferred

 

80


Unitholder must deliver its COC Redemption Notice within five (5) Business Days of receipt of such COC Notice. The COC Redemption Notice shall, subject to the limitation in clause (ii) of the first sentence of this Section 11.04(c), specify the number of Series A Preferred Units (the “COC Redeemed Units”) that the COC Redeemed Partner intends to cause the Partnership to redeem (the “COC Redemption”). The COC Redemption shall be completed contemporaneously with the consummation thereof, or the immediately following Business Day if such COC Redemption Notice is not delivered on a Business Day (the date of such completion, the “COC Redemption Date”). On the COC Redemption Date (to be effective immediately prior to the close of business on the COC Redemption Date) (i) the COC Redeemed Partner shall transfer and surrender its COC Redeemed Units to the Partnership free and clear of all liens and encumbrances other than those arising under the Delaware Act or this Agreement and (ii) the Partnership shall (x) cancel the COC Redeemed Units and (y) transfer to the COC Redeemed Partner cash in an amount equal to the Series A Redemption Price for each COC Redeemed Unit. For avoidance of doubt, the Partnership may not effect a Series A Change of Control (other than a Series A Change of Control described in either clause (c) or (f) of the definition thereof) unless it has complied with its obligations under this Section 11.04(c).

(d) Certain Asset Dispositions.

(i) In the event of any sale or series of sales of assets, other than a sale of any interests in any Existing Pipeline Joint Venture, resulting in net proceeds to the Partnership or any of its Subsidiaries in excess of $150 million in the immediately preceding twelve (12) month period (such sale or the last sale in such series of sales, a “Material Asset Disposition”), the Partnership shall either (i) offer to redeem, for cash, outstanding Series A Preferred Units (the “Asset Disposition Redemption”) with the aggregate amount of net proceeds from such Asset Disposition (the “Asset Disposition Redemption Amount”) or (ii) use the Asset Disposition Redemption Amount to repay Indebtedness outstanding under the Credit Agreement (an “Asset Disposition Repayment”); provided, that, if the use of the Asset Disposition Redemption Amount to redeem the Series A Preferred Units is not permitted under the Credit Agreement, the Partnership shall instead use the aggregate amount of such net proceeds from such Asset Disposition (1) first, to repay any outstanding Indebtedness of the Partnership and its Subsidiaries and (2) second, for general partnership purposes consistent with the Series A Purpose.

(ii) In the event of any sale or series of sales by the Partnership or any of its Subsidiaries of interests in any Existing Pipeline Joint Venture (a “JV Asset Disposition”), the Partnership shall offer to redeem, for cash, outstanding Series A Preferred Units (the “JV Asset Disposition Redemption”) with the aggregate amount of proceeds from such JV Asset Disposition (the “JV Asset Disposition Redemption Amount”).

(iii) In the case of a Material Asset Disposition or a JV Asset Disposition, the Partnership shall deliver to all Series A Preferred Unitholders a written notice (the “Asset Disposition Notice”) of such Material Asset Disposition or JV Asset Disposition at least twenty (20) Business Days prior to the consummation of such Material Asset Disposition or JV Asset Disposition. The Asset Disposition Notice will set forth (i) a description of the assets underlying the disposition and the associated proceeds for each such asset, (ii) in the case of a Material Asset Disposition, whether the Partnership has elected Asset Disposition Repayment or Asset Disposition Redemption with the aggregate amount of net proceeds from such Material Asset

 

81


Disposition, and (iii) if applicable, the total amount of Series A Preferred Units that may be redeemed based on the Asset Disposition Redemption Amount or JV Asset Disposition Redemption Amount, as applicable (the “Asset Disposition Redeemable Units”). If such notice indicates that the Partnership has elected Asset Disposition Redemption or JV Asset Disposition Redemption, any Series A Preferred Unitholder intending to accept the Partnership’s offer to redeem (a “Asset Disposition Redeemed Partner”) shall give written notice (the “Asset Disposition Redemption Notice”) to the Partnership within ten (10) Business Days of receipt of the Asset Disposition Notice. The Asset Disposition Redemption Notice shall specify the number of Series A Preferred Units held by such Asset Disposition Redeemed Partner that it intends to cause the Partnership to redeem (the “Asset Disposition Redemption Election”). The number of Series A Preferred Units held by each Asset Disposition Redeemed Partner to be redeemed shall equal such Asset Disposition Redeemed Partner’s Asset Disposition Redemption Election divided by the sum of all the Asset Disposition Redemption Elections received by the Partnership multiplied by the Asset Disposition Redeemable Units (the “Asset Disposition Redeemed Units”). The Asset Disposition Repayment or Asset Disposition Redemption, as applicable, shall be completed no later than the first (1st) Business Day after the date of consummation of such Asset Disposition (the date of such completion to which an Asset Disposition Redemption applies, the “Asset Disposition Redemption Date”). On the Asset Disposition Redemption Date (to be effective immediately prior to the close of business on the Asset Disposition Redemption Date) (i) the Asset Disposition Redeemed Partner shall transfer and surrender their Asset Disposition Redeemed Units to the Partnership free and clear of all liens and encumbrances other than those arising under the Delaware Act or this Agreement and (ii) the Partnership shall (A) cancel the Asset Disposition Redeemed Units and (B) transfer to the Asset Disposition Redeemed Partner cash in an amount equal to the Series A Redemption Price for each Asset Disposition Redeemed Unit. For avoidance of doubt, the Partnership may not effect a Material Asset Disposition or JV Asset Disposition unless it has complied with its obligations under this Section 11.04(d).

(e) Deferred Redemptions. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Partnership shall redeem at the Series A Redemption Price (i) 50,000 Series A Preferred Units issued on the Series A Issue Date (plus the associated Series A PIK Units, on which no Series A Redemption Price will be paid) on or before the date that is six (6) months following the Effective Time, (ii) an additional 50,000 Series A Preferred Units issued on the Series A Issue Date (plus the associated Series A PIK Units, on which no Series A Redemption Price will be paid) on or before the date that is twelve (12) months following the Effective Time and (iii) an additional 50,000 Series A Preferred Units issued on the Series A Issue Date (plus the associated Series A PIK Units, on which no Series A Redemption Price will be paid) on or before the date that is eighteen (18) months following the Effective Time, in each case, pro rata among the Series A Preferred Unitholders in accordance with their respective Series A Preferred Unit Percentage Interests.

Section 11.05 Exchange of Series A Preferred Units for shares of Class A Common Stock.

(a) Exchange at the Election of the Series A Preferred Unitholder. At any time on or after the seventh (7th) anniversary of the Series A Issue Date, or at any time after a Series A Restricted Action has occurred, each Series A Preferred Unitholder shall be entitled to cause the Partnership to exchange (an “Optional Exchange”) all or any portion of its Series A Preferred Units for the Series A Exchange Amount (the “Optional Exchange Right”); provided, that any

 

82


Optional Exchange that would result in an aggregate Series A Exchange Amount of less than $25 million must involve all of such Series A Preferred Unitholder’s Series A Preferred Units. A Series A Preferred Unitholder desiring to exercise its Optional Exchange Right (the “Optional Exchanging Partner”) shall exercise such right by giving written notice (the “Optional Exchange Notice”) to the Partnership with a copy to the Corporation (the date of the delivery of such Optional Exchange Notice, the “Optional Exchange Notice Date”). The Optional Exchange Notice shall specify the number of Series A Preferred Units (the “Optional Exchanged Units”) that the Optional Exchanging Partner intends to have the Partnership exchange for the Series A Exchange Amount. The Optional Exchange shall be completed on the date that is three (3) Business Days following delivery of the applicable Optional Exchange Notice, unless the Partnership elects to make the redemption payment by means of a Series A Cash Settlement, in which case the Optional Exchange shall be completed as promptly as practicable following delivery of the applicable Optional Exchange Notice, but in any event, no more than five (5) Business Days after delivery of such Optional Exchange Notice (unless and to the extent that the General Partner in its sole discretion agrees in writing to waive such time periods) (the date of such completion, the “Optional Exchange Date”); provided, that the Partnership, the Corporation and the Optional Exchanging Partner may change the number of Optional Exchanged Units and/or the Optional Exchange Date specified in such Optional Exchange Notice to another number and/or date by mutual agreement signed in writing by each of them; provided, further, that an Optional Exchange Notice may be conditioned on the closing of an underwritten distribution of the shares of Class A Common Stock that may be issued in connection with such proposed Optional Exchange. Unless the Optional Exchanging Partner has timely delivered an Optional Exchange Retraction Notice as provided in Section 11.05(b) or has delayed an Optional Exchange as provided in Section 11.05(c), on the Optional Exchange Date (to be effective immediately prior to the close of business on the Optional Exchange Date) (i) the Optional Exchanging Partner shall transfer and surrender the Optional Exchanged Units to the Partnership, free and clear of all liens and encumbrances other than those arising under the Delaware Act or this Agreement and (ii) the Partnership shall (A) cancel the Optional Exchanged Units, (B) transfer to the Optional Exchanging Partner the consideration to which the Optional Exchanging Partner is entitled under Section 11.05(b) and (C) if the Optional Exchanged Units are certificated, issue to the Optional Exchanging Partner a certificate for a number of Series A Preferred Units equal to the difference (if any) between the number of Series A Preferred Units evidenced by the certificate surrendered by the Optional Exchanging Partner pursuant to clause (i) of this Section 11.05(a) and the Optional Exchanged Units.

(b) In exchange for each Optional Exchanged Unit, an Optional Exchanging Partner shall be entitled to receive the Series A Exchange Amount or, at the Partnership’s election, payment of the Series A Cash Settlement from the Partnership. Within one (1) Business Day of delivery of the Optional Exchange Notice, the Partnership shall give written notice (the “Optional Exchange Settlement Method Notice”) to the Optional Exchanging Partner (with a copy to the Corporation) of its intended settlement method; provided, that if the Partnership does not timely deliver an Optional Exchange Settlement Method Notice, the Partnership shall be deemed to have elected the Series A Exchange Amount settlement method. The Optional Exchanging Partner may retract its Optional Exchange Notice by giving written notice (the “Optional Exchange Retraction Notice”) to the Partnership (with a copy to the Corporation) at any time prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the Business Day after delivery of the Optional Exchange Settlement Method Notice. The timely delivery of an Optional Exchange Retraction Notice shall terminate all of the Optional Exchanging Partner’s, the Partnership’s and the Corporation’s rights and obligations under this Section 11.05 arising from the retracted Optional Exchange Notice.

 

83


(c) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Section 11.05(b), in the event the Partnership elects to settle an Optional Exchange with the Series A Exchange Amount, an Optional Exchanging Partner shall be entitled, at any time prior to the consummation of an Optional Exchange, to revoke its Optional Exchange Notice or delay the consummation of an Optional Exchange if any of the following conditions exists: (i) any registration statement pursuant to which the resale of the Class A Common Stock to be registered for such Optional Exchanging Partner at or immediately following the consummation of the Optional Exchange shall have ceased to be effective pursuant to any action or inaction by the SEC or no such resale registration statement has yet become effective; (ii) the Corporation shall have failed to cause any related prospectus to be supplemented by any required prospectus supplement necessary to effect such Optional Exchange; (iii) the Corporation shall have exercised its right to defer, delay or suspend the filing or effectiveness of a registration statement and such deferral, delay or suspension shall affect the ability of such Optional Exchanging Partner to have the resale of its Class A Common Stock registered at or immediately following the consummation of the Optional Exchange; (iv) the Corporation shall have disclosed to such Optional Exchanging Partner any material non-public information concerning the Corporation, the receipt of which results in such Optional Exchanging Partner being prohibited or restricted from selling Class A Common Stock at or immediately following the Optional Exchange without disclosure of such information (and the Corporation does not permit disclosure); (v) any stop order relating to the registration statement pursuant to which the Class A Common Stock was to be registered by such Optional Exchanging Partner at or immediately following the Optional Exchange shall have been issued by the SEC; (vi) there shall have occurred a material disruption in the securities markets generally or in the market or markets in which the Class A Common Stock is then traded; (vii) there shall be in effect an injunction, a restraining order or a decree of any nature of any Governmental Entity that restrains or prohibits the Optional Exchange; (viii) the Corporation shall have failed to comply in all material respects with its obligations under the Series A Registration Rights Agreement, and such failure shall have affected the ability of such Optional Exchanging Partner to consummate the resale of Class A Common Stock to be received upon such redemption pursuant to an effective registration statement; or (ix) the Optional Exchange Date would occur three (3) Business Days or less prior to, or during, a Black-Out Period; provided, further, that in no event shall the Optional Exchanging Partner seeking to delay the consummation of such Optional Exchange and relying on any of the matters contemplated in clauses (i) through (ix) above have controlled or intentionally materially influenced any facts, circumstances, or Persons in connection therewith (except in the good faith performance of his or her duties as an officer or director of the Corporation) in order to provide such Optional Exchanging Partner with a basis for such delay or revocation. If an Optional Exchanging Partner delays the consummation of an Optional Exchange pursuant to this Section 11.05, (A) the Optional Exchange Date shall occur on the third (3rd) Business Day following the date on which the conditions giving rise to such delay cease to exist (or such earlier day as the Corporation, the Partnership and such Optional Exchanging Partner may agree in writing) and (B) notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Section 11.05(b), the Optional Exchanging Partner may retract its Optional Exchange Notice by giving an Optional Exchange Retraction Notice to the Partnership (with a copy to the Corporation) at any time prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the second (2nd) Business Day following the date on which the conditions giving rise to such delay cease to exist.

 

84


(d) Exchange Upon Liquidation of the Partnership. In the event of a liquidation or dissolution of the Partnership in accordance with Article XIV, each Series A Preferred Unitholder shall be entitled to cause the Partnership to exchange (a “Liquidation Exchange”) all or any portion of its Series A Preferred Units for the Series A Exchange Amount (the “Liquidation Exchange Right”) as described in this Section 11.05(d). A Series A Preferred Unitholder desiring to exercise its Liquidation Exchange Right (the “Liquidation Exchanging Partner”) shall exercise such right by giving written notice (the “Liquidation Exchange Notice”) to the Partnership with a copy to the Corporation within five (5) Business Days of receipt of the notice of liquidation provided to the Series A Preferred Unitholders by the liquidators in accordance with Section 14.02(b), it being understood that if a Series A Preferred Unitholder does not timely deliver a Liquidation Exchange Notice for any Series A Preferred Units in accordance with this Section 11.05(d), then the outstanding Series A Preferred Units held by such Series A Preferred Unitholder shall instead be governed by Article XIV. The Liquidation Exchange Notice shall specify the number of Series A Preferred Units (the “Liquidation Exchanged Units”) that the Liquidation Exchanging Partner intends to have the Partnership exchange for the Series A Exchange Amount. The Liquidation Exchange shall be completed on the date that is three (3) Business Days following the date of delivery of the applicable Liquidation Exchange Notice or the Business Day prior to the Liquidation Date, whichever is earlier (the “Liquidation Exchange Date”). On the Liquidation Exchange Date (to be effective immediately prior to the close of business on the Liquidation Exchange Date), (i) the Liquidation Exchanging Partner shall transfer and surrender the Liquidation Exchanged Units to the Partnership free and clear of all liens and encumbrances other than those arising under the Delaware Act or this Agreement and (ii) the Partnership shall (A) cancel the Liquidation Exchanged Units, (B) transfer to the Liquidation Exchanging Partner a number of shares of Class A Common Stock having an aggregate Series A Reference Price equal to the aggregate Series A Redemption Price attributable to the aggregate Liquidation Exchanged Units and (C) if the Liquidation Exchanged Units are certificated, issue to the Liquidation Exchanging Partner a certificate for a number of Series A Preferred Units equal to the difference (if any) between the number of Series A Preferred Units evidenced by the certificate surrendered by the Liquidation Exchanging Partner pursuant to clause (i) of this Section 11.05(d) and the Liquidation Exchanged Units.

(e) Issuance Limitation. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, if the Corporation has not obtained Requisite Stockholder Approval, then the Corporation shall not issue, upon exchange of Series A Preferred Units in accordance with Section 11.05(a) and Section 11.05(d), a number of shares of Class A Common Stock that would exceed nineteen and one half percent (19.5%) of (i) the shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding on the Series A Issue Date or (ii) the voting power of outstanding Equity Securities of the Corporation on the Series A Issue Date as calculated in accordance with Stock Exchange regulations (the “Issuable Maximum”). If the Corporation has not obtained Requisite Stockholder Approval upon exchange of any Series A Preferred Units subject to the foregoing limitation, then the applicable Series A Preferred Unitholder shall be entitled to receive upon such exchange a number of shares of Class A Common Stock equal to the lesser of (A) the Series A Exchange Amount with respect to such Series A Preferred Units and (B) such Series A Preferred Unitholder’s pro rata portion of the Issuable Maximum.

 

85


(f) Certain Adjustments.

(i) In the event of a Distribution (by dividend or otherwise) by the Corporation to all holders of Class A Common Stock of evidences of its indebtedness, securities or other assets (including Equity Securities of the Corporation), but excluding any cash dividend or Distribution of any such assets received by the Corporation in respect of its Units, then the Series A Exchange Amount shall be adjusted to include the amount of such security, securities or other property that the Optional Exchanging Partner or Liquidation Exchanging Partner would have received if such Optional Exchange Right or Liquidation Exchange Right had been exercised and the Optional Exchange Date or Liquidation Exchange Date had occurred immediately prior to the record date or effective time of any such transaction, taking into account any adjustment as a result of any subdivision (by any split, distribution or dividend, reclassification, reorganization, recapitalization or otherwise) or combination (by reverse split, reclassification, recapitalization or otherwise) of such security, securities or other property that occurs after such record date or effective time. For the avoidance of doubt, subsequent to any such transaction, this Article XI shall apply mutatis mutandis with respect to any such security, securities or other property received by holders of Class A Common Stock in such transaction.

(ii) If a Reclassification Event occurs, the General Partner or its successor, as the case may be, shall, as and to the extent necessary, amend this Agreement in compliance with Section 16.03, and enter into any necessary supplementary or additional agreements, to ensure that, following the effective date of the Reclassification Event: (A) each Optional Exchanged Unit and Liquidation Exchanged Unit is exchangeable for the same amount and same type of property, securities or cash (or combination thereof) that the Series A Exchange Amount becomes exchangeable for or converted into as a result of the Reclassification Event (taking into account any adjustment as a result of any subdivision (by any split, distribution or dividend, reclassification, reorganization, recapitalization or otherwise) or combination (by reverse split, reclassification, recapitalization or otherwise) of such security, securities or other property that occurs after the record date or effective time for such Reclassification Event) and (B) the Corporation or the successor to the Corporation, as applicable, is obligated to deliver such property, securities or cash upon such exchange. The Corporation shall not consummate or agree to consummate any Reclassification Event unless the successor Person, if any, becomes obligated to comply with the obligations of the Corporation (in whatever capacity) under this Agreement.

(g) Actions to be Taken by the Corporation.

(i) In connection with the exercise of an Optional Exchanging Partner’s Optional Exchange Rights under Section 11.05(a), unless, in the event the Partnership elects a Series A Cash Settlement, the Partnership in its discretion elects to fund any part of the consideration the Optional Exchanging Partner is entitled to receive under Section 11.05(b) without a contribution from the Corporation, the Corporation shall contribute to the Partnership the consideration the Optional Exchanging Partner is entitled to receive under Section 11.05(b). Unless the Optional Exchanging Partner has timely delivered an Optional Exchange Retraction Notice as provided in Section 11.05(b) or has delayed an Optional Exchange as provided in Section 11.05(c), on the Optional Exchange Date (to be effective immediately prior to the close of business on the Optional Exchange Date) (A) the Corporation shall make its Capital Contribution to the Partnership (in the form of the Series A Exchange Amount or the Series A Cash Settlement,

 

86


as applicable) required under this Section 11.05(g), and (B) the Partnership shall issue to the Corporation a number of Common Units as described in Section 3.04(a). Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Agreement to the contrary, in the event that the Partnership elects a Series A Cash Settlement that is to be funded by a sale of Class A Common Stock by the Corporation, the Corporation shall only be obligated to contribute to the Partnership an amount in respect of such Series A Cash Settlement equal to the net proceeds (after deduction of any underwriters’ discounts or commissions and brokers’ fees or commissions) from the sale by the Corporation of a number of shares of Class A Common Stock equal to the number of Optional Exchanged Units to be redeemed with such Series A Cash Settlement.

(ii) In connection with the exercise of a Liquidation Exchanging Partner’s Liquidation Exchange Rights under Section 11.05(d), the Corporation shall contribute to the Partnership the consideration the Liquidation Exchanging Partner is entitled to receive under Section 11.05(d). On the Liquidation Exchange Date (to be effective immediately prior to the close of business on the Liquidation Exchange Date) (A) the Corporation shall make a Capital Contribution to the Partnership in an amount equal to the aggregate Series A Redemption Price provided for in clause (B) of Section 11.05(d), and (B) the Partnership shall issue to the Corporation a number of Common Units equal to the number of shares of Class A Common Stock issued to the Liquidation Exchanging Partner.

Section 11.06 Reservation of Shares of Class A Common Stock; Listing; Registration Rights; Certificate of the Corporation.

(a) Reservation of Shares.

(i) At all times the Corporation shall reserve and keep available out of its authorized but unissued Class A Common Stock, solely for the purpose of issuance upon a Common Redemption or Direct Exchange, such number of shares of Class A Common Stock as shall be issuable upon any Common Redemption or Direct Exchange pursuant to Share Settlements; provided, that nothing contained herein shall be construed to preclude the Corporation from satisfying its obligations in respect of any such Common Redemption or Direct Exchange by delivery of purchased Class A Common Stock (which may or may not be held in the treasury of the Corporation) or the delivery of cash pursuant to a Cash Settlement.

(ii) At all times the Corporation shall reserve and keep available out of its authorized but unissued Class A Common Stock, solely for the purpose of issuance upon Optional Exchange or Liquidation Exchange, a number of shares of Class A Common Stock equal to the Series A Required Minimum; provided, that nothing contained herein shall be construed to preclude the Corporation from satisfying its obligations in respect of any such Optional Exchange or Liquidation Exchange by delivery of purchased Class A Common Stock (which may or may not be held in the treasury of the Corporation).

(b) Listing of Shares. The Corporation shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to list the Class A Common Stock required to be delivered upon any Common Redemption, Direct Exchange, Optional Exchange or Liquidation Exchange prior to such delivery upon each National Securities Exchange upon which the outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock are listed at the time of such Common Redemption, Direct Exchange, Optional Exchange or Liquidation Exchange (it being understood that any such shares may be subject to transfer restrictions under applicable securities Laws).

 

87


(c) Registration Rights.

(i) By no later than 180 days following the Effective Time, (i) the Partnership shall file a registration statement under the Securities Act to permit the public resale of all of the then-outstanding Series A Preferred Units from time to time as permitted under the Securities Act (or any successor or similar provision adopted by the SEC then in effect) and thereafter shall use its commercially reasonable best efforts to cause such registration statement to be declared effective as soon as practicable following such filing and (ii) upon request of Series A Preferred Unitholders representing the Series A Required Voting Percentage then outstanding, the Partnership shall use commercially reasonable efforts to cause the Series A Preferred Units covered by such registration statement to be rated with Standard & Poor’s Rating Group, Moody’s Investor Service, Inc. and Fitch Ratings Inc. A registration statement filed pursuant to this Section 11.06(c)(i) shall provide for the resale pursuant to any method or combination of methods legally available to, and requested by, the Series A Preferred Unitholders. The Partnership shall use its commercially reasonable best efforts to cause a registration statement filed pursuant to this Section 11.06(c)(i) to remain effective, and to be supplemented and amended to the extent necessary to ensure that such registration statement is available or, if not available, that another registration statement is available, for the resale of all the Series A Preferred Units until all such Series A Preferred Units have been sold or ceased to be outstanding (the “Effectiveness Period”).

(ii) If the Partnership fails to meet the timeline for filing a registration statement as specified in Section 11.06(c)(i), or the registration statement is declared effective but (A) the registration statement shall thereafter be withdrawn by the Partnership or shall become subject to an effective stop order issued pursuant to Section 8(d) of the Securities Act suspending the effectiveness of such registration statement without being succeeded by an additional registration statement filed and declared effective within fifteen (15) Business Days, or (B) except as addressed by the foregoing clause (A), the registration statement fails to be available for the resale by the Series A Preferred Unitholders of all the Series A Preferred Units required to be included therein during the Effectiveness Period (each such event, a “Registration Default”), then each Series A Preferred Unitholder shall be entitled to a payment (with respect to each of the Series A Preferred Unitholder’s pro rata share of the Series A Preferred Units as liquidated damages and not as a penalty), (A) for the first ninety (90) days following the occurrence of such Registration Default, an amount equal to 0.25% of the aggregate Series A Issue Price of the then-outstanding Series A Preferred Units on the ninetieth (90th) day of such period (the “Liquidated Damages Multiplier”), which shall accrue daily, and (B) for each non-overlapping 90-day period beginning on the ninety first (91st) day thereafter, an amount equal to the amount set forth in clause (B) plus an additional 0.25% of the Liquidated Damages Multiplier for each subsequent ninety (90) days (i.e., 0.50% for 91-180 days, 0.75% for 181-270 days, 1.00% for 271-360 days, etc.), which shall accrue daily, up to a maximum amount equal to 2.50% of the Liquidated Damages Multiplier per non-overlapping ninety (90) day period, until such time as such Registration Default is cured or there are no longer any Series A Preferred Units outstanding.

 

88


(iii) The Partnership covenants that it shall take such action as any Series A Preferred Unitholder may reasonably request, all to the extent required from time to time to enable such Series A Preferred Unitholder to sell the Series A Preferred Units held by such Series A Preferred Unitholder without registration under the Securities Act within the limitation of the exemptions provided by Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act (or any successor rule promulgated thereafter by the SEC), including, without limitation, at the sole expense of the Partnership, (A) issuing such directions to any transfer agent, registrar or depositary, as applicable, (B) delivering such opinions to the transfer agent, registrar or depositary as are customary for the transaction of this type and are reasonably requested by the same and (C) taking or causing to be taken such other actions as are reasonably necessary (in each case on a timely basis) in order to cause any legends, notations or similar designations restricting transferability of the Series A Preferred Units held by such Series A Preferred Unitholder to be removed and to rescind any transfer restrictions with respect to such Series A Preferred Units; provided, however, that such Series A Preferred Unitholder shall deliver to the Partnership, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Partnership, representation letters regarding such Series A Preferred Unitholder’s compliance with Rule 144 or Rule 144A, as may be applicable. Upon the request of any Series A Preferred Unitholder, the Partnership shall deliver to such Series A Preferred Unitholder a written certification of a duly authorized officer as to whether it has complied with such requirements.

(iv) The Corporation shall deliver Class A Common Stock that has been registered under the Securities Act with respect to any Common Redemption or Direct Exchange to the extent a registration statement is effective and available for such shares.

(d) Certificate of the Corporation. The Corporation covenants that all Class A Common Stock issued upon a Common Redemption, Direct Exchange, Optional Exchange or Liquidation Exchange will, upon issuance, be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable. The provisions of this Article XI shall be interpreted and applied in a manner consistent with the corresponding provisions of the Corporation’s certificate of incorporation.

Section 11.07 Effect of Exercise of Redemption or Exchange Right. This Agreement shall continue notwithstanding the consummation of a Common Redemption, Direct Exchange, COC Redemption, Asset Disposition Redemption, Series A Redemption or Optional Exchange and all governance or other rights set forth herein shall be exercised by the remaining Partners. No Common Redemption, Direct Exchange, COC Redemption, Asset Disposition Redemption, Series A Redemption or Optional Exchange shall relieve any Partner of any prior breach of this Agreement.

Section 11.08 Tax Treatment. Unless otherwise required by applicable Law, the parties hereto acknowledge and agree that (a) to the extent that the Corporation contributes to the Partnership the consideration the applicable Limited Partner is entitled to receive (or pays such amount directly to the applicable Limited Partner), any Common Redemption, Direct Exchange, Optional Exchange or Liquidation Exchange, as the case may be, shall be treated as a direct exchange between the Corporation and the applicable Limited Partner and, (b) if the Corporation is deemed to receive or receives Series A Preferred Units in any Common Redemption, Direct Exchange, Optional Exchange or Liquidation Exchange, as the case may be, such Units shall be treated as converted into Common Units immediately following such redemption or exchange, in each case for U.S. federal (and applicable state and local) income tax purposes. The issuance of shares of Class A Common Stock or other securities upon a Common Redemption, Direct Exchange or Optional Exchange shall be made without charge to the applicable Limited Partner for any stamp or other similar tax in respect of such issuance.

 

89


Section 11.09 No Restrictions on Class A Common Stock. This Agreement does not contractually restrict the ability of any Limited Partner or the Affiliates of such Limited Partner to transfer its or their Class A Common Stock.

ARTICLE XII

ADMISSION OF LIMITED PARTNERS

Section 12.01 Substituted Limited Partners. Subject to the provisions of Article X, in connection with the Permitted Transfer of a Limited Partner Interest hereunder, the transferee shall become a substituted Limited Partner (“Substituted Limited Partner”) on the effective date of such Transfer, which effective date shall not be earlier than the date of compliance with the conditions to such Transfer, and such admission shall be shown on the books and records of the Partnership.

Section 12.02 Additional Limited Partners. Subject to the provisions of Article III and Article X, any Person may be admitted to the Partnership as an additional Limited Partner (any such Person, an “Additional Limited Partner”) only upon furnishing to the General Partner (a) a Joinder (or other counterpart to this Agreement acceptable to the General Partner) and counterparts of any applicable Other Agreements and (b) such other documents or instruments as may be reasonably necessary or appropriate to effect such Person’s admission as a Limited Partner (including entering into such documents as the General Partner may deem appropriate in its reasonable discretion). Such admission shall become effective on the date on which the General Partner determines in its reasonable discretion that such conditions have been satisfied and when any such admission is shown on the books and records of the Partnership.

ARTICLE XIII

WITHDRAWAL AND RESIGNATION; TERMINATION OF RIGHTS

Section 13.01 Withdrawal and Resignation of Limited Partners. No Limited Partner shall have the power or right to withdraw or otherwise resign as a Limited Partner from the Partnership prior to the dissolution and winding up of the Partnership pursuant to Article XIV. Any Limited Partner, however, that attempts to withdraw or otherwise resign as a Limited Partner from the Partnership without the prior written consent of the General Partner upon or following the dissolution and winding up of the Partnership pursuant to Article XIV, but prior to such Limited Partner receiving the full amount of Distributions from the Partnership to which such Limited Partner is entitled pursuant to Article XIV, shall be liable to the Partnership for all damages (including all lost profits and special, indirect and consequential damages) directly or indirectly caused by the withdrawal or resignation of such Partner. Upon a Transfer of all of a Limited Partner’s Units in a Transfer permitted by this Agreement, subject to the provisions of Section 10.06, such Limited Partner shall cease to be a Partner.

 

90


ARTICLE XIV

DISSOLUTION AND LIQUIDATION

Section 14.01 Dissolution. The Partnership shall not be dissolved by the admission of Additional Limited Partners or Substituted Limited Partners or the attempted withdrawal or resignation of a Partner. Subject to Section 6.01(e) and Section 11.05(d), the Partnership shall dissolve, and its affairs shall be wound up, upon:

(a) the unanimous decision of the General Partner together with all the Common Unitholders to dissolve the Partnership;

(b) a dissolution of the Partnership under Section 17-801(4) of the Delaware Act; or

(b) the entry of a decree of judicial dissolution of the Partnership under Section 17-802 of the Delaware Act.

Except as otherwise set forth in this Article XIV, the Partnership is intended to have perpetual existence. An Event of Withdrawal shall not cause a dissolution of the Partnership and the Partnership shall continue in existence subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

Section 14.02 Liquidation and Termination. On dissolution of the Partnership, the General Partner shall act as liquidator or may appoint one or more Persons as liquidator. The liquidators shall proceed diligently to wind up the affairs of the Partnership and make final Distributions as provided herein and in the Delaware Act. The costs of liquidation shall be borne as a Partnership expense. Until final Distribution, the liquidators shall continue to operate the Partnership properties with all of the power and authority of the General Partner. The steps to be accomplished by the liquidators are as follows:

(a) as promptly as possible after dissolution and again after final liquidation, the liquidators shall cause a proper accounting to be made by a recognized firm of certified public accountants of the Partnership’s assets, liabilities and operations through the last day of the calendar month in which the dissolution occurs or the final liquidation is completed, as applicable;

(b) the liquidators shall cause notice of liquidation to be mailed to each known creditor of and claimant against the Partnership and to each Series A Preferred Unitholder;

(c) the liquidators shall pay, satisfy or discharge from Partnership funds, or otherwise make adequate provisions for payment and discharge thereof (including the establishment of a cash fund for contingent liabilities in such amount and for such term as the liquidators may reasonably determine): first, all expenses incurred in liquidation; and second, all of the debts, liabilities and obligations of the Partnership;

 

91


(d) all remaining assets of the Partnership shall be distributed to the Series A Preferred Unitholders and Common Unitholders, as applicable, by the end of the Taxable Year during which the liquidation of the Partnership occurs (or, if later, by ninety (90) days after the date of the liquidation) as follows:

(i) first, 100% to the Series A Preferred Unitholders pro rata in accordance with their respective Series A Preferred Unit Percentage Interests in redemption of any outstanding Series A Preferred Units in an amount per Series A Preferred Unit equal to the Series A Redemption Price for such Series A Preferred Unit (it being understood that any distributions under this Section 14.02 shall be in cash and not a distribution in-kind as provided by Section 14.03); and

(ii) the remainder, if any, 100% to the Common Unitholders pro rata in accordance with their respective Common Unit Percentage Interests.

The distribution of cash and/or property to the Partners in accordance with the provisions of this Section 14.02 and Section 14.03 below constitutes a complete return to the Partners of their Capital Contributions, a complete distribution to the Partners of their interest in the Partnership and all the Partnership’s property and constitutes a compromise to which all Partners have consented within the meaning of the Delaware Act. To the extent that a Partner returns funds to the Partnership, it has no claim against any other Partner for those funds.

Section 14.03 Deferment; Distribution in Kind. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 14.02, but subject to the order of priorities set forth therein, if upon dissolution of the Partnership the liquidators determine that an immediate sale of part or all of the Partnership’s assets would be impractical or would cause undue loss (or would otherwise not be beneficial) to the Partners, the liquidators may, in their sole discretion, defer for a reasonable time the liquidation of any assets except those necessary to satisfy Partnership liabilities (other than loans to the Partnership by Partners, but including any liabilities in respect of the Series A Preferred Units) and reserves. Subject to the order of priorities set forth in Section 14.02, the liquidators may, in their sole discretion, distribute to the Partners, in lieu of cash (other than any Series A Preferred Unitholder unless the Series A Preferred Unitholders representing the Series A Required Voting Percentage consent otherwise), either (a) all or any portion of such remaining Partnership assets in-kind in accordance with the provisions of Section 14.02(c), (b) as tenants in common and in accordance with the provisions of Section 14.02(c), undivided interests in all or any portion of such Partnership assets or (c) a combination of the foregoing. Any such Distributions in kind shall be subject to (i) such conditions relating to the disposition and management of such assets as the liquidators deem reasonable and equitable and (ii) the terms and conditions of any agreements governing such assets (or the operation thereof or the holders thereof) at such time. Any Partnership assets distributed in kind will first be written up or down to their Fair Market Value, thus creating Profit or Loss (if any), which shall be allocated in accordance with Article V. The liquidators shall determine the Fair Market Value of any property distributed in accordance with the valuation procedures set forth in Article XV.

Section 14.04 Cancellation of Certificate. On completion of the Distribution of Partnership assets as provided herein, the Partnership is terminated (and the Partnership shall not be terminated prior to such time), and the General Partner (or such other Person or Persons as the Delaware Act may require or permit) shall file a certificate of cancellation with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware, cancel any other filings made pursuant to this Agreement that are or should be canceled and take such other actions as may be necessary to terminate the Partnership. The Partnership shall be deemed to continue in existence for all purposes of this Agreement until it is terminated pursuant to this Section 14.04.

 

92


Section 14.05 Reasonable Time for Winding Up. A reasonable time shall be allowed for the orderly winding up of the business and affairs of the Partnership and the liquidation of its assets pursuant to Section 14.02 and Section 14.03 in order to minimize any losses otherwise attendant upon such winding up.

Section 14.06 Return of Capital. The liquidators shall not be personally liable for the return of Capital Contributions or any portion thereof to the Partners (it being understood that any such return shall be made solely from Partnership assets).

ARTICLE XV

VALUATION

Section 15.01 Determination. “Fair Market Value” of a specific Partnership asset will mean the amount which the Partnership would receive in an all-cash sale of such asset in an arms-length transaction with a willing unaffiliated third party, with neither party having any compulsion to buy or sell, consummated on the day immediately preceding the date on which the event occurred which necessitated the determination of the Fair Market Value (and after giving effect to any transfer taxes payable in connection with such sale), as such amount is determined by the General Partner (or, if pursuant to Section 14.02, the liquidators) in its good faith judgment using all factors, information and data it deems to be pertinent.

Section 15.02 Dispute Resolution. If any Limited Partner or Limited Partners dispute the accuracy of any determination of Fair Market Value in accordance with Section 15.01, and the General Partner and such Limited Partner(s) are unable to agree on the determination of the Fair Market Value of any asset of the Partnership, the General Partner and such Limited Partner(s) shall each select a nationally recognized investment banking firm experienced in valuing securities of closely-held companies such as the Partnership in the Partnership’s industry (the “Appraisers”), who shall each determine the Fair Market Value of the asset or the Partnership (as applicable) in accordance with the provisions of Section 15.01. The Appraisers shall be instructed to give written notice of their determination of the Fair Market Value of the asset or the Partnership (as applicable) within thirty (30) days of their appointment as Appraisers. If Fair Market Value as determined by an Appraiser is higher than Fair Market Value as determined by the other Appraiser by ten percent (10%) or more, and the General Partner and such Limited Partner(s) do not otherwise agree on a Fair Market Value, the original Appraisers shall designate a third Appraiser meeting the same criteria used to select the original two, and the Fair Market Value shall be the average of the Fair Market Values determined by all three Appraisers, unless the General Partner and such Limited Partner(s) otherwise agree on a Fair Market Value. If Fair Market Value as determined by an Appraiser is within ten percent (10%) of the Fair Market Value as determined by the other Appraiser (but not identical), and the General Partner and such Limited Partner(s) do not otherwise agree on a Fair Market Value, the General Partner shall select the Fair Market Value of one of the Appraisers. The fees and expenses of the Appraisers shall be borne by the Partnership.

 

93


ARTICLE XVI

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 16.01 Power of Attorney.

(a) Each Limited Partner who is an individual hereby constitutes and appoints the General Partner (or the liquidator, if applicable) with full power of substitution, as his or her true and lawful agent and attorney-in-fact, with full power and authority in his, her or its name, place and stead, to:

(i) execute, swear to, acknowledge, deliver, file and record in the appropriate public offices (A) this Agreement, all certificates and other instruments and all amendments thereof which the General Partner deems appropriate or necessary to form, qualify or continue the qualification of, the Partnership as a limited partnership in the State of Delaware and in all other jurisdictions in which the Partnership may conduct business or own property; (B) all instruments which the General Partner deems appropriate or necessary to reflect any amendment, change, modification or restatement of this Agreement in accordance with its terms; (C) all conveyances and other instruments or documents which the General Partner deems appropriate or necessary to reflect the dissolution and liquidation of the Partnership pursuant to the terms of this Agreement, including a certificate of cancellation; and (D) all instruments relating to the admission, withdrawal or substitution of any Partner pursuant to Article XII or Article XIII; and

(ii) sign, execute, swear to and acknowledge all ballots, consents, approvals, waivers, certificates and other instruments appropriate or necessary, in the reasonable judgment of the General Partner, to evidence, confirm or ratify any vote, consent, approval, agreement or other action which is made or given by the Partners hereunder or is consistent with the terms of this Agreement, in the reasonable judgment of the General Partner, to effectuate the terms of this Agreement.

(b) The foregoing power of attorney is irrevocable and coupled with an interest, and shall survive the death, disability, incapacity, dissolution, bankruptcy, insolvency or termination of any Limited Partner who is an individual and the transfer of all or any portion of his, her or its Limited Partner Interest and shall extend to such Limited Partner’s heirs, successors, assigns and personal representatives.

(c) For avoidance of doubt, this Section 16.01 shall not apply to any Series A Preferred Unitholder.

Section 16.02 Confidentiality.

(a) Each of the Partners agrees to hold the Partnership’s Confidential Information in confidence and may not use such information except in furtherance of the business of the Partnership, monitoring and evaluating its investment in the Partnership or as otherwise authorized separately in writing by the General Partner, it being understood that each Partner may disclose Confidential Information as so permitted herein to its Affiliates and its and their respective partners, members, equityholders, directors, managers, officers, employees, agents, consultants, representatives and advisors (including financial, legal and accounting advisors) who have a bona fide need to know such information in connection with monitoring and evaluating the Partner’s

 

94


investment in the Partnership (collectively, “Representatives”). “Confidential Information” as used herein includes, but is not limited to, ideas, financial product structuring, business strategies, innovations and materials, the Partnership’s business plan, proposed operation and products, corporate structure, financial and organizational information, analyses, proposed partners, software code and system and product designs, employees and their identities, equity ownership, the methods and means by which the Partnership plans to conduct its business, trade secrets, trademarks, tradenames and intellectual property associated with the Partnership’s business, in each case obtained by a Partner from the Partnership or any of its Affiliates or Representatives. With respect to any Partner, Confidential Information does not include information or material that: (i) is rightfully in the possession of such Partner at the time of disclosure by or on behalf of the Partnership; (ii) before or after it has been disclosed to such Partner by or on behalf of the Partnership, becomes publicly available on a non-confidential basis from a source other than the Partnership or its Representatives, other than as a result of any action or inaction of such Partner in violation of this Agreement; (iii) is approved for release by written authorization of the Chief Executive Officer of the Partnership or of the Corporation; (iv) is disclosed to such Partner or its Representatives by a source other than the Partnership or its Representatives that is not, to the knowledge of such Partner (after reasonable inquiry), in violation of any obligation of confidentiality owed to the Partnership with respect to such information; or (v) is or becomes independently developed by or on behalf of such Partner or its Representatives without use of or reference to the Confidential Information in violation of this Agreement. Each Partner shall be responsible to the Partnership for any breach of this Section 16.02 by any of its Representatives as though such breach was committed by such Partner.

(b) In the event that any Partner or its Representatives is requested or required by Law, rule, regulation or legal, judicial or administrative process, including an audit or examination by a regulatory authority or self-regulatory organization (including by oral questions, interrogatories, requests for information or documents, subpoena, civil investigative demand or similar process) to disclose any of the Confidential Information, such Partner shall use commercially reasonable efforts to provide the Partnership with prompt written notice so that the Partnership may, at the Partnership’s sole cost and expense, seek a protective order or other appropriate remedy or waive compliance with the provisions of this Agreement, and such Partner shall use commercially reasonable efforts to cooperate with the Partnership in any effort the Partnership undertakes to obtain a protective order or other remedy. In the event that such protective order or other remedy is not obtained, or that the Partnership waives compliance with the provisions of Section 16.02(a), such Partner and its Representatives shall furnish only that portion of the Confidential Information that is required. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no such notice, cooperation or other action set forth in this Section 16.02(b) shall be required by Partner to the extent such Partner or its Representatives are requested or required to disclose Confidential Information to the applicable regulatory authorities or self-regulatory organizations having supervisory jurisdiction over such Partner or its Representatives during the course of any regulatory audit or examination.

(c) Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, any Series A Preferred Unitholder may disclose the terms of such Series A Preferred Unitholder’s investment in the Partnership and the performance of that investment (whether in customary information provided to investors in private equity funds, investment funds, investment vehicles or managed accounts managed by a Series A Preferred Unitholder or its current or future Affiliates, in such Series A Preferred Unitholder’s or its current or future Affiliates’ fundraising materials, or in reports or accounts

 

95


required to be made by such Series A Preferred Unitholder under applicable Law or otherwise), which disclosure may, for the avoidance of doubt, include: (i) the name of the Partnership; (ii) the country in which the Partnership is located; (iii) the net asset value of such Series A Preferred Unitholder’s interest in the Partnership; (iv) the general economic or structural terms of such Series A Preferred Unitholder’s interest in the Partnership; (v) the Partnership’s industry sector; and (vi) the aggregate percentage of such Series A Preferred Unitholder’s total private equity asset value attributable to such Series A Preferred Unitholder’s interest in the Partnership or by private equity funds, investment funds, investment vehicles or managed accounts managed by such Series A Preferred Unitholder or its current or future Affiliates.

Section 16.03 Amendments. Subject to Section 6.01(e), this Agreement may be amended or modified solely by the General Partner. Notwithstanding the foregoing, but subject to Section 6.01(e), no amendment or modification (a) to this Section 16.03 may be made without the prior written consent of each of the Partners, (b) that modifies the limited liability of any Partner, or increases the liabilities or obligations of any Partner, in each case, may be made without the consent of each such affected Partner, (c) that materially alters or changes any rights, preferences or privileges of any Limited Partner Interests in a manner that is different or prejudicial relative to any other Limited Partner Interests, may be made without the approval of a majority in interest of the Partners holding the Limited Partner Interests affected in such a different or prejudicial manner (excluding any such Limited Partner Interests held by the General Partner or any affiliates Controlled by the General Partner), (d) that materially alters or changes any rights, preferences or privileges of a holder of any class of Limited Partner Interests in a manner that is different or prejudicial relative to any other holder of the same class of Limited Partner Interests, may be made without the approval of the holder of Limited Partner Interests affected in such a different or prejudicial manner and (e) to any of the terms and conditions of this Agreement which terms and conditions expressly require the approval or action of certain Persons may be made without obtaining the consent of the requisite number or specified percentage of such Persons who are entitled to approve or take action on such matter; provided, that the General Partner, acting alone, may amend this Agreement to reflect the issuance of additional Units or Equity Securities in accordance with Section 3.04.

Section 16.04 Title to Partnership Assets. Partnership assets shall be deemed to be owned by the Partnership as an entity, and no Partner, individually or collectively, shall have any ownership interest in such Partnership assets or any portion thereof. The Partnership shall hold title to all of its property in the name of the Partnership and not in the name of any Partner. All Partnership assets shall be recorded as the property of the Partnership on its books and records, irrespective of the name in which legal title to such Partnership assets is held. The Partnership’s credit and assets shall be used solely for the benefit of the Partnership, and no asset of the Partnership shall be transferred or encumbered for, or in payment of, any individual obligation of any Partner.

Section 16.05 Addresses and Notices. Any notice provided for in this Agreement will be in writing and will be either personally delivered, sent by telecopier or by e-mail, sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, or sent by reputable overnight courier service (charges prepaid) at the addresses set forth below and to any other recipient and to any Partner at such address as indicated by the Partnership’s records, or at such address or to the attention of such other person as the recipient party has specified by prior written notice to the sending party. If a Series A

 

96


Preferred Unitholder delivers a notice hereunder to any other party hereto, such notice shall copy each other Series A Preferred Unitholder to the extent each such other Series A Preferred Unitholder is not otherwise copied to or an addressee of such notice, and if any party hereto other than a Series A Preferred Unitholder delivers a notice hereunder to any Series A Preferred Unitholder, such notice shall copy each other Series A Preferred Unitholder to the extent each such other Series A Preferred Unitholder is not otherwise copied to or an addressee of such notice. Notices will be deemed to have been given hereunder when delivered personally or sent by telecopier or e-mail (provided, that confirmation of transmission is received), three (3) days after deposit in the U.S. mail and one (1) day after deposit with a reputable overnight courier service.

To the Corporation or the Partnership:

Altus Midstream Company

2000 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 100

Houston, Texas 77056

Attention: Ben C. Rodgers

with a copy (which copy shall not constitute notice) to:

Bracewell LLP

711 Louisiana Street, Suite 2300

Houston, Texas 77002

Attention: Jason Jean

and to:

Apache Midstream LLC

One Post Oak Central, 2000 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 100

Houston, Texas 77056

Attention: Legal Department

To the Limited Partners at the addresses indicated on the signature pages hereto or such other addresses provided by the applicable Limited Partner and shown on the records of the Partnership.

Section 16.06 Binding Effect; Intended Beneficiaries. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their heirs, executors, administrators, successors, legal representatives and permitted assigns.

Section 16.07 Creditors. None of the provisions of this Agreement shall be for the benefit of or enforceable by any creditors of the Partnership or any of its Affiliates, and no creditor who makes a loan to the Partnership or any of its Affiliates may have or acquire (except pursuant to the terms of a separate agreement executed by the Partnership in favor of such creditor) at any time as a result of making the loan any direct or indirect interest in Partnership Profits, Losses, Distributions, capital or property other than as a secured creditor.

 

97


Section 16.08 Waiver. No failure by any party to insist upon the strict performance of any covenant, duty, agreement or condition of this Agreement or to exercise any right or remedy consequent upon a breach thereof shall constitute a waiver of any such breach or any other covenant, duty, agreement or condition.

Section 16.09 Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in separate counterparts, each of which will be an original and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement binding on all the parties hereto.

Section 16.10 Applicable Law. This Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of Delaware, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions (whether of the State of Delaware or any other jurisdiction) that would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of Delaware. Any dispute relating hereto shall be heard in the state or federal courts of the State of Delaware, and the parties agree to jurisdiction and venue therein.

Section 16.11 Severability. Whenever possible, each provision of this Agreement will be interpreted in such manner as to be effective and valid under applicable Law, but if any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect under any applicable Law or rule in any jurisdiction, such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability will not affect any other provision or the effectiveness or validity of any provision in any other jurisdiction, and this Agreement will be reformed, construed and enforced in such jurisdiction as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable provision had never been contained herein.

Section 16.12 Further Action. The parties shall execute and deliver all documents, provide all information and take or refrain from taking such actions as may be reasonably necessary or appropriate to achieve the purposes of this Agreement.

Section 16.13 Delivery by Electronic Transmission.

(a) This Agreement and any signed agreement or instrument entered into in connection with this Agreement or contemplated hereby, and any amendments hereto or thereto, to the extent signed and delivered by means of an electronic transmission, including by a facsimile machine or via email, shall be treated in all manner and respects as an original agreement or instrument and shall be considered to have the same binding legal effect as if it were the original signed version thereof delivered in person. At the request of any party hereto or to any such agreement or instrument, each other party hereto or thereto shall re-execute original forms thereof and deliver them to all other parties. No party hereto or to any such agreement or instrument shall raise the use of electronic transmission by a facsimile machine or via email to deliver a signature or the fact that any signature or agreement or instrument was transmitted or communicated through such electronic transmission as a defense to the formation of a contract and each such party forever waives any such defense.

 

98


(b) Documents required to be delivered by the Partnership to the Partners pursuant to this Agreement may be delivered electronically and shall be deemed to have been so delivered on the date (i) on which the Partnership posts such documents, or provides a link thereto, on its website, the location of which may be communicated pursuant to the notice provisions set forth in Section 16.05 or (ii) on which such documents are posted by the Partnership or the Corporation on the website of the SEC.

Section 16.14 Right of Offset. Whenever the Partnership is to pay any sum (other than pursuant to Article IV) to any Partner, any amounts that such Partner owes to the Partnership which are not the subject of a good faith dispute may be deducted from that sum before payment. For the avoidance of doubt, the distribution of Units to the Corporation shall not be subject to this Section 16.14.

Section 16.15 Expenses. Except as otherwise provided herein, each Partner shall bear its own expenses incurred in connection with the preparation, execution and performance of this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby including all fees and expenses of its Representatives.

Section 16.16 Effectiveness. This Agreement shall become effective concurrently with the EagleClaw Contribution Closing (the “Effective Time”). The Existing Limited Partnership Agreement shall govern the rights and obligations of the Partnership and the other parties to this Agreement in their capacity as Partners prior to the Effective Time to the extent the Existing Limited Partnership Agreement is applicable to such other parties.

Section 16.17 Entire Agreement. This Agreement and those documents expressly referred to herein (including the Series A Preferred Unit Purchase Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement, the EagleClaw Contribution Agreement and the Stockholders Agreement) embody the complete agreement and understanding among the parties and supersede and preempt any prior understandings, agreements or representations by or among the parties, written or oral, which may have related to the subject matter hereof in any way. For the avoidance of doubt, the Existing Limited Partnership Agreement is superseded by this Agreement as of the Effective Time and shall be of no further force and effect thereafter.

Section 16.18 Remedies. Each Partner shall have all rights and remedies set forth in this Agreement and all rights and remedies which such Person has been granted at any time under any other agreement or contract and all of the rights which such Person has under any Law. Any Person having any rights under any provision of this Agreement or any other agreements contemplated hereby shall be entitled to enforce such rights specifically (without posting a bond or other security), to recover damages by reason of any breach of any provision of this Agreement and to exercise all other rights granted by Law.

Section 16.19 Descriptive Headings; Interpretation. The descriptive headings of this Agreement are inserted for convenience only and do not constitute a substantive part of this Agreement. Whenever required by the context, any pronoun used in this Agreement shall include the corresponding masculine, feminine or neuter forms, and the singular form of nouns, pronouns and verbs shall include the plural and vice versa. The use of the word “including” in this Agreement shall be by way of example rather than by limitation. Reference to any agreement, document or instrument means such agreement, document or instrument as amended or otherwise modified from time to time in accordance with the terms thereof, and if applicable hereof. Without limiting

 

99


the generality of the immediately preceding sentence, no amendment or other modification to any agreement, document or instrument that requires the consent of any Person pursuant to the terms of this Agreement or any other agreement will be given effect hereunder unless such Person has consented in writing to such amendment or modification. Wherever required by the context, references to a Fiscal Year shall refer to a portion thereof. The use of the words “or,” “either” and “any” shall not be exclusive. The serial comma is sometimes included and sometimes omitted. Its inclusion or omission shall not affect the interpretation of any phrase. The parties hereto have participated jointly in the negotiation and drafting of this Agreement. In the event an ambiguity or question of intent or interpretation arises, this Agreement shall be construed as if drafted jointly by the parties hereto, and no presumption or burden of proof shall arise favoring or disfavoring any party by virtue of the authorship of any of the provisions of this Agreement. Wherever a conflict exists between this Agreement and any other agreement, this Agreement shall control but solely to the extent of such conflict.

Section 16.20 No Recourse. Notwithstanding anything that may be expressed or implied in this Agreement or any document, agreement, or instrument delivered contemporaneously with this Agreement, and notwithstanding the fact that any Partner may be a partnership or limited liability company, each Partner agrees and acknowledges that no Persons other than the Partners shall have any obligation under this Agreement. Each party to this Agreement further acknowledges and agrees that it has no rights of recovery whether under this Agreement or under any documents, agreements, or instruments delivered contemporaneously herewith, in respect of any oral representations made or alleged to be made in connection herewith or therewith. The prohibition against recovery set forth in this Section 16.20 shall have equal application to any and all claims against any former, current or future director, officer, agent, Affiliate, manager, assignee, incorporator, controlling Person, fiduciary, representative or employee of any Limited Partner (or any of their successors or permitted assignees), against any former, current, or future general or limited partner, manager, stockholder or member of any Partner (or any of their successors or permitted assignees) or any Affiliate thereof or against any former, current or future director, officer, agent, employee, Affiliate, manager, assignee, incorporator, controlling Person, fiduciary, representative, general or limited partner, stockholder, manager or member of any of the foregoing, but in each case not including the Limited Partners. The prohibition set forth in this Section 16.20 shall apply to any and all claims, whether in tort, contract or otherwise. This prohibition shall apply whether such claims are asserted by attempting to pierce the corporate veil, or through a claim brought by or on behalf of such party hereto against such Persons and whether by the enforcement of any assessment or by any legal or equitable proceeding, or by virtue of any statute, regulation or other applicable law, or otherwise. The parties hereto further expressly agree and acknowledge that no personal liability whatsoever shall attach to or be incurred by any of the Persons or other entities referenced in this Section 16.20 for any obligations of the applicable party hereto under this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby, under any documents or instruments delivered contemporaneously herewith, in respect of any oral representations made or alleged to be made in connection herewith or therewith, or for any claim (whether in tort, contract or otherwise) based on, in respect of, or by reason of, such obligations or their creation.

[Signature Pages Follow]

 

100


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have executed or caused to be executed on their behalf this Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership as of the date first written above.

 

GENERAL PARTNER:
ALTUS MIDSTREAM GP LLC
By:   /s/ Ben C. Rodgers
Name:   Ben C. Rodgers
Title:   Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

[Signature Page to Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership]


LIMITED PARTNERS:
ALTUS MIDSTREAM COMPANY
By:   /s/ Ben C. Rodgers
Name:   Ben C. Rodgers
Title:   Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Address for notice:
Altus Midstream Company
2000 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 100
Houston, Texas 77056
Attn: Ben Rodgers
with a copy (which copy shall not constitute notice) to:
Apache Legal
2000 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 100
Houston, Texas 77056
Attn: General Counsel

 

APACHE MIDSTREAM LLC
By:   /s/ Stephen J. Riney
Name:   Stephen J. Riney
Title:   Executive Vice President and Chief
  Financial Officer

 

Address for notice:
Altus Midstream LLC
2000 Post Oak Blvd.
Houston, Texas 77056
Attn: Ben Rodgers
with a copy (which copy shall not constitute notice) to:
Apache Legal
2000 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 100
Houston, Texas 77056
Attn: General Counsel

[Signature Page to Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership]


BCP RAPTOR AGGREGATOR, LP
By: BCP VII/BEP II Holdings Manager L.L.C., its general partner
By:   /s/ David Foley
Name:   David Foley
Title:   Senior Managing Director

 

Address for notice:
Blackstone Energy Partners II L.P.
345 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10154
Attention: David Foley
with a copy (which copy shall not constitute notice) to:
Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.
1001 Fannin Street
Houston, Texas 77002
Attention: Keith Fullenweider; Douglas E.
McWilliams

[Signature Page to Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership]

 

104


BX PERMIAN PIPELINE AGGREGATOR LP
By: BCP VII/BEP II Holdings Manager L.L.C., its general partner
By:   /s/ David Foley
Name:   David Foley

Title:

 

Senior Managing Director

 

Address for notice:
Blackstone Energy Partners II L.P.
345 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10154
Attention: David Foley
with a copy (which copy shall not constitute notice) to:
Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.
1001 Fannin Street
Houston, Texas 77002
Attention: Keith Fullenweider; Douglas E.
McWilliams

[Signature Page to Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership]

 

105


NEW BCP RAPTOR HOLDCO, LLC
By:   /s/ Jamie Welch
Name:   Jamie Welch
Title:   Chief Executive Officer, President and Chief Financial Officer

 

Address for notice:
New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC
2700 Post Oak Blvd, Suite 300
Houston, TX 77056
Attention: Todd Carpenter
with copies (which copies shall not constitute notice) to:
Blackstone Energy Partners II L.P.
345 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10154
Attention: David Foley
and
Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.
1001 Fannin Street
Houston, Texas 77002
Attention: Keith Fullenweider; Douglas E.
McWilliams

[Signature Page to Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership]

 

106


BUZZARD MIDSTREAM LLC
By:   /s/ Thomas Lefebvre
Name:   Thomas Lefebvre

Title:

 

Authorized Person

Address for notice:

I Squared Capital Advisors (US) LLC

600 Brickell Avenue, PH

Miami, FL 33131

with copies (which copies shall not constitute

notice) to:

I Squared Capital Advisors (US) LLC

600 Brickell Avenue, PH

Miami, FL 33131

and

Sidley Austin LLP

1000 Louisiana, Suite 5900

Houston, TX 77002

Attention: Glenn L. Pinkerton; Atman Shukla

 

[Signature Page to Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership]


BSOF SNOWBIRD (M) 2 L.P.

By: Magnetar Financial LLC, its investment

advisor

By:   /s/ Michael Turro
Name:   Michael Turro

Title:

 

Chief Compliance Officer

Address for notice:

BSOF Snowbird (M) 2 L.P. c/o Magnetar Financial LLC

1603 Orrington Avenue, 13th Floor

Evanston, Illinois 60201

Attention: Chief Legal Officer

with a copy (which copy shall not constitute notice) to:

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

609 Main Street, Suite 4700

Houston, Texas 77002

Attention: William J. Benitez, P.C.

Matthew R. Pacey, P.C.

 

[Signature Page to Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership]


MTP ENERGY OPPORTUNITIES FUND II LLC
By:   MTP Energy Management LLC, its managing member
By:   Magnetar Financial LLC, its sole member
By:   /s/ Michael Turro
Name:   Michael Turro

Title:

 

Chief Compliance Officer

Address for notice:

MTP Energy Opportunities Fund II LLC c/o Magnetar Financial LLC

1603 Orrington Avenue, 13th Floor

Evanston, Illinois 60201

Attention: Chief Legal Officer

with a copy (which copy shall not constitute notice) to:

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

609 Main Street, Suite 4700

Houston, Texas 77002

Attention: William J. Benitez, P.C.

Matthew R. Pacey, P.C.

 

[Signature Page to Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership]


MTP ENERGY MASTER FUND LLC
By:   MTP Energy Management LLC, its manager
By:   Magnetar Financial LLC, its sole member
By:   /s/ Michael Turro
Name:   Michael Turro

Title:

 

Chief Compliance Officer

 

Address for notice:
MTP Energy Master Fund LLC c/o Magnetar Financial LLC 1603 Orrington Avenue, 13th Floor

Evanston, Illinois 60201

Attention: Chief Legal Officer

with a copy (which copy shall not constitute notice) to:

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

609 Main Street, Suite 4700

Houston, Texas 77002
Attention: William J. Benitez, P.C.

Matthew R. Pacey, P.C.

 

[Signature Page to Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership]


MTP EMERALD FUND LLC
By:   MTP Energy Management LLC, its manager
By:   Magnetar Financial LLC, its sole member
By:   /s/ Michael Turro
Name:   Michael Turro
Title:   Chief Compliance Officer
Address for notice:

MTP Emerald Fund LLC

1603 Orrington Avenue, 13th Floor

Evanston, Illinois 60201

Attention: Chief Legal Officer

with a copy (which copy shall not constitute notice) to:

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

609 Main Street, Suite 4700

Houston, Texas 77002
Attention: William J. Benitez, P.C.

Matthew R. Pacey, P.C.

 

[Signature Page to Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership]


MTP ENERGY FUND LP
By:   MTP Energy Management LLC, its investment advisor
By:   Magnetar Financial LLC, its sole member
By:   /s/ Michael Turro
Name:   Michael Turro
Title:   Chief Compliance Officer
Address for notice:

MTP Emerald Fund LLC

1603 Orrington Avenue, 13th Floor

Evanston, Illinois 60201

Attention: Chief Legal Officer

with a copy (which copy shall not constitute notice) to:

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

609 Main Street, Suite 4700

Houston, Texas 77002
Attention: William J. Benitez, P.C.
Matthew R. Pacey, P.C.

 

[Signature Page to Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership]


CALTM HOLDINGS, LLC
By:   /s/ Daniel East
Name:   Daniel East
Title:   Authorized Person
Address for notice:

CALTM Holdings, LLC

One Vanderbilt Avenue, Suite 3400

New York, New York 10017

Attn: Arleen Spangler

Attn: Emily Chang

with a copy (which copy shall not constitute notice) to:

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

609 Main Street, Suite 4700

Houston, Texas 77002

Attention: William J. Benitez, P.C.

Matthew R. Pacey, P.C.

matt.pacey@kirkland.com

 

[Signature Page to Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership]


EXHIBIT A

FORM OF JOINDER AGREEMENT

This JOINDER AGREEMENT, dated as of                        , 20         (this “Joinder”), is delivered pursuant to that certain Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Altus Midstream LP (the “Partnership”), dated as of October 21, 2021 (as amended, restated, amended and restated, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time, the “Partnership Agreement”). Capitalized terms used but not otherwise defined herein have the respective meanings set forth in the Partnership Agreement.

 

1.

Joinder to the Partnership Agreement. Upon the execution of this Joinder by the undersigned and delivery hereof to the General Partner, the undersigned hereby is and hereafter will be a Limited Partner under the Partnership Agreement and a party thereto, with all the rights, privileges and responsibilities of a Limited Partner thereunder. The undersigned hereby agrees that it shall comply with and be fully bound by the terms of the Partnership Agreement as if it had been a signatory thereto as of the date thereof.

 

2.

Incorporation by Reference. All terms and conditions of the Partnership Agreement are hereby incorporated by reference in this Joinder as if set forth herein in full.

 

3.

Address. All notices under the Partnership Agreement to the undersigned shall be direct to:

[Name]

[Address]

[City, State, Zip Code]

Attn:

Facsimile:

E-mail:

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned has duly executed and delivered this Joinder as of the day and year first above written.

 

[NAME OF NEW PARTNER]
By:    
Name:    
Title:    


Acknowledged and agreed

as of the date first set forth above:

 

ALTUS MIDSTREAM GP LLC
By:    
Name:  

Title:

 


EXHIBIT B

FORM OF BOARD OBSERVER CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT

Altus Midstream Company

2000 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 100

Houston, Texas 77056

Attn: Ben Rodgers

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

Pursuant to Section 6.09 of that Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Altus Midstream LP, dated as of October 21, 2021 (the “Partnership Agreement”), the undersigned Series A Preferred Unitholder (as defined therein) has exercised its right to appoint [•] as an observer (acting in such capacity, the “Board Observer”) to the Corporate Board (as defined in the Partnership Agreement), although the individual serving as the Board Observer may be changed from time to time pursuant to the terms of the Partnership Agreement so long as any Series A Preferred Unitholder that has appointed a Board Observer has executed and delivered to the Corporation a confidentiality agreement in substantially the form hereof. The undersigned Series A Preferred Unitholder acknowledges that at the meetings of the Corporate Board and the conflicts committee thereof and at other times the Board Observer may be provided with and otherwise have access to Confidential Information (as defined in the Partnership Agreement). In consideration for and as a condition to the Corporation (as defined in the Partnership Agreement) furnishing access to such information, the undersigned Series A Preferred Unitholder hereby agrees to be responsible for any breach by such Board Observer of the terms and conditions set forth in this letter agreement (the “Agreement”) as though such breach was committed by the undersigned Series A Preferred Unitholder. The undersigned Series A Preferred Unitholder shall advise the Board Observer of the terms of this Agreement, as well as the confidentiality provisions in the Partnership Agreement, and shall obtain from the Board Observer a written undertaking to comply with the following terms and conditions:

 

  1.

Except to the extent permitted by Section 6.09 of the Partnership Agreement and elsewhere in this Agreement, the Board Observer shall keep such Confidential Information strictly confidential, and the Board Observer shall not use any Confidential Information made available to the Board Observer in his or her capacity as the Board Observer for any purpose other than gathering information on behalf of the Series A Preferred Unitholders in his or her observer capacity. The Board Observer may not record the proceedings of any meeting of the Board of Directors by means of an electronic recording device.

 

  2.

In the event that the Board Observer is legally required or compelled to disclose the Confidential Information, the Board Observer shall use commercially reasonable efforts, to the extent permitted and practicable, to provide the Corporation with prompt prior written notice of such requirement so that the Corporation may seek an appropriate protective order. If in the absence of a protective order, the Board Observer is nonetheless legally required or compelled to disclose Confidential Information, the Board Observer may disclose only the portion of the Confidential Information or other information that he or she is so legally required or compelled to disclose.


  3.

All Confidential Information disclosed by the Corporation or its Representatives to the Board Observer is and will remain the property of the Corporation, so long as such information remains Confidential Information.

 

  4.

It is understood and acknowledged that neither the Corporation nor any Representative makes any representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of the Confidential Information or any component thereof.

 

  5.

It is further understood and agreed that money damages would not be a sufficient remedy for any breach of this Agreement by the undersigned Series A Preferred Unitholder, the Board Observer, or any person to whom the undersigned Series A Preferred Unitholder or the Board Observer discloses Confidential Information, and that the Corporation shall be entitled to seek specific performance or any other appropriate form of equitable relief without a requirement of posting bond or any other security as a remedy for any such breach in addition to the remedies available to the Corporation at law.

 

  6.

This Agreement is not assignable by the Series A Preferred Unitholder undersigned hereto and may be modified or waived only in writing. This Agreement is binding upon the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns and inures to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns.

 

  7.

If any provision of this Agreement is not enforceable in whole or in part, the remaining provisions of this Agreement will not be affected thereby. No failure or delay in exercising any right, power or privilege hereunder operates as a waiver thereof, nor does any single or partial exercise thereof preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right, power or privilege hereunder.

 

  8.

THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE, WITHOUT GIVING EFFECT TO ANY CHOICE OR CONFLICT OF LAW PROVISION (WHETHER OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION) THAT WOULD CAUSE THE APPLICATION OF THE LAWS OF ANY JURISDICTION OTHER THAN THE STATE OF DELAWARE.

 

  9.

This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of which will be deemed to be an original copy of this Agreement, and all of which, when taken together, will constitute one and the same agreement. The exchange of copies of this Agreement and of signature pages by facsimile or electronic transmission constitutes effective execution and delivery of this Agreement as to the parties and may be used in lieu of the original Agreement. Signatures of the parties transmitted by facsimile or electronic transmission will be deemed to be their original signatures for any purpose whatsoever.

[SIGNATURE PAGE FOLLOWS]


Very truly yours,
[NAME OF SERIES A PREFERRED UNITHOLDER]
By:  
 
Name:  

Title:

 

Agreed to and Accepted, effective as of

the day of    , 2019:

 

ALTUS MIDSTREAM COMPANY
By:    

Name: Ben Rodgers

Title: Chief Financial Officer

Exhibit 10.2

DIVIDEND AND DISTRIBUTION REINVESTMENT AGREEMENT

This DIVIDEND AND DISTRIBUTION REINVESTMENT AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”), dated as of February 22, 2022, is entered into by and among Altus Midstream Company, a Delaware corporation (the “Corporation”), Altus Midstream LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the “Partnership”), APA Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“APA Corporation”), Apache Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Apache Midstream”), Buzzard Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and controlled affiliate of ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund II L.P. (“ISQ”), BCP Raptor Aggregator, LP, a Delaware limited partnership and controlled affiliate of Blackstone Capital Partners VII L.P. and Blackstone Energy Partners II L.P. (“BX Aggregator”), BX Permian Pipeline Aggregator LP, a Delaware limited partnership and controlled affiliate of Blackstone Capital Partners VII L.P. and Blackstone Energy Partners II L.P. (“BX Permian”), New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“New Raptor”), certain other individuals that are signatories hereto (collectively, “Management”) and each other Person (as hereinafter defined) who later becomes party to this Agreement in accordance with the terms hereof. Each of APA Corporation, Apache Midstream, ISQ, BX Aggregator, BX Permian, New Raptor, Management and each other Person who later becomes party to this Agreement in accordance with the terms hereof are sometimes referred to herein individually as a “Holder” and collectively as the “Holders.” Each of the Corporation, the Partnership, and the Holders are sometimes referred to herein individually as a “Party” and collectively as the “Parties.”

WHEREAS, in connection with the transactions contemplated by that certain Contribution Agreement, dated as of October 21, 2021, by and among the Corporation, the Partnership, New Raptor and, solely for purposes set forth therein, BCP Raptor Holdco, LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“Raptor” and such agreement, the “Contribution Agreement”), the Corporation, APA Corporation, Apache Midstream, BX Aggregator, BX Permian, ISQ, New Raptor and, solely for purposes set forth therein, Raptor entered into that certain Amended and Restated Stockholders Agreement, dated as of October 21, 2021 (the “Stockholders Agreement”), which sets forth certain understandings among the parties thereto to be effective following the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Contribution Agreement (the “Closing”);

WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 23 of the Stockholders Agreement, the parties to the Stockholders Agreement agreed to negotiate and enter into definitive documentation related to (a) the reinvestment of certain cash dividends from the Corporation and certain cash distributions from the Partnership received by the Holders after the date hereof; and (b) a dividend reinvestment plan to be made available to other stockholders of the Corporation after the date hereof; and

WHEREAS, the Parties desire to enter into this Agreement to establish certain rights and obligations of the Parties with respect to the foregoing.


NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the promises and of the mutual consents and obligations hereinafter set forth, the Parties hereby agree as follows:

Section 1. Definitions; Interpretation.

(a) Definitions. As used herein, the following terms shall have the following respective meanings:

Agreement” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

APA Corporation” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

Apache Midstream” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

Beneficially Own” means, with respect to any security, (a) voting power, which includes the power to vote, or to direct the voting of, such security or (b) investment power, which includes the power to dispose, or to direct the disposition of, such security.

Board” means the board of directors of the Corporation.

BX Aggregator” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

BX Permian” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

Change of Control” has the meaning given to such term in the Stockholders Agreement.

Class A Common Stock” means the Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Corporation.

Class C Common Stock” means the Class C common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Corporation.

Commission” means the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Common Units” has the meaning given to such term in the LPA.

Contribution Agreement” has the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

Corporation” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

DRIP” has the meaning set forth in Section 2(c).

DRIP Shares” has the meaning set forth in Section 2(c).

Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

Holder” or “Holders” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

ISQ” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

Joinder Agreement” has the meaning set forth in Section 3(b).

 

2


LPA” means the Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of the Partnership, dated as of October 21, 2021.

Management” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

National Securities Exchange” means the principal national securities exchange on which the Class A Common Stock is then listed for trading.

New Raptor” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

Partnership” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

Party” or “Parties” has the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

Payment Date” means, (a) with respect to any dividend on shares of Class A Common Stock, the date on which such dividend is paid to holders of Class A Common Stock and (b) with respect to any distribution on Common Units, the date on which such distribution is made to the holders of Common Units.

Permitted Transferee” has the meaning given to such term in the Stockholders Agreement.

Person” means any individual, corporation, firm, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, estate, trust, business association, organization, any court, administrative agency, regulatory body, commission or other governmental authority, board, bureau or instrumentality, domestic or foreign and any subdivision thereof or other entity, and also includes any managed investment account.

Prospectus” means the prospectus included in any Registration Statement, as supplemented by any and all prospectus supplements and as amended by any and all post-effective amendments and including all material incorporated by reference in such prospectus.

Raptor” has the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

Registration” means a registration effected by preparing and filing a Registration Statement or similar document in compliance with the requirements of the Securities Act, and the applicable rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, and such Registration Statement becoming effective.

Registration Expenses” means all expenses of a Registration, including, without limitation, the following: (a) all registration and filing fees (including fees with respect to filings required to be made with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. and any securities exchange on which the Class A Common Stock is then listed); (b) fees and expenses of compliance with securities or blue sky laws; (c) printing, messenger, telephone and delivery expenses; (d) reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Corporation; and (e) reasonable fees and disbursements of all independent registered public accountants of the Corporation incurred specifically in connection with such Registration (including the expenses of any special audit and “comfort letters” required by or incident to such performance).

 

3


Registration Rights Agreement” means that certain Second Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of October 21, 2021, by and among the Corporation, Apache Midstream, ISQ, BX Aggregator, BX Permian, New Raptor and the other Persons party thereto.

Registration Statement” means any registration statement that covers the Reinvestment Shares pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement, including the Prospectus included in such registration statement, amendments (including post-effective amendments) and supplements to such registration statement, and all exhibits to and all material incorporated by reference in such registration statement.

Reinvestment Corporate Dividend” means, with respect to each Holder, the Reinvestment Percentage of any cash dividend of the Corporation payable to such Holder during the Reinvestment Period in respect of shares of Class A Common Stock held by such Holder that constitute Subject Securities, including, for the avoidance of doubt, dividends declared in respect of the quarter ending December 31, 2023.

Reinvestment Partnership Distribution” means, with respect to each Holder, the Reinvestment Percentage of any cash distribution of the Partnership payable to such Holder during the Reinvestment Period in respect of the Common Units held by such Holder that constitute Subject Securities, including, for the avoidance of doubt, distributions declared in respect of the quarter ending December 31, 2023.

Reinvestment Percentage” means 20% or such higher percentage as may be determined by written resolution of the audit committee of the Board as provided in Section 2(a)(iii). The Reinvestment Percentage shall at all times be the same for every Holder.

Reinvestment Period” means the period commencing on the date hereof and terminating on the earliest of (a) March 31, 2024, (b) the date the Reinvestment Corporate Dividend and the Reinvestment Partnership Distribution are paid in respect of the quarter ending December 31, 2023 and (c) such other date determined by written resolution of the audit committee of the Board.

Reinvestment Price” means, with respect to any Reinvestment Share or DRIP Share, as applicable, a dollar amount per Reinvestment Share or DRIP Share, as applicable, equal to 97% of the volume-weighted average price per share of Class A Common Stock on the National Securities Exchange or automated or electronic quotation system on which shares of Class A Common Stock are then listed or admitted to trading, as reported by Bloomberg L.P., or its successor, for the five Trading Days immediately preceding, but excluding, the applicable Payment Date.

Reinvestment Shares” has the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(i).

Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Stockholders Agreement” has the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

 

4


Subject Securities” means (a) shares of Class A Common Stock and Common Units Beneficially Owned by Holders immediately prior to or following the Closing, (b) shares of Class A Common Stock and Common Units Beneficially Owned by a Permitted Transferee to whom any such shares of Class A Common Stock or Common Units set forth in the foregoing clause (a) are transferred, and (c) shares of Class A Common Stock that may be received at a later date upon the redemption or exchange of any Common Units and shares of Class C Common Stock covered by clauses (a) or (b), but excluding any Reinvestment Shares and any shares of Class A Common Stock underlying warrants exercisable therefor.

Tax Advance” has the meaning given to such term in the LPA.

Tax Advance Date” has the meaning given to such term in the LPA.

Tax Advance Related Amount” means, with respect to any cash distribution of the Partnership payable to any Holder during the Reinvestment Period, an amount, determined by the general partner of the Partnership, equal to the lesser of (a) the dollar amount of such distribution and (b) the dollar amount of the Tax Advance that would be payable to such Holder under Section 4.01(d)(ii) of the LPA as of the date on which such cash distribution is made, assuming, solely for purposes of this definition, that (i) the amount of such Tax Advance is required to be determined as of such date rather than on the applicable Tax Advance Date, and (ii) the amount of the Tax Advance is calculated assuming the amounts reinvested pursuant to this Agreement during the portion of the Reinvestment Period prior to the date of such distribution and the Reinvestment Partnership Distribution for the current portion of the Reinvestment Period (calculated without regard to Section 2(b)) are excluded from cumulative cash distributions.

Trading Day” means a day on which the National Securities Exchange or automated or electronic quotation system on which the Class A Common Stock is listed or admitted to trading is open for the transaction of business (unless trading shall have been suspended for the entire day).

Transfer” has the meaning given to such term in the Stockholders Agreement.

Any capitalized term used in any Section of this Agreement that is not defined in this Section 1(a) shall have the meaning ascribed to it in such other Section or as otherwise defined herein.

(b) Rules of Construction. The headings and captions herein are inserted for convenience of reference only and are not intended to govern, limit, or aid in the construction of any term or provision hereof. The Parties recognize that this Agreement is the product of the joint efforts of the Parties. It is the intention of the Parties that every covenant, term, and provision of this Agreement shall be construed simply according to its fair meaning and not strictly for or against any Party (notwithstanding any rule of law requiring an agreement to be strictly construed against the drafting party), it being understood that the Parties are sophisticated and have had adequate opportunity and means to retain counsel to represent their interests and to otherwise negotiate the provisions of this Agreement. Further, unless the context requires otherwise:

(i) terms defined in Section 1(a) or elsewhere in this Agreement have the meanings assigned to them in that Section for purposes of this Agreement;

(ii) the gender (or lack of gender) of all words used in this Agreement includes the masculine, feminine, and neuter;

 

5


(iii) references to Sections (other than in connection with laws) refer to Sections, respectively, of this Agreement unless otherwise indicated by the context thereof;

(iv) the words “herein,” “hereof,” “hereunder,” and other words of similar import refer to this Agreement as a whole and not to any particular Section;

(v) “include,” “includes,” and “including” mean “include, without limitation,” “includes, without limitation,” and “including, without limitation,” respectively;

(vi) terms defined herein include the plural as well as the singular;

(vii) “or” is not exclusive;

(viii) all references to “$” and dollars shall be deemed to refer to United States currency unless otherwise specifically provided;

(ix) if a provision or defined term is incorporated into this Agreement by referencing another contract and such contract is terminated, such termination shall have no effect on such provision or defined term as used in this Agreement; and

(x) the serial comma is sometimes included and sometimes omitted. Its inclusion or omission shall not affect the interpretation of any phrase.

Section 2. Dividend and Distribution Reinvestment.

(a) Mandatory Reinvestment.

(i) During the Reinvestment Period, each Holder agrees that, (x) in lieu of such Holder’s receipt of any Reinvestment Corporate Dividend or Reinvestment Partnership Distribution, as applicable, and (y) for the convenience of not taking each of the actions described in Section 2(d), the amount of any (A) Reinvestment Corporate Dividend such Holder is entitled to receive shall be automatically and immediately reinvested on behalf of such Holder in the Corporation in exchange for a number of newly-issued shares of Class A Common Stock (“Reinvestment Shares”) determined by dividing (1) the total dollar amount of such Reinvestment Corporate Dividend by (2) the applicable Reinvestment Price, and, immediately thereafter, such amount shall be automatically contributed on behalf of the Corporation to the Partnership in exchange for a number of Common Units equal to the number of Reinvestment Shares issued to such Holder, and (B) Reinvestment Partnership Distribution such Holder is entitled to receive shall be automatically and immediately invested on behalf of such Holder in the Corporation in exchange for a number of Reinvestment Shares determined by dividing (1) the total dollar amount of such Reinvestment Partnership Distribution by (2) the applicable Reinvestment Price, and, immediately thereafter, such amount shall be automatically contributed on behalf of the Corporation to the Partnership in exchange for a number of Common Units equal to the number of Reinvestment Shares issued to such Holder.

 

6


(ii) Reinvestment Shares shall be issued by the Corporation to the Holder entitled thereto effective as of the date that the Reinvestment Corporate Dividend or Reinvestment Partnership Distribution, as applicable, is reinvested. Reinvestment Shares will, when issued, be validly issued, fully paid, and non-assessable and will not have been issued in violation of or subject to any preemptive or similar rights created under the Corporation’s certificate of incorporation and bylaws or under the laws of the State of Delaware. The Corporation shall reserve for issuance a sufficient number of authorized but unissued shares of Class A Common Stock to allow it to discharge its obligations under this Agreement. The Corporation or Partnership, as applicable, may reduce the amount of the Reinvestment Corporate Dividend or Reinvestment Partnership Distribution, as applicable (and increase the corresponding cash dividend or distribution, as applicable) for Holders in lieu of the issuance of any fractional Reinvestment Share. Unless otherwise determined by the Board, all Reinvestment Shares shall be uncertificated and shall be issued in book entry form. For the avoidance of doubt, no Reinvestment Shares issued to a Holder hereunder shall be Subject Securities subject to the mandatory reinvestment obligations set forth in Section 2(a)(i).

(iii) At any time during the Reinvestment Period, taking into account the recommendation of management of the Corporation, if any, the audit committee of the Board is authorized to, and, if so authorized by the audit committee of the Board, the Corporation shall and shall cause the Partnership to, increase the Reinvestment Percentage to up to 100% or decrease the Reinvestment Percentage to not less than 20%, in each case, by such amount specified by the audit committee of the Board by written resolution; provided, that (A) the Corporation shall provide written notice to each Holder following any increase or decrease to the Reinvestment Percentage, and (B) the Reinvestment Percentage shall not be increased or decreased for any Reinvestment Corporate Dividend or Reinvestment Partnership Distribution previously declared.

(iv) The audit committee of the Board shall adopt resolutions compliant with Rule 16b-3(d)(1) promulgated under the Exchange Act for each Holder to exempt the Reinvestment Shares from Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act.

(b) Tax Distributions and Tax Advance Related Amounts. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, cash distributions of the Partnership payable to any Holder (i) pursuant to Section 4.01(d)(i) of the LPA or (ii) that are Tax Advance Related Amounts, in each case, shall be deemed not to be Reinvestment Partnership Distributions subject to the mandatory reinvestment obligations set forth in Section 2(a)(ii).

(c) Public Dividend Reinvestment Plan. After the date hereof, the Corporation shall take all commercially reasonable actions necessary to establish a dividend reinvestment plan (the “DRIP”) that allows each holder of Class A Common Stock (other than the Holders) the option to reinvest all or a portion of the cash dividends of the Corporation in respect of shares of Class A Common Stock to which they are entitled during the Reinvestment Period in shares of Class A Common Stock at the applicable Reinvestment Price (“DRIP Shares”). The DRIP shall be established and administered by the Corporation on such terms as may be determined by the Board in its discretion.

(d) Tax Treatment. The Parties acknowledge and agree, for U.S. federal and applicable state and local income tax purposes, that (i) on the date a Reinvestment Corporate Dividend or Reinvestment Partnership Distribution, as applicable, is paid, each Holder will be treated as (A) having received a distribution of cash from the Corporation or the Partnership, as applicable, in an amount equal to the amount of such Reinvestment Corporate Dividend or

 

7


Reinvestment Partnership Distribution, as applicable, and (B) immediately thereafter contributing an amount of cash equal to the amount of such Reinvestment Corporate Dividend or Reinvestment Partnership Distribution, as applicable, to the Corporation in exchange for Reinvestment Shares, and (ii) immediately following the deemed distribution and contribution of the Reinvestment Corporate Dividend or Reinvestment Partnership Distribution, as applicable, as described in clause (i), the Corporation will be deemed to contribute such cash to the Partnership in exchange for a number of Common Units equal to the aggregate number of Reinvestment Shares issued to the Holders.

Section 3. Transfer Restrictions.

(a) Each of the Parties acknowledges and agrees that nothing contained in this Agreement is intended to amend or otherwise modify the terms and conditions of the Stockholders Agreement, including the restrictions on Transfers of Subject Securities contained therein.

(b) Notwithstanding the foregoing Section 3(a), no Holder may Transfer Subject Securities to a Permitted Transferee unless and until (i) such Permitted Transferee has agreed in writing to be bound by this Agreement by execution of a Joinder Agreement in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A (“Joinder Agreement”) (which such execution shall be deemed, for all purposes, to be the execution of this Agreement), with such Permitted Transferee being deemed to be a Party for purposes of this Agreement, and (ii) the Corporation is provided with an executed copy of the Joinder Agreement. For the avoidance of doubt, a Joinder Agreement shall not be required of, and this Agreement shall not apply to, a transferee of Subject Securities other than a Permitted Transferee.

Section 4. Registration. The Corporation shall, within sixty (60) days of the date hereof, file a Registration Statement under the Securities Act to register the issuance of the Reinvestment Shares and the DRIP Shares under the Securities Act. The Registration Statement filed with the Commission pursuant to this Section 4 shall be on Form S-3 or similar short form registration statement that may be available at such time in connection with a dividend reinvestment plan. If the Registration Statement is not automatically effective on filing, the Corporation shall use commercially reasonable efforts to case such Registration Statement to become effective as soon as reasonably practicable after the filing thereof under the Securities Act. Once the Registration Statement is effective, the Corporation shall use commercially reasonable efforts to cause such Registration Statement to remain effective, and to be supplemented and amended to the extent necessary to ensure that such Registration Statement is available or, if not available, that another registration statement is available, to register the issuance of the Reinvestment Shares and the DRIP Shares. The Corporation shall be responsible for the Registration Expenses incurred in connection with a Registration pursuant to this Section 4.

Section 5. Duration of Agreement. This Agreement shall terminate automatically as to an individual Holder (a) upon the written agreement of each of the Parties, (b) upon a Change of Control or (c) upon the earlier of (i) the first day following expiration of the Reinvestment Period and (ii) when the Stockholders Agreement has terminated as to such Holder (other than Section 20 thereof). This Agreement shall terminate automatically as to the Corporation and the Partnership when this Agreement has terminated as to all Holders.

 

8


Section 6. Governing Law.

(a) This Agreement shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware without regard to the principles of conflicts of law.

(b) The Parties hereby irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the State of Delaware and the federal courts of the United States of America located in the State of Delaware, over any dispute between the Parties arising out of this Agreement, and the Parties irrevocably agree that all such claims in respect of such dispute shall be heard and determined in such courts. The Parties hereby irrevocably waive, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any objection which they may now or hereafter have to the venue of any such dispute arising out of this Agreement brought in such court or any defense of inconvenient forum for the maintenance of such dispute. The Parties agree that a judgment in any such dispute may be enforced in other jurisdictions by suit on the judgment or in any other manner provided by law.

(c) Should any term or provision of this Agreement for any reason be declared invalid or unenforceable, such decision shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any of the other terms or provisions of this Agreement, which other terms and provisions shall remain in full force and effect and the application of such invalid or unenforceable term or provision to Persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid or unenforceable shall be valid and be enforced to the fullest extent permitted by law. If a final judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction declares that any term or provision of this Agreement is invalid or unenforceable, the Parties agree that the court making such determination shall have the power to limit such term or provision, to delete specific words or phrases or to replace such term or provision with a term or provision that is valid and enforceable and that comes closest to expressing the intention of the invalid or unenforceable term or provision, and that this Agreement shall be valid and enforceable as so modified.

(d) EACH PARTY IRREVOCABLY AND UNCONDITIONALLY WAIVES ANY RIGHT IT MAY HAVE TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN RESPECT OF ANY LEGAL ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT.

Section 7. Stock Dividends, Etc. The provisions of this Agreement shall apply to any and all Subject Securities and to any and all shares of capital stock or other equity of the Corporation or the Partnership or any successor or assignee of the Corporation or the Partnership (whether by merger, consolidation, sale of assets, or otherwise) which may be issued in respect of, in exchange for, or in substitution for the Subject Securities, by reason of any stock dividend, split, or reverse split, combination, recapitalization, reclassification, merger, consolidation, or otherwise, other than in connection with or as a result of a Change of Control, in such a manner and with such appropriate adjustments as to reflect the intent and meaning of the provisions hereof and so that the rights, privileges, duties, and obligations hereunder shall continue with respect to the capital stock or other equity of the Corporation or the Partnership, as applicable, as so changed.

 

9


Section 8. No Third-Party Benefit. This Agreement (a) is for the sole benefit of the Parties hereto and (b) is not intended to benefit any other Person. No Person that is not a Party to this Agreement may enforce any part of this Agreement.

Section 9. Amendments.

(a) This Agreement may not be amended except by an instrument in writing signed by or on behalf of all Parties.

(b) If a provision or a defined term incorporated by reference into this Agreement is amended, supplemented, or modified in the agreement from which such provision or defined term is incorporated, such amendment, supplement, or modification shall have no effect on such provision or defined term as used in this Agreement unless such amendment, supplement, or modification is approved as provided in this Section 9.

Section 10. Assignment.

(a) Except as expressly required by Section 3(b) in connection with a Transfer by a Stockholder to a Permitted Transferee who executes a Joinder Agreement, no Party shall assign the rights and obligations contained in this Agreement without the prior written consent of each other Person then-party to this Agreement, and any such action without the required consent shall be void ab initio.

(b) This Agreement shall bind and inure to the benefit of the Parties and any permitted successors or assigns to the original Parties to this Agreement, but such assignment shall not relieve any Party of any obligations hereunder.

Section 11. Notices.

Any notice, designation, demand, request, including a request for consent under this Agreement, and other communication required or permitted to be given or made hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been duly given or made if (a) delivered personally, (b) transmitted by first class registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, (c) delivered by prepaid overnight courier service or (d) delivered by confirmed facsimile transmission or electronic mail to a Party at the following addresses (or at such other addresses as shall be specified by a Party by similar notice):

In the case of notice to APA Corporation or Apache Midstream, to:

Apache Midstream LLC

One Post Oak Central, 2000 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 100

Houston, Texas 77056

Attention: Ben C. Rodgers

 

10


With copies to (which copies shall not constitute notice):

Apache Legal

2000 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 100

Houston, Texas 77056

Attention: General Counsel

and

Bracewell LLP

711 Louisiana Street, Suite 2300

Houston, Texas 77002

Attention: Jason Jean

In the case of notice to BX Aggregator or BX Permian, to:

Blackstone Management Partners L.L.C.

345 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10154

Attention: David Foley

With a copy to (which copy shall not constitute notice):

Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.

1001 Fannin Street

Houston, Texas 77002

Attention: Keith Fullenweider; Douglas E. McWilliams

In the case of notice to ISQ, to:

Buzzard Midstream LLC

c/o I Squared Capital Advisors (US) LLC

600 Brickell Avenue, Penthouse

Miami, FL 33131

With copies to (which copies shall not constitute notice):

I Squared Capital Advisors (US) LLC

600 Brickell Avenue, Penthouse

Miami, FL 33131

 

11


and

I Squared Capital Advisors (US) LLC

600 Brickell Avenue, Penthouse

Miami, FL 33131

and

Sidley Austin LLP

1000 Louisiana, Suite 5900

Houston, TX 77002

Attention: Glenn L. Pinkerton; Atman Shukla

In the case of notice to the Corporation, the Partnership or New Raptor, to:

New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC

2700 Post Oak Blvd, Suite 300

Houston, TX 77056

Attention: Todd Carpenter

With copies to (which copies shall not constitute notice):

Blackstone Management Partners L.L.C.

345 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10154

Attention: David Foley

and

Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.

1001 Fannin Street

Houston, Texas 77002

Attention: Keith Fullenweider; Douglas E. McWilliams

In the case of notice to Management, to the notice information set forth on the signature pages hereto.

Notices shall be effective (i) if delivered personally or sent by courier service, upon actual receipt by the intended recipient, (ii) if mailed, upon the earlier of five (5) days after deposit in the mail or the date of delivery as shown by the return receipt therefor, (iii) if sent by facsimile transmission, when confirmation of transmission is received or (iv) if sent by electronic mail, when confirmation is received. Whenever any notice is required to be given by law or this Agreement, a written waiver thereof, signed by the Person entitled to notice, whether before or after the time stated therein, shall be deemed equivalent to the giving of such notice.

 

12


Section 12. Waiver. No waiver by any Party hereto of any of the provisions hereof shall be effective unless explicitly set forth in writing and signed by the Party so waiving. No waiver by any Party shall operate or be construed as a waiver in respect of any failure, breach, or default not expressly identified by such written waiver, whether of a similar or different character, and whether occurring before or after that waiver. Except as specifically set forth in this Agreement, no failure by a Party hereto to exercise, or delay in exercising, any right, remedy, power or privilege hereunder shall operate or be construed as a waiver thereof, nor shall any single or partial exercise thereof preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right, remedy, power or privilege.

Section 13. Entire Agreement. This Agreement, the Contribution Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement and the Stockholders Agreement constitute the entire agreement among the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersede all prior agreements and understandings, both written and oral, among the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof. There are no restrictions, promises, warranties, covenants or undertakings between the Parties, other than those expressly set forth or referred to herein or therein.

Section 14. Inconsistent Arrangements; Specific Performance.

(a) No Party shall enter into any agreements or arrangements of any kind with any Person with respect to any Subject Securities on terms inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement (whether or not such agreements or arrangements are with Persons that are Parties to this Agreement), including agreements or arrangements with respect to the acquisition or disposition of any Subject Securities in a manner inconsistent with this Agreement.

(b) Each Party acknowledges that irreparable damage would occur in the event that any of the provisions of this Agreement were not performed in accordance with its specific terms and that a remedy at law for any breach or attempted breach of this Agreement will be inadequate. It is accordingly agreed that the Parties shall be entitled to specific performance and injunctive and other equitable relief in case of any such breach or attempted breach and to enforce specifically the terms and provisions hereof, and further agrees to waive (to the extent legally permissible) any legal conditions required to be met for the obtaining of any such injunctive or other equitable relief (including securing or posting any bond in order to obtain equitable relief). Each Party further agrees that, in the event of any action for an injunction or other equitable remedy in respect of such breach or enforcement of specific performance, it will not assert the defense that a remedy at law would be adequate.

Section 15. Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, all of which together shall constitute an agreement binding on all Parties hereto, notwithstanding that all such Parties are not signatories to the original or the same counterpart. Facsimile copies of signatures shall constitute original signatures for all purposes of this Agreement and any enforcement hereof.

Section 16. Further Assurances. Each Party hereto shall do and perform or cause to be done and performed all such further acts and things and shall execute and deliver all such other agreements, certificates, instruments, and other documents as any other Party hereto reasonably may request in order to carry out the provisions of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby.

 

13


Section 17. No Recourse. This Agreement may only be enforced against, and any claims or cause of action that may be based upon, arise out of or relate to this Agreement, or the negotiation, execution or performance of this Agreement may only be made against, the Parties hereto and no past, present or future affiliate, director, officer, employee, incorporator, member, manager, partner, stockholder, agent, attorney or representative of any Party hereto shall have any liability for any obligations or liabilities of the Parties to this Agreement or for any claim based on, in respect of, or by reason of, the transactions contemplated hereby.

[Signature Pages Follow]

 

14


The Parties have signed this agreement as of the date first written above.

 

ALTUS MIDSTREAM COMPANY
By:   /s/ Ben C. Rodgers
Name:   Ben C. Rodgers
Title:   Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
ALTUS MIDSTREAM LP
By:   Altus Midstream GP LLC
Its:   General Partner
By:   /s/ Ben C. Rodgers
Name:   Ben C. Rodgers
Title:   Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
APA CORPORATION
By:   /s/ Stephen J. Riney
Name:   Stephen J. Riney
Title:   Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
APACHE MIDSTREAM LLC
By:   /s/ Stephen J. Riney
Name:   Stephen J. Riney
Title:   Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
BUZZARD MIDSTREAM LLC
By:   /s/ Thomas Lefebvre
Name:   Thomas Lefebvre
Title:   Authorized Signatory
BCP RAPTOR AGGREGATOR, LP
By:   /s/ David Foley
Name:   David Foley
Title:   Senior Managing Director

 

SIGNATURE PAGE TO DIVIDEND AND DISTRIBUTION REINVESTMENT AGREEMENT


BX PERMIAN PIPELINE AGGREGATOR LP
By:   /s/ David Foley
Name:   David Foley
Title:   Senior Managing Director
NEW BCP RAPTOR HOLDCO, LLC
By:   /s/ Jamie Welch
Name:   Jamie Welch
Title:   Chief Executive Officer, President and Chief Financial Officer
/s/ Jamie Welch
JAMIE WELCH
/s/ Chris Evans
CHRIS EVANS
/s/ Tyler Milam
TYLER MILAM
/s/ Misty Williams
MISTY WILLIAMS

 

SIGNATURE PAGE TO DIVIDEND AND DISTRIBUTION REINVESTMENT AGREEMENT


Exhibit A

FORM OF JOINDER AGREEMENT

[DATE]

The undersigned hereby absolutely, unconditionally and irrevocably agrees to be bound by the terms and provisions of that certain Dividend and Distribution Reinvestment Agreement, dated as of February 22, 2022, by and among Altus Midstream Company, a Delaware corporation, Altus Midstream LP, a Delaware limited partnership, APA Corporation, a Delaware corporation, Apache Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, Buzzard Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and controlled affiliate of ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund II L.P., BCP Raptor Aggregator, LP, a Delaware limited partnership and controlled affiliate of Blackstone Capital Partners VII L.P. and Blackstone Energy Partners II L.P., BX Permian Pipeline Aggregator LP, a Delaware limited partnership and controlled affiliate of Blackstone Capital Partners VII L.P. and Blackstone Energy Partners II L.P., New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and certain other individuals that are signatories thereto (the “Reinvestment Agreement”), and to join in the Reinvestment Agreement as a Party with the same force and effect as if the undersigned were originally a party thereto.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned has executed this Joinder Agreement as of the date first written above.

 

 
Name:
Notice Information:
 
 
 

 

EXHIBIT A TO DIVIDEND AND DISTRIBUTION REINVESTMENT AGREEMENT

Exhibit 10.3

INDEMNITY AGREEMENT

THIS INDEMNITY AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”) is made as [•], by and between Kinetik Holdings Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and [•] (“Indemnitee”).

RECITALS

WHEREAS, highly competent persons have become more reluctant to serve publicly-held corporations as directors, officers or in other capacities unless they are provided with adequate protection through insurance or adequate indemnification against inordinate risks of claims and actions against them arising out of their service to and activities on behalf of such corporations;

WHEREAS, the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) has determined that, in order to attract and retain qualified individuals, the Company will attempt to maintain on an ongoing basis, at its sole expense, liability insurance to protect persons serving the Company and its subsidiaries from certain liabilities. Although the furnishing of such insurance has been a customary and widespread practice among United States-based corporations and other business enterprises, the Company believes that, given current market conditions and trends, such insurance may be available to it in the future only at higher premiums and with more exclusions. At the same time, directors, officers and other persons in service to corporations or business enterprises are being increasingly subjected to expensive and time-consuming litigation relating to, among other things, matters that traditionally would have been brought only against the Company or business enterprise itself. The Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Charter”) and the Amended and Restated Bylaws (the “Bylaws”) of the Company require indemnification of the officers and directors of the Company. Indemnitee may also be entitled to indemnification pursuant to applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”). The Charter, Bylaws and the DGCL expressly provide that the indemnification provisions set forth therein are not exclusive, and thereby contemplate that contracts may be entered into between the Company and members of the board of directors, officers and other persons with respect to indemnification, hold harmless, exoneration, advancement and reimbursement rights;

WHEREAS, the uncertainties relating to such insurance and to indemnification have increased the difficulty of attracting and retaining such persons;

WHEREAS, the Board has determined that the increased difficulty in attracting and retaining such persons is detrimental to the best interests of the Company’s stockholders and that the Company should act to assure such persons that there will be increased certainty of such protection in the future;

WHEREAS, it is reasonable, prudent and necessary for the Company contractually to obligate itself to indemnify, hold harmless, exonerate and to advance expenses on behalf of, such persons to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law so that they will serve or continue to serve the Company free from undue concern that they will not be so protected against liabilities;

WHEREAS, this Agreement is a supplement to and in furtherance of the Charter and Bylaws of the Company and any resolutions adopted pursuant thereto, and shall not be deemed a substitute therefor, nor to diminish or abrogate any rights of Indemnitee thereunder;


WHEREAS, Indemnitee may not be willing to serve as an officer or director, advisor or in another capacity without adequate protection, and the Company desires Indemnitee to serve in such capacity. Indemnitee is willing to serve, continue to serve and to take on additional service for or on behalf of the Company on the condition that he be so indemnified; and

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the covenants contained herein, the Company and Indemnitee do hereby covenant and agree as follows:

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. SERVICES TO THE COMPANY. In consideration of the Company’s covenants and obligations hereunder, Indemnitee will serve or continue to serve as an officer, director, advisor, key employee or any other capacity of the Company, as applicable, for so long as Indemnitee is duly elected or appointed or retained or until Indemnitee tenders his resignation or until Indemnitee is removed. The foregoing notwithstanding, this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect after Indemnitee has ceased to serve as a director, officer, advisor, key employee or in any other capacity of the Company, as provided in Section 17. This Agreement, however, shall not impose any obligation on Indemnitee or the Company to continue Indemnitee’s service to the Company beyond any period otherwise required by law or by other agreements or commitments of the parties, if any.

2. DEFINITIONS. As used in this Agreement:

(a) References to “agent” shall mean any person who is or was a director, officer or employee of the Company or a subsidiary of the Company or other person authorized by the Company to act for the Company, to include such person serving in such capacity as a director, officer, employee, fiduciary or other official of another corporation, partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, trust or other enterprise at the request of, for the convenience of, or to represent the interests of the Company or a subsidiary of the Company.

(b) The terms “Beneficial Owner” and “Beneficial Ownership” shall have the meanings set forth in Rule 13d-3 promulgated under the Exchange Act (as defined below) as in effect on the date hereof.

(c) A “Change in Control” shall be deemed to occur upon the earliest to occur after the date of this Agreement of any of the following events:

(i) Acquisition of Stock by Third Party. Other than an affiliate of BCP Raptor Aggregator, LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“BCP Raptor”), BX Permian Pipeline Aggregator LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“BX Permian”), Buzzard Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“I Squared”), APA Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“Apache” and, together with BCP Raptor, BX Permian and I Squared, the “Sponsors”) and their respective successors and assigns, any Person (as defined below) is or becomes the Beneficial Owner, directly or indirectly, of securities of the Company representing fifteen percent (15%) or more of the combined voting power of the Company’s then outstanding securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, unless (1) the change in the relative Beneficial Ownership of the Company’s securities by any Person results solely from a reduction in the aggregate number of outstanding shares of securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, or (2) such acquisition was approved in advance by the Continuing Directors (as defined below) and such acquisition would not constitute a Change in Control under part (iii) of this definition;

 

2


(ii) Change in Board of Directors. Individuals who, as of the date hereof, constitute the Board, and any new director whose election by the Board or nomination for election by the Company’s stockholders was approved by a vote of at least two thirds of the directors then still in office who were directors on the date hereof or whose election for nomination for election was previously so approved (collectively, the “Continuing Directors”), cease for any reason to constitute at least a majority of the members of the Board;

(iii) Corporate Transactions. The effective date of a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination, involving the Company and one or more businesses (a “Business Combination”), in each case, unless, following such Business Combination: (1) all or substantially all of the individuals and entities who were the Beneficial Owners of securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors immediately prior to such Business Combination beneficially own, directly or indirectly, more than 51% of the combined voting power of the then outstanding securities of the Company entitled to vote generally in the election of directors resulting from such Business Combination (including, without limitation, a corporation which as a result of such transaction owns the Company or all or substantially all of the Company’s assets either directly or through one or more Subsidiaries (as defined below)) in substantially the same proportions as their ownership immediately prior to such Business Combination, of the securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors; (2) other than an affiliate of the Sponsors or their respective successors and assigns, no Person (excluding any corporation resulting from such Business Combination) is the Beneficial Owner, directly or indirectly, of 15% or more of the combined voting power of the then outstanding securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors of the surviving corporation except to the extent that such ownership existed prior to the Business Combination; and (3) at least a majority of the Board of Directors of the corporation resulting from such Business Combination were Continuing Directors at the time of the execution of the initial agreement, or of the action of the Board of Directors, providing for such Business Combination;

(iv) Liquidation. The approval by the stockholders of the Company of a complete liquidation of the Company or an agreement or series of agreements for the sale or disposition by the Company of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets, other than factoring the Company’s current receivables or escrows due (or, if such stockholder approval is not required, the decision by the Board to proceed with such a liquidation, sale, or disposition in one transaction or a series of related transactions); or

(v) Other Events. There occurs any other event of a nature that would be required to be reported in response to Item 6(e) of Schedule 14A of Regulation 14A (or any successor rule) (or a response to any similar item on any similar schedule or form) promulgated under the Exchange Act (as defined below), whether or not the Company is then subject to such reporting requirement.

 

3


(d) “Corporate Status” describes the status of a person who is or was a director, officer, trustee, general partner, manager, managing member, fiduciary, employee or agent of the Company or of any other Enterprise (as defined below) which such person is or was serving at the request of the Company.

(e) “Delaware Court” shall mean the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware.

(f) “Disinterested Director” shall mean a director of the Company who is not and was not a party to the Proceeding (as defined below) in respect of which indemnification is sought by Indemnitee.

(g) “Enterprise” shall mean the Company and any other corporation, constituent corporation (including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a consolidation or merger to which the Company (or any of its wholly owned subsidiaries) is a party, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise of which Indemnitee is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, trustee, general partner, managing member, fiduciary, employee or agent.

(h) “Exchange Act” shall mean the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

(i) “Expenses” shall include all direct and indirect costs, fees and expenses of any type or nature whatsoever, including, without limitation, all reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, retainers, court costs, transcript costs, fees of experts, witness fees, travel expenses, fees of private investigators and professional advisors, duplicating costs, printing and binding costs, telephone charges, postage, delivery service fees, fax transmission charges, secretarial services and all other disbursements, obligations or expenses in connection with prosecuting, defending, preparing to prosecute or defend, investigating, being or preparing to be a witness in, settlement or appeal of, or otherwise participating in, a Proceeding (as defined below). Expenses also shall include Expenses incurred in connection with any appeal resulting from any Proceeding (as defined below), including without limitation the principal, premium, security for, and other costs relating to any cost bond, supersedeas bond, or other appeal bond or its equivalent. Expenses, however, shall not include amounts paid in settlement by Indemnitee or the amount of judgments or fines against Indemnitee.

(j) References to “fines” shall include any excise tax assessed on Indemnitee with respect to any employee benefit plan; references to “serving at the request of the Company” shall include any service as a director, officer, employee, agent or fiduciary of the Company which imposes duties on, or involves services by, such director, officer, employee, agent or fiduciary with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants or beneficiaries; and if Indemnitee acted in good faith and in a manner Indemnitee reasonably believed to be in the best interests of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan, Indemnitee shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interests of the Company” as referred to in this Agreement.

 

4


(k) “Independent Counsel” shall mean a law firm or a member of a law firm with significant experience in matters of corporation law and that neither presently is, nor in the past five years has been, retained to represent: (i) the Company or Indemnitee in any matter material to either such party (other than with respect to matters concerning Indemnitee under this Agreement, or of other indemnitees under similar indemnification agreements); or (ii) any other party to the Proceeding (as defined below) giving rise to a claim for indemnification hereunder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the term “Independent Counsel” shall not include any person who, under the applicable standards of professional conduct then prevailing, would have a conflict of interest in representing either the Company or Indemnitee in an action to determine Indemnitee’s rights under this Agreement.

(l) The term “Person” shall have the meaning as set forth in Sections 13(d) and 14(d) of the Exchange Act as in effect on the date hereof; provided, however, that “Person” shall exclude: (i) the Company; (ii) any Subsidiaries (as defined below) of the Company; (iii) any employment benefit plan of the Company or of a Subsidiary (as defined below) of the Company or of any corporation owned, directly or indirectly, by the stockholders of the Company in substantially the same proportions as their ownership of stock of the Company; and (iv) any trustee or other fiduciary holding securities under an employee benefit plan of the Company or of a Subsidiary (as defined below) of the Company or of a corporation owned directly or indirectly by the stockholders of the Company in substantially the same proportions as their ownership of stock of the Company.

(m) The term “Proceeding” shall include any threatened, pending or completed action, suit, arbitration, mediation, alternate dispute resolution mechanism, investigation, inquiry, administrative hearing or any other actual, threatened or completed proceeding, whether brought in the right of the Company or otherwise and whether of a civil (including intentional or unintentional tort claims), criminal, administrative or investigative or related nature, in which Indemnitee was, is, will or might be involved as a party or otherwise by reason of the fact that Indemnitee is or was a director or officer of the Company, by reason of any action (or failure to act) taken by him or of any action (or failure to act) on his part while acting as a director or officer of the Company, or by reason of the fact that he is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, trustee, general partner, managing member, fiduciary, employee or agent of any other Enterprise, in each case whether or not serving in such capacity at the time any liability or expense is incurred for which indemnification, reimbursement, or advancement of expenses can be provided under this Agreement.

(n) The term “Subsidiary,” with respect to any Person, shall mean any corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, trust or other entity of which a majority of the voting power of the voting equity securities or equity interest is owned, directly or indirectly, by that Person.

3. INDEMNITY IN THIRD-PARTY PROCEEDINGS. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Company shall indemnify, hold harmless and exonerate Indemnitee in accordance with the provisions of this Section 3 if Indemnitee was, is, or is threatened to be made, a party to or a participant (as a witness, deponent or otherwise) in any Proceeding, other than a Proceeding by or in the right of the Company to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of Indemnitee’s Corporate Status. Pursuant to this Section 3, Indemnitee shall be indemnified, held harmless and exonerated against all Expenses, judgments, liabilities, fines, penalties and amounts paid in settlement (including all interest, assessments and other charges paid or payable in connection with or in respect of such Expenses, judgments, fines, penalties and amounts paid in settlement) actually, and reasonably incurred by Indemnitee or on his behalf in connection with such Proceeding or any claim, issue or matter therein, if Indemnitee acted in good faith and in a manner he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company and, in the case of a criminal Proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe that his conduct was unlawful.

 

5


4. INDEMNITY IN PROCEEDINGS BY OR IN THE RIGHT OF THE COMPANY. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Company shall indemnify, hold harmless and exonerate Indemnitee in accordance with the provisions of this Section 4 if Indemnitee was, is, or is threatened to be made, a party to or a participant (as a witness, deponent or otherwise) in any Proceeding by or in the right of the Company to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of Indemnitee’s Corporate Status. Pursuant to this Section 4, Indemnitee shall be indemnified, held harmless and exonerated against all Expenses actually and reasonably incurred by him or on his behalf in connection with such Proceeding or any claim, issue or matter therein, if Indemnitee acted in good faith and in a manner he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company. No indemnification, hold harmless or exoneration for Expenses shall be made under this Section 4 in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which Indemnitee shall have been finally adjudged by a court to be liable to the Company, unless and only to the extent that any court in which the Proceeding was brought or the Delaware Court shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, Indemnitee is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnification, to be held harmless or to exoneration.

5. INDEMNIFICATION FOR EXPENSES OF A PARTY WHO IS WHOLLY OR PARTLY SUCCESSFUL. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Agreement, to the extent that Indemnitee was or is, by reason of Indemnitee’s Corporate Status, a party to (or a participant in) and is successful, on the merits or otherwise, in any Proceeding or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, in whole or in part, the Company shall, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, indemnify, hold harmless and exonerate Indemnitee against all Expenses actually and reasonably incurred by him in connection therewith. If Indemnitee is not wholly successful in such Proceeding but is successful, on the merits or otherwise, as to one or more but less than all claims, issues or matters in such Proceeding, the Company shall, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, indemnify, hold harmless and exonerate Indemnitee against all Expenses actually and reasonably incurred by him or on his behalf in connection with each successfully resolved claim, issue or matter. If Indemnitee is not wholly successful in such Proceeding, the Company also shall, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, indemnify, hold harmless and exonerate Indemnitee against all Expenses reasonably incurred in connection with a claim, issue or matter related to any claim, issue, or matter on which Indemnitee was successful. For purposes of this Section and without limitation, the termination of any claim, issue or matter in such a Proceeding by dismissal, with or without prejudice, shall be deemed to be a successful result as to such claim, issue or matter.

6. INDEMNIFICATION FOR EXPENSES OF A WITNESS. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, to the extent that Indemnitee is, by reason of his Corporate Status, a witness or deponent in any Proceeding to which Indemnitee was or is not a party or threatened to be made a party, he shall, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, be indemnified, held harmless and exonerated against all Expenses actually and reasonably incurred by him or on his behalf in connection therewith.

 

6


7. ADDITIONAL INDEMNIFICATION, HOLD HARMLESS AND EXONERATION RIGHTS. Notwithstanding any limitation in Sections 3, 4, or 5, the Company shall, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, indemnify, hold harmless and exonerate Indemnitee if Indemnitee is a party to or threatened to be made a party to any Proceeding (including a Proceeding by or in the right of the Company to procure a judgment in its favor) against all Expenses, judgments, fines, penalties and amounts paid in settlement (including all interest, assessments and other charges paid or payable in connection with or in respect of such Expenses, judgments, fines, penalties and amounts paid in settlement) actually and reasonably incurred by Indemnitee in connection with the Proceeding. No indemnification, hold harmless or exoneration rights shall be available under this Section 7 on account of Indemnitee’s conduct which constitutes a breach of Indemnitee’s duty of loyalty to the Company or its stockholders or is an act or omission not in good faith or which involves intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of the law.

8. CONTRIBUTION IN THE EVENT OF JOINT LIABILITY.

(a) To the fullest extent permissible under applicable law, if the indemnification, hold harmless and/or exoneration rights provided for in this Agreement are unavailable to Indemnitee in whole or in part for any reason whatsoever, the Company, in lieu of indemnifying, holding harmless or exonerating Indemnitee, shall pay, in the first instance, the entire amount incurred by Indemnitee, whether for judgments, liabilities, fines, penalties, amounts paid or to be paid in settlement and/or for Expenses, in connection with any Proceeding without requiring Indemnitee to contribute to such payment, and the Company hereby waives and relinquishes any right of contribution it may have at any time against Indemnitee.

(b) The Company shall not enter into any settlement of any Proceeding in which the Company is jointly liable with Indemnitee (or would be if joined in such Proceeding) unless such settlement provides for a full and final release of all claims asserted against Indemnitee.

(c) The Company hereby agrees to fully indemnify, hold harmless and exonerate Indemnitee from any claims for contribution which may be brought by officers, directors or employees of the Company other than Indemnitee who may be jointly liable with Indemnitee.

9. EXCLUSIONS. Notwithstanding any provision in this Agreement, the Company shall not be obligated under this Agreement to make any indemnification, advance expenses, hold harmless or exoneration payment in connection with any claim made against Indemnitee:

(a) for which payment has actually been received by or on behalf of Indemnitee under any insurance policy or other indemnity or advancement provision, except with respect to any excess beyond the amount actually received under any insurance policy, contract, agreement, other indemnity or advancement provision or otherwise;

(b) for an accounting of profits made from the purchase and sale (or sale and purchase) by Indemnitee of securities of the Company within the meaning of Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act (or any successor rule) or similar provisions of state statutory law or common law; or

 

7


(c) except as otherwise provided in Sections 14(f)-(g) hereof, prior to a Change in Control, in connection with any Proceeding (or any part of any Proceeding) initiated by Indemnitee, including any Proceeding (or any part of any Proceeding) initiated by Indemnitee against the Company or its directors, officers, employees or other indemnitees, unless (i) the Board authorized the Proceeding (or any part of any Proceeding) prior to its initiation or (ii) the Company provides the indemnification, hold harmless or exoneration payment, in its sole discretion, pursuant to the powers vested in the Company under applicable law. Indemnitee shall seek payments or advances from the Company only to the extent that such payments or advances are unavailable from any insurance policy of the Company covering Indemnitee.

10. ADVANCES OF EXPENSES; DEFENSE OF CLAIM.

(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, and to the fullest extent not prohibited by applicable law, the Company shall pay the Expenses incurred by Indemnitee (or reasonably expected by Indemnitee to be incurred by Indemnitee within three months) in connection with any Proceeding within ten (10) days after the receipt by the Company of a statement or statements requesting such advances from time to time, prior to the final disposition of any Proceeding. Advances shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be unsecured and interest free. Advances shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be made without regard to Indemnitee’s ability to repay the Expenses and without regard to Indemnitee’s ultimate entitlement to be indemnified, held harmless or exonerated under the other provisions of this Agreement. Advances shall include any and all reasonable Expenses incurred pursuing a Proceeding to enforce this right of advancement, including Expenses incurred preparing and forwarding statements to the Company to support the advances claimed. To the fullest extent required by applicable law, such payments of Expenses in advance of the final disposition of the Proceeding shall be made only upon the Company’s receipt of an undertaking, by or on behalf of Indemnitee, to repay the advanced amounts to the extent that it is ultimately determined that Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified by the Company under the provisions of this Agreement, the Charter, the Bylaws of the Company, applicable law or otherwise. This Section 10(a) shall not apply to any claim made by Indemnitee for which an indemnification, hold harmless or exoneration payment is excluded pursuant to Section 9.

(b) The Company will be entitled to participate in the Proceeding at its own expense.

(c) The Company shall not settle any action, claim or Proceeding (in whole or in part) which would impose any Expense, judgment, fine, penalty or limitation on Indemnitee without Indemnitee’s prior written consent.

11. PROCEDURE FOR NOTIFICATION AND APPLICATION FOR INDEMNIFICATION.

(a) Indemnitee agrees to notify promptly the Company in writing upon being served with any summons, citation, subpoena, complaint, indictment, information or other document relating to any Proceeding, claim, issue or matter therein which may be subject to indemnification, hold harmless or exoneration rights, or advancement of Expenses covered hereunder. The failure of Indemnitee to so notify the Company shall not relieve the Company of any obligation which it may have to Indemnitee under this Agreement, or otherwise.

 

8


(b) Indemnitee may deliver to the Company a written application to indemnify, hold harmless or exonerate Indemnitee in accordance with this Agreement. Such application(s) may be delivered from time to time and at such time(s) as Indemnitee deems appropriate in his sole discretion. Following such a written application for indemnification by Indemnitee, Indemnitee’s entitlement to indemnification shall be determined according to Section 12(b) of this Agreement.

12. PROCEDURE UPON APPLICATION FOR INDEMNIFICATION.

(a) A determination, if required by applicable law, with respect to Indemnitee’s entitlement to indemnification shall be made in the specific case by one of the following methods: (i) if no Change in Control has occurred, (x) by a majority vote of the Disinterested Directors, even though less than a quorum of the Board, (y) by a committee of Disinterested Directors, even though less than a quorum of the Board, or (z) if there are no Disinterested Directors, or if such Disinterested Directors so direct, by Independent Counsel in a written opinion to the Board, a copy of which shall be delivered to Indemnitee, or (ii) if a Change in Control has occurred, by Independent Counsel in a written opinion to the Board, a copy of which shall be delivered to Indemnitee. The Company promptly will advise Indemnitee in writing with respect to any determination that Indemnitee is or is not entitled to indemnification, including a description of any reason or basis for which indemnification has been denied. If it is so determined that Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification, payment to Indemnitee shall be made within ten (10) days after such determination. Indemnitee shall reasonably cooperate with the person, persons or entity making such determination with respect to Indemnitee’s entitlement to indemnification, including providing to such person, persons or entity upon reasonable advance request any documentation or information which is not privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure and which is reasonably available to Indemnitee and reasonably necessary to such determination. Any costs or Expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and disbursements) incurred by Indemnitee in so cooperating with the person, persons or entity making such determination shall be borne by the Company (irrespective of the determination as to Indemnitee’s entitlement to indemnification) and the Company hereby agrees to indemnify and to hold Indemnitee harmless therefrom.

(b) In the event the determination of entitlement to indemnification is to be made by Independent Counsel pursuant to Section 12(b) hereof, the Independent Counsel shall be selected as provided in this Section 12(c). The Independent Counsel shall be selected by Indemnitee (unless Indemnitee shall request that such selection be made by the Board), and Indemnitee shall give written notice to the Company advising it of the identity of the Independent Counsel so selected and certifying that the Independent Counsel so selected meets the requirements of “Independent Counsel” as defined in Section 2 of this Agreement. If the Independent Counsel is selected by the Board, the Company shall give written notice to Indemnitee advising him of the identity of the Independent Counsel so selected and certifying that the Independent Counsel so selected meets the requirements of “Independent Counsel” as defined in Section 2 of this Agreement. In either event, Indemnitee or the Company, as the case may be, may, within ten (10) days after such written notice of selection shall have been received, deliver to the Company or to Indemnitee, as the case may be, a written objection to such selection; provided, however, that such

 

9


objection may be asserted only on the ground that the Independent Counsel so selected does not meet the requirements of “Independent Counsel” as defined in Section 2 of this Agreement, and the objection shall set forth with particularity the factual basis of such assertion. Absent a proper and timely objection, the person so selected shall act as Independent Counsel. If such written objection is so made and substantiated, the Independent Counsel so selected may not serve as Independent Counsel unless and until such objection is withdrawn or a court of competent jurisdiction has determined that such objection is without merit. If, within twenty (20) days after submission by Indemnitee of a written request for indemnification pursuant to Section 11(b) hereof, no Independent Counsel shall have been selected and not objected to, either the Company or Indemnitee may petition the Delaware Court for resolution of any objection which shall have been made by the Company or Indemnitee to the other’s selection of Independent Counsel and/or for the appointment as Independent Counsel of a person selected by the Delaware Court, and the person with respect to whom all objections are so resolved or the person so appointed shall act as Independent Counsel under Section 12(b) hereof. Upon the due commencement of any judicial proceeding or arbitration pursuant to Section 14(a) of this Agreement, Independent Counsel shall be discharged and relieved of any further responsibility in such capacity (subject to the applicable standards of professional conduct then prevailing).

(c) The Company agrees to pay the reasonable fees and expenses of Independent Counsel and to fully indemnify and hold harmless such Independent Counsel against any and all Expenses, claims, liabilities and damages arising out of or relating to this Agreement or its engagement pursuant hereto.

13. PRESUMPTIONS AND EFFECT OF CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.

(a) In making a determination with respect to entitlement to indemnification hereunder, the person, persons or entity making such determination shall presume that Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification under this Agreement if Indemnitee has submitted a request for indemnification in accordance with Section 11(b) of this Agreement, and the Company shall have the burden of proof to overcome that presumption in connection with the making by any person, persons or entity of any determination contrary to that presumption. Neither the failure of the Company (including by the Disinterested Directors or Independent Counsel) to have made a determination prior to the commencement of any action pursuant to this Agreement that indemnification is proper in the circumstances because Indemnitee has met the applicable standard of conduct, nor an actual determination by the Company (including by the Disinterested Directors or Independent Counsel) that Indemnitee has not met such applicable standard of conduct, shall be a defense to the action or create a presumption that Indemnitee has not met the applicable standard of conduct.

(b) If the person, persons or entity empowered or selected under Section 12 of this Agreement to determine whether Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification shall not have made a determination within thirty (30) days after receipt by the Company of the request therefor, the requisite determination of entitlement to indemnification shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be deemed to have been made and Indemnitee shall be entitled to such indemnification, absent (i) a misstatement by Indemnitee of a material fact, or an omission of a material fact necessary to make Indemnitee’s statement not materially misleading, in connection with the request for indemnification, or (ii) a final judicial determination that any or all such indemnification is

 

10


expressly prohibited under applicable law; provided, however, that such 30-day period may be extended for a reasonable time, not to exceed an additional fifteen (15) days, if the person, persons or entity making the determination with respect to entitlement to indemnification in good faith requires such additional time for the obtaining or evaluating of documentation and/or information relating thereto.

(c) The termination of any Proceeding or of any claim, issue or matter therein, by judgment, order, settlement or conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not (except as otherwise expressly provided in this Agreement) of itself adversely affect the right of Indemnitee to indemnification or create a presumption that Indemnitee did not act in good faith and in a manner which he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company or, with respect to any criminal Proceeding, that Indemnitee had reasonable cause to believe that his conduct was unlawful.

(d) For purposes of any determination of good faith, Indemnitee shall be deemed to have acted in good faith if Indemnitee’s action is based on the records or books of account of the Enterprise, including financial statements, or on information supplied to Indemnitee by the directors, manager, or officers of the Enterprise in the course of their duties, or on the advice of legal counsel for the Enterprise, its Board, any committee of the Board or any director, trustee, general partner, manager or managing member, or on information or records given or reports made to the Enterprise, its Board, any committee of the Board or any director, trustee, general partner, manager or managing member, by an independent certified public accountant or by an appraiser or other expert selected by the Enterprise, its Board, any committee of the Board or any director, trustee, general partner, manager or managing member. The provisions of this Section 13(d) shall not be deemed to be exclusive or to limit in any way the other circumstances in which Indemnitee may be deemed or found to have met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in this Agreement.

(e) The knowledge and/or actions, or failure to act, of any other director, officer, trustee, partner, manager, managing member, fiduciary, agent or employee of the Enterprise shall not be imputed to Indemnitee for purposes of determining the right to indemnification under this Agreement.

14. REMEDIES OF INDEMNITEE.

(a) In the event that (i) a determination is made pursuant to Section 12 of this Agreement that Indemnitee is not entitled to indemnification under this Agreement, (ii) advancement of Expenses, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, is not timely made pursuant to Section 10 of this Agreement, (iii) no determination of entitlement to indemnification shall have been made pursuant to Section 12(b) of this Agreement within thirty (30) days after receipt by the Company of the request for indemnification, (iv) payment of indemnification is not made pursuant to Section 5, 6, 7 or the last sentence of Section 12(b) of this Agreement within ten (10) days after receipt by the Company of a written request therefor, (v) a contribution payment is not made in a timely manner pursuant to Section 8 of this Agreement, (vi) payment of indemnification pursuant to Section 3 or 4 of this Agreement is not made within ten (10) days after a determination has been made that Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification, or (vii) payment to Indemnitee pursuant to any hold harmless or exoneration rights under this Agreement or otherwise is not made in accordance with this Agreement, Indemnitee shall be entitled to an adjudication by

 

11


the Delaware Court to such indemnification, hold harmless, exoneration, contribution or advancement rights. Alternatively, Indemnitee, at his option, may seek an award in arbitration to be conducted by a single arbitrator pursuant to the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association. Except as set forth herein, the provisions of Delaware law (without regard to its conflict of laws rules) shall apply to any such arbitration. The Company shall not oppose Indemnitee’s right to seek any such adjudication or award in arbitration.

(b) In the event that a determination shall have been made pursuant to Section 12(b) of this Agreement that Indemnitee is not entitled to indemnification, any judicial proceeding or arbitration commenced pursuant to this Section 14 shall be conducted in all respects as a de novo trial, or arbitration, on the merits and Indemnitee shall not be prejudiced by reason of that adverse determination.

(c) In any judicial proceeding or arbitration commenced pursuant to this Section 14, Indemnitee shall be presumed to be entitled to be indemnified, held harmless, exonerated to receive advancement of Expenses under this Agreement and the Company shall have the burden of proving Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified, held harmless, exonerated and to receive advancement of Expenses, as the case may be, and the Company may not refer to or introduce into evidence any determination pursuant to Section 12(b) of this Agreement adverse to Indemnitee for any purpose. If Indemnitee commences a judicial proceeding or arbitration pursuant to this Section 14, Indemnitee shall not be required to reimburse the Company for any advances pursuant to Section 10 until a final determination is made with respect to Indemnitee’s entitlement to indemnification (as to which all rights of appeal have been exhausted or lapsed).

(d) If a determination shall have been made pursuant to Section 12(b) of this Agreement that Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification, the Company shall be bound by such determination in any judicial proceeding or arbitration commenced pursuant to this Section 14, absent (i) a misstatement by Indemnitee of a material fact, or an omission of a material fact necessary to make Indemnitee’s statement not materially misleading, in connection with the request for indemnification, or (ii) a prohibition of such indemnification under applicable law.

(e) The Company shall be precluded from asserting in any judicial proceeding or arbitration commenced pursuant to this Section 14 that the procedures and presumptions of this Agreement are not valid, binding and enforceable and shall stipulate in any such court or before any such arbitrator that the Company is bound by all the provisions of this Agreement.

(f) The Company shall indemnify and hold harmless Indemnitee to the fullest extent permitted by law against all Expenses and, if requested by Indemnitee, shall (within ten (10) days after the Company’s receipt of such written request) pay to Indemnitee, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, such Expenses which are incurred by Indemnitee in connection with any judicial proceeding or arbitration brought by Indemnitee: (i) to enforce his rights under, or to recover damages for breach of, this Agreement or any other indemnification, hold harmless, exoneration, advancement or contribution agreement or provision of the Charter, or the Bylaws now or hereafter in effect; or (ii) for recovery or advances under any insurance policy maintained by any person for the benefit of Indemnitee, regardless of the outcome and whether Indemnitee ultimately is determined to be entitled to such indemnification, hold harmless or exoneration right, advancement, contribution or insurance recovery, as the case may be (unless such judicial proceeding or arbitration was not brought by Indemnitee in good faith).

 

12


(g) Interest shall be paid by the Company to Indemnitee at the legal rate under Delaware law for amounts which the Company indemnifies, holds harmless or exonerates, or advances, or is obliged to indemnify, hold harmless or exonerate or advance for the period commencing with the date on which Indemnitee requests indemnification, to be held harmless, exonerated, contribution, reimbursement or advancement of any Expenses and ending with the date on which such payment is made to Indemnitee by the Company.

15. SECURITY. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, to the extent requested by Indemnitee and approved by the Board, the Company may at any time and from time to time provide security to Indemnitee for the Company’s obligations hereunder through an irrevocable bank line of credit, funded trust or other collateral. Any such security, once provided to Indemnitee, may not be revoked or released without the prior written consent of Indemnitee.

16. NON-EXCLUSIVITY; SURVIVAL OF RIGHTS; INSURANCE; SUBROGATION.

(a) The rights of Indemnitee as provided by this Agreement shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which Indemnitee may at any time be entitled under applicable law, the Charter, the Bylaws, any agreement, a vote of stockholders or a resolution of directors, or otherwise. No amendment, alteration or repeal of this Agreement or of any provision hereof shall limit or restrict any right of Indemnitee under this Agreement in respect of any Proceeding (regardless of when such Proceeding is first threatened, commenced or completed) or claim, issue or matter therein arising out of, or related to, any action taken or omitted by such Indemnitee in his Corporate Status prior to such amendment, alteration or repeal. To the extent that a change in applicable law, whether by statute or judicial decision, permits greater indemnification, hold harmless or exoneration rights or advancement of Expenses than would be afforded currently under the Charter, the Bylaws or this Agreement, it is the intent of the parties hereto that Indemnitee shall enjoy by this Agreement the greater benefits so afforded by such change. No right or remedy herein conferred is intended to be exclusive of any other right or remedy, and every other right and remedy shall be cumulative and in addition to every other right and remedy given hereunder or now or hereafter existing at law or in equity or otherwise. The assertion or employment of any right or remedy hereunder, or otherwise, shall not prevent the concurrent assertion or employment of any other right or remedy.

(b) The DGCL, the Charter and the Bylaws permit the Company to purchase and maintain insurance or furnish similar protection or make other arrangements including, but not limited to, providing a trust fund, letter of credit, or surety bond (“Indemnification Arrangements”) on behalf of Indemnitee against any liability asserted against him or incurred by or on behalf of him or in such capacity as a director, officer, employee or agent of the Company, or arising out of his status as such, whether or not the Company would have the power to indemnify him against such liability under the provisions of this Agreement or under the DGCL, as it may then be in effect. The purchase, establishment, and maintenance of any such Indemnification Arrangement shall not in any way limit or affect the rights and obligations of the Company or of Indemnitee under this Agreement except as expressly provided herein, and the execution and delivery of this Agreement by the Company and Indemnitee shall not in any way limit or affect the rights and obligations of the Company or the other party or parties thereto under any such Indemnification Arrangement.

 

13


(c) To the extent that the Company maintains an insurance policy or policies providing liability insurance for directors, officers, trustees, partners, managers, managing members, fiduciaries, employees, or agents of the Company or of any other Enterprise which such person serves at the request of the Company, Indemnitee shall be covered by such policy or policies in accordance with its or their terms to the maximum extent of the coverage available for any such director, officer, trustee, partner, managers, managing member, fiduciary, employee or agent under such policy or policies. If, at the time the Company receives notice from any source of a Proceeding as to which Indemnitee is a party or a participant (as a witness, deponent or otherwise), the Company has director and officer liability insurance in effect, the Company shall give prompt notice of such Proceeding to the insurers in accordance with the procedures set forth in the respective policies. The Company shall thereafter take all necessary or desirable action to cause such insurers to pay, on behalf of Indemnitee, all amounts payable as a result of such Proceeding in accordance with the terms of such policies.

(d) In the event of any payment under this Agreement, the Company, to the fullest extent permitted by law, shall be subrogated to the extent of such payment to all of the rights of recovery of Indemnitee, who shall execute all papers required and take all action necessary to secure such rights, including execution of such documents as are necessary to enable the Company to bring suit to enforce such rights.

(e) The Company’s obligation to indemnify, hold harmless, exonerate or advance Expenses hereunder to Indemnitee who is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, trustee, partner, manager, managing member, fiduciary, employee or agent of any other Enterprise shall be reduced by any amount Indemnitee has actually received as indemnification, hold harmless or exoneration payments or advancement of expenses from such Enterprise. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement to the contrary, (i) Indemnitee shall have no obligation to reduce, offset, allocate, pursue or apportion any indemnification, hold harmless, exoneration, advancement, contribution or insurance coverage among multiple parties possessing such duties to Indemnitee prior to the Company’s satisfaction and performance of all its obligations under this Agreement, and (ii) the Company shall perform fully its obligations under this Agreement without regard to whether Indemnitee holds, may pursue or has pursued any indemnification, advancement, hold harmless, exoneration, contribution or insurance coverage rights against any person or entity other than the Company.

17. DURATION OF AGREEMENT. All agreements and obligations of the Company contained herein shall continue during the period Indemnitee serves as a director or officer of the Company or as a director, officer, trustee, partner, manager, managing member, fiduciary, employee or agent of any other corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other Enterprise which Indemnitee serves at the request of the Company and shall continue thereafter so long as Indemnitee shall be subject to any possible Proceeding (including any rights of appeal thereto and any Proceeding commenced by Indemnitee pursuant to Section 14 of this Agreement) by reason of his Corporate Status, whether or not he is acting in any such capacity at the time any liability or expense is incurred for which indemnification or advancement can be provided under this Agreement.

 

14


18. SEVERABILITY. If any provision or provisions of this Agreement shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason whatsoever: (a) the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions of this Agreement (including, without limitation, each portion of any Section, paragraph or sentence of this Agreement containing any such provision held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that is not itself invalid, illegal or unenforceable) shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby and shall remain enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law; (b) such provision or provisions shall be deemed reformed to the extent necessary to conform to applicable law and to give the maximum effect to the intent of the parties hereto; and (c) to the fullest extent possible, the provisions of this Agreement (including, without limitation, each portion of any Section, paragraph or sentence of this Agreement containing any such provision held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that is not itself invalid, illegal or unenforceable) shall be construed so as to give effect to the intent manifested thereby.

19. ENFORCEMENT AND BINDING EFFECT.

(a) The Company expressly confirms and agrees that it has entered into this Agreement and assumed the obligations imposed on it hereby in order to induce Indemnitee to serve as a director, officer or key employee of the Company, and the Company acknowledges that Indemnitee is relying upon this Agreement in serving as a director, officer or key employee of the Company.

(b) Without limiting any of the rights of Indemnitee under the Charter or Bylaws of the Company as they may be amended from time to time, this Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior agreements and understandings, oral, written and implied, between the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof.

(c) The indemnification, hold harmless, exoneration and advancement of expenses rights provided by or granted pursuant to this Agreement shall be binding upon and be enforceable by the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns (including any direct or indirect successor by purchase, merger, consolidation or otherwise to all or substantially all of the business and/or assets of the Company), shall continue as to an Indemnitee who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent of the Company or a director, officer, trustee, general partner, manager, managing member, fiduciary, employee or agent of any other Enterprise at the Company’s request, and shall inure to the benefit of Indemnitee and his spouse, assigns, heirs, devisees, executors and administrators and other legal representatives.

(d) The Company shall require and cause any successor (whether direct or indirect by purchase, merger, consolidation or otherwise) to all, substantially all or a substantial part, of the business and/or assets of the Company, by written agreement in form and substance satisfactory to Indemnitee, expressly to assume and agree to perform this Agreement in the same manner and to the same extent that the Company would be required to perform if no such succession had taken place.

 

15


(e) The Company and Indemnitee agree herein that a monetary remedy for breach of this Agreement, at some later date, may be inadequate, impracticable and difficult of proof, and further agree that such breach may cause Indemnitee irreparable harm. Accordingly, the parties hereto agree that Indemnitee may, to the fullest extent permitted by law, enforce this Agreement by seeking, among other things, injunctive relief and/or specific performance hereof, without any necessity of showing actual damage or irreparable harm and that by seeking injunctive relief and/or specific performance, Indemnitee shall not be precluded from seeking or obtaining any other relief to which he may be entitled. The Company and Indemnitee further agree that Indemnitee shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be entitled to such specific performance and injunctive relief, including temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions and permanent injunctions, without the necessity of posting bonds or other undertaking in connection therewith. The Company acknowledges that in the absence of a waiver, a bond or undertaking may be required of Indemnitee by a court of competent jurisdiction, Company hereby waives any such requirement of such a bond or undertaking to the fullest extent permitted by law.

20. MODIFICATION AND WAIVER. No supplement, modification or amendment of this Agreement shall be binding unless executed in writing by the Company and Indemnitee. No waiver of any of the provisions of this Agreement shall be deemed or shall constitute a waiver of any other provisions of this Agreement nor shall any waiver constitute a continuing waiver.

21. NOTICES. All notices, requests, demands and other communications under this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been duly given (i) if delivered by hand and receipted for by the party to whom said notice or other communication shall have been directed, or (ii) mailed by certified or registered mail with postage prepaid, on the third (3rd) business day after the date on which it is so mailed:

(a) If to Indemnitee, at the address indicated on the signature page of this Agreement, or such other address as Indemnitee shall provide in writing to the Company.

(b) If to the Company, to:

Kinetik Holdings Inc.

2700 Post Oak Blvd.

Suite 300

Houston, TX 77056

Attention: Todd Carpenter

With a copy, which shall not constitute notice, to

Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.

845 Texas Ave

Houston, Texas 77002

Attn: Keith Fullenweider; Doug McWilliams

or to any other address as may have been furnished to Indemnitee in writing by the Company.

 

16


22. APPLICABLE LAW AND CONSENT TO JURISDICTION. This Agreement and the legal relations among the parties shall be governed by, and construed and enforced in accordance with, the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. Except with respect to any arbitration commenced by Indemnitee pursuant to Section 14(a) of this Agreement, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the Company and Indemnitee hereby irrevocably and unconditionally: (a) agree that any action or proceeding arising out of or in connection with this Agreement shall be brought only in the Delaware Court and not in any other state or federal court in the United States of America or any court in any other country; (b) consent to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Delaware Court for purposes of any action or proceeding arising out of or in connection with this Agreement; (c) waive any objection to the laying of venue of any such action or proceeding in the Delaware Court; and (d) waive, and agree not to plead or to make, any claim that any such action or proceeding brought in the Delaware Court has been brought in an improper or inconvenient forum, or is subject (in whole or in part) to a jury trial. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the parties hereby agree that the mailing of process and other papers in connection with any such action or proceeding in the manner provided by Section 21 or in such other manner as may be permitted by law, shall be valid and sufficient service thereof.

23. IDENTICAL COUNTERPARTS. This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of which shall for all purposes be deemed to be an original but all of which together shall constitute one and the same Agreement. Only one such counterpart signed by the party against whom enforceability is sought needs to be produced to evidence the existence of this Agreement.

24. MISCELLANEOUS. Use of the masculine pronoun shall be deemed to include usage of the feminine pronoun where appropriate. The headings of the paragraphs of this Agreement are inserted for convenience only and shall not be deemed to constitute part of this Agreement or to affect the construction thereof.

25. PERIOD OF LIMITATIONS. No legal action shall be brought and no cause of action shall be asserted by or in the right of the Company against Indemnitee, Indemnitee’s spouse, heirs, executors or personal or legal representatives after the expiration of two years from the date of accrual of such cause of action, and any claim or cause of action of the Company shall be extinguished and deemed released unless asserted by the timely filing of a legal action within such two-year period; provided, however, that if any shorter period of limitations is otherwise applicable to any such cause of action such shorter period shall govern.

26. ADDITIONAL ACTS. If for the validation of any of the provisions in this Agreement any act, resolution, approval or other procedure is required to the fullest extent permitted by law, the Company undertakes to cause such act, resolution, approval or other procedure to be affected or adopted in a manner that will enable the Company to fulfill its obligations under this Agreement.

27. MAINTENANCE OF INSURANCE. The Company shall use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain and maintain in effect during the entire period for which the Company is obligated to indemnify the Indemnitee under this Agreement, one or more policies of insurance with reputable insurance companies to provide the officers/directors of the Company with coverage for losses from wrongful acts and omissions and to ensure the Company’s performance

 

17


of its indemnification obligations under this Agreement. The Indemnitee shall be covered by such policy or policies in accordance with its or their terms to the maximum extent of the coverage available for any such director or officer under such policy or policies. In all such insurance policies, the Indemnitee shall be named as an insured in such a manner as to provide the Indemnitee with the same rights and benefits as are accorded to the most favorably insured of the Company’s directors and officers.

[Signature Page Follows]

 

18


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Indemnity Agreement to be signed as of the day and year first above written.

 

KINETIK HOLDINGS INC.
By:  

             

  Name:
  Title:
INDEMNITEE
By:  

             

  Name:
  Address:

[Signature page to Indemnity Agreement]

Exhibit 10.4

VOTING AGREEMENT

This Voting Agreement (this “Agreement”), dated as of October 21, 2021, is entered into by and among Altus Midstream Company, a Delaware corporation (the “Corporation”), BCP Raptor Aggregator, LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“BCP Raptor Aggregator”), and BX Permian Pipeline Aggregator LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“BX Permian” and together with BCP Raptor Aggregator, the “Stockholders”). The Corporation and the Stockholders are each sometimes referred to herein individually as a “Party” and collectively as the “Parties.”

WHEREAS, concurrently with the execution of this Agreement, the Parties are entering into that certain Amended and Restated Stockholders Agreement, dated as of the date hereof and effective concurrently with the Closing (as defined below), with APA Corporation, a Delaware corporation, Apache Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, Buzzard Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“New Raptor”), and, solely for the purposes set forth therein, BCP Raptor Holdco LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“Raptor”) (the “Stockholders Agreement”); and

WHEREAS, in connection with Stockholders Agreement and the transactions contemplated by that certain Contribution Agreement, dated as of the date hereof, by and among the Corporation, Altus Midstream LP, a Delaware limited partnership, Raptor and New Raptor (the “Contribution Agreement”), the Parties are entering into this Agreement, effective concurrently with the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Contribution Agreement (the “Closing”), to set forth certain understandings among themselves following the Closing.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the promises and of the mutual consents and obligations hereinafter set forth, the Parties hereby agree as follows:

1. Definitions.

For purposes of this Agreement, capitalized terms used and not otherwise defined herein shall have the respective meanings ascribed to such terms in the Stockholders Agreement. When used in this Agreement, the following terms in all of their tenses, cases and correlative forms shall have the meanings assigned to them in this Section 1.

(a) “Agreement” shall have the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

(b) “BCP Raptor Aggregator” shall have the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

(c) “Beneficially Own” or “Beneficial Ownership” shall mean, with respect to any security, whether directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship or otherwise, having (i) voting power, which includes the power to vote, or to direct the voting of, such security or (ii) investment power, which includes the power to dispose, or to direct the disposition of, such security. For the avoidance of doubt, “Beneficially Own” and “Beneficial Ownership” shall also include record ownership of securities.

(d) “Board” shall mean the board of directors of the Corporation.

(e) “BX Permian” shall have the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

(f) “Closing” shall have the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

 


(g) “Contribution Agreement” shall have the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

(h) “Corporation” shall have the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

(i) “New Raptor” shall have the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

(j) “Party” or “Parties” shall have the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

(k) “Person” shall mean any individual, corporation, firm, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, estate, trust, business association, organization, any court, administrative agency, regulatory body, commission or other governmental authority, board, bureau or instrumentality, domestic or foreign and any subdivision thereof or other entity, and also includes any managed investment account.

(l) “Raptor” shall have the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

(m) “Shares” shall mean the shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Corporation and the shares of Class C common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Corporation.

(n) “Sponsor Designees” shall mean those individuals designated in accordance with Sections 2(a)(i) and (ii) of the Stockholders Agreement.

(o) “Stockholders” shall have the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

(p) “Stockholders Agreement” shall have the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

2. Agreement to Vote Shares.

Each Stockholder agrees to cast all votes to which such Stockholder is entitled in respect of Shares Beneficially Owned by such Stockholder, whether at any annual or special meeting, by written consent or otherwise, so as to cause to be elected to the Board the Sponsor Designees. Subject to the foregoing sentence, in the event that there are directors to be selected in addition to the Sponsor Designees, each Stockholder shall be free to vote for its preferred candidate(s). Each Stockholder agrees not to take action to remove any Sponsor Designees from office pursuant to the Corporation’s certificate of incorporation.

3. Duration of Agreement.

This Agreement shall terminate automatically as to an individual Stockholder upon such Stockholder (including any Affiliate of such Stockholder) ceasing to Beneficially Own at least 10% of the outstanding Shares.

4. Effectiveness.

This Agreement shall become effective upon the Closing.

5. Governing Law.

(a) This Agreement shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware without regard to the principles of conflicts of law.

 

2


(b) The Parties hereby irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the State of Delaware and the federal courts of the United States of America located in the State of Delaware, over any dispute between the Parties arising out of this Agreement, and the Parties irrevocably agree that all such claims in respect of such dispute shall be heard and determined in such courts. The Parties hereby irrevocably waive, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any objection which they may now or hereafter have to the venue of any such dispute arising out of this Agreement brought in such court or any defense of inconvenient forum for the maintenance of such dispute. The Parties agree that a judgment in any such dispute may be enforced in other jurisdictions by suit on the judgment or in any other manner provided by law.

(c) Should any term or provision of this Agreement for any reason be declared invalid or unenforceable, such decision shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any of the other terms or provisions of this Agreement, which other terms and provisions shall remain in full force and effect and the application of such invalid or unenforceable term or provision to Persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid or unenforceable shall be valid and be enforced to the fullest extent permitted by law. If a final judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction declares that any term or provision of this Agreement is invalid or unenforceable, the Parties agree that the court making such determination shall have the power to limit such term or provision, to delete specific words or phrases or to replace such term or provision with a term or provision that is valid and enforceable and that comes closest to expressing the intention of the invalid or unenforceable term or provision, and that this Agreement shall be valid and enforceable as so modified.

(d) EACH PARTY IRREVOCABLY AND UNCONDITIONALLY WAIVES ANY RIGHT IT MAY HAVE TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN RESPECT OF ANY LEGAL ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT.

6. Amendments.

No amendment, supplement, or waiver of this Agreement shall be binding unless executed in writing by the Party to be bound thereby.

7. Assignment.

(a) Except as expressly required or permitted by the Stockholders Agreement, no Party shall assign the rights and obligations contained in this Agreement without the prior written consent of each other Party, and any such action without the required consent shall be void ab initio.

(b) This Agreement shall bind and inure to the benefit of the Parties and any permitted successors or assigns to the original Parties to this Agreement, but such assignment shall not relieve any Party of any obligations hereunder.

 

3


8. Entire Agreement.

This Agreement and the Stockholders Agreement constitutes the entire agreement among the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersede all prior agreements and understandings, both written and oral, among the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof. There are no restrictions, promises, warranties, covenants or undertakings between the Parties, other than those expressly set forth or referred to herein. Unless otherwise provided herein, any consent required by the Corporation may be withheld by the Corporation in its sole discretion.

9. Inconsistent Arrangements; Specific Performance.

(a) No Party shall enter into any agreements or arrangements of any kind with any Person with respect to any Shares on terms inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement (whether or not such agreements or arrangements are with Persons that are Parties to this Agreement), including agreements or arrangements with respect to the acquisition or disposition of any Shares in a manner inconsistent with this Agreement.

(b) Each Party acknowledges that irreparable damage would occur in the event that any of the provisions of this Agreement were not performed in accordance with its specific terms and that a remedy at law for any breach or attempted breach of this Agreement will be inadequate. It is accordingly agreed that the Parties shall be entitled to specific performance and injunctive and other equitable relief in case of any such breach or attempted breach and to enforce specifically the terms and provisions hereof, and further agrees to waive (to the extent legally permissible) any legal conditions required to be met for the obtaining of any such injunctive or other equitable relief (including securing or posting any bond in order to obtain equitable relief). Each Party further agrees that, in the event of any action for an injunction or other equitable remedy in respect of such breach or enforcement of specific performance, it will not assert the defense that a remedy at law would be adequate.

10. Counterparts.

This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, all of which together shall constitute an agreement binding on all Parties hereto, notwithstanding that all such Parties are not signatories to the original or the same counterpart. Facsimile copies of signatures shall constitute original signatures for all purposes of this Agreement and any enforcement hereof. The failure of any Stockholder to execute this Agreement shall not make it invalid as against any other Stockholder.

11. No Recourse.

This Agreement may only be enforced against, and any claims or cause of action that may be based upon, arise out of or relate to this Agreement, or the negotiation, execution or performance of this Agreement may only be made against, the Persons that are expressly identified as Parties hereto and no past, present or future Affiliate, director, officer, employee, incorporator, member, manager, partner, stockholder, agent, attorney or representative of any Party hereto shall have any liability for any obligations or liabilities of the Parties to this Agreement or for any claim based on, in respect of, or by reason of, the transactions contemplated hereby.

[Signature Page to Follow]

 

4


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties hereto have executed and delivered this Agreement as of the date first written above.

 

THE CORPORATION:
ALTUS MIDSTREAM COMPANY
By:  

/s/ Ben C. Rodgers

Name:   Ben C. Rodgers
Title:   Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
STOCKHOLDERS:
BCP RAPTOR AGGREGATOR, LP
By: BCP VII/BEP II Holdings Manager L.L.C., its general partner
By:  

/s/ David Foley

Name:   David Foley
Title:   Senior Managing Director
BX PERMIAN PIPELINE AGGREGATOR LP
By: BCP VII/BEP II Holdings Manager L.L.C., its general partner
By:  

/s/ David Foley

Name:   David Foley
Title:   Senior Managing Director

SIGNATURE PAGE TO BLACKSTONE VOTING AGREEMENT

Exhibit 10.5

VOTING AGREEMENT

This Voting Agreement (this “Agreement”), dated as of October 21, 2021, is entered into by and among Altus Midstream Company, a Delaware corporation (the “Corporation”), and Buzzard Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Stockholder”). The Corporation and the Stockholder are each sometimes referred to herein individually as a “Party” and collectively as the “Parties.”

WHEREAS, concurrently with the execution of this Agreement, the Parties are entering into that certain Amended and Restated Stockholders Agreement, dated as of the date hereof and effective concurrently with the Closing (as defined below), with APA Corporation, a Delaware corporation, Apache Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, BCP Raptor Aggregator, LP, a Delaware limited partnership, BX Permian Pipeline Aggregator LP, a Delaware limited partnership, New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“New Raptor”), and, solely for the purposes set forth therein, BCP Raptor Holdco LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“Raptor”) (the “Stockholders Agreement”); and

WHEREAS, in connection with Stockholders Agreement and the transactions contemplated by that certain Contribution Agreement, dated as of the date hereof, by and among the Corporation, Altus Midstream LP, a Delaware limited partnership, Raptor and New Raptor (the “Contribution Agreement”), the Parties are entering into this Agreement, effective concurrently with the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Contribution Agreement (the “Closing”), to set forth certain understandings among themselves following the Closing.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the promises and of the mutual consents and obligations hereinafter set forth, the Parties hereby agree as follows:

1. Definitions.

For purposes of this Agreement, capitalized terms used and not otherwise defined herein shall have the respective meanings ascribed to such terms in the Stockholders Agreement. When used in this Agreement, the following terms in all of their tenses, cases and correlative forms shall have the meanings assigned to them in this Section 1.

(a) “Agreement” shall have the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

(b) “Beneficially Own” or “Beneficial Ownership” shall mean, with respect to any security, whether directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship or otherwise, having (i) voting power, which includes the power to vote, or to direct the voting of, such security or (ii) investment power, which includes the power to dispose, or to direct the disposition of, such security. For the avoidance of doubt, “Beneficially Own” and “Beneficial Ownership” shall also include record ownership of securities.

(c) “Board” shall mean the board of directors of the Corporation.

(d) “Closing” shall have the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

(e) “Contribution Agreement” shall have the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

(f) “Corporation” shall have the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

 


(g) “New Raptor” shall have the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

(h) “Party” or “Parties” shall have the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

(i) “Person” shall mean any individual, corporation, firm, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, estate, trust, business association, organization, any court, administrative agency, regulatory body, commission or other governmental authority, board, bureau or instrumentality, domestic or foreign and any subdivision thereof or other entity, and also includes any managed investment account.

(j) “Raptor” shall have the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

(k) “Shares” shall mean the shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Corporation and the shares of Class C common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Corporation.

(l) “Sponsor Designees” shall mean those individuals designated in accordance with Sections 2(a)(i) and (iii) of the Stockholders Agreement.

(m) “Stockholder” shall have the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

(n) “Stockholders Agreement” shall have the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

2. Agreement to Vote Shares.

The Stockholder agrees to cast all votes to which the Stockholder is entitled in respect of Shares Beneficially Owned by the Stockholder, whether at any annual or special meeting, by written consent or otherwise, so as to cause to be elected to the Board the Sponsor Designees. Subject to the foregoing sentence, in the event that there are directors to be selected in addition to the Sponsor Designees, the Stockholder shall be free to vote for its preferred candidate(s). The Stockholder agrees not to take action to remove any Sponsor Designees from office pursuant to the Corporation’s certificate of incorporation.

3. Duration of Agreement.

This Agreement shall terminate automatically as to the Stockholder upon the Stockholder (including any Affiliate of the Stockholder) ceasing to Beneficially Own at least 10% of the outstanding Shares.

4. Effectiveness.

This Agreement shall become effective upon the Closing.

5. Governing Law.

(a) This Agreement shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware without regard to the principles of conflicts of law.

 

2


(b) The Parties hereby irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the State of Delaware and the federal courts of the United States of America located in the State of Delaware, over any dispute between the Parties arising out of this Agreement, and the Parties irrevocably agree that all such claims in respect of such dispute shall be heard and determined in such courts. The Parties hereby irrevocably waive, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any objection which they may now or hereafter have to the venue of any such dispute arising out of this Agreement brought in such court or any defense of inconvenient forum for the maintenance of such dispute. The Parties agree that a judgment in any such dispute may be enforced in other jurisdictions by suit on the judgment or in any other manner provided by law.

(c) Should any term or provision of this Agreement for any reason be declared invalid or unenforceable, such decision shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any of the other terms or provisions of this Agreement, which other terms and provisions shall remain in full force and effect and the application of such invalid or unenforceable term or provision to Persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid or unenforceable shall be valid and be enforced to the fullest extent permitted by law. If a final judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction declares that any term or provision of this Agreement is invalid or unenforceable, the Parties agree that the court making such determination shall have the power to limit such term or provision, to delete specific words or phrases or to replace such term or provision with a term or provision that is valid and enforceable and that comes closest to expressing the intention of the invalid or unenforceable term or provision, and that this Agreement shall be valid and enforceable as so modified.

(d) EACH PARTY IRREVOCABLY AND UNCONDITIONALLY WAIVES ANY RIGHT IT MAY HAVE TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN RESPECT OF ANY LEGAL ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT.

6. Amendments.

No amendment, supplement, or waiver of this Agreement shall be binding unless executed in writing by the Party to be bound thereby.

7. Assignment.

(a) Except as expressly required or permitted by the Stockholders Agreement, no Party shall assign the rights and obligations contained in this Agreement without the prior written consent of the other Party, and any such action without the required consent shall be void ab initio.

(b) This Agreement shall bind and inure to the benefit of the Parties and any permitted successors or assigns to the original Parties to this Agreement, but such assignment shall not relieve any Party of any obligations hereunder.

8. Entire Agreement.

This Agreement and the Stockholders Agreement constitutes the entire agreement among the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersede all prior agreements and understandings, both written and oral, among the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof. There are no restrictions, promises, warranties, covenants or undertakings between the Parties, other than those expressly set forth or referred to herein. Unless otherwise provided herein, any consent required by the Corporation may be withheld by the Corporation in its sole discretion.

 

3


9. Inconsistent Arrangements; Specific Performance.

(a) No Party shall enter into any agreements or arrangements of any kind with any Person with respect to any Shares on terms inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement (whether or not such agreements or arrangements are with Persons that are Parties to this Agreement), including agreements or arrangements with respect to the acquisition or disposition of any Shares in a manner inconsistent with this Agreement.

(b) Each Party acknowledges that irreparable damage would occur in the event that any of the provisions of this Agreement were not performed in accordance with its specific terms and that a remedy at law for any breach or attempted breach of this Agreement will be inadequate. It is accordingly agreed that the Parties shall be entitled to specific performance and injunctive and other equitable relief in case of any such breach or attempted breach and to enforce specifically the terms and provisions hereof, and further agrees to waive (to the extent legally permissible) any legal conditions required to be met for the obtaining of any such injunctive or other equitable relief (including securing or posting any bond in order to obtain equitable relief). Each Party further agrees that, in the event of any action for an injunction or other equitable remedy in respect of such breach or enforcement of specific performance, it will not assert the defense that a remedy at law would be adequate.

10. Counterparts.

This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, all of which together shall constitute an agreement binding on all Parties hereto, notwithstanding that all such Parties are not signatories to the original or the same counterpart. Facsimile copies of signatures shall constitute original signatures for all purposes of this Agreement and any enforcement hereof.

11. No Recourse.

This Agreement may only be enforced against, and any claims or cause of action that may be based upon, arise out of or relate to this Agreement, or the negotiation, execution or performance of this Agreement may only be made against, the Persons that are expressly identified as Parties hereto and no past, present or future Affiliate, director, officer, employee, incorporator, member, manager, partner, stockholder, agent, attorney or representative of any Party hereto shall have any liability for any obligations or liabilities of the Parties to this Agreement or for any claim based on, in respect of, or by reason of, the transactions contemplated hereby.

[Signature Page to Follow]

 

4


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties hereto have executed and delivered this Agreement as of the date first written above.

 

ALTUS MIDSTREAM COMPANY
By:  

/s/ Ben C. Rodgers

Name:   Ben C. Rodgers
Title:   Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
STOCKHOLDER:
BUZZARD MIDSTREAM LLC
By:  

/s/ Thomas Lefebvre

Name:   Thomas Lefebvre
Title:   Authorized Person

SIGNATURE PAGE TO I SQUARED VOTING AGREEMENT

Exhibit 10.6

VOTING AGREEMENT

This Voting Agreement (this “Agreement”), dated as of October 21, 2021, is entered into by and among Altus Midstream Company, a Delaware corporation (the “Corporation”), APA Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“APA Corporation”), and Apache Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Apache Midstream” and together with APA Corporation, the “Stockholders”). The Corporation and the Stockholders are each sometimes referred to herein individually as a “Party” and collectively as the “Parties.”

WHEREAS, concurrently with the execution of this Agreement, the Parties are entering into that certain Amended and Restated Stockholders Agreement, dated as of the date hereof and effective concurrently with the Closing (as defined below), with Buzzard Midstream LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, BCP Raptor Aggregator, LP, a Delaware limited partnership, BX Permian Pipeline Aggregator LP, a Delaware limited partnership, New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“New Raptor”), and, solely for the purposes set forth therein, BCP Raptor Holdco LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“Raptor”) (the “Stockholders Agreement”); and

WHEREAS, in connection with Stockholders Agreement and the transactions contemplated by that certain Contribution Agreement, dated as of the date hereof, by and among the Corporation, Altus Midstream LP, a Delaware limited partnership, Raptor and New Raptor (the “Contribution Agreement”), the Parties are entering into this Agreement, effective concurrently with the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Contribution Agreement (the “Closing”), to set forth certain understandings among themselves following the Closing.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the promises and of the mutual consents and obligations hereinafter set forth, the Parties hereby agree as follows:

1. Definitions.

For purposes of this Agreement, capitalized terms used and not otherwise defined herein shall have the respective meanings ascribed to such terms in the Stockholders Agreement. When used in this Agreement, the following terms in all of their tenses, cases and correlative forms shall have the meanings assigned to them in this Section 1.

(a) “Agreement” shall have the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

(b) “APA Corporation” shall have the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

(c) “Apache Midstream” shall have the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

(d) “Beneficially Own” or “Beneficial Ownership” shall mean, with respect to any security, whether directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship or otherwise, having (i) voting power, which includes the power to vote, or to direct the voting of, such security or (ii) investment power, which includes the power to dispose, or to direct the disposition of, such security. For the avoidance of doubt, “Beneficially Own” and “Beneficial Ownership” shall also include record ownership of securities.

(e) “Board” shall mean the board of directors of the Corporation.

(f) “Closing” shall have the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

 


(g) “Contribution Agreement” shall have the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

(h) “Corporation” shall have the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

(i) “New Raptor” shall have the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

(j) “Party” or “Parties” shall have the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

(k) “Person” shall mean any individual, corporation, firm, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, estate, trust, business association, organization, any court, administrative agency, regulatory body, commission or other governmental authority, board, bureau or instrumentality, domestic or foreign and any subdivision thereof or other entity, and also includes any managed investment account.

(l) “Raptor” shall have the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

(m) “Shares” shall mean the shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Corporation and the shares of Class C common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Corporation.

(n) “Sponsor Designees” shall mean those individuals designated in accordance with Sections 2(a)(ii) and (iii) of the Stockholders Agreement.

(o) “Stockholders” shall have the meaning set forth in the Preamble.

(p) “Stockholders Agreement” shall have the meaning set forth in the Recitals.

2. Agreement to Vote Shares.

Each Stockholder agrees to cast all votes to which such Stockholder is entitled in respect of Shares Beneficially Owned by such Stockholder, whether at any annual or special meeting, by written consent or otherwise, so as to cause to be elected to the Board the Sponsor Designees. Subject to the foregoing sentence, in the event that there are directors to be selected in addition to the Sponsor Designees, each Stockholder shall be free to vote for its preferred candidate(s). Each Stockholder agrees not to take action to remove any Sponsor Designees from office pursuant to the Corporation’s certificate of incorporation.

3. Duration of Agreement.

This Agreement shall terminate automatically as to an individual Stockholder upon such Stockholder (including any Affiliate of such Stockholder) ceasing to Beneficially Own at least 10% of the outstanding Shares.

4. Effectiveness.

This Agreement shall become effective upon the Closing.

5. Governing Law.

(a) This Agreement shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware without regard to the principles of conflicts of law.

 

2


(b) The Parties hereby irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the State of Delaware and the federal courts of the United States of America located in the State of Delaware, over any dispute between the Parties arising out of this Agreement, and the Parties irrevocably agree that all such claims in respect of such dispute shall be heard and determined in such courts. The Parties hereby irrevocably waive, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any objection which they may now or hereafter have to the venue of any such dispute arising out of this Agreement brought in such court or any defense of inconvenient forum for the maintenance of such dispute. The Parties agree that a judgment in any such dispute may be enforced in other jurisdictions by suit on the judgment or in any other manner provided by law.

(c) Should any term or provision of this Agreement for any reason be declared invalid or unenforceable, such decision shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any of the other terms or provisions of this Agreement, which other terms and provisions shall remain in full force and effect and the application of such invalid or unenforceable term or provision to Persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid or unenforceable shall be valid and be enforced to the fullest extent permitted by law. If a final judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction declares that any term or provision of this Agreement is invalid or unenforceable, the Parties agree that the court making such determination shall have the power to limit such term or provision, to delete specific words or phrases or to replace such term or provision with a term or provision that is valid and enforceable and that comes closest to expressing the intention of the invalid or unenforceable term or provision, and that this Agreement shall be valid and enforceable as so modified.

(d) EACH PARTY IRREVOCABLY AND UNCONDITIONALLY WAIVES ANY RIGHT IT MAY HAVE TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN RESPECT OF ANY LEGAL ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT.

6. Amendments.

No amendment, supplement, or waiver of this Agreement shall be binding unless executed in writing by the Party to be bound thereby.

7. Assignment.

(a) Except as expressly required or permitted by the Stockholders Agreement, no Party shall assign the rights and obligations contained in this Agreement without the prior written consent of each other Party, and any such action without the required consent shall be void ab initio.

(b) This Agreement shall bind and inure to the benefit of the Parties and any permitted successors or assigns to the original Parties to this Agreement, but such assignment shall not relieve any Party of any obligations hereunder.

 

3


8. Entire Agreement.

This Agreement and the Stockholders Agreement constitutes the entire agreement among the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersede all prior agreements and understandings, both written and oral, among the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof. There are no restrictions, promises, warranties, covenants or undertakings between the Parties, other than those expressly set forth or referred to herein. Unless otherwise provided herein, any consent required by the Corporation may be withheld by the Corporation in its sole discretion.

9. Inconsistent Arrangements; Specific Performance.

(a) No Party shall enter into any agreements or arrangements of any kind with any Person with respect to any Shares on terms inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement (whether or not such agreements or arrangements are with Persons that are Parties to this Agreement), including agreements or arrangements with respect to the acquisition or disposition of any Shares in a manner inconsistent with this Agreement.

(b) Each Party acknowledges that irreparable damage would occur in the event that any of the provisions of this Agreement were not performed in accordance with its specific terms and that a remedy at law for any breach or attempted breach of this Agreement will be inadequate. It is accordingly agreed that the Parties shall be entitled to specific performance and injunctive and other equitable relief in case of any such breach or attempted breach and to enforce specifically the terms and provisions hereof, and further agrees to waive (to the extent legally permissible) any legal conditions required to be met for the obtaining of any such injunctive or other equitable relief (including securing or posting any bond in order to obtain equitable relief). Each Party further agrees that, in the event of any action for an injunction or other equitable remedy in respect of such breach or enforcement of specific performance, it will not assert the defense that a remedy at law would be adequate.

10. Counterparts.

This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, all of which together shall constitute an agreement binding on all Parties hereto, notwithstanding that all such Parties are not signatories to the original or the same counterpart. Facsimile copies of signatures shall constitute original signatures for all purposes of this Agreement and any enforcement hereof. The failure of any Stockholder to execute this Agreement shall not make it invalid as against any other Stockholder.

11. No Recourse.

This Agreement may only be enforced against, and any claims or cause of action that may be based upon, arise out of or relate to this Agreement, or the negotiation, execution or performance of this Agreement may only be made against, the Persons that are expressly identified as Parties hereto and no past, present or future Affiliate, director, officer, employee, incorporator, member, manager, partner, stockholder, agent, attorney or representative of any Party hereto shall have any liability for any obligations or liabilities of the Parties to this Agreement or for any claim based on, in respect of, or by reason of, the transactions contemplated hereby.

[Signature Page to Follow]

 

4


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties hereto have executed and delivered this Agreement as of the date first written above.

 

ALTUS MIDSTREAM COMPANY
By:  

/s/ Ben Rodgers

Name:   Ben C. Rodgers
Title:   Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
STOCKHOLDERS:
APA CORPORATION
By:  

/s/ Stephen J. Riney

Name:   Stephen J. Riney
Title:   Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
APACHE MIDSTREAM LLC
By:  

/s/ Stephen J. Riney

Name:   Stephen J. Riney
Title:   Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

SIGNATURE PAGE TO APACHE VOTING AGREEMENT

Exhibit 10.7

LIMITED WAIVER AND THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT

THIS LIMITED WAIVER AND THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT, dated as of October 15, 2021 (the “Amendment”), among ALTUS MIDSTREAM LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“Borrower”), the Lenders party hereto, Swingline Lender party hereto, Issuing Banks party hereto, JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., as Administrative Agent (the “Administrative Agent”), and the other Agents party hereto.

W I T N E S S E T H:

1. Borrower, the Lenders (including the Swingline Lender), the Issuing Banks, the Administrative Agent, and the other Agents party thereto are parties to that certain Credit Agreement, dated as of November 9, 2018, as previously amended (the “Credit Agreement”), pursuant to which the Lenders (including the Swingline Lender) and the Issuing Banks agreed to make loans to and extensions of credit on behalf of Borrower.

2. Borrower is contemplating a business combination transaction with New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Contributor”), whereby Contributor contributes, assigns, transfers, conveys, and delivers to Borrower all of the outstanding equity interests in each of BCP Raptor Holdco, LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“Raptor”), and BCP Raptor Holdco GP, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, in exchange for common units representing limited partnership interests in Borrower and shares of the Class C common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of Altus Midstream Company, a Delaware corporation (“ALTM”), (the “Contribution Transaction”).

3. The Contribution Transaction would be consummated pursuant to the terms of that certain (i) Contribution Agreement, dated as of October 21, 2021, by and among ALTM, Borrower, Contributor, and Raptor (the “Contribution Agreement”) and (ii) Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Borrower, dated as of October 21, 2021, by and among Altus Midstream GP LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, as the sole general partner of Borrower, and each of the Limited Partners (as defined therein) (the “Third Partnership Agreement”), whereupon the beneficial ownership of Borrower would change, resulting in a change in control pursuant to Section 8.1(i)(ii) of the Credit Agreement (“Anticipated Default”).

4. Borrower has requested that (i) the Administrative Agent, the Swingline Lender, the Issuing Banks and the Lenders waive the Anticipated Default and (ii) the Credit Agreement be amended as provided herein.

5. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Amendment, the parties hereto are willing to enter into this Amendment providing the requested waiver and amendments.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the mutual agreements herein contained and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto agree as follows:

SECTION 1. Defined Terms. All capitalized terms used but not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings given in the Credit Agreement, as amended by this Amendment.


SECTION 2. Limited Waiver. Subject to the satisfaction of the conditions to effectiveness set forth in Section 4 hereof, the Administrative Agent, the Swingline Lender, the Issuing Banks, and the Lenders hereby waive as of the Amendment Effective Date the Anticipated Default and all rights and remedies under the Credit Agreement and the other Loan Documents arising as a result of the occurrence and continuance of the Anticipated Default; provided that nothing contained herein shall in any way (i) waive, release, modify, or limit the obligations of the Borrower or its Subsidiaries to otherwise comply with all terms and conditions of any or all of the Credit Agreement and the other Loan Documents or (ii) waive, release, modify, hinder, restrict, or otherwise limit any or all of the rights, remedies and privileges of the Administrative Agent, the Swingline Lender, the Issuing Banks, and the Lenders thereunder following the occurrence of any Default or Event of Default under the Credit Agreement, other than with respect to the Anticipated Default.

SECTION 3. Amendments to Credit Agreement. The following amendments to the Credit Agreement will become effective as of the Amendment Effective Date (as hereinafter defined):

(a) Section 1.1 of the Credit Agreement is hereby amended by inserting the following definition of “Contribution Transaction” in appropriate alphabetical order:

“     “Contribution Transaction” means consummation of the business combination transaction contemplated by that certain (i) Contribution Agreement, dated as of October 21, 2021, by and among Altus Midstream Company, a Delaware corporation, Borrower, New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and BCP Raptor Holdco, LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“Raptor”), and (ii) Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Borrower, dated as of October 21, 2021, by and among Altus Midstream GP LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, as the sole general partner of Borrower, and each of the Limited Partners (as defined therein), whereupon the beneficial ownership of Borrower will change.”

(b) Article VII of the Credit Agreement is hereby amended by inserting the following Section 7.9 immediately following Section 7.8:

“     SECTION 7.9 Specific Subsidiaries. Upon consummation of the Contribution Transaction:

(a) each of BCP RAPTOR, LLC and BCP RAPTOR II, LLC shall at all times be an Unrestricted Subsidiary; provided that Borrower may elect to designate either or both of BCP RAPTOR, LLC and BCP RAPTOR II, LLC as a Restricted Subsidiary by certifying to the Administrative Agent that such Subsidiary neither has Indebtedness outstanding nor can incur Indebtedness under a loan or credit agreement that existed as of consummation of the Contribution Transaction, and

(b) BCP PHP, LLC shall be a Restricted Subsidiary unless and until Borrower elects otherwise.

 

2


(c) Section 8.1(i) of the Credit Agreement is hereby amended in its entirety as follows:

“     (i) any Person or group of Persons (within the meaning of Section 13 or 14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) (other than an Existing Owner (defined below)) shall acquire beneficial ownership (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 promulgated by the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) of more than 50% of the outstanding common equity of the Borrower. “Existing Owner” means any Person that directly or indirectly owns 10% or more of Borrower’s outstanding common equity upon consummation of the Contribution Transaction and thereafter continuously owns, directly or indirectly, at least 10% of Borrower’s outstanding common equity.”

(d) Each of Section 8.1(i)(ii) and 8.1(i)(iii) of the Credit Agreement is hereby deleted in its entirety.

SECTION 4. Effectiveness. This Amendment will become effective on the date of the satisfaction of the following conditions precedent (such date, the “Amendment Effective Date”):

(a) The Administrative Agent shall have received counterparts hereof duly executed by Borrower, the Administrative Agent, the Swingline Lender, the Issuing Banks and the Lenders.

(b) The Administrative Agent shall have received a certificate of an Authorized Officer certifying that attached thereto is an accurate and complete copy of each of the Contribution Agreement and the Third Partnership Agreement, each of which is substantially similar to the material terms thereof as in effect on the date thereof.

(c) The Administrative Agent shall have received a certificate of an Authorized Officer:

(i) certifying that the Contribution Transaction has closed,

(ii) listing any and all entities contributed to Borrower and its Subsidiaries as part of the Contribution Transaction and as to each such entity that thereupon became a Subsidiary of Borrower, designating, subject to Section 7.9 of the Credit Agreement, as amended by this Amendment, whether such Subsidiary is a Restricted Subsidiary or an Unrestricted Subsidiary,

(iii) including an organizational chart of Borrower and its Subsidiaries upon closing of the Contribution Transaction, and

(iv) listing any and all loans or credit facilities representing Indebtedness of entities that became Subsidiaries of Borrower as part of the Contribution Transaction, including parties thereto, amount, maturity date, and a description of any security (the “Contributed Indebtedness”).

(d) The representations and warranties contained herein and in all other Loan Documents, as amended hereby, shall be true and correct in all material respects (except that such materiality qualifier shall not be applicable to any representations and warranties that already are qualified or modified by materiality in the text thereof) as of the date hereof as if made on the date hereof.

 

3


(e) No Event of Default, or event which with the giving of notice or passage of time or both would constitute an Event of Default, shall have occurred and be continuing.

(f) Borrower shall have paid to the Administrative Agent and any other Agent or Lender all fees, costs and expenses agreed in writing and payable in connection with this Amendment becoming effective on the Amendment Effective Date.

(g) The Administrative Agent shall have received a true and complete copy of each other instrument, certificate, agreement, financing statement, and other existing document reasonably requested by the Administrative Agent and delivered by parties to, and as part of, the Contribution Transaction or the Contributed Indebtedness.

SECTION 5. Reaffirmation of Representations and Warranties. To induce the Lenders, the Swingline Lender, the Issuing Banks and the Administrative Agent to enter into this Amendment, Borrower hereby reaffirms, as of the date hereof, the following:

(i) The representations and warranties of Borrower set forth in the Credit Agreement, as amended hereby, are true and correct on and as of the date hereof (unless stated to relate solely to an earlier date, in which case such representations and warranties shall be true and correct as of such earlier date).

(ii) Each of Borrower and its Subsidiaries is duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of their organization and has all requisite authority, permits and approvals, and is in good standing to conduct its business in each jurisdiction in which its business is conducted where the failure to so qualify would have a Material Adverse Effect.

(iii) The execution, delivery and performance by Borrower of this Amendment and each other Loan Document executed or to be executed by it, are within Borrower’s partnership powers and have been duly authorized by all necessary partnership action on behalf of it.

(iv) This Amendment, the Credit Agreement, as amended hereby, and each other Loan Document executed or to be executed by it has been duly executed and delivered by Borrower and constitutes a legal, valid and binding obligation of Borrower enforceable in accordance with their respective terms subject as to enforcement only to bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other similar laws affecting the enforcement of creditor rights generally and to general principles of equity.

(v) The execution, delivery and performance by Borrower of this Amendment and each other Loan Document executed or to be executed by it, do not (a) contravene Borrower’s certificate of formation or other organizational documents, as the case may be, (b) contravene any material contractual restriction, law or governmental regulation or court decree or order binding on or affecting Borrower or any Subsidiary, or (c) result in, or require the creation or imposition of, any Lien, not permitted by Section 7.1 of the Credit Agreement, on any of Borrower’s or any Subsidiary’s properties.

 

4


(vi) No Default under the Loan Documents has occurred and is continuing and Borrower is in compliance with the financial covenant set forth in Section 6.2 of the Credit Agreement.

SECTION 6. Reaffirmation of Credit Agreement. This Amendment shall be deemed to be an amendment to the Credit Agreement, and the Credit Agreement, as amended hereby, is hereby ratified, approved and confirmed in each and every respect and shall continue in full force and effect. All references to the Credit Agreement herein and in any other document, instrument, agreement or writing shall hereafter be deemed to refer to the Credit Agreement as amended hereby.

SECTION 7. Governing Law. THIS AMENDMENT SHALL BE CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH AND GOVERNED BY THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

SECTION 8. Severability of Provisions. Any provision of this Amendment held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability without affecting the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions hereof; and the invalidity of a particular provision in a particular jurisdiction shall not invalidate such provision in any other jurisdiction.

SECTION 9. Counterparts. This Amendment may be executed in counterparts (and by different parties hereto on different counterparts), each of which shall constitute an original, but all of which when taken together shall constitute a single contract.

SECTION 10. Headings. Article and section headings used herein are for convenience of reference only, are not part of this Amendment and shall not affect the construction of, or be taken into consideration in interpreting, this Amendment.

SECTION 11. Successors and Assigns. The provisions of this Amendment shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns permitted under the terms of the Credit Agreement.

SECTION 12. No Oral Agreements. THIS AMENDMENT, THE CREDIT AGREEMENT, AS AMENDED HEREBY, AND THE OTHER LOAN DOCUMENTS REPRESENT THE FINAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE PARTIES AND MAY NOT BE CONTRADICTED BY EVIDENCE OF PRIOR, CONTEMPORANEOUS, OR SUBSEQUENT ORAL AGREEMENTS OF THE PARTIES.

THERE ARE NO UNWRITTEN ORAL AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE PARTIES.

[SIGNATURES BEGIN ON FOLLOWING PAGE]

 

 

5


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Amendment to be duly executed by their respective authorized officers as of the day and year first above written.

 

ALTUS MIDSTREAM LP, a Delaware limited partnership
By: Altus Midstream GP LLC, its general partner
    By:  

/s/ Ben C. Rodgers

    Name:   Ben C. Rodgers
    Title:   Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 1


JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., as Administrative Agent, as an Issuing Bank, as a Swingline Lender and as a Lender
By:  

/s/ Sofia Barrera Jaime

Name:   Sofia Barrera Jaime
Title:   Vice President

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 2


WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, as Syndication Agent, as an Issuing Bank and as a Lender
By:  

/s/ Jonathan Herrick

Name:   Jonathan Herrick
Title:   Director

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 3


CITIBANK, N.A., as a Co-Documentation Agent and as a Lender
By:  

/s/ Catherine Shepherd

Name:   Catherine Shepherd
Title:   Vice President

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 4


BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., as a Co-Documentation Agent and as a Lender
By:  

/s/ Alia Qaddumi

Name:   Alia Qaddumi
Title:   Director

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 5


THE TORONTO-DOMINION BANK, NEW YORK BRANCH, as a Co-Documentation Agent and as a Lender
By:  

/s/ Maria Macchiaroli

Name:   Maria Macchiaroli
Title:   Authorized Signatory

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 6


MUFG BANK, LTD., as a Co-Documentation Agent and as a Lender
By:  

/s/ Stephen W. Warfel

Name:   Stephen W. Warfel
Title:   Authorized Signatory

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 7


THE BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA, HOUSTON BRANCH, as a Co-Documentation Agent and as a Lender
By:  

/s/ Scott Nickel

Name:   Scott Nickel
Title:   Director

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 8


BARCLAYS BANK PLC, as a Lender
By:  

/s/ Sydney G. Dennis

Name:   Sydney G. Dennis
Title:   Director

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 9


BANK OF MONTREAL, as a Lender
By:  

/s/ Hill Taylor

Name:   Hill Taylor
Title:   Vice President

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 10


TRUIST BANK, formerly known as Branch Banking and Trust Company, as a Lender
By:  

/s/ Lincoln LaCour

Name:   Lincoln LaCour
Title:   Vice President

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 11


CAPITAL ONE, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, as a Lender
By:  

/s/ Christopher Kuna

Name:   Christopher Kuna
Title:   Senior Director

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 12


CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, as a Lender
By:  

/s/ Nupur Kumar

Name:   Nupur Kumar
Title:   Authorized Signatory
By:  

/s/ Michael Wagner

Name:   Michael Wagner
Title:   Authorized Signatory

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 13


GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA, as a Lender
By:  

/s/ Mahesh Mohan

Name:   Mahesh Mohan
Title:   Authorized Signatory

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 14


HSBC BANK USA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, as a Lender
By:  

/s/ Balaji Rajgopal

Name:   Blaji Rajgopal
Title:   Director

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 15


MIZUHO BANK, LTD., as a Lender
By:  

/s/ Edward Sacks

Name:   Edward Sacks
Title:   Executive Director

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 16


ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, as a Lender
By:  

/s/ Emilee Scott

Name:   Emilee Scott
Title:   Authorized Signatory

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 17


SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE, as a Lender
By:                                                                                                  
Name:
Title:

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 18


TRUIST BANK, as successor by merger to SunTrust Bank, as a Lender
By:  

/s/ Lincoln LaCour

Name:   Lincoln LaCour
Title:   Vice President

 

[SIGNATURE PAGE TO LIMITED WAIVER AND

THIRD AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT - ALTUS]

S - 19

Exhibit 14.1

KINETIK HOLDINGS INC.

CODE OF BUSINESS CONDUCT


CONTENTS

 

OVERVIEW

     1  

OUR OVERARCHING POLICY

     2  

OUR COMMITMENT TO THE CODE OF BUSINESS CONDUCT AND ETHICS

     3  

Duty to Report

     3  

How to Report

     3  

No Retaliation

     4  

Enforcement

     4  

OUR COMMITMENT TO OUR GREATEST ASSET, OUR PEOPLE

     5  

Equal Employment Opportunity

     5  

Harassment

     5  

Social Media

     6  

Handling External Communications

     6  

OUR COMMITMENT TO SAFEGUARD COMPANY ASSETS AND TO MAINTAIN FINANCIAL INTEGRITY

     6  

Conflicts Of Interest

     6  

Protecting Corporate Opportunities

     8  

Proper Handling Of Confidential Information

     9  

Maintaining Accurate Books And Records

     10  

Information Technology Acceptable Use

     10  

Records Management And Data Privacy

     11  

OUR COMMITMENT TO HEALTH, SAFETY, SECURITY AND ENVIRONMENT (HSSE)

     11  

HSSE

     11  

Drugs And Alcohol

     12  

OUR COMMITMENT TO OUR STAKEHOLDERS

     12  

Gifts And Entertainment

     12  

Lobbying Expenditures, Gifts To U.S. Public Officials And Industry Activities

     13  

OUR COMMITMENT TO ADHERE TO ALL LEGAL AND REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS

     15  

Insider Trading

     15  

Compliance With Applicable Laws, Rules And Regulations

     16  

Waivers Of The Requirements Of This Code

     18  

 

i


OVERVIEW

This Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (“Code”) consists of an overarching policy and sections of interest. The Code in its entirety applies to all directors, officers, employees and other individuals working for Kinetik Holdings Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively and severally for purposes of this Code, “Kinetik” and “the Company”), with express authority to act on behalf of the Company (collectively “Kinetik Representative(s)”). As a member of this group, you are expected to:

 

   

Read and understand this Code;

 

   

Conduct yourself in accordance with its expectations;

 

   

Raise questions or concerns if you become aware of possible violations;

 

   

Fully cooperate with any investigation; and

 

   

Annually certify you have fulfilled these expectations.

 

1


OUR OVERARCHING POLICY

Kinetik will conduct its business fairly and ethically and will comply with all applicable laws, regulations and government requirements. All conduct inconsistent with this policy is prohibited.

Kinetik is committed to conducting its business in accordance with the highest standards. It is Kinetik’s policy to conduct its business fairly, ethically and in compliance with all applicable laws, rules, regulations and government requirements applicable to Kinetik’s business (hereinafter “laws”). Conduct inconsistent with this policy is prohibited.

This policy, and the Code generally, require not only the avoidance of misconduct, but also the avoidance of acts or omissions that give the appearance of misconduct. Kinetik Representatives shall not enter into any activity or incur any expense or liability that would compromise our commitment to these high standards.

This Code is designed to deter wrong-doing and to promote:

 

   

Honest and ethical conduct, including the ethical handling of actual or apparent conflicts of interest between personal and professional relationships;

 

   

Fair, full, accurate, timely and understandable disclosure in reports and documents that the Company files with, or submits to, the Securities and Exchange Commission and in other public communications made by the Company;

 

   

Compliance with applicable governmental laws;

 

   

Prompt internal reporting of violations or suspected violations of the Code to an appropriate person or persons identified in the Code; and

 

   

Accountability for adherence to the Code.

Failure to comply with this policy or any other provision of this Code by any Kinetik Representative will subject that person to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. Failure to comply with this policy or any other provision of this Code by a Company director shall be reported to the Audit Committee of the board of directors, which shall make a recommendation to the board of directors on appropriate action, up to and including removal of the subject director from the board of directors. The subject director shall not participate as a voting member in the committee’s or the board’s deliberations.

It is not possible to enumerate all of the situations that could result in an actual or apparent violation of this policy. However, the following areas are of particular concern to Kinetik with respect to the conduct of the Company’s business and are an extension of this policy and part of the Code. This Code must be interpreted using good judgment and common sense. Kinetik Representatives are encouraged to discuss questions or concerns relating to this Code with their supervisors, a member of the Compliance Team, the Human Resources Department, or other members of management, while directors should direct their questions and concerns to the Audit Committee.

 

2


OUR COMMITMENT TO THE CODE OF BUSINESS CONDUCT AND ETHICS

Duty to Report

Each Kinetik Representative is directly responsible for promptly reporting to the Company any actual, attempted or apparent violation of law.

Protecting and preserving Kinetik’s reputation requires that Kinetik Representatives promptly disclose any actual or suspected violation of law or this Code. Importantly, it is your duty as a Kinetik Representative to voice your concern so that the matter can be properly investigated and addressed. In the event that a Kinetik Representative in good faith believes, directly observes or through documentation or other information becomes aware of a violation of law or this Code, the Kinetik Representative must promptly report the matter to the Legal Department, the Human Resources Department, the internal audit department or such other persons as the Audit Committee determines to be appropriate. Such persons are referred to herein as the “Compliance Team.” This report may be made directly to the Compliance Team, or through his or her immediate supervisor, a member of the Compliance Team, the Human Resources Department, the Hotline or any member of management with whom the person is comfortable discussing the matter, and with respect to matters involving Board directors, the Audit Committee.1

For concerns regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing matters that are subject to the Company’s “Procedures for the Submission of Complaints and Concerns Regarding Accounting, Internal Accounting Controls or Auditing Matters,” the Kinetik Representative should also report the matter in accordance with those procedures or the through the Hotline, which is available on Kinetik’s website at www.kinetik.com.

How to Report

To report an actual or suspected violation of law or this Code, you may contact any of the following:

 

   

Your supervisor

 

   

A member of the Compliance Team

 

   

The Human Resources Department

 

   

The Hotline: 1-844-659-5688

You may also file an online Hotline report at:

https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/media/en/gui/57863/index.html.

 

Q:

I have seen and heard things that lead me to believe that a co-worker may be violating this Code by removing confidential information for the purpose of taking that information to a new job at one of Kinetik’s competitors, but I don’t have any hard evidence or know that for certain. Should I report this?

 

1 

Nothing herein shall require an attorney representative of Kinetik to jeopardize or waive privilege of the organization without its express written consent.

 

3


A:

Absolutely, you should report your concern. You do not need to have conclusive proof that a violation has been committed in order to make a report, only a good faith belief based on facts or observations that a violation may be occurring. It is far better to report and have the investigation conclude that no violation has taken place, than to sit by idly while Kinetik’s confidential information is stolen and/or provided to a competitor. It is your duty to speak up.

 

Q:

If I utilize the Hotline to make a report, will I be able to remain anonymous?

 

A:

Yes. Any person calling the Hotline to report an alleged violation of law or this Code has the option to remain anonymous. The Hotline is hosted by a reputable third party. It is possible that your identity will be uncovered during any subsequent investigation, but Kinetik will preserve your anonymity to the extent possible under the law.

No Retaliation

Retaliation or retribution against any Kinetik Representative who in good faith reports a violation is strictly prohibited.

All Kinetik Representatives can be confident that Kinetik management will stand behind and support those who raise good faith concerns of behavior that potentially violates the law or this Code. In no event will the Company take or threaten any action against a Kinetik Representative for making a complaint or reporting in good faith a potential violation of law or this Code. Retaliation or retribution against any Kinetik Representative who in good faith reports a violation pursuant to this Code is cause for disciplinary action of the person or persons engaging in retaliation, up to and including termination of employment.

 

Q:

Will I get in trouble with my supervisor if I report a concern through the Hotline or otherwise?

 

A:

If the matter is one that you can discuss with your supervisor, Kinetik encourages this as a first course of action. If you are uncomfortable speaking with your supervisor, rest assured that no adverse action will be taken against you for reporting a good faith concern to others as set forth in the Code, including through the Hotline. To the contrary, Kinetik encourages good faith reporting. However, if you knowingly or recklessly submit false information or misrepresent the facts in making your report, then you will be subject to disciplinary action for filing a false report, up to and including termination.

Enforcement

Each officer and employee of the Company will be responsible for enforcement of this Code in his or her activity and in the activities of his or her direct reports, in consultation with the Company’s General Counsel, Compliance Team and Human Resources Department.

All Kinetik Representatives shall comply with the policies set forth and incorporated by reference in this Code. Kinetik retains the sole discretion to interpret the terms and conditions of this Code, as well as all other policies regarding the terms and conditions of employment for all Kinetik Representatives. Any violation of this Code or other Company policies may give rise to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. Under certain circumstances, a violation of this Code or other Company policies may also result in referral for civil action or criminal prosecution.

 

4


OUR COMMITMENT TO OUR GREATEST ASSET, OUR PEOPLE

Equal Employment Opportunity

Kinetik’s employment policy is to provide equal employment opportunity to all persons.

Kinetik’s employment policy is to provide equal employment opportunity to all persons. No employee or applicant for employment will be discriminated against because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity, national origin, age, otherwise qualified disability or veteran status.

Harassment

Kinetik is committed to providing all employees with a work environment free from any form of harassment.

Kinetik is committed to providing a work environment free of any form of harassment, including sexual harassment or harassment on the basis of race, national origin, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age or disability. Harassment also includes any offensive treatment or behavior, which, to a reasonable person, creates an intimidating, hostile or abusive work environment. This could take the form of the harassment listed above, but could also include other forms of hostile, intimidating, threatening, humiliating or violent behavior, which are also prohibited.

All individuals are expected to avoid any behavior or conduct that could reasonably be interpreted as unlawful harassment. Such conduct includes: offensive sexual flirtation; unwelcome advances and/or propositions; verbal abuse, including that of a sexual nature; graphic or degrading comments about an individual or his/her appearance; and the display of sexually suggestive, explicit or offensive objects, materials or pictures. Such conduct also includes sexually-oriented jokes, inappropriate comments and racial or ethnic remarks, jokes and slurs.

It is also misconduct for managers or supervisors who know of harassment to fail to report such behavior or to fail to take immediate, appropriate corrective action.

 

Q:

I have a co-worker that frequently makes inappropriate and suggestive sexual jokes in my presence. I have tried to politely indicate that I would prefer that he not make those statements to or around me, but the behavior has not stopped. What can I do?

 

A:

The behavior you have described is not appropriate workplace behavior. You should discuss the situation with your supervisor, or if you are not comfortable speaking to your supervisor regarding this situation, then you should contact Human Resources, a member of the Compliance Team or the Hotline.

 

5


Social Media

Social media discussions about Kinetik or other industry topics should follow the Company’s general guidelines.

In an era where social media is prevalent and allows for thoughts to be immediately shared on Facebook, Twitter or a multitude of other sites, the Company encourages all Kinetik Representatives to pause, use good judgment and ensure that social media posts are consistent with this Code. As an aid, the following guidelines have been established:

 

   

Protect confidential and proprietary information. Do not ever post or publish information that may even possibly be confidential or proprietary to Kinetik. If you have any question on whether it is appropriate to release the information, do not post.

 

   

If an official response is needed concerning a matter involving Kinetik, refer the matter to a Company spokesperson in the Public Relations group.

 

   

Disclose that your opinions are your own and be honest about who you are.

 

   

Follow the terms of service and other legal guidelines.

 

   

Use good judgment and keep in mind Kinetik’s high standards of conduct and the importance of always acting with honesty, integrity and respect for the dignity of others.

 

   

You are responsible for what you post. If it gives you pause, then pause rather than post or publish.

Handling External Communications

Only authorized personnel may speak to media or the investment community on the Company’s behalf.

Kinetik takes steps to ensure that the Company’s public disclosures are accurate and honest. As part of the Company’s system of controls, only authorized personnel are allowed to speak on the Company’s behalf to media or members of the investment community. If you receive an inquiry from any external source requesting a statement concerning Kinetik’s business, please be polite and courteous at all times. Then, please refer the inquiry to the Public Relations group. In the event any employee is engaged by a trespasser or protester, do not engage with them except to provide contact information for Public Relations. Employees should then contact their supervisor or security. Always assume you are being recorded, even if it is not readily apparent.

OUR COMMITMENT TO SAFEGUARD COMPANY ASSETS AND TO MAINTAIN

FINANCIAL INTEGRITY

Conflicts Of Interest

All business decisions for Kinetik should be based upon what a Kinetik Representative honestly believes to be in the best interests of the Company and in the long-term interest of our stockholders.

Any action or decision taken in furtherance of Kinetik’s business must be made in the Company’s best interests, based upon sound business judgment, and without a conflict of interest. Any direct or indirect conflict of interest between a Kinetik Representative and the Company is prohibited, unless the Company grants its consent. Because a heightened risk of conflicts of interest may exist in transactions between the Company and APA Corporation, or

 

6


any of its subsidiaries other than the Company, any conflicts that may arise in such transactions are governed by the Related Party Transaction Policy and Procedures (as between APA and Kinetik). In addition, pursuant to the Amended and Restated Stockholders’ Agreement, dated October 21, 2021, for so long as such agreement remains in effect, certain transactions between the Company and the stockholders specified therein or their affiliates will require prior approval of 66% or more of the disinterested directors of the Company’s board of directors.

A Kinetik Representative has a conflict of interest if, in the course of his or her duties for the Company, his or her judgment and discretion is or may be influenced by considerations of personal gain or benefit, or gain or benefit to a third party other than the Company. Note that a conflict exists and must be disclosed, as set forth below, where you could be influenced to act in a way that benefits you or a third party—that is, you need not be actually influenced. Thus, even if you are certain and steadfast that you can set the actual or potential conflict aside and only make decisions that are in the best interest of Kinetik, that issue must nonetheless be disclosed so that the company can make a determination about how the conflict should be addressed. Kinetik Representatives should use reasonable judgment when assessing a potential conflict of interest, especially with regard to any family or personal business interest or relationship or any business owned or operated by a close personal friend.

Depending upon your role with the company, it is your affirmative responsibility to identify and disclose all conflicts of interest as set forth in this section. Potential conflicts of interest should be immediately reported by directors notifying the Audit Committee. Employees are required to disclose conflicts in accordance with this policy and Kinetik’s Employee Handbook. Once a conflict has been submitted in accordance with those procedures, the relevant manager or supervisor and Compliance must discuss and agree upon actions that can be taken, or controls implemented, to remove or mitigate the conflict.

 

Q:

My brother co-owns a company that has recently supplied services to Kinetik. In my new role with Kinetik, I have decision-making authority regarding which vendors to hire in this area. What should I do?

 

A:

This issue has created, at the very least, the appearance of a conflict of interest, which must be remedied. You are required to disclose the conflict in accordance with the processes and procedures outlined in Kinetik’s Employee Handbook and take no further action with respect to your brother’s company until the conflict has been appropriately considered and addressed. For employees, that means disclosing the potential conflict to the Compliance Team. Disclosure and adherence to any mitigation efforts put into place by management protects you from any allegation that your decision was biased or that you discriminated against other Kinetik vendors in favor of your brother. Even though Kinetik has used your brother’s company in the past, any decision regarding additional or future business should be made by a Kinetik employee free from conflicts and senior to you. If you have any questions regarding whether a matter is a conflict and/or whether a matter must be disclosed, you should discuss the matter with your supervisor and/or a member of the Compliance Team. When in doubt, it is always better to err on the side of disclosure.

 

7


Outside Employment, Positions And Directorships

Kinetik encourages all Kinetik Representatives to be involved in the community, assist charities and pursue personal interests outside of the office. Those activities, however, must be undertaken responsibly and pursued on personal time. Accordingly, Kinetik Representatives are prohibited from accepting any employment, position or directorship (of any organization) outside of Kinetik if that employment, position or directorship would:

 

   

Create an irreconcilable conflict of interest between the Kinetik Representative and Kinetik;

 

   

Require the Kinetik Representative to divulge Kinetik’s confidential or proprietary information;

 

   

Prevent the Kinetik Representative from being available to perform his or her job responsibilities during all regular office hours (unless, of course, the employee has elected to use his or her allotted personal holidays or vacation time for the activities in question);

 

   

Require the Kinetik Representative to work on matters relating to the other employment, position or directorship while on Kinetik time or by using Kinetik property or information; or

 

   

Significantly reduce the Kinetik Representative’s efficiency or availability.

If you have any question regarding whether any outside employment, position or directorship will be a conflict or present an unreasonable demand on your time given your responsibilities at Kinetik, speak with your supervisor, Human Resources or a member of the Compliance Team regarding your concern so that the issue may be addressed proactively.

Protecting Corporate Opportunities

Kinetik Representatives are prohibited from using corporate property, information or position for personal gain.

During employment by or service with Kinetik, all Kinetik Representatives are prohibited from:

 

1.

Taking for themselves or their associates corporate opportunities that they learn about through their employment with or service to Kinetik;

 

2.

Using Company property or information or their position with the Company for personal gain; or

 

3.

Competing with the Company.

In addition, after employment by or service with Kinetik, all Kinetik Representatives are prohibited from using corporate property, information or their former position for personal gain.

 

8


Proper Handling Of Confidential Information

Kinetik Representatives shall not divulge to third parties any confidential information obtained during employment or service for Kinetik.

One of Kinetik’s most valuable assets, which must be safeguarded by all Kinetik Representatives, is Kinetik’s confidential information. Such information is the lifeblood of Kinetik’s success and it can take many forms, including technical, strategic, operational, financial and other non-public business information. Release of confidential information outside of Kinetik risks harm to Kinetik by giving our competitors an insight into Kinetik’s operations and/or strategic goals and thereby providing an unfair advantage to those competitors.

During and after employment by or service with Kinetik, Kinetik Representatives shall not divulge to third parties, or appropriate to their own use, or to the use of others, any confidential information obtained during employment or service for Kinetik. Further, every Kinetik Representative has an affirmative duty and responsibility to use due care when in possession of Kinetik’s confidential information in order to prevent an inadvertent or unintentional disclosure of confidential information. The term “confidential information” as used in this policy includes but is not limited to:

 

   

Trade secrets;

 

   

Intellectual property;

 

   

Technical materials and information;

 

   

Bid data, acquisition and divestiture activities, counterparty names and transaction timing and transaction information;

 

   

Processes and technology developed for or used by Kinetik;

 

   

Joint venture, partnership, financing and marketing activities;

 

   

Compilations of information, engineering information, financial information or specifications that are used in the operation of Kinetik’s business or that may be used in the operation of Kinetik’s business in the future; and

 

   

Other information relating to the Company’s business that is not public knowledge.

 

Q:

I often go to work with a group of co-workers, and at times we discuss Kinetik business that is not generally known to the public. Is this a violation of the Code?

 

A:

We rely upon and expect that Kinetik Representatives will exercise good judgment and discretion concerning Kinetik business and confidential information. Discussing confidential Kinetik business in an environment where it could be overheard by a competitor is not consistent with the due care that should be exercised to protect Kinetik’s confidential information, and it could provide the basis for disciplinary action, up to and including termination, depending upon the facts and circumstances. Therefore, you should take great care to ensure that your conversations in public places do not violate this Code.

 

9


Maintaining Accurate Books And Records

It is the responsibility of every Kinetik Representative to follow Company procedures to ensure that the Company’s books and records are accurate and fairly represent the financial condition of Kinetik.

The maintenance of books and records that are fair, accurate, complete and timely recorded and updated is crucial for both the efficient operation of our business and for Kinetik’s disclosure and financial reporting obligations. In support of the Company’s obligations, Kinetik Representatives shall follow Company procedures to ensure that business transactions are consistently executed, recorded and reported in such a manner as to allow the Company to accurately compile and report its financial statements and other information necessary for the management of the business.

Any attempt to conceal, alter, modify or misstate information in Kinetik’s books and records is both illegal and unethical. Any violation of this policy will result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination, and may result in criminal prosecution as well. If you are aware of or suspect any accounting irregularities or concerns with Kinetik’s books and records, you have a duty to report that information in conformity with the “Procedures for the Submission of Complaints and Concerns Regarding Accounting, Internal Accounting Controls or Auditing Matters.” Additionally, all books and records shall be preserved for the appropriate amount of time in accordance with Company policy.

 

Q:

We are nearing quarter close and, over my objections, I am feeling a lot of pressure to “make the numbers work” but I don’t feel like I can raise this issue with my direct supervisor. What can I do?

 

A:

Kinetik strictly prohibits and will not permit any behavior that may call into question the integrity of the Company’s books and records. The pressure being applied to you is inappropriate and if you are uncomfortable raising this with your direct supervisor, then you are obligated under this Code to report it to a member of the Compliance Team, through the Hotline, or by utilizing the “Procedures for the Submission of Complaints and Concerns Regarding Accounting, Internal Accounting Controls or Auditing Matters.”

Information Technology Acceptable Use

Kinetik’s computing environment is to be used for Kinetik business purposes.

Kinetik is committed to protecting the Company and its employees and partners from illegal or damaging actions performed on purpose or unwittingly by individuals using our computing environment. Thus, accordingly, Kinetik’s computing environment is to be used for Kinetik business purposes only and is for approved users only; passwords must not be shared or provided to any unapproved user. Incidental personal use is generally allowed provided it does not interfere with the performance of job duties, consume an inordinate amount of system resources or violate any other provision of the Company’s Information Security Policy or this Code.

 

10


Records Management And Data Privacy

Kinetik Representatives must take steps to preserve and protect Company records.

Records are information created or received on any media preserved because it reflects the position, transactions or business of the Company. Non-records are information including copies for convenience, materials in the public domain, material relating to non-business activities and working papers, drafts and versions not considered critical. Kinetik manages its records consistent with the following principles:

 

   

Create only those records that are needed for the operation of the Company.

 

   

Comply with state, federal, regional and international legal and regulatory requirements including requirements related to litigation, government investigation and audit.

 

   

Destroy non-records as soon as they are no longer required.

All Company information (made up of records and non-records) is the property of the Company. No Kinetik Representative has any personal or property right to the information of the Company including anything that the Kinetik Representative helped develop or compile.

Kinetik is further committed to protecting the sensitive and/or confidential information in its control of both the Company and any of its employees consistent with and subject to all legal and regulatory requirements. Without specific, prior authorization from both the Human Resources and Legal Departments, unless their role requires it, no Kinetik Representative is permitted to obtain, view or access the personal information of another Kinetik Representative. Such personal information shall only be accessed by those Kinetik Representatives whose job function requires access to the information. The information must not be distributed, transported or circulated beyond those for whom it is necessary to complete their job requirements for the Company. This policy applies to information identifying a unique person, for example sensitive medical, financial, training, address or employment information. It is not intended to create any right of privacy in other potentially personal information a Kinetik Representative chooses to house within Kinetik’s computing environment. Users have no expectation of privacy whatsoever for any personal information stored on Kinetik’s IT and communications systems (for further information, please refer to the Information Security Policy).

OUR COMMITMENT TO HEALTH, SAFETY, SECURITY AND ENVIRONMENT (HSSE)

HSSE

Kinetik will conduct business in a responsible manner that protects the environment and the health, safety and security of our employees, contractors and the communities where we operate.

At Kinetik, safety is not negotiable and will not be compromised. Kinetik is committed to meeting this core value through applicable Health, Safety, Security and Environment policies, standards and practices, which define workforce expectations and behaviors that drive Kinetik to build and maintain a culture of safety and environmental responsibility. Violating any of these policies, standards and practices has consequences up to and including immediate termination.

Every Kinetik Representative is empowered to fulfill their responsibility to stop work where they believe a potential for a safety or environmental incident exists. Accidents, unsafe practices or conditions or potential noncompliance with applicable laws or policies and procedures must be reported immediately and investigated.

 

11


Kinetik reserves the right to conduct searches for security reasons for unauthorized substances and other contraband of employee and contractor personal property, living quarters, common areas and vehicles located on Kinetik property.

 

Q:

Will any reprisal, punishment or other consequences result if I stop work because I believe that a task is being performed may result in an unsafe act or condition?

 

A:

There will not be any retribution when a job is stopped in good faith even if it is deemed unnecessary. Employees and contractors must not feel apprehensive to act on their obligation to stop work.

Drugs And Alcohol

To ensure we conduct our business in a safe and environmentally sound manner, Kinetik prohibits the use or possession of drugs or alcohol on Company premises.

Kinetik recognizes that any Kinetik Representative under the influence of drugs, alcohol and other substances pose a serious threat to the work environment. Kinetik prohibits the use, sale, distribution or possession of illegal or illicit drugs or alcohol on Company premises. Kinetik Representatives are prohibited from being under the influence of illegal or illicit drugs or prescription medication that can impair judgment, or alcohol while performing work activities on Company business or property. Kinetik may at times, such as official Company events or celebrations, permit the use of alcohol so long as it is approved in advance by management; however, the Kinetik Representative remains at all times personally responsible for his or her own conduct.

OUR COMMITMENT TO OUR STAKEHOLDERS

Gifts And Entertainment

Gifts and entertainment to or from third parties must be reasonable in value, appropriate in nature, and disclosed and/or approved as required in accordance with company policy.

The Company recognizes that customary business practices on occasion may include the provision of meals, token gifts, and/or entertainment by or to current or prospective customers, vendors, and business partners in the course of pursuing the legitimate business interests of the Company. This Code and Kinetik’s separate Employee Handbook are not intended to prohibit such legitimate customary business practices that are meant to create goodwill and enhance business relationships. However, consistent with Kinetik’s commitment to conducting our business with honestly and integrity and the Company’s policy prohibiting any undisclosed actual or potential conflicts of interest, the following forms of gifts or entertainment are strictly prohibited:

 

   

Gifts of cash or cash equivalents (including gift cards)—whether given or received;

 

   

Gifts or entertainment that could be construed as a bribe or a payoff;

 

12


   

Gifts or entertainment to influence business with a person or an entity with whom they are affiliated; and

 

   

Gifts or entertainment that are illegal, lewd, or offensive in nature or would embarrass Kinetik if made public.

Kinetik Representatives should also not solicit a favor, gift, or entertainment. You are encouraged to discuss with your supervisor or management any proposed gift or entertainment if you are uncertain about whether it is reasonable or acceptable to give or receive a particular gift or entertainment.

This policy and Kinetik’s Employee Handbook are designed to protect Kinetik and each of its employees by avoiding even the appearance of a conflict or improper bias. To promote transparency and protect Kinetik, certain gifts, entertainment, or other benefits received by Kinetik employees must now be disclosed to the Compliance Team at the time the gift, entertainment, or other benefit is received or as soon thereafter as reasonably practicable. The matters that must be disclosed and the disclosure procedure are detailed in Kinetik’s separate Employee Handbook, and every employee is required to read the policies and understand and adhere to their obligations.

If you have any questions regarding what gifts and entertainment must be disclosed or what approvals are required under certain circumstances, review Kinetik’s Employee Handbook. If you still have questions following that review, reach out to your supervisor or a member of the Compliance Team for guidance.

 

Q:

A manager of a company with which Kinetik currently maintains a business relationship has invited me out to dinner at a nice Houston restaurant when she is next in town. There is no bid process underway or planned. As an employee, may I accept the dinner invitation? If so, am I required to tell anyone?

 

A:

Generally, this is acceptable and a common way to cultivate and retain business relationships. If you have any question concerning whether it would be appropriate to accept the invitation, reaching out to your supervisor and obtaining authorization in writing will help to ensure that your motives are not later questioned. In addition, you should consult Kinetik’s Employee Handbook to determine whether the dinner and any other associated gifts or entertainment must be disclosed to the Compliance Team.

Lobbying Expenditures, Gifts To U.S. Public Officials And Industry Activities

Lobbying Expenditures

Lobbying activities are highly regulated and subject to a number of legal requirements. To the extent any Kinetik Representative intends to communicate with government officials concerning matters relevant to or of concern to Kinetik, please contact the General Counsel to ensure that the Company’s message is coordinated.

 

13


Gifts to U.S. Public Officials

While the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is often discussed in the context of gifts or other offerings to foreign officials, it is important to keep in mind that gifts to U.S. public officials are also highly regulated and come with their own legal requirements. Such public officials include appointed or elected officials at the local, state and federal levels, as well as all government employees such as public safety officers. The U.S. Government, the states and many local jurisdictions have laws governing gifts to such individuals that are broad and cover anything of value that could be provided to the public official, such as meals, entertainment and gift certificates. Violations of these laws carry potentially serious penalties, including both civil fines and the prospect of criminal prosecution. Before providing anything of value to a public official, it is important that you consult with the General Counsel, a member of the Compliance Team and/or the Legal Department to ensure that you do not inadvertently run afoul of any gift prohibition, reporting requirement or other legal obligation.

Industry Activities

Kinetik abides by all applicable freedom of association laws in the areas in which the Company operates.

Kinetik Representatives may, from time to time and as a result of their experience and expertise in our industry, be asked to participate in industry trade associations, focus groups, seminars or other activities. Kinetik is proud to have industry-leading subject matter experts in a number of disciplines working for the Company. In the context of these activities, however, it is important that Kinetik reaches consensus on and conveys a consistent message to ensure that the strategic goals and vision of the Company as a whole are represented and communicated. Kinetik has an established procedure for corporate memberships in various industry trade associations that is managed by the Public Relations Department. To the extent you wish to participate in any such trade associations, focus groups or seminars, please contact the Public Relations Department to ensure the Company is aware of and able to coordinate all such activities by Kinetik Representatives.

Kinetik’s Commitment to Human Rights

Every Kinetik Representative and business partner is expected to conduct business with integrity and respect for human rights.

Kinetik operates its business in a manner that reflects its support and respect for the protection and advancement of human rights. Although governments have the primary responsibility for protecting human rights, Kinetik expects and requires that each Kinetik Representative as well as our business partners will adhere to their responsibility to respect and observe universally recognized rights and freedoms. These include, among other things, the right to a safe work environment and the right to a workplace free from any form of forced labor, modern slavery, or human trafficking.

These principles in action mean that Kinetik Representatives must embody and model the company’s core values at all times. Accordingly, Kinetik Representatives are prohibited from engaging in any activity that supports, encourages, or is linked to forced labor, modern slavery, or human trafficking. Such activities include, among other things, soliciting or engaging in prostitution (even if legal in the jurisdiction where it occurs); using force, fraud, or coercion to subject a person to involuntary servitude; or obtaining labor from a person by threats of harm to that person or another.

 

14


Kinetik’s commitment to human rights goes beyond our employees or those working for the company on contract status. Kinetik respects the local laws of the communities in which we operate, and the company ensures we are conducting our business as a responsible member of society. Kinetik furthers this commitment in its business dealings with our vendors, contractors, and business partners. Kinetik expects and requires those that do business with the company to reflect our values and share our commitment to promoting ethical conduct and human rights.

OUR COMMITMENT TO ADHERE TO ALL LEGAL AND REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS

Insider Trading

Kinetik Representatives are prohibited from using material, nonpublic information for personal gain or to enrich others.

Using material, nonpublic information gained – whether about Kinetik or any other publicly traded company – in order to enrich yourself or others is not only unethical, but it is also illegal. All Kinetik Representatives are expected to be familiar with the laws governing insider trading and, specifically, to read, understand and adhere to Kinetik’s Insider Trading Policy. Violations of insider trading laws carry significant penalties, including not only civil fines but the possibility of criminal prosecution and jail time. Under U.S. securities laws, it is unlawful for any person, who by virtue of his or her employment with Kinetik has access to material, nonpublic information concerning Kinetik, its prospects or activities, to:

 

   

Buy or sell Kinetik securities (stock, bonds, debentures, etc.) or the securities of any other company to which the information relates, while in possession of inside information; or

 

   

Disseminate the information, directly or indirectly, to friends, family members or others who in turn trade on or misuse the information; or

 

   

Otherwise use the information to his or her own advantage.

It is important to note that the prohibition extends not only to trading in Kinetik securities, but also to securities of any other company with which Kinetik does business if the employee gains the information at work. The most common example of another company whose securities Kinetik Representatives may be restricted in trading is a company with which Kinetik may be negotiating a prospective merger or acquisition or disposition of assets that would be significant to the other company.

You need not trade yourself to violate securities laws. Providing inside information to others may itself be illegal if the recipient trades on it, even if you did not intend for the other person to trade or did not know that they planned to do so. If you are in possession of inside information, it is important that you discuss it only with those Kinetik Representatives who need to know the information to perform their work for Kinetik. If you have any question concerning the Insider Trading Policy, you should contact the General Counsel.

 

15


Q:

I recently overheard a conversation in which a co-worker stated that he was planning to purchase a large amount of Kinetik stock. This co-worker works on the same projects as I do and I therefore believe that he may be in possession of material, nonpublic information. What should I do?

 

A:

You have a duty to report this issue to ensure that it is adequately investigated. You should immediately notify your supervisor, the General Counsel or the Hotline of your concern.

 

Q:

If I am in possession of material, nonpublic information, how long must I wait before I am permitted to buy or sell Kinetik stock (or that of another company impacted by the information)?

 

A:

You may not trade until two full trading days have elapsed since the information was released publicly. For example, if the information was released before markets opened on Monday, you could begin trading on Wednesday.

 

Q:

In general conversation with friends, the subject of Kinetik and how the company is doing may come up. In the context of those discussions, is it okay for me to tell people if I am blacked out from buying or selling Kinetik stock?

 

A:

No, you should not disclose to others if a blackout period has been imposed, nor should you discuss with anyone the advisability of trading in Kinetik’s securities.

Compliance With Applicable Laws, Rules And Regulations

It is Kinetik’s policy to conduct its business in accordance with all applicable laws. Kinetik Representatives are expected to understand the requirements of the laws relevant to Kinetik’s business and are required, as directed by the General Counsel to receive training concerning these laws.

Each Kinetik Representative is responsible for familiarizing himself or herself with the laws that are applicable to his or her responsibilities within the Company. In addition, as directed by Compliance, Kinetik Representatives are required to receive periodic training concerning this Code and the various laws applicable to our business and operations. These laws include, but are not limited to, the following:

Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption

Kinetik is committed to conducting its business fairly and in accordance with the highest ethical standards. Kinetik Representatives shall not use unfair techniques, such as misrepresentation of material facts or improper concealment of business information to gain a business advantage. Additionally, Kinetik Representatives shall not offer or accept a bribe, kickback or improper favor in order to secure a business advantage. Such activities are strictly prohibited, and are not only unethical but also illegal. Any violations may result in disciplinary action as well as criminal prosecution and civil litigation.

As a publicly-traded entity, Kinetik is also subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and similar laws of other nations, which apply to those dealing with officials of domestic and foreign government agencies and companies owned by foreign governments and agencies.

 

16


Kinetik Representatives are expected to understand and comply with these requirements in our business relationships. Gifts to government employees and officials, generally, are restricted under U.S. law or the local laws in the countries in which we do business. Any gift to a government employee, official or their family members must be nominal in amount, must not violate local or U.S. law, and must be approved by the General Counsel for the relevant area before such gift is made.

The laws governing Kinetik’s interactions with government officials, including employees of state-owned entities (such as any employee of a national utility or oil company) can be complex and require a discussion of the facts and circumstances. If you have any question concerning whether an action implicates the FCPA or other similar laws, you should contact a member of the Compliance Team or the Legal Department to discuss the matter fully. If you know or suspect that another person may be violating the FCPA, you should report your concern immediately so that it can be properly investigated. You can report the concern to your supervisor, a member of the Compliance Team, to the Legal Department or through the Hotline.

 

Q:

The managing director of a national utility with which Kinetik does substantial business has suggested that Kinetik make a donation to a local charity that supports underprivileged children. This is a worthy cause but is there any concern with Kinetik making this donation?

 

A:

It is certainly a good cause, but before any donation can be made, Kinetik should ensure that it undertakes its due diligence on the charity and individuals affiliated with the charity. To work through the issues that may be implicated by this donation, you should contact the General Counsel or another member of the Legal Department.

 

Q:

In my job duties, I often review various financial entries related to Kinetik’s activities. I have noticed a number of unusually high dollar entries noted only as “consulting fees.” I’m not responsible for ordering the work and don’t want to cause any problems, but should I tell someone about this?

 

A:

Yes, you should raise this issue immediately so that it can be properly investigated. This concern can be reported through the Hotline, to the General Counsel, and/or in accordance with the “Procedures for the Submission of Complaints and Concerns Regarding Accounting, Internal Accounting Controls or Auditing Matters.”

Export Controls and Economic Sanctions

Kinetik is committed to ensuring that it is in compliance with all international trade laws, including export controls and economic sanctions. To that end, the Company adheres to procedures that are designed to, among other things, prevent Kinetik from conducting business with or transferring any items to countries, entities or persons that are subject to economic sanctions or any of the restricted-party lists maintained by the U.S. Government. It is the responsibility of each Kinetik Representative to whom these issues may be relevant to understand these procedures and ensure they are followed.

If you have any questions concerning this policy or the procedures relevant to export controls and adherence to economic sanctions, you should contact the General Counsel or another member of the Legal Department for further information.

 

17


Antitrust/Competition

Antitrust laws are intended to promote the free market economy and encourage competition. These laws are complex, but in general, they prohibit competitors from making agreements that could be seen as a restraint on trade or an attempt to limit or eliminate competition. Kinetik derives its advantage in the industry through a commitment to honest and ethical conduct and not through potentially illegal or unethical actions. Accordingly, it is important that you keep these laws in mind before reaching any agreement, or even exchanging information, with Kinetik’s competitors. Violation of these laws can have serious consequences to Kinetik and Kinetik Representatives, including both fines and potential imprisonment for the individuals involved. If you have any question concerning a proposed course of action and its potential interaction with U.S. or international antitrust laws, you should contact the Legal Department or a member of the Compliance Team for guidance.

Anti-Boycott

From time to time, foreign governments may institute boycotts or economic sanctions against other nations. U.S. anti-boycott laws, however, generally prohibit individuals or companies from taking part in or cooperating with international boycotts that are not supported by the United States. Further, U.S. individuals and companies are required to report to the government any request that they cooperate or participate in a foreign boycott. If you receive any request or demand that is potentially covered by anti-boycott laws, you should contact the Legal Department or a member of the Compliance Team for guidance.

Waivers Of The Requirements Of This Code

The Company does not approve of the types of conduct prohibited by this Code and would grant exceptions very rarely.

In the rare circumstance where a waiver of this Code would be appropriate, such a waiver for a Kinetik Representative who is not an executive officer must be approved by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or a person to whom he delegates this responsibility clearly in writing, or pursuant to policies and procedures approved in writing by the CEO. Any waiver of the Code for a director or executive officer of the Company must be approved by the full board. Any waiver of this Code approved for a director or executive officer will be promptly disclosed to the extent required by law or listing standards.

Approved: February 22, 2022

 

18

Exhibit 16.1

February 28, 2022

Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street, N.E.

Washington, DC 20549

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We have read Item 4.01 of Form 8-K dated February 28, 2022, of Kinetik Holdings Inc. and are in agreement with the statements contained in the fourth and fifth paragraphs of Item 4.01. We have no basis to agree or disagree with other statements of the registrant contained therein.

Regarding the registrant’s statement concerning the material weakness, included in the fifth paragraph of Item 4.01, we had considered such matter in determining the nature, timing and extent of procedures performed in our audit of the registrant’s 2021 financial statements.

 

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

Exhibit 23.1

Consent of Independent Auditors

We consent to the incorporation by reference in the registration statements (No. 333-262043) on Form S-3 and (No. 333-234475) on Form S-8 of Kinetik Holdings Inc. of our report dated February 23, 2022, with respect to the consolidated financial statements of BCP Raptor Holdco, LP, which report appears in this Current Report (Form 8-K) of Kinetik Holdings Inc.

 

/s/ KPMG LLP
Houston, Texas
February 28, 2022

Exhibit 99.1

Altus Midstream is now Kinetik

February 22, 2022 16:38 ET | Source: Kinetik

KNTK will start trading on the NASDAQ effective tomorrow

Kinetik also updates details on Independent Board Members

MIDLAND, Texas and HOUSTON, Feb. 22, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Kinetik Holdings Inc. (“Kinetik”, the “Company” or “we”) today announced the completion of the business combination of Altus Midstream Company (Nasdaq: ALTM) (“Altus”) and BCP Raptor Holdco LP (“BCP”), creating a unique, fully integrated midstream company.

Kinetik is the only pure-play midstream company in the Texas Delaware Basin, one of the world’s most prolific hydrocarbon basins, providing the Company with the scale, operational capabilities, and fully integrated service offerings necessary for sustained long-term success.

Kinetik’s Class A common stock will begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “KNTK” at the open of trading on February 23, 2022.

“Today is an exciting day, both for the shareholders of EagleClaw and the shareholders of Altus. For EagleClaw, this heralds the end of a five-year journey as a private company and the start of an exciting new chapter in the public markets and with an expanded investor base. For Altus shareholders, this represents a significant step forward in growing and diversifying its asset base. I am incredibly proud of both teams and I am delighted to welcome approximately 208 EagleClaw and 56 former Apache employees to the new Kinetik. To our Kinetik customers and the communities that we serve and in which we operate, we thank you for your trust and your partnership. While we have rebranded the company to reflect our perspective on the future of the industry, we remain steadfast in our values and core principles. We aim to be the midstream service provider of choice for the Texas Delaware Basin and welcome the opportunity to demonstrate what differentiates us from our peers,” said Jamie Welch, the President and CEO of Kinetik.

In accordance with the contribution agreement, BCP unitholders, principally funds associated with Blackstone and I Squared Capital, and management, received 50 million Class C common shares (appended to an equivalent number of common units in Altus Midstream LP), resulting in combined ownership of approximately 75% of the pro forma Company. The indirect ownership of Apache Corporation (“Apache”) has been reduced to approximately 20% and the existing Altus public shareholders will own approximately 5% of the combined Company.

Apache, Blackstone and I Squared have agreed to customary lock-up provisions of their respective holdings until February 23, 2023. However, Apache is permitted to sell up to 4 million shares until May 23, 2022, provided the first $100 million of proceeds is invested in new development activity within 24 months at Alpine High.

Apache has publicly announced that drilling and completion activity will resume on its Delaware Basin acreage in 2022, including at Alpine High, where extensive gathering infrastructure already exists and wells can be turned in line quickly and efficiently. In addition, Apache has executed a new 10-year dedication agreement with Kinetik for its central Reeves County acreage, called DXL, that commences on November 1, 2022.

John Christmann, the CEO and president of APA, the parent of Apache Corp, said, “We will return to drilling and completion activity at Alpine High this year. The 7 DUCs brought online in the first half of 2021 responded well to changes in drilling and completion design and spacing. Those improvements, combined with the commodity price backdrop we see today, create a high degree of confidence for this next stage of development activity at Alpine High.”

Following closing, Kinetik is well positioned to create stakeholder value through the following:

 

   

Diversified and integrated assets. 65% of our total EBITDA from gas gathering and processing in the Delaware basin and nearly 35% of total EBITDA from our equity interests in long-haul, joint venture pipelines. That segment will be called Pipeline Transportation.


   

Significant asset and cash flow profile. Over 85% of 2022E EBITDA from our Pipeline Transportation segment is generated from take-or-pay agreements and existing production from over 30 customer counterparties within our Midstream Logistics segment.

 

   

Conservative financial strategy. Focused on maintaining our strong, pro forma balance sheet and targeting 3.5x leverage and investment grade ratings by year end 2023.

 

   

Sole focus on expanding its footprint in the Permian. Today, Kinetik is the fourth largest natural gas processor in the Permian and largest in the Delaware Basin. There are a significant number of growth opportunities in our backyard, which is the fastest growing oil basin the United States.

 

   

Our commitment and focus to a long-term goal of net zero GHG emissions by 2050 achieved by incorporating ESG metrics into every facet of our business, including executive compensation and our corporate debt.

“We at Blackstone are excited by the important role Kinetik has to play in the energy transition and look forward to being part of its bright future,” said David Foley, the new Chairman of Kinetik and Global Head of Blackstone Energy Partners.

Adil Rahmathulla, Managing Partner of I Squared Capital, added, “We are proud of what Kinetik has become. We are confident that the company will continue to help optimize and boost the critical natural gas infrastructure necessary for energy transition to be successful in the United States.”

Independent Directors

In connection with the business combination, Kinetik announced ten members of the Company’s new eleven-member Board of Directors, with one additional independent director expected to be

appointed in July 2022. The additional member joining in July 2022 is a retiring senior partner from one of the Big 4 public accounting firms and will Chair the Audit Committee upon their appointment. The Independent Directors joining the Board today are diverse and have long term energy and public company board experience. Each Director is a tremendous addition and will elevate the depth of dialogue and discussion in the Board room. Those Independent Directors are:

Laura A. Sugg, Lead Independent Director and Chair of the Governance Committee

D. Mark Leland, Independent Director

Kevin S. McCarthy, Independent Director

2021 Results and 2022 Guidance

Kinetik will host an Investor Update and 2022 Guidance conference call on Thursday, February 24, 2022 at 8:00 am Central Standard Time (9:00 am Eastern Standard Time) to discuss the 2022 guidance. A presentation and link to the live video webcast will be available on the company’s website at www.kinetik.com. To participate via phone, individuals should dial (844) 200-6205 (Toll Free), (646) 904-5544 (Domestic) or (929) 526-1599 (International) 15 minutes before the scheduled conference call time and enter participant code 396155. A replay of the conference call also will be available on the website following the call.

About Kinetik Holdings Inc.

Kinetik is a fully integrated, pure-play, Permian-to-Gulf Coast midstream C-corporation operating in the Delaware Basin. The Company is headquartered in Midland, Texas and has a significant presence in Houston. Kinetik provides comprehensive gathering, transportation, compression, processing, and treating services for companies that produce natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil and water. Kinetik posts announcements, operational updates, investor information and press releases on its website, www.kinetik.com


Forward-looking statements

This news release includes certain statements that may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “seeks,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “prospects,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “should,” “would,” “will,” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the Company’s expected benefits of the transactions; and future plans, expectations, and objectives for the Company’s operations, including statements about strategy, synergies, and future operations. While forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by us that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, whether actual results and developments will meet our expectations and predictions depend on a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause our actual results, performance, and financial condition to differ materially from our expectations. See “Risk Factors” in Altus’ definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC on January 12, 2022 for a discussion of risk factors related to the transactions between Altus and BCP. Also see Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” in Altus’ 2021 Annual Report for a discussion of risk factors related to Altus. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this news release speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future development, or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

Contacts

Kinetic Media: (713) 487-4838 Jim Schwartz

Kinetik Investors: (713) 487-4832 Maddie Wagner

Websites: www.kinetik.com

Exhibit 99.2

 

LOGO       Final NEWS RELEASE

Kinetik Issues 2022 Guidance and Announces Capital Allocation Update

MIDLAND/HOUSTON, Feb. 23, 2022 – Kinetik Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: KNTK) (“Kinetik”, the “Company” or “we”) today provided full year 2022 Guidance.

Highlights

 

   

Super-system interconnect to be completed in June 2022 allowing for 500 Mmcfpd of bi-directional capacity flow between the legacy Altus Midstream and BCP Raptor systems

 

   

Upside to original $50 million run-rate EBITDA synergy estimate, including a new gathering and processing agreement with Apache

 

   

Full redemption of the Series A preferred by year end 2022, made possible by Apache, Blackstone and I Squared (“Core Shareholders”) agreeing to reinvest 100% of the 2022 dividends paid on their collective KNTK shares under the previously announced dividend reinvestment plan (“DRIP”)

2022 Guidance & Financial Expectations

Kinetik estimates full year 2022 Adjusted EBITDA between $770 million and $810 million (“2022 Guidance”). The 2022 Guidance includes approximately $25 million of cost synergies that will be realized in 2022. The midpoint of the 2022 Guidance represents a 7% increase over full year 2021 Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA.

The 2022 Guidance is closely in line with the preliminary 2022 Adjusted EBITDA estimate of $800 million to $850 million that was communicated at the merger announcement in October 2021. This prior estimate included the full $50 million of run-rate EBITDA synergies versus the approximately $25 million of actual expected synergies in 2022, included in our 2022 Guidance.

Key elements for our 2022 Guidance include:

 

   

Segment allocation is 65% Midstream Logistics and 35% Pipeline Transportation

 

   

Approximately 85% of gross profit from take-or-pay contracts and current production

 

   

Significant contribution of de-risked gross profit growth from new processing dedications for existing production and full year benefit of new contracts that started in 2021 Kinetik has decided to pull forward integration capital spend into 2022. Additionally, Kinetik estimates annual EBITDA synergies to increase from $25 million in 2022 to over $50 million by 2024.


2022 GUIDANCE— PAGE 2 of 5

 

The Company estimates 2022 capital expenditures to be between $125 million and $150 million, which includes $55 million of one-time integration capital (almost 60% of total expected integration capital), maintenance capital and important non-recurring ESG and operational related capital expenditures.

Excluding integration capital spend and non-recurring ESG items, total capital expenditures are consistent with our previously communicated range of $50 million to $80 million.

Capital Allocation Update

Following discussions with investors, credit ratings agencies and its Core Shareholders, Kinetik is modifying its 2022 capital allocation targets.

The annual cash dividend for 2022 to all Class A shareholders will remain at $6 per share. Consistent with other peers in the sector, shareholders can expect the first quarter dividend payment to be declared in mid-April and to be paid in mid-May 2022. Going forward, the expected dividend payments dates will be mid-August for the 2nd quarter, mid-November for the 3rd quarter and for the 4th quarter, mid-February of the following year

The Core Shareholders have now agreed to reinvest 100% of their 2022 dividends associated with their Class A and Class C shares in KNTK under the DRIP. This agreement has been recommended by Management and approved by the Audit Committee. As a result, Kinetik expects to redeem the full balance of the Series A Preferred by year end 2022, 12 months earlier than the prior communication at the merger announcement in October 2021.

The accelerated redemption results in approximately $70 million of lower cash payments to preferred unitholders given the impact of the formula for the Series A Preferred redemption price.

Kinetik also anticipates the accelerated Series A Preferred redemption and 100% dividend reinvestment will have a positive impact on the overall pro forma credit ratings for the combined corporate entity.


2022 GUIDANCE— PAGE 3 of 5

 

With the Series A Preferred anticipated to be redeemed at year end 2022, Management plans to recommend to the Board of Directors a dividend increase of at least 5% beginning in 2023.

The redemption of the Series A Preferred simplifies the overall capital structure, and combined with the proposed dividend increase, reflects Kinetik’s commitment to balance a conservative financial strategy, while maximizing value for shareholders.

Operating Leverage

Jamie Welch, the CEO of Kinetik said, “Kinetik has tremendous operating leverage with 2 Bcfpd of existing processing capacity that supports meaningful volume growth with minimal capital spend. The Company is uniquely positioned to significantly grow, as it sees a call on incremental supply from the Delaware Basin. We believe that our 2022 Guidance is appropriately conservative, and we are highly confident in our ability to execute.”

Welch went on to say, “The system integration is well underway and will unlock significant future operational and financial synergies. We also look forward to seeing Apache’s new development at Alpine High and are pleased to have expanded our Apache relationship with the new 10 year Central Reeves County acreage (DXL) dedication, although the major impact of the DXL dedication and new activity at Alpine High will be reflected in our 2023 financial and volume forecast. Finally, accelerating the redemption of the Series A Preferred and pulling forward the expected dividend increase reflects our commitment to transparent capital allocation.”

Upcoming Conferences, Meetings and Presentations

Kinetik plans to participate at the following upcoming conferences:

 

   

JP Morgan Global High Yield & Leveraged Finance (In Person) in Miami on Feb 28th

 

   

Barclays Select Series: Midstream & Clean Infrastructure Corporate Access Days (Virtual) on Mar 1st

 

   

Morgan Stanley Global Energy and Power (In Person) in New York City on Mar 2nd

 

   

Truist Corporate Access Group Dinner (In Person) in New York City on Mar 2nd

 

   

Evercore ISI Elite Energy & Material Summit (Virtual) on Mar 8th – 9th

 

   

6th Annual Mizuho Energy Summit (Virtual) on Mar 14th – 15th

 

   

50th Annual Scotia Howard Weil Energy (In Person) in New Orleans on Mar 22nd – 23rd

 

   

US Capital Advisors in Houston (In Person) on Mar 30th


2022 GUIDANCE— PAGE 4 of 5

 

Investor Presentation

An updated investor presentation will be available tomorrow morning under Events and Presentations in the Investors section of the Company’s website at www.kinetik.com.

Conference Call and Webcast

Kinetik will host an Investor Update and 2022 Guidance conference call on Thursday, February 24, 2022 at 8:00 am Central Standard Time (9:00 am Eastern Standard Time) to discuss the 2022 Guidance. To participate, individuals should dial (844) 200-6205 (Toll Free), (646) 904-5544 (Domestic) or (929) 526-1599 (International) 15 minutes before the scheduled conference call time and enter participant code 396155. To access a live webcast of the conference call, please visit the Investor Relations section of Kinetik’s website at www.kinetik.com. A replay of the conference call also will be available on the website following the call.

About Kinetik Holdings Inc.

Kinetik is a fully integrated, pure-play, Permian-to-Gulf Coast midstream C-corporation operating in the Delaware Basin. The Company is headquartered in Midland, Texas and has a significant presence in Houston. Kinetik provides comprehensive gathering, transportation, compression, processing, and treating services for companies that produce natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil and water. Kinetik posts announcements, operational updates, investor information and press releases on its website, www.kinetik.com

Forward-looking statements

This news release includes certain statements that may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “seeks,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “prospects,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “should,” “would,” “will,” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the Company’s expected benefits of the transactions; and future plans, expectations, and objectives for the Company’s operations, including statements about


2022 GUIDANCE— PAGE 5 of 5

 

strategy, synergies, and future operations. While forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by us that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, whether actual results and developments will meet our expectations and predictions depend on a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause our actual results, performance, and financial condition to differ materially from our expectations. See “Risk Factors” in Altus’ definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC on January 12, 2022 for a discussion of risk factors related to the transactions between Altus and BCP. Also see Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” in Altus’ 2021 Annual Report for a discussion of risk factors related to Altus. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this news release speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future development, or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

Contacts

 

Kinetik Media:    (713) 487-4838    Jim Schwartz
Kinetik Investors:    (713) 487-4832    Maddie Wagner

Websites:        www.kinetik.com

-end-

Exhibit 99.3

 

LOGO

Kinetik

2022 Guidance

February 24, 2022


Kinetik - 2022 Guidance, February 24, 2022

 

CORPORATE PARTICIPANTS

Maddie Wagner, Head, Investor Relations

Jamie Welch, Chief Executive Officer, President & Director

CONFERENCE CALL PARTICIPANTS

Spiro Dounis, Crédit Suisse

Indraneel Mitra, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

PRESENTATION

Operator

Welcome to the Kinetic Investor Update and 2022 Guidance. My name is Juan, and I will be coordinating your call today.

I will now hand over to your host, Maddie Wagner, Head of Investor Relations, to begin with. Please, Maddie. Please go ahead.

Maddie Wagner

Thank you, Juan. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Kinetic Investor Update and 2022 guidance conference call. Here with me is our President and CEO, Jamie Welch; as well as Trevor Howard, our VP of Finance; and members of Management. The press release we issued yesterday and the presentation we posted this morning can be found on our website at www.kinetik.com.

As a reminder, during the course of this conference call, including the question-and-answer section, we will provide forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks and assumptions. Please review our SEC filings and website for a discussion of some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially.

Today’s call is being webcast, and a recording of this conference call will be available on the Kinetik website.

With that, I will turn the call over to Jamie.

Jamie Welch

Thank you, Maddie, and good morning, everybody. This is, obviously for us, an incredibly auspicious day. One obviously tinged with sadness, given the world affairs going on around us right now, which candidly are going to have a fairly profound impact on not just the subject manner that we’re going to talk about this morning, but I think longer term in the context of energy and energy policy for this country going forward. What obviously—changes will, in fact, be held because of the unfortunate actions going on in front of us.

 

ViaVid has made considerable efforts to provide an accurate transcription. There may be material errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the reporting of the substance of the conference call. This transcript is being made available for information purposes only.
1


Kinetik - 2022 Guidance, February 24, 2022

 

If you want to go to the slide, just to make it easy, we’re going to basically use this our reference point for my remarks this morning. Look, we are very excited at the prospects for this Company going forward. It’s been a long time coming, and we’re glad that we now get to kick this into full swing.

If we start with this first page, which is Slide 3, for those of you on the webcast, we are a Company that I think Kinetic symbolizes everything about this Company. We embrace change. We are moving towards a new future. That future, we’re not exactly clear how it, in fact, plays out in front of us. However, what we do know is that we are both nimble and adaptive, and we will adapt to whatever conditions we find in front of us. But we really think that we’ve got a tremendous bedrock of cash flow, contracts and a system capacity that really sets us up very nicely as we think about the future.

There are four pillars that we think about in the context of our overall future. Financial strength and stability, over 30 customers, stable cash flows, long-term contracts, that diverse customer base which has a weighted average rating of investment grade, 85% of our 2022 gross profit supported from the non-operated JV pipes, take-or-pay contracts for current production.

We are going to be very mindful from a conservative financial policy that obviously balances distribution growth; buybacks; and obviously, maintaining a leverage profile that we think is worthy of achieving investment-grade ratings; 3.5x leverage target is how we think about our long-term shareholder value proposition. What we announced last night we think really does define how we think about this future and accelerating our role in the future, and that is the accelerated redemption of the Series A preferred, which we plan to do by year-end this year.

That doesn’t mean—it has no impact, however, at all to the shareholders in the context of the dividend. The dividend is safe and secure at $6 a share. However, we will accelerate the distribution growth rate going forward, starting now in 2023 of at least 5%.

As we think about the organic growth that we have, we’ll talk in a few pages about the overall supply prognosis for the basin. But the Permian Basin is expected to grow by 2 million barrels a year to 7 million barrels by the end of 2025, according to Wood Mackenzie. More than half of the Permian crude production growth will be sourced from the Delaware Basin. What is fascinating about that to us is the following.

When we look at our December 2020 exit rate for overall crude production, and we think about December 2021, we had invariably almost flat crude production, but the overall growth that we saw in natural gas was 1 Bcf a day. If you put any growth wedge underpinning that crude production profile, the accelerant is natural gas. That, obviously, given that 90% of our overall business is tied to natural gas services, we think, sets us up ideally going forward.

We do know, and obviously the world’s events, crude touching at $100 this morning is obviously going to reinforce the need for, we think, a supply push from producers to try to actually get crude prices down to a level that doesn’t, in many respects, have a far-reaching, destructive impact on the global economy.

On sustainability, we really—we think lead from the front. It is one of the core tenets of this Company. Executive compensation is 20% tied to our overall ESG performance. We have already announced last year when we did our inaugural ESG report that we would go to a net zero by 2050 for our greenhouse gas emissions. We have a 30-plus percent reduction by 2030. We really believe that we can take measures that will continue to improve our standing as a corporate citizen in the context of sustainability and the impact on climate change.

If you then look at the Company highlights on Slide 4, we break it down into five things, many of which we’ve touched on, but some of which we haven’t. We have no federal land exposure. A lot of discussions around impacts on oil gas permitting and leasing with respect to timing for permits. We think about the impact, particularly as it relates to New Mexico drilling activity. That is not something we live with every day, it’s not something we live with any day, since we are domiciled in Texas.

 

ViaVid has made considerable efforts to provide an accurate transcription. There may be material errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the reporting of the substance of the conference call. This transcript is being made available for information purposes only.
2


Kinetik - 2022 Guidance, February 24, 2022

 

We are the only large-scale publicly traded pure-play Permian midstream business. We will very much keep to that core as being where we think about our overall business and expansion. We will be a great read-through for so many of our peers, Targa, Transfer, Enterprise and Kinder Morgan, because obviously all of the salient growth for those companies is very much predicated on the continued growth of the Permian Basin.

We had 2 Bcf a day of processing capacity. We have a super-system, candidly, like no other. We have an integrated pipeline footprint. Our locational advantage relative to Waha means that we have ease of access for egress out of the basin for all hydrocarbons. That is of significance—great significance to our producers.

We have ownership in four major Permian to Gulf Coast pipelines, Permian Highway Pipeline, Gulf Coast Express, Shin Oak and Epic Crude. We have a significant asset and cash flow profile is underpinned by those more than 30 customers. As I mentioned, 85% of our gross profit is supported for this year from JV pipes, take-or-pay contracts and current production.

We are obviously well-positioned to capture meaningful synergies as we think about the integration of the two businesses. Significant revenue synergies, reduced controllable costs and capital savings. In our 2022 guidance that we gave, we have $25 million of synergies that will be realized within that $770 million to $810 million range that was given. We will talk about this in several pages on, but we gave an indication that the overall synergy level would be $50 million by about 2024. We now believe that, that number will be far surpassed.

Our conservative financial strategies, we’ve talked about; 3.5x leverage, our commitment to get to investment-grade ratings, $6 share dividend being maintained and 5% growth thereafter.

We are fortunate we have been 10 years in this basin. Today heralds, obviously, a high watermark in the context of where we’ve got to in recognition of the last 10 years of work. As what’s shown on what I’ll call this dashboard, is really an indication of both the journey that EagleClaw and the journey that Altus had traveled to get to this point today. We believe that the combination of the two businesses will make us significantly stronger.

We have continued to grow through multiple commodity cycles. We even grew during the worst of the pandemic back in 2020. We think that tells a lot about the strength and resilience of our business. We, as we said, are a pure-play Permian midstream Company. We have an extensive Delaware in-basin gathering system. We feed downstream pipeline assets that sit adjacent to our overall gathering and processing footprint. We have over 850,000 acres of gas—dedicated acreage from those various customers. We have a water gathering and crude business that complement that gas business. We have a significant Delaware market share, and that integrated pipeline footprint benefits from both supply push and demand-pull fundamentals.

No more so than today heralds an important point for the U.S. as it relates to energy policy, particularly as it relates to natural gas and LNG. It is clear that we, obviously, as we continue to see significant growth in natural gas production or rich gas production, which, by the way, is associated gas. So obviously, the drilling activity is predicated primarily on economics related to crude oil, but that also creates this inelasticity as it relates to overall gas supply. The Permian contributed 100% of the Lower 48 crude supply growth since March of 2020. I think it’s beyond conversation to say that the Permian Basin is the true world-class basin in this country and really is looked at and considered amongst the most prized basins on the planet.

 

ViaVid has made considerable efforts to provide an accurate transcription. There may be material errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the reporting of the substance of the conference call. This transcript is being made available for information purposes only.
3


Kinetik - 2022 Guidance, February 24, 2022

 

As it relates to the associated natural gas infrastructure, we clearly need, as evidenced by the forward differential pricing that we see between Waha and Ship and Katy and Henry Hub, we need more evacuation capacity of natural gas from the Permian whether it’s expansion of existing lines, GCX and PHP would qualify within that sphere or our new greenfield opportunities and Permian 3, or P3 as it’s called, that we’ve teamed up with Kinder Morgan, and we’re actively in a ship of discussions. Those things are obviously out on the immediate horizon of things that will help alleviate the bottleneck.

Shin Oak in the context of—on the NGL side, just over—around 400,000 barrels a day, with attractive upside to get to a fully sold out pipeline of 600,000 barrels a day. That will obviously feed not just the Gulf Coast petchem industry, but obviously LPG and the ethane export terminals. As you can see in the context on the right-hand side here, the way that we think about our overall business is split on a segment basis, 65% midstream logistics, 35% pipeline transportation.

As I’ve said earlier, we really have a unique system. We have four fully integrated—or will do once we have our interconnection in place midyear of this year, four fully interconnected processing complex sites. That allows us the ability to wheel gas around each one of those sites to the extent there is any operational upset at any individual one. This enhances overall operational reliability and flow assurance, two critical criteria that we are measured on by our customers.

System-wide treating and multiple processing sites obviously improves our operational flexibility. One of the benefits of this transaction is that we will get access to front-end amine treating to put at our Pecos Bend, East Toya and Pecos locations.

Our super-system interconnect, we have pulled forward from an original expectation of 2023 to being in service in June of this year. The cost remains as we indicated back at the merger announcement of $25 million to $30 million. The interconnect achieve the ability to move 500 million cubic feet a day south down to the Alpine High system, or the Altus gathering and processing system, or 500 million cubic feet a day of the gas out of the Alpine High area, being pulled north to our other three processing complexes at Pecos, East Toya and Pecos Bend.

The overall synergies we talked about are there and are now amplified relative to our original expectations. The owned compression to replace leased units at the Eagle—on the EagleClaw legacy system, the sour gas treating that allows us to expand the overall gas quality spec that we can actually take from customers, and alleviate them of the burden of needing to treat their gas before it comes into our system. That provides incremental fees under our gathering and processing agreements and obviously creates a fairly attractive project.

We have significant downstream optionality. We have our own—wholly-owned intra-basin NGL pipeline that provides downstream optionality. We’re connected to Lone Star, Targa and obviously now with Diamond Cryo and Shin Oak. We have flow assurance to Waha and Gulf Coast pricing, not just because of our PHP capacity and obviously the requisite benefit from our ownership. We also have our Delaware Link residue pipeline that is in development, and we expect to have in service by the end of next year, which will provide a physical connection, wholly owned, for our customers’ gas to Waha.

If we look at what drives this concept of operating leverage, which we get asked about frequently, it is clear that I would say Kinetik’s operating leverage is what drives financial alchemy. By alchemy, I mean we have very limited overall capital growth or capital spend that we need because it’s already in the ground. As you can see, the difference between the nameplate processing capacity at 1.9 Bcf a day, which is just nameplate; and our average 2021 plant inlet volume at 1.1 provides 800 million of headroom. That is equivalent of four processing trains. Spare capacity of 800 million a day, and then you look at a net EBITDA margin at $0.50 to $0.75, principally high pressure and obviously, already accounting for Opex.

You have EBITDA or free cash flow of $150 million to $225 million of incremental upside. That represents 20% to 30% of 2022 expected EBITDA or 30% to 40% of our 2022 expected free cash flow.

 

ViaVid has made considerable efforts to provide an accurate transcription. There may be material errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the reporting of the substance of the conference call. This transcript is being made available for information purposes only.
4


Kinetik - 2022 Guidance, February 24, 2022

 

What will drive filling up these trains? Obviously, we’ve given you a couple of quotes and we’ll talk about also the amount of A&D activity in the next page. Looking ahead, we find that when you look at Wood Mac, the only tied oil play with enough low-cost inventory to see sustained and large-scale future oil and associated gas supply growth is the Permian. Most recently, Dave Pursell, the EVP of Development at APA Corporation, or Apache said on their conference call on Tuesday, “We have a fourth rig in the U.S. We’re adding it as a Delaware Basin-focused rig. It will do some drilling in Alpine High. It will do some drilling at our Dixieland or DXL field, which flows into Altus Midstream assets. Over the next couple of years, it will do a fair amount of drilling at Alpine High specifically.” That obviously tells us that we—this is some of the elements that obviously we will look to, to drive that incremental supply stack.

On top of that, it’s compounded by—I apologize, a very busy chart on the left-hand side,—but the amount of Southern Delaware Basin M&A in the last 20 months—21 months has been nothing short of staggering. Reeves County, when you look at the right-hand side, leads the Delaware Basin with active rig count increases. Since the trough of September of 2020, we’ve seen a 3.5x increase in rigs. When you look at what’s going on in the two, this tells us that there is a Christmas tree of opportunities in front of us as we look to seek not just further consolidation, but the realization and harvesting of the benefits from this consolidation that is already taking place in front of our eyes.

What that means is we think about our overall picture today, is that we have a very derisked cash flow picture, supported by long-term contract portfolio. We told you back in October, our weighted average remaining contract life is 11 years. Balance sheet improvement, getting to that 3.5x and balancing that with a return of capital strategy is the core elements of this Company going forward.

No single producer contributes more than 20% of gross profit, and more importantly, over 10 customers receive two or more service offerings; 50% of our gross profit is from investment-grade customers. You can see that on the right-hand side. The dotted line around the pie chart on the right-hand side extends the reach to what I’ll call rising stars, those BB+ credits that are on the verge of recovery back, either the verge of investment grade or the verge of recovery back to investment grade. Including those, that would be 70% of our gross profit for 2022 coming from those sources.

We have very manageable volumetric commodity price exposure, we’ll talk about in a minute. We, overall as I said—this take-or-pay and fee-based contracts offer tremendous ratable cash flows.

As we think about life in the Permian going forward, it is clear certainly with, obviously, all of the—our peers and what they’ve announced in the last couple of weeks, we continue to see a lot of new activity in the context of new build, certainly as it relates to gathering and processing, but at some point also in the context of obviously not just residue, but also NGLs.

On the next page, this was what I referred to earlier in the context of the overall long-haul take—the overall increase in both the residue gas production and NGL production. As you can see, between 2021 and 2030, we have an increase—a significant increase on both the residue gas production, where we’ll go from 14 Bcf a day to 23 and 9 Bcf a day, or 60% increase. On the NGL side, 740,000 barrels a day or 50% increase from the 1.5 to 2.3. As we mentioned, this obviously on the residue gas side means that we’re going to have to think about incremental takeaway capacity. Whether it’s expansions of existing assets or whether it’s new assets to be put in the ground, both will obviously have their time and their place.

Most of this and particularly since the actions of last night, Gulf Coast LNG export facilities will obviously become of increasing importance, particularly to our European allies as the only source other than the Qataris to bring natural gas to the continent of Europe, other than relying on Russian gas. Given the actions of last night, it is probably a reasonable proposition to believe it will be a long time before there is any return or increase in Russian gas into Europe given the actions.

 

ViaVid has made considerable efforts to provide an accurate transcription. There may be material errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the reporting of the substance of the conference call. This transcript is being made available for information purposes only.
5


Kinetik - 2022 Guidance, February 24, 2022

 

On the cost curve as it relates to the NGL supply, we had demand expected to increase by 1.1 million barrels over the next five years. Petchem capacity expansions, U.S. exports tied to both global ethane and LPG demand growth. We look at this, and obviously, this provides a tremendous picture in the backdrop for the folks like Enterprise, Targa and Transfer. And obviously, as it relates to us and our position in Shin Oak gives us great conviction that ultimately, in a short space of time, that, that pipeline will be full.

It also obviously brings to the table the whole discussion that we are likely to have with our largest shareholder, Blackstone, as it relates to the 25% ownership interest in Grand Prix. That would provide not just an increase in our pipeline transportation EBITDA, which represents 35%, but it would be a tremendously meaningful cash flow growth opportunity for the Company.

Our overall model is a fully—a full-service integrated midstream model. We show you on the left-hand side the various companies, some of the various companies who obviously we do business with. We have the produced water business. We have the natural gas business, and we obviously have the crude oil gathering business. We look at them as being highly complementary to one another.

As we mentioned earlier, over 10 of our major customers have multiple services from us. We always like to think that we can add services and help continue to build that relationship. Downstream, if you look on the far right-hand side, you can see some of the egress options out of the basin that we obviously have not just access to but ownership of.

If you then look in to—think about our overall organizational structure on the next page, you will see that we obviously have—going forward, splitting the two segments, on the midstream logistics side, where we’ll have the legacy BCP Raptor or BCP 1 and BCP 2, which is the EagleClaw, Pinnacle and CapRock, legacy G&P businesses and obviously Alpine High Gathering and Processing. On the pipeline transportation side, Delaware Link, which was our own wholly-owned intra-basin asset that we’re—we will put it into service late next year. Then the four other major Permian to Gulf Coast pipelines.

We’re going to have a fully unsecured capital structure, Apache, Blackstone, I Squared, Management and Public Investors. Our emphasis over the course of this year will be very much on expanding our overall stock liquidity. We realize that, that is a core part of making this a staple of most portfolios of those in the midstream space.

Certainly, we’ve got some refinancing to do, a new revolving credit facility that we’ve finalized and will become live once we’ve actually completed our refinancing, and as we’ve said, the accelerated redemption of the Series A preferred really makes our overall organizational structure very transparent.

We spent a lot of time, and we mentioned this on our initial conference call back in October, around governance. We have 11 members of our Board, all of them are highly experienced. Four independent directors bring new perspectives and oversight. There are three directors nominated by Blackstone, two directors nominated by I Squared, there’s myself, and Ben Rodgers from Apache, who serve as directors. The independent directors chair the key committees, that being Governance and Nominating Committee and the Audit Committee.

As it relates to overall governance, we’re not only incorporating listing exchange and public company requirements, no contractual Board control is afforded to any single shareholder. No special voting rights, blocking rights for the significant shareholders. This is an Up-C structure sold as a 1099 security and a Class A common stock. It’s not an MLP, LP, GP structure. There’s no IDRs. We’ll have annual election of independent directors.

I talked about the overall alignment on our ESG metrics as it relates to executive compensation. The Management team is the BCP Management team, we assume our respective role for Kinetik. We are focused and committed to implementing best-in-class sustainability practices. That’s obviously detailed in our inaugural 2020 ESG report from last year, and you will see it midyear this year. As the ownership reduces for our core shareholders, it is important to note their replacements on the Board will be filled by new independents.

 

ViaVid has made considerable efforts to provide an accurate transcription. There may be material errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the reporting of the substance of the conference call. This transcript is being made available for information purposes only.
6


Kinetik - 2022 Guidance, February 24, 2022

 

The Management team has a wealth of experience. We have worked together for the better part now of the last five-plus years, and before that, at most of our other predecessor employers. The team is incredibly talented. I couldn’t be more proud of this team and what we’ve achieved since our time together starting in 2017. We ourselves, together with every other member of the overall Kinetik family and every employee, we have significant equity ownership. Every employee, every employee of Kinetik has ownership in the Company. We all have shares. We think that creates the right alignment with all stakeholders, and it really does make for more thoughtful, conscious and better decisions going forward.

As it relates to our overall Board, we show here on Slide 16, the overall Board members themselves, Laura Sugg, Mark Leland, Kevin McCarthy are our three independents today. Our fourth has agreed to serve and will start July 2, but she is retiring from one of the big four accounting firms between now and July and will be joining us as the Audit Chair. We have a—it’s a rock star group of independent directors, incredibly thoughtful, really steeped in understanding this business and provide tremendous and valuable insights and guidance.

Our overall diversity, pro forma the addition of our 11th member, will be 27% female. Our age demographic is a nice balance between young and not so young. Obviously, by affiliation, myself, Ben Rodgers and the independents, would represent 55% of the Board with Blackstone representing 27% and I Squared separately representing 18%.

Our overall sustainability highlights, which we’ve talked about, it’s all about to us advancing a safer and cleaner and more reliable energy future. We look to prioritize environmental sustainability. We are migrating to an electric vehicle fleet. We’re going to expand the use of electric compression. Investment in emissions monitoring, control and reduction equipment. We’re reducing our total TRIR, our total recordable injuries, by 85% year-on-year, our increased EHS training twofold.

We are really building as well on the diversity, equity and inclusion side, and we are very focused to making sure that is a core part of who we are and what we represent. We look to actively collaborate with industry affiliations, whether it’s ALLY, whether it’s the American Petroleum Institute, the Environmental Partnership, ONE Future or the Oil field Water Stewardship Council. We are looking to positively impact our communities every day.

We achieved the ONE Future 2025 methane intensity goal in 2020. We’re the first major midstream Company to power operations completely from renewable energy. We are committed to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We set up a Company foundation launched in 2021 to assist employees with extraordinary circumstances, as well as communities. In particular, through the pandemic, we saw this as one of the core roles that we could play to make the lives better for our employees and the communities in which we live and operate. We realized the magnitude of the pandemic as it relates to mental health and other elements, all of which have a profound impact on everyone we know and everyone we touch.

It is, obviously for us, on the ESG side, it is what we believe, fundamental to our identity. It means that we will do more. We will believe that we must be an agent for change and lead from the front. Each element, whether it’s environmental, social and governance, we give significant thought to how, what—to what we do and how we can be better and how we can do better.

On the financial update, which will start Page 20, capital allocation. To us, the whole discussion, I know thematically, the whole sector is about capital allocation. If you’re looking for the alchemist in the room, you found it. We are really—this Company, given the operating leverage that we have, given the dynamic of $50 million to $80 million of run-rate Capex, including maintenance, we think we’ll have a better free cash flow conversion story than anybody.

 

ViaVid has made considerable efforts to provide an accurate transcription. There may be material errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the reporting of the substance of the conference call. This transcript is being made available for information purposes only.
7


Kinetik - 2022 Guidance, February 24, 2022

 

We are going to clean up and make transparent to our overall capital structure. Obviously, the first goal of that is accelerating the redemption of the Series A preferred. We’re going to have a very thoughtful 3.5x leverage target. We achieved that in 2023. We’re committed to achieving investment-grade ratings in 2023. We’ll recommend 5% plus dividend increase at the start of 2023.

We have our core shareholders to thank. They see things through the same lens as Management. Our core shareholders, as a result, have committed to reinvest 100% of their dividends in 2022 so we can achieve our priority number one goal of redeeming the preferred. The dividend reinvestment plan is open to all shareholders, it is not exclusionary of anyone. Any shareholder and every shareholder is welcome to participate. But you are safe in knowing that the preferred will be gone by year-end this year.

The capital allocation priority—and obviously leads to us from our standpoint, is then to think about how we think about free cash flow and how we then think about the allocation of that cash flow as we go into 2023. We have this highly capital-efficient outlook, which drives robust free cash flow generation. I’ve already shown you the upside of the operating leverage, where you can have 20% to 30% increase in EBITDA and 30%, 40% increase in free cash flow relative to 2022 numbers. Our dividend coverage, obviously, will be unusually high for this year as a result of, obviously, the dividend reinvestment plan.

We are waiting for, I would say, some semblance of maybe more constructive market conditions before we undertake our refinancing. We have the ability to wait, but we very much want to get that done as quickly as we can.

Our pro forma financial performance, and we think this is a nice setup as we think about 2022. It’s hard to talk about 2022 where you don’t know where you came from. Let’s talk about 2021 and actually what we achieved. Our pro forma Adjusted EBITDA bridge gives you the building blocks to show you this is where we were. On our G&P business to BCP, $355 million of actual EBITDA, that’s what we reported. I think for those of you who are familiar with BCP 1 and 2 would know that our budget at the time was $330 million. PHP on top of that for our proportional EBITDA is about $83 million. It’s the same, obviously, in the context of our stake as it is for Altus or legacy Altus. Our Alpine High represented $102 million of EBITDA and then GCX $50 million, PHP, we talked about, Shin Oak, $44 million, Epic Crude, and then obviously, the adjustments as it relates to both G&A, and obviously, the cost synergies that we—just cost synergies.

That is nothing more than ad valorem, a little bit of Opex and what is called COMA, which is the Construction Operating Management Agreement from Apache, which was how they allocated direct costs in running the Altus business. Our actual pro forma Adjusted EBITDA for 2021 would be $737 million.

Using that as your baseline, then let’s look at the leverage profile. The BCP G&P business was 4.7x on a combined basis leverage as of year-end. There’s a term loan on PHP for the legacy BCP business. All of this, obviously, would be taken out pro forma, but it gives you a sense of our existing debt. Then when you add in ALTM, which obviously is less than 1.9x leveraged, we end up going from 5.3x down to 4x. The adjustments, obviously, with the cost synergies that we’ve talked about, and we are planning to increase slightly from about $2.9 billion of actually funded debt, we’ll increase it slightly to actually achieve the accelerated redemption that we talked about at the preferred. That would increase our leverage by 0.5 of a turn.

Our pro forma 2021 starting point at year-end last year was 4.3x. As you can see, the key pro forma metrics we just gave you on the right-hand side in this little table, gas gathered volumes. If you recall in my chart earlier, 1.1 Bcf a day of plant inlet for the combined enterprise, 1.4 are gathered. The difference is about 125 of the Apache or Alpine High volumes is lean. You have almost 100 million of what we call top dedications, gas that we gathered in 2021 but we did not process. Then we have some buyback gas for gas lift (phon), which obviously enhances overall recovery in the context of the various developments that our producers have, and that works out to be around 70, 75.

 

ViaVid has made considerable efforts to provide an accurate transcription. There may be material errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the reporting of the substance of the conference call. This transcript is being made available for information purposes only.
8


Kinetik - 2022 Guidance, February 24, 2022

 

That’s the difference between a gross number of 1.4 and an inlet number at 1.1. The capital expenditures, you can see for 2021 are $105 million. Bear that number in mind because we’ll talk about it in a couple of slides.

We know where we came from, so now let’s talk about our future. The financial guidance we gave last night, $770 million to $810 million of EBITDA, it’s a 7% year-on-year growth. For those of you who look at it relative to our preliminary estimate of $800 million to $850 million, which included a full run rate of $50 million of synergies, it is—to the midpoint, it is $10 million lower, apples-to-apples. In other words, if you said there’s only $25 million of synergies that you will realize in this first year, which is what is in our guidance, you make that adjustment on that preliminary estimate, and you would end up at a $775 million, $825 million range, and we gave you $770 million to $810 million.

Why is it lower? It’s lower because it’s—we meaningfully and deliberately wanted to be conservative. We wanted to make sure that this was a we will not miss target. We wanted to have the ability over the course of this year to continue to, in fact, exceed our expectations. We thought it was the right stepping off point for this year, particularly given this is a new public company.

On the capital expenditure side, $105 million was 2021. We will go to $125 million to $150 million of this year, that is our range. When we think about the range, and we’ll get to this in a minute, we have pulled forward a significant amount of integration Capex because we saw the synergies so much in excess of $50 million and the opportunity to harvest them quickly that we pulled forward integration Capex. The $100 million is still the right number for integration Capex, but we’re spending $55 million of it in 2022.

When you break down the segments as to what’s contributing to your EBITDA guidance, 61% is coming from natural gas. There’s modest volume growth year-on-year on EagleClaw, it’s about 13%. New Alpine High production. Actually, there is decline in Alpine High this year in the context of volumes because the return of activity will be in 2023. Growth from new contracts, Dixieland falls within that category, and we’re very happy and we could not be more thrilled to expand our relationship with Apache to pick up incremental PDP and flush production from the rig activity that will come from that fourth rig in the Delaware Basin.

Annualization of 2021 agreements. We had a number of large important foundation agreements that started with new customers in 2021, and we’ve just annualized that effect, and system optimization as we connected two systems. Crude and water will represent in total 5%. It is a very small piece of the pie. It is highly complementary, but it is a small piece, nonetheless.

Pipeline Transportation, 35%. Residue gas pipelines are all sold out with MVCs with high-quality shippers. Shin Oak obviously provides a really attractive ramp from its current volume throughput to that 600,000 barrels a day of its max capacity. The synergies embedded in our overall Adjusted EBITDA guidance is $25 million. That is obviously allocated across segments.

Why are we confident in our ability to achieve 2022 guidance? Well, we talked about 2021, and we’ve shown you that $737 million is an actually defensible number. When you look at the incremental building blocks, whether it’s, in fact, new processing dedications, these are those contracts that I mentioned that we gathered the gas, but we didn’t process the gas. That changed January 1. There’s another contract which will be coming to us for another 62.5 million in the next 45-plus days. We then annualize our 2021 contracts. That’s an incremental $20 million. On top of the $40 million of new processing dedications, on top of the $20 million of annualization of 2021 contracts and then the JV pipe growth, we end up at $770 million to $810 million.

 

ViaVid has made considerable efforts to provide an accurate transcription. There may be material errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the reporting of the substance of the conference call. This transcript is being made available for information purposes only.
9


Kinetik - 2022 Guidance, February 24, 2022

 

On the capital expenditure side, obviously people would like to know how this is broken down. While $125 million to $150 million was the range, we’ve given you on the far right the building blocks. There’s $15 million of onetime. These are things from an ESG standpoint, FLIR cameras and other emissions control and reduction equipment that we think are fundamental and important. They are things, however, that cost, and once they’re done, they are done.

Integration Capex is a pull forward relative to what we expected, $55 million of $100 million of total integration capital will be spent for this year, $15 million of maintenance and $40 million to $65 million of what we would consider growth.

We have within the—when we mentioned $50 million to $80 million, which I believe was the range that we’ve used not only on the October conference call, but with analysts and investors ever since, take the growth, add the maintenance, that’s what you’re looking at on a consistent basis year in, year out.

Our system is so developed, and with most of our customers now coming to us with high pressure, the connection costs, there’s no compression, very little mechanical equipment, no real liquids handling required. We can add incremental—significant incremental volumes at a very small cost.

On the commodity side, which is another question we frequently get, we wanted to explain the drivers between crude, natural gas and NGLs. We have very limited commodity exposure in large part because 85% of that gross profit that we have for this year is from fee-based sources. There’s only 15% of our gross profit is exposed to commodity prices, 15%. Then when you think about the relevant exposure by hydrocarbon, condensate, natural gasoline represents 30%; residues, 35%; NGL is 35%. The bottom left-hand table really shows you what you need to know.

What is embedded in our forecast? Our 2022 guidance has as its imports a weighted average price of $84.88 for crude. Natural gas was $3.95 and NGLs $36.81. We all know where crude is this morning.

Plus or minus $10 a barrel represents $8 million of difference, plus/minus, to our Adjusted EBITDA guidance. It’s 1%. If you believe that crude should, in fact, settle at some point, at $75, and that’s the prevailing price, over $70, then you would adjust that by $15 and you’d have a $12 million impact for 2022 if you did it immediately.

Natural gas, $0.50 MMBtu differential creates $7 million of difference. It’s about 1%. It’s almost the same as that $10 a barrel, particularly given what is going on with—as a result of the event world events last night, $3.95 from a gas price, particularly given the significance, and I think going forward, greater dependence on the Europeans as it relates to the U.S. supporting them with natural—with LNG. We think natural gas, $3.95, is not in fact particularly aggressive.

NGLs at $36.81 is up, composite barrel price, plus/minus $4 on that. That 10% represents $4 million. You can see you don’t have significant commodity fluctuations embedded in our overall guidance. You can calibrate how you see fit, but it makes—this is a very handy scorecard and reference sheet to use.

Let’s talk about our synergies and then we’ll finish. We expect $50-plus million of annual run-rate EBITDA synergies. On the right hand side, you can see our overall pie chart. In our 2022 guide, you get Apache DXL for two months. You’ve got the cost synergies of just over $20 million. They are true cost synergies that happen almost immediately.

Integration synergies will start really with 2023 onwards, and that will be, we believe, well in excess of $30 million. We have a track record as a Management team of harvesting and realizing synergies and synergy estimates—and actual synergies well above estimates and targets.

 

ViaVid has made considerable efforts to provide an accurate transcription. There may be material errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the reporting of the substance of the conference call. This transcript is being made available for information purposes only.
10


Kinetik - 2022 Guidance, February 24, 2022

 

Do not forget that one of the benefits of this transaction is obviously the capital savings. People would say, we mentioned $175 million of capital savings. That’s really nothing more than two processing trains. As we saw the future growth coming out of the basin and with respect to potential new customers, it became clear that we would need incremental capacity. We have experience with integrating and optimizing the assets on the operations, commercial, finance, accounting and IT. This is a team that’s done it repeatedly.

As I said, the system integration unlocks over $30 million a year. We are going to be leveraging idle treating equipment. We’re going to be leveraging surplus compression. We will be creating processing enhancement and optimization. We have that new 10-year midstream dedication with Apache for its DXL or Central Reeves acreage. That obviously will be a nice boost that we did not expect at the time that we made our announcement in October of last year.

Who we are when you look at us at a glance. We are the largest integrated midstream Company in the Delaware. All the salient facts about our Company are obviously shown here. Over 1.9 Bcf a day of existing in-service processing capacity, almost—we have over 850,000 acres—dedicated acres. We have nearly 2,000 miles of gas and NGL lines. We think we are really primely positioned for future growth as we see that growth continues out of the Delaware Basin.

Questions?

Operator

Thank you. The first question comes from Spiro Dounis from Credit Suisse. Please proceed. Your line is now open.

Spiro Dounis

Good morning, guys. Congrats on closing the deal. Jamie, first one for you, just in terms of sequencing the next few milestones for the Company. You’ve obviously laid out a lot of targets you want to hit. You talked about refinancing the debt. You talked about expanding stock liquidity, talked about redeeming the preferreds, talked about even acquiring some assets like Grand Prix. As you think about checking off these boxes over the next year, how to think about that sequencing? Any practical limitations on you to grow until some of these boxes do get checked?

Jamie Welch

Spiro, thanks. Look, I think the order priority, the refinancing is to us incredibly important. It allows us, then, we think, to really get well underway in wanting to achieve our ultimate ambitions. At the same time, Apache obviously has the ability to sell down their stock. I think, look, the two could obviously—they’ll make decisions about what they want to do about the timing. As we already now know, the world now knows that the overall development of Alpine High is already in their capital budget, so it’s already approved. It’s not that they actually need to go and do this. But they realize it’s important, we believe, for the stock liquidity to get that incremental up to 4 million shares out there.

I think our first thing first, refinancing, very closely followed by the stock liquidity. Once we have that, the—that obviously then lends itself—the accelerated redemption of the preferred, yes, it’s part and parcel with the refinancing because we’re doing a little incremental $200 million to accelerate that paydown. But the balance of it is coming from free cash flow, the savings from the dividend reinvestment, and then we’ll see where we go to in the context of how we think about growth and what the timing is. I think we want to make sure that we do the right things as we execute on our plans.

 

ViaVid has made considerable efforts to provide an accurate transcription. There may be material errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the reporting of the substance of the conference call. This transcript is being made available for information purposes only.
11


Kinetik - 2022 Guidance, February 24, 2022

 

Spiro Dounis

Got it. That’s helpful. Second question, just wondering if you can give us a sense for how you’re thinking about the organic growth rate of the business over the next few years. Depending on what Permian producer you talk to, the answer can range anywhere between flat to 25%. You obviously laid out the case for the Permian and your upside from an EBITDA perspective on that 20% to 30% just on your current footprint. Just curious as you think about your customer base, the rate of growth that they’re growing, how does that translate to Kinetik going forward over the next few years?

Jamie Welch

In the context of our business, I think I said on the EagleClaw based business, we have 13% growth in our business on the EagleClaw side, and we had decline, obviously, this year from Apache on Alpine High, simply because that drilling activity, that will come in the first quarter 2023.

I think going forward, honestly, I think our overall expectation is probably in a 5% to 10% growth as far as volume is concerned. I don’t think you can—I think people get carried away. There are practical limitations on doing any—on something that’s much beyond that level, if you really ask me.

It’s also obviously going to be—will be predicated on things such as egress capacity out of the basin for natural gas. The timing that any expansion, any expansions, not just one, because obviously, Whistler, obviously, we now also mentioned the potential for expansion. What expansions can get done, when could they come online? If there’s going to be a new pipeline, new residue gas pipeline, when does it FID and how long does it take to get built? I think all of these things have practical limitations on just overall growth.

Spiro Dounis

Very helpful. That’s all I had today, guys. Thanks again.

Jamie Welch

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Neel Mitra from Bank of America. Please proceed. Your line is now open.

Indraneel Mitra

Hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. First question is on the Permian pipeline expansions since you have an interest in both GCX and PHP. We’ve been hearing that even with compression there’s a long lead time with the supply chain issues to be able to expand maybe 0.5 Bcf a day on each line. If you were to get the customer support, how long do you think it would take maybe from just a range standpoint to expand those pipelines?

Jamie Welch

Look, I think, Neel, thanks for the question. I think it’s—I can’t speak for—obviously, Kinder Morgan in particular, would obviously know better than I. But I’ll tell you on the basis of (inaudible) that compression, right? We, obviously, ourselves, know a fair amount about compression and compression availability. I think at an earliest, depending upon how you need to commercialize the potential expansion, that itself will take some time frame. The lead time as it relates to sourcing and delivery of the incremental compression, whether it’s midline compression, or what have you, my—I would say, I would believe that you’d be looking at 12 to 15 months.

 

ViaVid has made considerable efforts to provide an accurate transcription. There may be material errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the reporting of the substance of the conference call. This transcript is being made available for information purposes only.
12


Kinetik - 2022 Guidance, February 24, 2022

 

Ideally, these expansions, Whistler, GCX, if it happens, to PHP, they’d all be thinking about trying to come on in that back end of 2023. But forwards, I don’t want to say screening because they can’t screen, but there is a—you see a noticeable expansion of the differential between Waha residue pricing going into that second quarter of ‘23 onwards.

The market is telling us, there’s a real belief that there will be this critical need. I would hope that the expansions would, in fact, marry to meet that need at the time of that need.

Indraneel Mitra

Right. Okay. Great. Then second question. If you were to have Grand Prix drop down to you and take that option, would you look at additional downstream options? How are you looking at that asset and specifically maybe looking more as an integrated player versus where you are right now?

Jamie Welch

Look, I think, first, let me say, Grand Prix is a great asset, Shin Oak is obviously a great asset. I think we would be privileged and humbled to actually be able to own both an interest in the quality of those two pipelines and their operators. Look at the growth, obviously, (inaudible) I saw their earnings this morning. It’s great. Enterprises, obviously, with the most recent acquisition of Navitas, creates an incremental customer profile on the Shin Oak line.

Yes, we would think about ourselves being more integrated. I think that’s how we think about it. That’s what we need to do, not just from a relevance standpoint, but also in providing the customer flexibility and the customer optionality that many of the customers that we deal with are looking for.

You drop it down. Obviously, we know what the cash flow profile is. As we think about the expansion and the ability to move more volumes, whether it’s on Grand Prix, whether it’s on Shin Oak, that’s obviously—that will be key drivers for us going forward.

Indraneel Mitra

Got it. Okay. Thank you very much.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Elliott Miller, who is a private investor. Mr. Elliott, your line is now open.

Elliot Miller

Thank you. First of all, congratulations to all of us, me too as an investor. I have two questions. The first deals with what you can tell us about inflation protection in the contract—in your contracts. I’m talking not only about the JV pipe contracts, but also your 100% owned operational facilities. Are there escalator clauses in there? Is there any inflation protection?

Jamie Welch

Most of our G&P contracts have, in fact, inflation protection. We have caps that range between 3% to 5%. And we obviously will see a lag effect in the context of the inflation of the actual inflation because everything is obviously in arrears in the context of prior periods. But we have a lot of contractual protection, Elliot.

 

ViaVid has made considerable efforts to provide an accurate transcription. There may be material errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the reporting of the substance of the conference call. This transcript is being made available for information purposes only.
13


Kinetik - 2022 Guidance, February 24, 2022

 

As it relates to on the operating expense side, I would say 80% of our Opex is locked in, equipment rentals, salaries, contract labor, electric and utility, it’s all fixed price, fixed block. I think we’ve got some lubes in cans, which is a component of our Opex where we, in fact, have some inflation exposure. The offset to that is we have a lot of condensate on our system, condensate that becomes equity barrels. Therefore, we have an embedded natural hedge as it relates to—on the lubes and chems that we used on the processing—with our processing complexes.

On the capital side, we’ve procured more than 50-plus percent of all of our purchase orders as far as all our materials are concerned. I would say, look, we’re pretty protected. We’ve got the gross up on the revenue side, and we’ve already taken positive and significant actions on the expense side, whether it’s Opex or Capex, to make sure that we’re minimizing future inflationary impacts.

Elliot Miller

That’s helpful. My second question again deals with the discussion of stock liquidity. Obviously, that has an impact on the stock price. I’m curious, I noticed on Page 14 of the investor presentation reference to Blackstone and I Squared Capital’s reduction of their interest. I know there’s a one-year lockup. But is there anything contemplated beyond that one-year lockup as to when and how there’s going to be reduction by Blackstone and I Squared?

Jamie Welch

There is not. I would say the following. I think the—I look at this and say there are various means and ways for us to increase stock liquidity. Obviously, we touched on one before in the context of the drop-down of Grand Prix. We obviously may have other opportunities that are presented in front of us that we think are particularly compelling and that more than meet or exceed our overall capital allocation targets and our return on investment thresholds. That may lead to incremental equity issuance.

I think what we trying to be mindful of is we know that we’ve got to increase it. We know that we have one potential selling shareholder, which is Apache. But in the context of Blackstone and I Squared, we can’t speak for them in the context of what they think. I think they’re going to be pretty patient to the capital. But could you see them do very—a small amount if they thought that it would further help their liquidity, stock liquidity? Sure. They’ve obviously got relatively sizable stock holdings, so they could do a couple of million shares without actually having much of an impact, but making a meaningful impact nonetheless on the actual public float.

Elliot Miller

Thank you very much. Perfect.

Operator

We currently have no further questions, so I will hand over back to the Management team for any final remarks.

Jamie Welch

Thank you very much this morning, everybody. Look, we’re very excited. This is our opportunity to continue to engage in a dialogue and discussion with all of you. Stay tuned, hopefully, for more exciting things to come.

 

ViaVid has made considerable efforts to provide an accurate transcription. There may be material errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the reporting of the substance of the conference call. This transcript is being made available for information purposes only.
14


Kinetik - 2022 Guidance, February 24, 2022

 

Operator

This concludes today’s conference call. Thank you so much for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.

 

ViaVid has made considerable efforts to provide an accurate transcription. There may be material errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the reporting of the substance of the conference call. This transcript is being made available for information purposes only.
15

Exhibit 99.4

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

     Page(s)  

Independent Auditors’ Report

     F-1  

Consolidated Financial Statements

  

Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2021 and 2020

     F-3  

Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss) for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019

     F-4  

Consolidated Statements of Partners’ Capital for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019

     F-5  

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019

     F-6  

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

     F-8 – F-35  

 

F-i


Independent Auditors’ Report

The Board of Managers

BCP Raptor Holdco, LP:

Opinion

We have audited the consolidated financial statements of BCP Raptor Holdco, LP and its subsidiaries (the Partnership), which comprise the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss), partners’ capital, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2021, and the related notes to the consolidated financial statements.

In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Partnership as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2021 in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

Basis for Opinion

We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAS). Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditors’ Responsibilities for the Audit of the Consolidated Financial Statements section of our report. We are required to be independent of the Partnership and to meet our other ethical responsibilities, in accordance with the relevant ethical requirements relating to our audits. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.

Responsibilities of Management for the Consolidated Financial Statements

Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, and for the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of consolidated financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the consolidated financial statements, management is required to evaluate whether there are conditions or events, considered in the aggregate, that raise substantial doubt about the Partnership’s ability to continue as a going concern for one year after the date that the consolidated financial statements are issued.

Auditors’ Responsibilities for the Audit of the Consolidated Financial Statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditors’ report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not absolute assurance and therefore is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with GAAS will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control. Misstatements are considered material if there is a substantial likelihood that, individually or in the aggregate, they would influence the judgment made by a reasonable user based on the consolidated financial statements.

In performing an audit in accordance with GAAS, we:

 

   

Exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit.

 

   

Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, and design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks. Such procedures

 

F-1


include examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements.

 

   

Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Partnership’s internal control. Accordingly, no such opinion is expressed.

 

   

Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluate the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements.

 

   

Conclude whether, in our judgment, there are conditions or events, considered in the aggregate, that raise substantial doubt about the Partnership’s ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time.

We are required to communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit, significant audit findings, and certain internal control related matters that we identified during the audit.

/s/ KPMG LLP

Houston, Texas

February 23, 2022

 

F-2


BCP Raptor Holdco, LP

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In thousands, except unit amounts)

 

     As of December 31,  
     2021      2020  

Assets

     

Current assets:

     

Cash

   $ 18,729      $ 19,591  

Accounts receivable, net of credit losses of $1,000 in 2021 and 2020

     178,107        89,620  

Derivative asset

     —          702  

Other current assets

     20,683        8,510  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total current assets

     217,519        118,423  

Property, plant and equipment, net

     1,839,279        1,866,994  

Intangible assets, net

     786,049        921,773  

Operating lease right-of-use assets

     61,562        61,569  

Investment in unconsolidated affiliate

     626,477        611,216  

Other assets

     22,320        23,600  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total assets

   $ 3,553,206      $ 3,603,575  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Liabilities and partners’ capital

     

Current liabilities:

     

Accounts payable

   $ 12,220      $ 13,377  

Accrued expenses

     135,643        64,890  

Derivative liability

     2,667        3,297  

Other current liabilities

     4,339        2,325  

Current portion of long-term debt, net

     54,280        53,310  

Current portion of operating lease liabilities

     31,776        29,800  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total current liabilities

     240,925        166,999  

Long-term debt, net

     2,253,422        2,340,329  

Derivative liability

     200        7,142  

Contingent liabilities

     839        1,500  

Operating lease liabilities

     29,889        31,086  

Deferred revenue

     11,674        9,529  

Deferred tax liabilities

     7,190        5,325  

Other liabilities

     2,219        —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total liabilities

     2,546,358        2,561,910  

Commitments and contingencies (Note 17)

     

Partners’ capital (Class B, C, E and F Common Units authorized for issuance as of December 31, 2021 and 2020. 2,732,536,599 Class B Units and 43,785,915 Class C Units outstanding as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. 254,412,601 and 290,711,677 Class E Units outstanding as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. No Class F Units outstanding as of December 31, 2021 and 2020)

     1,006,848        1,041,665  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total liabilities and partners’ capital

   $ 3,553,206      $ 3,603,575  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

 

F-3


BCP Raptor Holdco, LP

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)

(In thousands, except unit and per unit amounts)

 

     Years Ended December 31,  
     2021      2020      2019  

Operating revenues:

        

Service revenue

   $ 272,677      $ 272,829      $ 233,987  

Product revenue

     385,622        135,330        144,270  

Other revenue

     3,745        2,017        487  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total operating revenues

     662,044        410,176        378,744  

Operating costs and expenses:

        

Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below)

     233,619        65,053        70,272  

Depreciation and amortization

     243,558        223,763        202,664  

Operating expenses

     90,894        93,704        85,537  

General and administrative expenses

     28,588        22,917        22,601  

Ad valorem taxes

     11,512        10,985        8,172  

Loss on disposal of assets

     382        3,454        1,573  

Goodwill impairment

     —          1,010,773        —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total operating costs and expenses

     608,553        1,430,649        390,819  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Operating income (loss)

     53,491        (1,020,473)        (12,075)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Other income (expense):

        

Interest and other income

     4,147        1,476        1,736  

Interest expense

     (117,365)        (135,516)        (133,535)  

Gain on sales of interests of unconsolidated affiliate

     —          —          3,362  

Equity in earnings (losses) of unconsolidated affiliate

     63,074        (308)        440  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total other expense, net

     (50,144)        (134,348)        (127,997)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Income (Loss) before income taxes

     3,347        (1,154,821)        (140,072)  

Income tax provision

     (1,865)        (968)        (4,357)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net income (loss)

   $ 1,482      $ (1,155,789)      $ (144,429)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Other comprehensive loss:

        

Change in hedge fair value

     —          —          (588)  

Reclassification to interest expense

     —          —          (3,777)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Comprehensive income (loss)

   $ 1,482      $ (1,155,789)      $ (148,794)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net loss per Class B limited parter unit - basic and diluted

   $ (0.02)      $ (0.41)      $ (0.06)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Weighted-average Class B limited partner units outstanding

     2,732,536,599        2,700,468,293        2,402,525,366  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net loss per Class C limited parter unit - basic and diluted

   $ (0.02)      $ (0.40)      $ (0.03)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Weighted-average Class C limited partner units outstanding

     43,785,915        43,785,915        42,216,736  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net income (loss) per Class E limited parter unit - basic and diluted

   $ 0.19      $ (0.10)      $ 0.01  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Weighted-average Class E limited partner units outstanding

     279,808,349        173,259,733        235,571,753  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

 

F-4


BCP Raptor Holdco, LP

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF PARTNERS’ CAPITAL

(In thousands)

 

     Partner’s Capital      Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Loss
     Total  
     Class B
Unit
     Amount      Class C
Unit
     Amount      Class E
Unit
     Amount  

Balances at January 1, 2019

     2,279,037      $ 1,671,005        41,636      $ 30,526        167,733      $ 58,002      $ 4,365      $ 1,763,898  

Cumulative effect of accounting change

     —          62        —          1           —          —          63  

Contributions

     356,500        356,500        2,000        2,000        228,341        228,341        —          586,841  

Distributions

     —          —          —          —          (289,278)        (289,278)        —          (289,278)  

Stock Compensation

     —          3,659        150        150        —          —          —          3,809  

Net (loss) income

     —          (146,100)        —          (1,360)        —          3,031        —          (144,429)  

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

     —          —          —          —          —          —          (4,365)        (4,365)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Balances at December 31, 2019

     2,635,537        1,885,126        43,786        31,317        106,796        96        —          1,916,539  

Contributions

     97,000        97,000        —          —          183,915        183,915        —          280,915  

Net loss

     —          (1,120,630)        —          (17,514)        —          (17,645)        —          (1,155,789)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Balances at December 31, 2020

     2,732,537        861,496        43,786        13,803        290,711        166,366        —          1,041,665  

Contributions

     —          —          —          —          14,890        14,890        —          14,890  

Distributions

     —          —          —          —          (51,189)        (51,189)        —          (51,189)  

Net (loss) income

     —          (51,700)        —          (832)        —          54,014        —          1,482  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Balances at December 31, 2021

     2,732,537      $ 809,796        43,786      $ 12,971        254,412      $ 184,081      $ —        $ 1,006,848  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

 

F-5


BCP Raptor Holdco, LP

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(In thousands)

 

     Years Ended December 31,  
     2021     2020     2019  
    

 

   

 

   

 

 

Cash flows from operating activities

      

Net income (loss)

   $ 1,482     $ (1,155,789   $ (144,429

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash flows from operating activities:

      

Depreciation and amortization

     243,558       223,763       202,664  

Amortization of deferred financing costs

     13,369       11,917       9,710  

Amortization of contract costs

     1,792       1,805       1,185  

Distributions from unconsolidated affiliate

     68,335       —         —    

Contingent liabilities remeasurement

     (661     (2,668     (8,078

Derivative settlement

     (19,422     (7,810     1,471  

Derivative fair value adjustments

     12,482       17,311       65  

Stock compensation

     —         —         3,809  

Good will impairment

     —         1,010,773       —    

Loss on disposal of assets

     382       3,454       1,573  

Equity in (earnings) losses from unconsolidated affiliate

     (63,074     308       (440

Gain on sales of interests of unconsolidated affiliate

     —         —         (3,362

Gain on debt extinguishment

     (4     (868     —    

Deferred income taxes

     1,865       968       4,357  

Change in operating assets and liabilities:

      

Accounts receivable

     (88,487     (7,293     (27,333

Other current assets

     (11,476     (6,561     (14,314

Accounts payable

     (2,721     4,228       (54

Accrued expenses

     77,363       9,241       17,834  

Operating leases

     786       (683     —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net cash flows from operating activities

     235,569       102,096       44,658  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash flows from investing activities

      

Purchase of property, plant and equipment

     (78,030     (181,423     (329,274

Acquisition of intangible assets

     (4,682     (17,631     (27,689

Investments in unconsolidated affiliate

     (20,522     (306,532     (348,939

Proceeds from disposals of assets

     3,613       —         —    

Proceeds from sales of interests of unconsolidated affiliate

     —         —         92,663  

Acquisitions, net of cash received

     —         —         (100,000
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net cash flows from investing activities

     (99,621     (505,586     (713,239
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash flows from financing activities

      

Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt

     30,189       134,351       348,680  

Repayments of long-term debt

     (96,548     (25,862     (15,950

Proceeds from revolver

     38,500       241,250       184,500  

Repayment of revolver

     (69,500     (178,000     (164,750

Payments of deferred financing costs

     (3,152     (576     (13,407

Payments of contingent liabilities

     —         —         (9,070

Consideration payable from acquisition

     —         (79,304     —    

Partner contributions

     14,890       280,915       586,841  

Partner distributions

     (51,189     —         (289,278
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net cash flows from financing activities

     (136,810     372,774       627,566  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net change in cash

     (862     (30,716     (41,015

Cash, beginning balance

     19,591       50,307       91,322  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash, ending balance

   $ 18,729     $ 19,591     $ 50,307  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Supplemental cash flow information

      

Cash paid for interest, net of amounts capitalized

   $ 108,392     $ 104,678     $ 133,011  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Non-cash investing and financing activities:

      

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

 

F-6


     Years Ended December 31,  
     2021      2020      2019  
    

 

    

 

    

 

 

Purchase of property and equipment and intantible assets, net included in trade accounts payable and accrued expenses

   $ 8,527      $ 7,125      $ 30,967  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Lease assets obtained in exchange for lease liabilities

   $ 43,580      $ 16,991      $ 46,693  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Fair value of assets acquired

   $ —        $ —        $ 183,204  

Contingent consideration

     —          —          (3,900

Consideration payable from acquisition

     —          —          (79,304
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Consideration paid/liabilities assumed

   $ —        $ —        $ 100,000  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

 

F-7


BCP Raptor Holdco, LP

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Note 1. Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

BCP Raptor Holdco, LP (“Holdco” or the “Partnership”) was formed on April 25, 2017 as a Delaware limited Partnership to acquire and develop midstream oil and gas assets. The Partnership is governed by BCP Raptor Holdco GP, LLC’s (“General Partner”) board of managers, which consists of two representatives of management, four representatives of The Blackstone Group L.P. (“Blackstone”), and three representatives of I Squared Capital (“ISQ”), with one independent manager. The Partnership through its subsidiaries provides comprehensive gathering, water disposal, transportation, compression, processing and treating services necessary to bring natural gas, natural gas liquids, and crude oil to market.

Holdco’s primary operating subsidiaries are EagleClaw Midstream Ventures, LLC (“EagleClaw”) and CR Permian Holdings, LLC (“CR Permian”). Both EagleClaw and CR Permian are Delaware limited liability companies formed to design, engineer, install, own and operate facilities and provide services for water gathering and disposal assets, natural gas gathering, compression, processing, treating and dehydration, and condensate separation, stabilization, and storage, in accordance with the formation agreements.

Holdco holds an equity method investment in Permian Highway Pipeline, LLC (“PHP”) associated with its 26.67% interest. PHP was formed to develop, construct, own, operate and maintain the PHP pipeline. Beginning in the Waha, Texas area and extending to the U.S. Gulf Coast and Mexico markets, the 430-mile pipeline is designed to transport up to approximately 2.1 Bcf per day of natural gas. The approximately $2.3 billion pipeline project was placed in full commercial service on January 1, 2021.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Partnership and its subsidiaries. All intercompany transactions have been eliminated upon consolidation.

Comprehensive income (loss) is composed of two components: net income (loss) and other comprehensive loss. Other comprehensive loss refers to expenses and losses that under U.S. GAAP are recorded as an element of partners’ capital but are excluded from the Partnership’s net income (loss).

The Partnership has reclassified certain amounts relating to its prior period results to conform to its current period presentation. These reclassifications have not changed the results of operations of prior periods.

COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic-related reduction in energy demand and the dramatic decline in commodity prices that began to impact the Partnership in the second quarter of 2020 has continued to cause disruptions and volatility. Sharp declines in crude oil and natural gas production along with reduced demand for refined products due to the economic shutdown in the wake of the pandemic affected the Partnership’s operations and continues to do so. While we have seen meaningful recovery during the second half of the year in demand for the products that we move through our gathering systems and processing plants, significant uncertainty remains regarding the duration and extent of the impact of the pandemic on the energy industry, including demand and prices for the products handled by our pipelines and other facilities.

Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Use of Estimates

The preparation of the Partnership’s consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Partnership’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, expenses and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements. These estimates involve judgments with respect to numerous factors that are difficult to predict and are beyond management’s control. As a result, actual results could differ from these estimates. Significant items subject to such estimates and assumptions include the useful lives of fixed assets, the valuation of derivatives, the valuation of tangible and intangible assets, the valuation of share-based compensation and the valuation of contingent liabilities.

 

F-8


Segment Information

The Partnership applies FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 280, Segment Reporting, in determining reportable segments for its financial statement disclosure. Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise about which separate financial information is available that is evaluated regularly by the chief operating decision maker in deciding how to allocate resources and in assessing performance. The Partnership’s chief operating decision maker is the Chief Executive Officer. The Partnership has determined it has two operating segments, which represent its reportable segments: (1) Gathering and Processing and (2) Transmission.

Revenue Recognition

We provide gathering, processing, and disposal services and we sell commodities (including condensate, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (“NGLs”)) under various contracts.

The Partnership recognizes revenue in accordance with the provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) (“Topic 606”). We recognize revenues for services and products under revenue contracts as our obligations to perform services or deliver/sell products under the contracts are satisfied. A contract’s transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation in the contract and recognized as revenue when, or as, the performance obligation is satisfied. These contracts include:

 

   

Fee-based arrangements – Under fee-based contract arrangements, the Partnership provides gathering, processing and disposal services to producers and earns a net margin based on volumes. While transactions vary in form, the essential element of each transaction is the use of the Partnership’s assets to transport a product or provide a processed product to an end-user at the tailgate of the plant or pipeline. This revenue stream is generally directly related to the volume of water, natural gas, crude oil, NGLs, and condensate that flows through the Partnership’s systems and facilities and is not normally dependent on commodity prices. The Partnership primarily acts as an agent under these contracts selling the underlying commodities on behalf of the producer and remitting back to the producer the net proceeds. These such sales and remitted proceeds are presented net within revenue. However, in certain instances, the Partnership acts as the principal for processed residue gas and NGLs by purchasing them from the associated producer at the tailgate of the plant at index prices. This purchase and the associated 3rd party sale are presented gross within revenues and cost of sales.

 

   

Percent-of-proceeds arrangements – Under percentage-of-proceeds based contract arrangements, the Partnership will gather and process natural gas on behalf of producers and sell the outputs, including residue gas, NGLs and condensate at market prices. The Partnership remits an agreed-upon percentage of proceeds to the producer based on the market price received from 3rd parties or the index price defined in the contract. Under these arrangements, revenue is recognized net of the agreed-upon proceeds remitted to producers when the Partnership acts as an agent of the producer for the associated 3rd party sale. However, in certain instances the Partnership acts as the principal for processed residue gas and NGLs by purchasing these volumes from the associated producer at the tailgate of the plant at index prices. This purchase and the associated 3rd party sale are presented gross within revenues and cost of sales.

 

   

Percent-of-products arrangements – Under percent-of-products based contract arrangements, the Partnership will gather and process natural gas on behalf of producers. As partial compensation for services, the producer assigns to the Partnership, for no additional consideration, all right, title and interest to a set percentage, as defined in the contract, of the processed residue volumes. The Partnership recognizes the fair value of these products as revenue when the associated performance obligation has been met.

 

F-9


   

Product sales contracts – Under these contracts, we sell natural gas, NGLs or condensate to third parties. These sales are presented gross within revenues and cost of sales or net within revenues depending on whether the Partnership acts as the agent or the principal in the sale transaction as discussed above.

Our fee-based service contracts primarily have a single performance obligation to deliver a series of distinct goods or services that are substantially the same and have the same pattern of transfer to our producers. For performance obligations associated with these contracts, we recognize revenues over time utilizing the output method based on the actual volumes of products delivered/sold or services performed, because the single performance obligation is satisfied over time using the same performance measure of progress toward satisfaction of the performance obligation. The transaction price under our fee-based service contracts includes variable consideration that varies primarily based on actual volumes that are delivered under the contracts. Because the variable consideration specifically relates to our efforts to transfer the services and/or products under the contracts, we allocate the variable consideration entirely to the distinct service utilizing the allocation exception guidance under Topic 606, and accordingly recognize the variable consideration as revenues at the time the good or service is transferred to the producer.

We recognize revenues at a point in time for performance obligations associated with percent-of-proceeds contract elements, percent-of-products contract elements and product sale contracts, and these revenues are recognized because control of the underlying product is transferred to the customer or producer when the distinct good is provided to the customer or producer.

The evaluation of when performance obligations have been satisfied and the transaction price that is allocated to our performance obligations requires judgments and assumptions, including our evaluation of the timing of when control of the underlying good or service has transferred to our producers or customers. Actual results can vary from those judgments and assumptions.

Minimum Volume Commitments

The Partnership has certain agreements that provide for quarterly or annual minimum volume commitments (“MVCs”). Under these MVCs, our producers agree to ship and/or process a minimum volume of production on our gathering systems or to pay a minimum monetary amount over certain periods during the term of the MVC. A producer must make a shortfall payment to us at the end of the contracted measurement period if its actual throughput volumes are less than its contractual MVC for that period. None of the Partnership’s MVC provisions allow for producers to make up past deficient volumes in a future period. However, certain MVC provisions allow producers to carryforward volumes delivered in excess of a current period MVC to future periods. The Partnership recognizes revenue associated with MVCs when a counterparty has not met the contractual MVC at the completion of the contracted measurement period or we determine that the counterparty cannot meet the contractual MVC by the end of the contracted measurement period.

Disaggregation of Revenue

The Partnership disaggregates revenue into categories that depict the nature, amount, and timing of revenue and cash flows based on differing economic risk profiles for each category. In concluding such disaggregation, the Partnership evaluated the nature of the products and services, consumer markets, sales terms, and sales channels which have similar characteristics such that the level of disaggregation provides an understanding of the Partnership’s business activities and historical performance. The level of disaggregation is evaluated annually and as appropriate for changes to the Partnership or its business, either from internal growth, acquisitions, divestitures, or otherwise. See Note 3 for further details.

Concentration Risk

All operations and efforts of the Partnership are focused in the oil and gas industry and are subject to the related risks of the industry. The Partnership’s assets are located in West Texas. Demand for the Partnership’s products and services may be influenced by various regional and global factors and may impact the value of the projects the Partnership is developing.

 

F-10


The Partnership’s concentration of customers may impact its overall business risk, either positively or negatively, in that these entities may be similarly affected by changes in the economy or other conditions. The Partnership’s operations involve a variety of counterparties, both investment grade and not investment grade. The Partnership analyzes the counterparties’ financial condition prior to entering into an agreement, establishes credit limits and monitors the appropriateness of these limits on an ongoing basis within approved tolerances, with the primary focus on published credit ratings when available and inherent liquidity metrics to mitigate credit risk. Typically, through our customer contracts, the Partnership takes title to the rich gas and associated plant products (NGLs and residue gas). As such, the inherent risk with these types of contracts is mitigated as the Partnership receives funds for the disposition and sale of such products from downstream counterparties that are large investment grade entities and is able to deduct all fees owed to it by its customers and associated costs before remitting the balance of any funds back to the relevant customer. For those few counterparties’ that retain ownership of their plant products, the Partnership attempts to minimize credit risk exposure through its credit policies and monitoring procedures as well as through customer deposits, and letters of credit. The Partnership manages trade credit risk to mitigate credit losses and exposure to uncollectible trade receivables and generally receivables are collected within 30 days. The detailed disclosure of our major customers, or customers comprising 10% of more of the Partnership’s annual revenues, is included in Note 19.

Major Producers are defined as our producers who we gather natural gas, crude and/or produced water and process gas and dispose of produced water from and account for 10% or more of our cost of sales as presented in the consolidated financial statements. For the year ended December 31, 2021, approximately 92% of the Partnership’s cost of sales were derived from five producers. For the year ended December 31, 2020, approximately 76% of the Partnership’s cost of sales were derived from three producers. For the year ended December 31, 2019, approximately 86% of the Partnership’s cost of sales were derived from three producers. This concentration of producers may impact the Partnership’s overall business risk, either positively or negatively, in that these entities may be similarly affected by changes in the economy or other conditions.

The Partnership regularly maintains its cash in bank deposit accounts, which, at times, may exceed federally insured limits. The Partnership has not experienced any losses with respect to the related risks to cash and does not believe its exposure to such risk is more than nominal.

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

ASC Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“Topic 815”), provides the disclosure requirements for derivatives and hedging activities with the intent to provide users of financial statements with an enhanced understanding of: (a) how and why an entity uses derivative instruments, (b) how the entity accounts for derivative instruments and related hedged items, and (c) how derivative instruments and related hedged items affect an entity’s financial position, financial performance, and cash flows. Further, qualitative disclosures are required that explain the Partnership’s objectives and strategies for using derivatives, as well as quantitative disclosures about the fair value of and gains and losses on derivative instruments, and disclosures about credit-risk-related contingent features in derivative instruments.

As required by Topic 815, the Partnership records all derivatives on the balance sheet at fair value. The accounting for changes in the fair value of derivatives depends on the intended use of the derivative, whether the Partnership has elected to designate a derivative in a hedging relationship and apply hedge accounting and whether the hedging relationship has satisfied the criteria necessary to apply hedge accounting. Derivatives designated and qualifying as a hedge of the exposure to variability in expected future cash flows, or other types of forecasted transactions, are considered cash flow hedges. Hedge accounting generally provides for the matching of the timing of gain or loss recognition on the hedging instrument with the recognition of the changes in the fair value of the hedged asset or liability that are attributable to the hedged risk in a fair value hedge or the earnings effect of the hedged forecasted transactions in a cash flow hedge.

For all hedging relationships for which hedge accounting is applied, the Partnership formally documents the hedging relationship and its risk-management objective and strategy for undertaking the hedge, the hedging instrument, the hedged transaction, the nature of the risk being hedged, how the hedging instrument’s effectiveness in offsetting the hedged risk will be assessed prospectively and retrospectively, and a description of the method used to measure ineffectiveness. The Partnership also formally assesses, both at the inception of the hedging relationship and on an ongoing basis, whether the derivatives that are used in hedging relationships are highly effective in

 

F-11


offsetting changes in cash flows of hedged transactions. For derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as part of a cash flow hedging relationship, the effective portion of the gain or loss on the derivative is reported as a component of other comprehensive income and reclassified into earnings in the same period or periods during which the hedged transaction affects earnings. Gains and losses on the derivative representing either hedge ineffectiveness or hedge components excluded from the assessment of effectiveness are recognized in current earnings.

When the Partnership does not elect to apply hedge accounting, the instruments are marked-to-market each period end and changes in fair value, realized or unrealized, are recognized in earnings.

Accounts Receivable and Current Expected Credit Losses

Accounts receivable include amounts due from customers for gas, NGLs and condensate sales, pipeline transportation, and gathering, processing and disposal fees, under normal trade terms, generally requiring payment within 30 days.

The Partnership’s current expected credit losses are determined based upon reviews of individual accounts, existing economics, and other pertinent factors. The Partnership had an allowance for credit losses of $1.0 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.

Gas Imbalance

Quantities of natural gas over-delivered or under-delivered related to imbalance agreements are recorded monthly as receivables or payables using weighted-average prices at the time of the imbalance. These imbalances are typically settled with deliveries of natural gas. We had imbalance receivables of $1.5 million and $1.1 million at December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, which are carried at the lower of cost or market value. We had imbalance payables of $0.3 million and $2.2 million at December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, which approximate the fair value of these imbalances. Imbalance receivables and imbalance payables are included in accounts receivable and accounts payable, respectively, on the consolidated balance sheets.

Inventory

Other current assets include inventory that consists of condensate, and NGLs that are valued at the lower of cost or market. At the end of each reporting period, the Partnership assesses the carrying value of inventory and makes any adjustments necessary to reduce the carrying value to the applicable net realizable value. Inventory was valued at $2.1 million and $0.9 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment are carried at cost or fair market value at the date of acquisition less accumulated depreciation. The cost basis of constructed assets includes materials, labor, and other direct costs. Major improvements or betterments are capitalized, while repairs that do not improve the life of the respective assets are expensed as incurred. Depreciation and amortization are computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets as follows:

 

     Estimated Useful Life  

Buildings

     30 years  

Gathering and processing systems and facilities

     20 years  

Furniture and fixtures

     7 years  

Vehicles

     5 years  

Computer hardware and software

     3 years  

Leases

Effective January 1, 2019 the Company adopted FASB ASU 2016-02, Leases (“Topic 842” or “ASU 2016-02”), as subsequently amended. This is a comprehensive new standard that amends various aspects of existing accounting guidance for leases, including the recognition of right-of-use (“ROU”) assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements.

 

F-12


The Company’s lease portfolio includes certain real estate and equipment. The determination of whether an arrangement is, or contains, a lease is performed at the inception of the arrangement. Operating leases are recorded on the balance sheet with operating lease assets representing the right to use the underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities representing the obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. The Company has elected to account for the lease and non-lease components together as a single component for all classes of underlying assets. The Company excludes variable lease payments in measuring ROU assets and lease liabilities, other than those that depend on an index, a rate or are in-substance fixed payments.

ROU assets and lease liabilities are recognized at the commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. In addition, ROU assets include initial direct costs incurred by the lessee as well as any lease payments made at or before the commencement date are reduced by lease incentives. As most of the Company’s leases do not provide an implicit rate, the Company uses its incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at the commencement date in determining the present value of lease payments. The incremental borrowing rate is determined by using the rate of interest that the Company would pay to borrow on a collateralized basis an amount equal to the lease payments for a similar term and in a similar economic environment. Lease terms include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise that option. Leases with a term of one year or less are excluded from ROU assets and liabilities.

Capitalized Interest

The Partnership’s policy is to capitalize interest cost incurred on debt during the construction of major projects.

Deferred Financing Costs

Deferred financing costs consist of fees incurred to secure debt financing and are amortized over the life of the related debt using the effective interest rate method. Deferred financing costs associated with the Partnership’s term loans are presented with the related debt on the consolidated balance sheet, as a reduction to the carrying amounts. Deferred financing costs associated with the Partnership’s revolving credit facilities are presented within other current assets and other assets on the consolidated balance sheet.

Asset Retirement Obligation

The Partnership follows the provisions of FASB ASC Topic 410, Asset Retirement and Environmental Obligations, which require the fair value of a liability related to the retirement of long-lived assets to be recorded at the time a legal obligation is incurred if the liability can be reasonably estimated. The liability is based on future retirement cost estimates and incorporates many assumptions, such as time to permanent removal, future inflation rates and the credit-adjusted risk-free rate of interest. The retirement obligation is recorded at its estimated present value with an offsetting increase to the related asset on the balance sheet. Over time, the liability is accreted to its future value, with the accretion recorded to expense.

The Partnership’s assets generally consist of gas processing plants, crude storage terminals, saltwater disposal wells, and underground gathering pipelines installed along rights-of-way acquired from landowners and related above-ground facilities. The majority of the rights-of-way agreements do not require the dismantling and removal of the pipelines and reclamation of the rights-of-way upon permanent removal of the pipelines from service. Further, we have in place a rigorous repair and maintenance program that keeps our gathering and processing systems in good working order. As a result, the ultimate dismantlement and removal dates of the Partnership’s assets are not determinable. As such, the fair value of the liability is not estimable and, therefore, no asset retirement obligation has been recognized in the consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.

Environmental Costs

The Partnership is subject to extensive federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations. These laws, which are constantly changing, regulate the discharge of materials into the environment and may require the Partnership to remove or mitigate the environmental effects of the disposal or release of petroleum or chemical substances at various sites, if applicable.

 

F-13


Environmental costs that relate to current operations are expensed or capitalized as appropriate. Costs are expensed when they relate to an existing condition caused by past operations and will not contribute to current or future revenue generation. Liabilities related to environmental assessments and/or remedial efforts are accrued when property or services are probable or can reasonably be estimated. No environmental liabilities were recorded as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.

Intangible Assets

Intangible assets consist of easements, rights of way agreements and customer contracts. Intangible assets are amortized on a straight-line basis over their estimated economic life or remaining term of the contract and are assessed for impairment with the associated long-lived asset group whenever impairment indicators are present.

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of cost over the fair value of assets of businesses acquired. Goodwill is not amortized, but instead is tested for impairment in accordance with ASC 350, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other (“ASC 350”) at the reporting unit level at least annually. The Partnership’s reporting units are subject to impairment testing annually, on November 30, or more frequently if events and circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying amount.

ASC 350 provides the option to assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, including goodwill. The Partnership has the unconditional option to bypass the qualitative assessment for any reporting unit in any period and proceed directly to performing a quantitative goodwill impairment test. If the assessment of all relevant qualitative factors indicates that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, a quantitative goodwill impairment test is not necessary. If the assessment of all relevant qualitative factors indicates that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, the Partnership will perform a quantitative goodwill impairment test. The quantitative impairment test for goodwill consists of a comparison of the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying value, including the goodwill allocated to that reporting unit. If the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, the Partnership will recognize an impairment loss equal to the amount of the excess, limited to the amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit. Application of the impairment test requires judgement, including the identification of reporting units, assignment of assets and liabilities to reporting units and the determination of fair value of each reporting unit.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

In accordance with FASB ASC Topic 360, Property, Plant and Equipment, long-lived assets, excluding goodwill, to be held and used by the Partnership are reviewed to determine whether any events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the asset may not be recoverable. For long-lived assets to be held and used, the Partnership bases their evaluation on impairment indicators such as the nature of the assets, the future economic benefit of the assets, any historical or future profitability measurements and other external market conditions or factors that may be present.

In performing this review, an undiscounted cash flow test is performed at the lowest level for which identifiable cash flows are independent of cash flows from other assets. If the sum of the undiscounted future net cash flows is less than the net book value of the property, an impairment loss is recognized for the excess, if any, of the property’s net book value over its estimated fair value.

During April 2020, the Partnership observed a triggering event associated with the negative pricing environment and its related effects, which were caused by the culmination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the OPEC+ price war. As a result of the undiscounted cash flow test that was performed, no impairment was observed, nor recognized during 2020. Further, the Partnership recognized zero impairment losses of long-lived assets during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2019 as there were no triggering events observed during these years.

 

F-14


Investment in Unconsolidated Affiliate

The Partnership owns a 26.67% interest in PHP that is accounted for by the equity method. In general, we use the equity method of accounting for an investment for which we are not the primary beneficiary and do not control, but over which we have significant influence as to the investee’s operating and financial policies. An impairment of an investment in an unconsolidated affiliate is recognized when circumstances indicate that a decline in the investment value is other than temporary. No impairments were recognized during the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

Variable Interest Entities

The Partnership uses a qualitative approach in assessing the consolidation requirement for variable interest entities. The approach focuses on identifying which enterprise has the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the variable interest entity’s economic performance and which enterprise has the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits from the variable interest entity. In the event that the Partnership is the primary beneficiary of a variable interest entity, the assets, liabilities, and results of operations of the variable interest entity would be consolidated in our financial statements. PHP was initially determined to be a variable interest entity as it lacked sufficient equity to finance the construction of the PHP pipeline without requiring significant additional capital contributions from its members. Subsequent to the completion of the PHP pipeline and the receipt of the final contributions from its members during January of 2021, PHP now has sufficient equity to fund any required future contributions under the PHP LLC Agreement and PHP is no longer considered to be a variable interest entity.

Other Assets

The Partnership’s accounting policy is to classify its line fill as an other long-term asset to be consistent with industry practices and given line fill is required on the 3rd party pipeline to properly flow the Partnership’s product. Additionally, this line fill is contractually required to be maintained through the life of the contract with our counterparty and therefore will not be settled within an operating period. Accordingly, the Partnership has NGL line fill of $4.1 million and $3.9 million within other assets as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Income Taxes

The Partnership is organized as a Delaware limited partnership and is treated as a flow-through entity for income tax purposes. As a result, the net taxable income of the Partnership and any related tax credits, for federal income tax purposes, are deemed to pass to the partners of the Partnership even though such net taxable income or tax credits may not have actually been distributed. Accordingly, no tax provision, excluding for Texas as described below, has been made in the consolidated financial statements of the Partnership since the income tax is an obligation of the partners.

The Partnership is subject to state margin tax in Texas. The Partnership accounts for state income taxes in accordance with the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes. Deferred income taxes are recognized for the tax consequences of temporary differences, at enacted statutory rates, between the consolidated financial statement carrying amounts and the tax bases of existing assets and liabilities. Income tax or benefit represents the current tax payable or refundable for the period, plus or minus the tax effect of the net change in the deferred tax assets and liabilities.

The Partnership is subject to certain provisions related to uncertain tax positions. The Partnership has reviewed its pass-through status and determined no uncertain tax positions exist.

Net Income (Loss) per Unit

Net income (loss) per limited partner unit is computed using the two-class method required for multiple classes of common stock based upon their respective rights to receive dividends as if all income (loss) for the period has been distributed. The rights, including the voting and dividend rights, of the Class B, Class C and Class E limited partner units are identical, other than liquidation rights. Basic net income (loss) per limited partner unit is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted-average number of limited partner units of Class B, Class C, and

 

F-15


Class E limited partner units outstanding. As the dividend rights are identical, the undistributed earnings (loss) are allocated on a proportionate basis and the resulting basic net income (loss) per limited partner unit attributed to common stockholders is the same for Class B, Class C and Class E limited partner units on an individual or combined basis. Diluted net income (loss) per limited partner unit gives effect to all dilutive securities, which include incentive units and are computed using the treasury stock method. Potential dilutive securities are excluded from the computation of diluted net income (loss) per limited partner unit if their effect is anti-dilutive. Dilutive net income (loss) per limited partner unit is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the fully diluted weighted-average number of limited partner units outstanding.

Acquisitions

The Partnership accounts for the acquisition of businesses under the guidance of FASB ASC Topic 805, Business Combinations (“Topic 805”), which requires an acquiring entity to recognize the assets acquired and liabilities assumed at fair value under the acquisition method of accounting, provided they qualify for acquisition accounting under Topic 805.

In accordance with Topic 805, the Partnership records identifiable assets acquired, and liabilities assumed at fair value at the date of acquisition. Procedures performed in estimating the fair value of acquired assets and liabilities include the income approach, market approach, and cost approach. The income approach provides an estimation of the fair value of an asset or business based on the cash flows that an asset or a business can be expected to generate over its remaining useful life. The market approach provides an estimation of fair value which is based on market prices in actual transactions and on asking prices for similar assets (or businesses). Finally, the cost approach is a valuation technique that uses the concept of replacement costs as an indicator of fair value. Significant Level 3 assumptions associated with the calculation of discounted cash flows used in the determination of fair value of the acquisition include the Partnership’s estimate of future revenue based on expected volumes, operating expenses, appropriate risk-adjusted discount rates and other relevant data.

The Partnership recognizes the fair value of any contingent liabilities that are acquired from the seller in a business combination on the date at which control of the acquiree is obtained. This value is generally determined through a probability-weighted analysis of the expected cash flows. It is remeasured at each reporting date, and any changes in fair value are recognized in net income.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

Effective January 1, 2019, the Partnership adopted FASB ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) as subsequently amended, which requires lessees to recognize leases on-balance sheet and disclose key information about leasing arrangements. Topic 842 establishes a ROU model that requires a lessee to recognize an ROU asset and lease liability on the balance sheet for all leases with a term longer than 12 months. Leases are classified as finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern and classification of expense recognition in the income statement. The Partnership utilized the optional transition method set forth in ASU 2018-11 that allows entities to elect to initially apply the new lease accounting standard as of January 1, 2019 and recognize a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of partners’ capital at such date. In addition, the Partnership elected to adopt the package of transition practical expedients and, therefore, has not reassessed (1) whether existing or expired contracts contain a lease, (2) lease classification for existing or expired leases or (3) the accounting for initial direct costs that were previously capitalized. As a result of the adoption of ASU 2016-02, on January 1, 2019, the Company recorded both right of use assets of $68.9 million and operating lease liabilities of $69.1 million with an immaterial opening impact to partners’ capital. The adoption of ASU 2016-02 had an immaterial impact on the Company’s consolidated statements of operations and consolidated statements of cash flows.

On January 1, 2020, the Partnership adopted FASB ASU 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework – Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement (“ASU 2018-13”). ASU 2018-13 modifies the disclosure requirements of Topic 820. The need to disclose transfers between Level 1 and 2, valuation processes for Level 3 fair value measurements and changes in unrealized gains and losses included in earnings for recurring Level 3 value measures have been eliminated. The deletion of the wording; “at a minimum” from the phrase “an entity shall disclose at a minimum” to promote the appropriate use of discretion by entities, clarification on the measurement uncertainty disclosures amongst a few others were modifications introduced by the ASU. The adoption of ASU 2018-13 did not have a material impact on the Partnership’s consolidated financial statements.

 

F-16


On January 1, 2020, the Partnership adopted FASB ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326) (“ASU 2016-13”). ASU 2016-13 was issued to bring consistency in the accounting treatment of different types of financial instruments, require consideration of a broader range of variables when forming loss estimates, and require immediate recognition of management’s estimates of current expected credit losses (“CECL”). This update is effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those fiscal years. All entities may adopt the amendments in this update earlier as of the fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Partnership recorded expected credit losses of $2.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 in conjunction with the adoption of ASU 2016-13.

On January 1, 2021, the Partnership adopted ASU 2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities (“ASU 2017-12”), which simplifies the limitations on how an entity can designate the hedged risks in certain cash flow and fair value hedging relationships. The guidance better aligns the recognition and presentation of the effects of hedging instrument(s) and item(s) in the financial statements with an entity’s risk management strategies. In October 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-16, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Inclusion of the Secured Overnight Index Swap (OIS) Rate as a Benchmark Interest Rate for Hedge Accounting Purposes (“ASU 2018-16”). At present in the United States, eligible benchmark interest rates used to evaluate the changes in the fair values or cash flows of existing or forecasted issuances or purchases of fixed-rate financial assets or liabilities are the U.S. Treasury yields (“UST”), London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) and Overnight Index Swap (“OIS”) based on the Fed Funds Effective Rate. Due to concerns about the sustainability of LIBOR, the amendment in this update permits use of the OIS rate based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (“SIFMA”) Municipal Rate as a U.S. benchmark interest rate in addition to the other rates mentioned above. ASU 2018-16 is to be adopted concurrently with the amendments in ASU 2017-12. In November 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-10, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326), Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815), and Leases (Topic 842): Effective Dates (“ASU 2019-10”). ASU 2019-10 deferred the effective dates for several major accounting standards, including deferring the effective date of ASU 2017-12 to fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020. The adoption of ASU 2017-12 and ASU 2018-16 did not have a material impact on the Partnership’s consolidated financial statements as LIBOR is still available as of December 31, 2021 and the Partnership has not adopted hedge accounting for any of its current outstanding derivatives.

On January 1, 2021, the Partnership adopted ASU 2018-15, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other – Internal Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement (CCA) That is a Service Contract (“ASU 2018-15”). The ASU provides guidance on how to determine whether an arrangement includes a software license or is solely a hosted CCA service. Under the new guidance, the same criteria for capitalizing implementation costs for an arrangement with a software license which falls within the scope of internal – use software guidance will be applied to a hosting arrangement. The new guidance also prescribes the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow classification of the capitalized implementation costs and related amortization expense. The adoption of ASU 2018-15 did not have a material impact on the Partnership’s consolidated financial statements.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848) (“ASU 2020-04”). ASU 2020-04 was issued to ease the potential accounting burden expected when global capital markets move away from LIBOR, the benchmark interest rate banks use to make short-term loans to each other. The amendments in this update provide optional expedients and exceptions for applying U.S. GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform if certain criteria are met. The amendments in this update are effective for all entities as of March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022. The Partnership is currently evaluating the effect that ASU 2020-04 will have on its consolidated financial statements.

 

F-17


In October 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-08, Business Combinations (Topic 805), Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers, which requires contract assets and contract liabilities (i.e., deferred revenue) acquired in a business combination to be recognized and measured by the acquirer on the acquisition date in accordance with ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. Generally, this new guidance will result in the acquirer recognizing contract assets and contract liabilities at the same amounts recorded by the acquiree. Historically, such amounts were recognized by the acquirer at fair value in acquisition accounting. The guidance should be applied prospectively to acquisitions occurring on or after the effective date. The guidance is effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, including in interim periods, for any financial statements that have not yet been issued. The Partnership is currently evaluating the effect that ASU 2021-08 will have on its consolidated financial statements.

Note 3. Revenue

Disaggregation of Revenues

The following table disaggregates our revenues for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019:

 

     December 31,  
     2021      2020      2019  
    

 

    

 

    

 

 
     (In thousands)  

Gathering and processing services

   $ 272,677      $ 272,829      $ 233,987  

Natural gas, NGLs & condensate sales

     385,622        135,330        144,270  

Other revenues

     3,745        2,017        487  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total operating revenues

   $ 662,044      $ 410,176      $ 378,744  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019 the Partnership recognized revenues from MVCs of $2.5 million, $0.1 million and $1.8 million, respectively.

Remaining Performance Obligations

The following table presents our estimated revenue from contracts with customers for remaining performance obligations that has not yet been recognized, representing our contractually committed revenues as of December 31, 2021:

 

     Amount  
Fiscal Year    (In thousands)  

2022

   $ 14,247  

2023

     11,829  

2024

     7,938  

2025

     6,154  

2026

     5,066  

Thereafter

     72,952  
  

 

 

 
   $ 118,186  
  

 

 

 

Our contractually committed revenue, for purposes of the tabular presentation above, is generally limited to customer contracts that have fixed pricing and fixed volume terms and conditions, generally including contracts with payment obligations associated with MVCs.

Contract Liabilities

The following provides information about contract liabilities from contracts with customers:

 

     2021      2020  
    

 

    

 

 
     (In thousands)  

Balance as of January 1

   $ 11,085      $ 8,983  

Reclassification of beginning contract liabilities to revenue as a result of performance obligations being satisfied

     (423      (1,466

Cash received in advance and not recognized as revenue

     4,094        3,568  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Balance as of December 31

     14,756        11,085  

Less: Current portion

     3,082        1,556  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Non-current portion

   $ 11,674      $ 9,529  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

F-18


Contract liabilities relate to payments received in advance of satisfying performance obligations under a contract, which result from contribution in aid of construction payments. Current and noncurrent contract liabilities are included in other current liabilities and deferred revenue, respectively.

Contract Cost Assets

The Partnership has capitalized certain costs incurred to obtain a contract that would not have been incurred if the contract had not been obtained. These costs are recovered through the net cash flows of the associated contract. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the Partnership had contract acquisition cost assets of $18.4 million and $20.2 million, respectively. Current and noncurrent contract cost assets are included in other current assets and other assets, respectively. The Partnership amortizes these assets as cost of sales on a straight-line basis over the life of the associated long-term customer contract. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, the Partnership recognized cost of sales associated with these assets of $1.8 million, $1.8 million and $1.2 million, respectively.

Note 4. Property, Plant and Equipment, Net

Property, plant and equipment, net is comprised of the following:

 

     December 31,  
     2021      2020  
    

 

    

 

 
     (In thousands)  

Gathering and processing systems and facilities

   $ 2,121,434      $ 2,038,386  

Vehicles

     6,090        5,788  

Computers and equipment

     4,271        3,520  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 
     2,131,795        2,047,694  

Less: Accumulated depreciation

     (337,030      (230,595
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total depreciable assets, net

     1,794,765        1,817,099  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Construction work in progress

     24,888        31,332  

Land

     19,626        18,563  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total property, plant and equipment, net

   $ 1,839,279      $ 1,866,994  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Depreciation expense on property, plant and equipment was $106.8 million, $97.4 million, and $80.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Capitalized interest included in property, plant and equipment amounted to $0.9 million, $16.1 million, and $10.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Note 5. Intangible Assets, Net

Intangible assets, net are comprised of the following:

 

     December 31,  
     2021      2020  
    

 

    

 

 
     (In thousands)  

Customer contracts

   $ 1,135,964      $ 1,170,825  

Right of way assets

     99,344        94,824  

Less accumulated amortization

     (449,259      (343,876
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total amortizable intangible assets, net

   $ 786,049      $ 921,773  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

The fair value of acquired customer contracts was capitalized as of the closing dates for certain acquisitions and is being amortized using a straight-line method over the remaining term of the customer contracts, which range from 1 to 20 years. Amortization expense for customer contracts was $126.6 million, $116.4 million, and $115.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

 

F-19


Right of way assets have a useful life of ten years and are amortized using the straight-line method. The right of way agreements are generally for an initial term of ten years with an option to renew for an additional ten years at agreed upon renewal rates based on certain indices or up to 130% of the original consideration paid. Amortization expense for right of way assets was $10.2 million, $10.0 million, and $7.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Estimated aggregate amortization expense for the remaining unamortized balance in years is as follows:

 

     Amount  
Fiscal Year    (In thousands)  

2022

   $ 118,117  

2023

     117,846  

2024

     117,062  

2025

     116,233  

2026

     109,728  

Thereafter

     207,063  
  

 

 

 
   $ 786,049  
  

 

 

 

Note 6. Goodwill

During the first four months of 2020, current and forward commodity prices significantly declined from their levels at December 31, 2019 due primarily to the decreases in energy demand as a result of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and actions taken by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia, the United States and other oil-producing countries (“OPEC+”) relating to the oversupply of oil. The resulting negative price environment for crude oil caused a number of our customers to shut-in a significant portion of their wells for which we provide gathering, and processing services.

Based on these events, we determined that the forecasted cash flows, and therefore the fair value, of our reporting units significantly decreased, and accordingly performed a quantitative impairment assessment of the goodwill related to all reporting units. The assessment of fair value utilized inputs that are not observable in the market and thus level 3 inputs. Based on our quantitative assessments, we determined that all goodwill at all reporting units should be fully impaired, and accordingly recorded a $1.0 billion impairment for the year ended December 31, 2020. There were no impairments during the year ended December 31, 2019. The Partnership did not have any recorded goodwill as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.

Note 7. Investment in Unconsolidated Affiliate

The Partnership holds a 26.67% membership interest in PHP with three other members. Each member is a party to the associated LLC Agreement. PHP was originally determined to be a variable interest entity as it lacked sufficient equity to finance the construction of the PHP pipeline without requiring significant additional capital contributions from its members. The Partnership absorbs variability associated with the risks and rewards of PHP’s operations through its 26.67% membership interest.

It was determined that Holdco is not the primary beneficiary of PHP as the Partnership does not have the power to direct PHP’s activities that most significantly impact economic performance. As defined in the LLC agreement, PHP’s board controls the activities that most significantly affect economic performance and the Partnership does not hold majority control of the board. The Partnership’s investment in PHP of $626.5 million and $611.2 million within investment in unconsolidated affiliate as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, approximates the Partnership’s maximum exposure to loss from variable interest entity relationships.

Subsequent to the completion of the PHP pipeline and the receipt of the final contributions from its members during January of 2021, PHP now has sufficient equity to fund any required future contributions under the PHP LLC Agreement and PHP is no longer considered to be a variable interest entity.

 

F-20


As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the carrying amount of the Partnership’s investment in PHP approximated the amounts of underlying equity in net assets. During the year ended December 31, 2019 and in connection with two members’ option exercises, the Partnership sold a portion of its interests in PHP for cash proceeds of $92.7 million, and a total gain of $3.4 million.

The following table summarizes certain of PHP’s financial information as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 and for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019:

 

     December 31,  
Balance Sheets    2021      2020  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

  

 

    

 

 
     (In thousands)  

Current assets

   $ 69,995      $ 23,734  

Noncurrent assets

     2,267,940        2,316,176  

Current liabilities

     (36,657      (95,863

 

     December 31,  
Statement of Operations    2021      2020      2019  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

  

 

    

 

    

 

 
     (In thousands)  

Revenue

   $ 397,237      $ 7,220      $ —    

Operating income (loss)

     237,230        (1,798      (93

Net income (loss)

     236,528        (1,140      1,587  

Note 8. Accrued expenses

Accrued expenses consist of the following:

 

     December 31,  
     2021      2020  
    

 

    

 

 
     (In thousands)  

Accrued product purchases

   $ 118,364      $ 48,585  

Accrued taxes

     4,299        8,960  

Accrued salaries, vacation, and related benefits

     2,113        1,729  

Accrued capital expenditures

     2,995        1,495  

Accrued other expenses

     7,872        4,121  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total accrued expenses

   $ 135,643      $ 64,890  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Note 9. Leases

Components of lease costs are presented on the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss) as general and administrative expense for real-estate leases and operating expense for non-real estate leases. Total operating lease cost for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019 are $38.7 million, $43.6 million, and $34.5 million, respectively. Short-term lease cost for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019 are $4.7 million, $2.8 million, and $1.3 million, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, the Partnership did not have material variable lease costs.

The following table presents other supplemental lease information:

 

     2021     2020  
    

 

   

 

 
     (In thousands)  

Operating cash flows from operating lease

   $ 38,355     $ 43,903  

Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new operating lease liabilities

   $ 43,580       16,991  

Weighted-average remaining lease term - operating leases (in years)

     1.89       2.29  

Weighted-average discount rate - operating leases

     7.75     9.83

 

F-21


The following table presents future minimum lease payments under operating leases as of December 31, 2021.

 

     Amount  
Fiscal Year    (In thousands)  

2022

   $ 35,685  

2023

     29,092  

2024

     844  

2025

     272  

2026

     272  

Thereafter

     113  
  

 

 

 

Total lease payments

     66,278  

Less: interest

     (4,613
  

 

 

 

Present value of lease liabilities

   $ 61,665  
  

 

 

 

Note 10. Long Term Debt

2017 Credit Facility

Contemporaneous with the close of the EagleClaw acquisition on June 22, 2017, the Partnership entered into a credit agreement with its lenders and with Jefferies Finance LLC, as administrative agent, for a term loan in and initial aggregate principal amount of $1.25 billion with a tenor of seven years, maturing on June 22, 2024. Fixed principal payments equal to 0.25% of the initial principal amount are required to be paid quarterly. Interest is paid on the term loan periodically at a rate equal to 4.25% plus LIBOR subject to a floor of 1%. The Partnership paid scheduled principal payments on this term loan of $12.5 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019. Additionally, throughout 2021, the Partnership voluntarily repurchased $18.3 million of outstanding term loan debt associated with the $1.25 billion term loan on the open market.

In addition, contemporaneously with the credit agreement described above, the Partnership entered into a super-priority revolving credit agreement with its lenders and with Jefferies Finance LLC, as administrative agent, in an initial aggregate principal amount of $100.0 million that is expandable up to $125.0 million with a tenor of five years, maturing on June 22, 2022. On January 16, 2020, the Partnership entered into an amendment to its revolving credit agreement providing for $25.0 million in incremental commitments, thereby increasing the aggregate revolving credit commitments of all lenders to $125.0 million. On January 4, 2021, the Partnership entered into an amendment to the $125.0 million revolving credit agreement extending the maturity date from June 22, 2022 to November 3, 2023.

Interest is paid on the revolver periodically at a rate equal to LIBOR (0% floor) plus 4%, which decreases to LIBOR (0% floor) plus 3.7% when the Partnership’s consolidated net leverage ratio is no greater than 4.50 to 1.00. The Partnership must pay commitment fees quarterly in an amount equal to 0.50% per annum, which decreases to 0.375% per annum when the Partnership’s consolidated net leverage is no greater than 4.50 to 1.00, in each case on the unused portion of the commitment. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, there were $0.5 million and $4.4 million in outstanding letters of credit under the revolving credit facility, respectively.

The obligations arising under the foregoing debt agreements are (a) guaranteed by substantially all of the Partnership’s wholly-owned domestic subsidiaries and its direct parent company and (b) secured by first priority liens on substantially all personal property assets of the Partnership and such guarantors, including by a pledge of the equity issued by the Partnership and its subsidiaries that are guarantors and on certain material real property owned by the Partnership and its subsidiaries that are guarantors.

The foregoing debt agreements contain various covenants or restriction provisions that, among other things, require the Partnership to comply with cash waterfall requirements and maintain deposit account control agreements on their deposit accounts and limit or restrict the Partnership’s ability to incur or guarantee additional debt, incur certain liens on assets, dispose of assets, make certain restricted payments, change the nature of the business, engage in fundamental changes, make investments, prepay subordinated debt, enter into burdensome agreements or enter into certain restricted transactions with affiliates above certain thresholds. These debt agreements also contain a financial covenant requiring maintenance of a 1.10 to 1.00 debt service coverage ratio, tested quarterly, and the debt agreement for the super-priority revolving credit facility contains a financial covenant requiring maintenance of a 1.25 to 1.00 super senior leverage ratio, tested quarterly. The Partnership is in compliance with all covenants in the foregoing debt agreements as of the date hereof.

 

F-22


2018 Credit Facility

Contemporaneous with the close of the CR Permian acquisition on November 1, 2018, the Partnership entered into a credit agreement with its lenders and with Barclays Bank PLC, as administrative agent, for a term loan in an initial aggregate principal amount of $690.0 million with a tenor of seven years, maturing on November 3, 2025. Fixed principal payments equal to 0.25% of the initial principal amount are required to be paid quarterly. Interest is paid on the term loan periodically at a rate equal to 4.75% plus LIBOR (0% floor). The Partnership paid scheduled principal payments on this term loan of $6.9 million, $6.9 million and $3.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Additionally, throughout 2021, the Partnership voluntarily repurchased $25.9 million of outstanding term loan debt associated with the $690 million term loan on the open market. Similar open market repurchases totaling $7.5 million were made during the year ended December 31, 2020.

In addition, the Partnership entered into a revolving credit facility in an initial aggregate principal amount of $50.0 million with a tenor of five years, maturing on November 3, 2023. On January 16, 2020, the Partnership entered into an amendment to the revolving credit agreement that increased the revolving commitment in an aggregate principal amount of $10.0 million, thereby increasing the aggregate revolving credit commitments of all lenders to $60.0 million. Interest is paid on the revolver periodically at a rate equal to LIBOR plus the applicable margin based on our consolidated total leverage ratio, which is between 4.25% and 4.75%. Any unpaid interest and principal are due at maturity. The Partnership must pay quarterly commitment fees of 0.5% on the unused portion of the commitment, which commenced in September 2019. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, there were no outstanding letters of credit under the revolving credit facility.

Our debt agreements contain various covenants or restriction provisions that, amongst other things limit or restrict the Partnership’s ability to incur certain liens on assets, property or revenue, engage in certain mergers, dissolutions, investments or acquisitions, incur indebtedness or guarantee debt, make certain dispositions, and enter into certain transactions with subsidiaries or affiliates that exceed a specified threshold. These agreements also contain defined financial covenants, including a debt service coverage ratio. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the Partnership was in compliance with all loan covenants.

2019 Credit Facility

On September 18, 2019, the Partnership entered into a credit agreement with its lenders for a term facility with an initial term commitment of $483.0 million and a conversion date term commitment of $30.2 million and a letter of credit facility up to $32.7 million. On the closing date, $232.1 million was drawn down on the term commitment and additional drawdowns totaling $250.9 million were borrowed over the subsequent months to fund the Partnership’s capital contributions to PHP. The tenor of the agreement is equal to the earlier of six and two-tenths years from the closing date, or four years after the term conversion date. The term conversion date is essentially the final completion date of the PHP pipeline project, which occurred on March 3, 2021. On March 3, 2021, all conditions of the term conversion were met, and the Partnership borrowed the additional $30.2 million associated with the conversion date term commitment, which was subsequently distributed to our equity sponsors. Given the establishment of the term conversion date, the maturity of the associated debt is due March 3, 2025 in accordance with the credit agreement. During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Partnership paid its first principal payments on this term loan totaling $33.8 million.

Fixed principal payments are required to be paid quarterly commencing with the first full quarter ending after the term conversion date, which was June 30, 2021. Interest is paid on the outstanding borrowings monthly at a rate equal to 1.625% plus adjusted LIBOR (subject to a 1% floor) for four years after the closing date and at a rate equal to 1.875% plus adjusted LIBOR (subject to a 1% floor) thereafter.

The Partnership must also pay quarterly commitment fees of 35% of the applicable margin then in effect on the undrawn portion of the available commitments. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, there were no outstanding letters of credit.

The debt agreement contains various covenants or restrictive provisions that, amongst other things, limit or restrict the Partnership’s ability to incur certain liens on assets, make or hold certain new investments, incur or guarantee additional debt, dispose of certain assets, make certain restricted payments, change the nature of the business, or enter into any transactions with affiliates in excess of $5.0 million, all of which the Partnership is in compliance. The debt agreement also pledges the equity interests held by the Partnership in PHP as collateral.

 

F-23


The fair value of the Partnership’s debt as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 was $2.34 billion and $2.36 billion, respectively.

Debt obligations as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 consisted of the following:

 

     December 31,  
     2021      2020  
    

 

    

 

 
     (In thousands)  

$1.25 billion term loan

   $ 1,175,417      $ 1,206,250  

$690 million term loan

     639,393        672,150  

$513 million term loan

     479,377        483,031  

$125 million revolving line of credit

     52,000        70,500  

$60 million revolving line of credit

     —          12,500  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 
     2,346,187        2,444,431  

Less: Deferred financing costs, net

     (38,485      (50,792
  

 

 

    

 

 

 
     2,307,702        2,393,639  

Less: Current portion

     (54,280      (53,310
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Long-term portion of debt and finance lease obligations

   $ 2,253,422      $ 2,340,329  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

A reconciliation of total interest cost to interest expense as reported in the consolidated statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 is as follows:

 

     December 31,  
     2021      2020      2019  
    

 

    

 

    

 

 
     (In thousands)  

Interest cost capitalized

   $ 868      $ 16,131      $ 10,868  

Interest cost charged to income

     117,365        135,516        133,535  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total interest cost

   $ 118,233      $ 151,647      $ 144,403  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Deferred financing costs associated with the term loans were $38.5 million, net of accumulated amortization of $41.2 million as of December 31, 2021. Deferred financing costs associated with the term loans were $50.8 million, net of accumulated amortization of $29.8 million as of December 31, 2020.

Deferred financing costs associated with the revolvers were $3.0 million, net of accumulated amortization of $3.9 million as of December 31, 2021. Deferred financing costs associated with the revolvers were $1.8 million, net of accumulated amortization of $1.9 million as of December 31, 2020.

The amortization of the deferred financing costs was charged to interest expense for the periods presented. The amount of deferred financing costs included in interest expense for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 was approximately $13.4 million, $11.9 million, and $9.7 million, respectively.

The following table reflects future maturities of long-term debt for each of the next five years and thereafter. These amounts exclude approximately $38.5 million in unamortized deferred financing costs.

 

     Amount  
Fiscal Year    (In thousands)  

2022

   $ 66,153  

2023

     118,754  

2024

     1,206,736  

2025

     663,841  

2026

     50,706  

Thereafter

     239,997  
  

 

 

 

Total

   $ 2,346,187  
  

 

 

 

 

F-24


Note 11. Equity

Pursuant to the Fourth Amended and Restated Limited Partnership Agreement (“LP Agreement”) dated October 22, 2020 there are two classes of Partnership interests: general partner interests and limited partner interests. Each partner’s relative rights, privileges, preferences, restrictions, and obligations with respect to the Partnership are provided for in the LP Agreement. A total of 100 general partner interests are authorized for issuance with none outstanding as of December 31, 2021 and 2020. The general partner interests are not entitled to any allocation of income, gains, losses, or deduction, or to any distributions.

The Partnership is authorized to issue six series of limited partner interests comprised of Class A Units, Class B Units, Class C Units, Class E Units, and Class F Units. Class A Units represent profits interests held by management. Class B Units, Class C Units, Class E Units and Class F Units represent common units with an unlimited amount authorized for issuance. Except with respect to certain consent requirements required under the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act, the limited partner interests have no right to participate in the management of the Partnership. Further, in the event any matters are submitted to a vote of the limited partner interests, partners holding Class A Units shall not have any right to vote.

Midco Common Units

Midco Common Units are comprised of the Class B Units and Class C Units held at Holdco, which derive value and potential future distributions from the assets and operations of BCP Raptor Midco, LLC (“Midco”), a wholly owned subsidiary, that holds the Partnership’s EagleClaw and CR Permian assets. The Class B Units are held by Blackstone and ISQ with ISQ first acquiring units as of November 1, 2018. Approximately 2,732,536,599 Class B Units were outstanding as of December 31, 2021 and 2020. The Class C Units are held by current and former members of management. Approximately 43,785,915 Class C Units were outstanding as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.

Pipeco Common Units

Pipeco Common Units are comprised of the Class E Units and Class F Units held at Holdco, which derive value and potential future distributions from the assets and operations of BCP Residue Pipeco, LLC (“Pipeco”), a wholly owned subsidiary, that holds the Partnership’s equity investment in PHP and Delaware Link assets. These units were created during 2018 as part of the Third Amended and Restated Limited Partnership Agreement. The Class E Units are held by Blackstone and ISQ. Approximately 254,412,601 and 290,711,677 Class E Units were outstanding as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. No Class F Units were outstanding as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.

Allocations to Capital Accounts and Distributions

The LP Agreement defines that allocations to capital accounts and distributions are made to each class of unit as though the Partnership was dissolved. Capital account allocations and distributions are made in accordance with the below defined prioritizations.

 

  (i)

First, to the common unit holders in accordance with their respective relative percentage interests until the unreturned capital amount has been reduced to zero dollars;

 

  (ii)

Second, to the common unit holders in accordance with their respective relative percentage interests until an internal rate of return of 8 percent per annum on contributed capital has been provided;

 

  (iii)

Third,

 

  a.

to the holders of Class A Units pro rata an amount equal to 10.0 percent of the portion of any distribution to which this (iii) applies multiplied by the percentage of vested Class A Units versus authorized Class A Units less the aggregate amount (if any) payable to holders of other incentive units as a result or otherwise in respect of such distribution, and

 

  b.

the remainder to the holders of common units in accordance with their respective relative percentage interests until an internal rate of return of 15.0 percent per annum on contributed capital has been provided; provided, that if at the time the internal rate of return of 15.0 percent per annum on contributed capital has been paid and the Exit Multiple On Invested Capital (“MOIC”) Threshold has not been met, then the Partnership shall continue to make distributions until the Exit MOIC Threshold has been met; the Exit MOIC Threshold is defined as two times the cumulative amount of all contributions by the holders of common units;

 

F-25


  (iv)

Fourth, to the holders of the Class A Units pro rata an amount equal to 20.0 percent of any remaining distributions and the remainder to the holders of the common units in accordance with their respective relative percentage interests.

Note 12. Fair Value Measurements

Topic 820 establishes a framework for measuring fair value in U.S. GAAP, clarifies the definition of fair value within that framework, and requires disclosures about the use of fair value measurements. Topic 820 defines fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset, or paid to transfer a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. Topic 820 provides a framework for measuring fair value, establishes a three-level hierarchy for fair value measurements based upon the transparency of inputs to the valuation of an asset or liability as of the measurement date and requires consideration of the counterparty’s creditworthiness when valuing certain assets.

Topic 820 establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets (Level 1 inputs). The three levels of the fair value hierarchy under Topic 820 are described below:

Level 1 inputs: Unadjusted, quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities. An active market is defined as a market where transactions for the financial instrument occur with sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis.

Level 2 inputs: Inputs, other than quoted prices in active markets, that are either directly or indirectly observable for the asset or liability through correlation with market data at the measurement date and for the duration of the instrument’s anticipated life.

Level 3 inputs: Prices or valuations that require unobservable inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable. Valuation under Level 3 generally involves a significant degree of judgment from management.

A financial instrument’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of any input that is significant to the fair value measurement. Where available, fair value is based on observable market prices or inventory parameters or derived from such prices or parameters. Where observable prices or inputs are not available, valuation models are applied. These valuation techniques involve some level of management estimation and judgment, the degree of which is dependent on the price transparency for the instruments or market and the instrument’s complexity. The Partnership’s primary financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis are disclosed within the tables in Note 13.

The Partnership reflects transfers between the three levels at the beginning of the reporting period in which the availability of observable inputs no longer justifies classification in the original level. There were no transfers between fair value hierarchy levels for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

Long-term Debt

The fair value of the Partnership’s long-term debt is measured using quoted offer-side prices when quoted market prices are available. If quoted market prices are not available, the fair value is determined by discounting the future cash flows of each instrument at rates that reflect rates currently observed in publicly traded debt markets for debt of similar terms to companies with comparable credit risk.

 

F-26


Contingent Liabilities

As further discussed in Note 17, the fair values of the contingent liabilities was estimated utilizing significant level 3 assumptions including present value factors based on the Partnership’s weighted-average cost of capital, estimated payout probabilities and timing, and estimated future volumes.

Fair Value on a Nonrecurring Basis

Enterprise Valuation—Impairment

As discussed in Note 6, the Partnership performed a quantitative impairment assessment of the goodwill related to all reporting units as a result of a triggering event observed during April of 2020. The enterprise valuation for the goodwill impairment test utilized both market and income approaches to estimate fair value as of April 30, 2020. Significant Level 3 assumptions associated with the income and market approach calculations include the Partnership’s estimate of future natural gas prices, operating margins, EBITDA and exit multiples, discount rates, control premiums and other relevant data.

Note 13. Derivatives and Hedging Activities

The Partnership is exposed to certain risks arising from both its business operations and economic conditions. The Partnership principally manages its exposures to a wide variety of business and operational risks through management of its core business activities.

Interest Rate Risk

The Partnership manages economic risks, including interest rate, liquidity, and credit risk primarily by managing the amount, sources, and duration of its debt funding and the use of derivative financial instruments. Specifically, the Partnership enters into derivative financial instruments to manage exposures that arise from activities that result in the payment of future known and uncertain cash amounts, the value of which are determined by interest rates. The Partnership minimizes counterparty credit risk in derivative instruments by entering into transactions with high-quality counterparties.

The Partnership’s objectives in using interest rate derivatives is to add stability to interest expense and to manage its exposure to interest rate movements. To accomplish this objective, the Partnership primarily uses interest rate swaps as part of its interest rate risk management strategy. Interest rate swaps designated as cash flow hedges involve the receipt of variable amounts from a counterparty if interest rates rise above the strike rate on the contract.

On August 17, 2017, the Partnership entered into two interest rate swaps totaling $650.0 million associated with our $1.25 billion term loan and applied hedge accounting. These swaps contained an effective date of September 29, 2017 and an expiration date of September 30, 2019. These swaps resulted in a fixed LIBOR rate of 1.52% for the notional amount of our debt for the LIBOR component of our interest rate, which is comprised of a strike rate of 1% and a premium of 0.52051% per annum that is paid in monthly installments. These interest rate swaps expired on September 30, 2019.

The effective portion of changes in the fair value of derivatives designated and that qualify as cash flow hedges is recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income and is subsequently reclassified into interest expense in the period that the hedged forecasted transaction affects earnings. The ineffective portion of the change in fair value of the derivatives is recognized directly in earnings. During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Partnership recorded no amounts of hedge ineffectiveness in the consolidated financial statements.

Amounts reported in accumulated other comprehensive income related to the derivatives were reclassified to interest expense as interest payments were made on the Partnership’s variable-rate debt. All amounts reported in accumulated other comprehensive income were reclassified as a decrease to interest expense during the first nine months of 2019.

 

F-27


The table below presents the effect of the Partnership’s interest rate swaps in Other Comprehensive Income (“OCI”) as well as in the income statement for the year ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

 

     Years Ended December 31,  
     2021      2020      2019  
    

 

    

 

    

 

 
     (In thousands)  

Gain recognized in OCI (effective portion)

   $ —        $ —        $ (588

Gain reclassified from Accumulated OCI into Income (effective portion)

     —          —          3,777  

During June and August of 2019, the Partnership entered into three additional interest rate swaps on $1.15 billion associated with our $1.25 billion term loan. These instruments were effective September 30, 2019 and expired on December 31, 2020. These swaps result in fixed LIBOR rates ranging from 1.57% to 1.86% for the respective notional amounts of our debt for the LIBOR component of our interest rate, which is comprised of a strike rate of 1% and premiums ranging from 0.5660% to 0.8643% per annum that is paid in monthly installments.

In September of 2019, the Partnership entered into two interest rate swaps on 75% of the outstanding $513.0 million term loan. These instruments were effective September 30, 2019 and have a mandatory termination date on November 19, 2024. The notional amounts of these swaps float monthly such that 75% of the total outstanding term loan is covered by the notional of the two swaps over the life of the associated term facility. These swaps result in fixed LIBOR rates ranging from 1.76% to 1.78% for the respective notional amounts of our debt for the LIBOR component of our interest rate and are paid in monthly installments.

The Partnership did not elect to apply hedge accounting to these new swaps and marks-to-market the instruments recognizing changes in fair value, realized or unrealized, within interest expense. For the year ended December 31, 2021, the Partnership recorded a reduction to interest expense of $4.5 million in relation to these derivatives. For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 the Partnership recorded interest expense of $18.9 million and $0.1 million, respectively, in relation to these derivatives.

The fair value or settlement value of the Partnership’s interest rate swaps is presented on a gross basis on the consolidated balance sheets.

Commodity Price Risk

The results of the Partnership’s operations may be affected by the market prices of oil and natural gas. A portion of the Partnership’s revenue is directly tied to local natural gas, natural gas liquids and condensate prices in the Permian Basin. Due to a large increase in activity and production from this area, local Permian natural gas prices have exhibited volatility. The Partnership monitors its exposure to commodity price risks and uses commodity swaps to mitigate risks resulting from fluctuations in the commodity prices.

Specifically, from 2018 through 2020 the Partnership entered into five Waha basis hub hedges on various notional quantities of gas that either provided for a fixed price differential of natural gas in the Permian Basin relative to the NYMEX natural gas contract or provided for a fixed price for natural gas in the Permian Basin. Similarly, in 2020 and 2021 the Partnership entered into WTI crude hedges at a specific notional that provides for a fixed price for crude in the Permian Basin. See the below table for further details.

 

Instruments

   Number of Instruments      Notional Quantity     Effective Date      Expiration Date  

Commodity contract

     1 Contract        1,840,000 MMBTU (s)*      7/1/2020        12/31/2020  

Commodity contract

     1 Contract        1,510,000 MMBTU (s)*      1/1/2021        5/31/2021  

Commodity contract

     1 Contract        755,000 MMBTU (s)**      1/1/2021        5/31/2021  

Commodity contract

     1 Contract        128,510 BBL (s)***      1/1/2021        6/30/2021  

Commodity contract

     1 Contract        55,200 BBL (s)****      7/1/2021        12/31/2021  

 

*

—notional quantity based on 10,000 MMBTU(s) multiplied by calendar days within calculation period.

**

—notional quantity based on 5,000 MMBTU(s) multiplied by calendar days within calculation period.

***

—notional quantity based on 710 U.S. Barrel(s) multiplied by calendar days within calculation period.

****

—notional quantity based on 300 U.S. Barrel(s) multiplied by calendar days within calculation period.

 

F-28


The Partnership elected not to designate its derivatives as hedging instruments and marked-to-market the instruments recognizing changes in fair value, realized or unrealized, within operating revenues. The Partnership minimizes counterparty credit risk in derivative instruments by entering into transactions with high-quality counterparties.

All of the Partnership’s commodity swaps had reached maturity as of December 31, 2021. The fair value or settlement value of the swaps outstanding as of December 31, 2020 are presented on a gross basis on the balance sheet. The changes in the fair value recorded to operating revenues in the statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 were $16.9 million, $1.6 million, and $0.6 million, respectively.

The following table represents the estimated fair value of the interest rate and commodity swaps as of December 31, 2021:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  
    

 

    

 

    

 

    

 

 
     (In thousands)  

Assets

           

Commodity swaps

   $ —        $ —        $ —        $ —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total assets

   $ —        $ —        $ —        $ —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Liabilities

           

Commodity swaps

   $ —        $ 205      $ —        $ 205  

Interest rate derivatives

   $ —        $ 2,662      $ —        $ 2,662  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total liabilities

   $ —        $ 2,867      $ —        $ 2,867  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

The following table represents the estimated fair value of the interest rate and commodity swaps as of December 31, 2020:

 

     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  
    

 

    

 

    

 

    

 

 
     (In thousands)  

Assets

           

Commodity swaps

   $ —        $ 702      $ —        $ 702  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total assets

   $ —        $ 702      $ —        $ 702  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Liabilities

           

Commodity swaps

   $ —        $ 413      $ —        $ 413  

Interest rate derivatives

   $ —        $ 10,026      $ —        $ 10,026  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total liabilities

   $ —        $ 10,439      $ —        $ 10,439  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

The fair values of the financial instruments shown in the above tables as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 represent the amounts that would be received to sell those assets in an orderly transaction between market participants at that date. The fair value measurement maximizes the use of observable inputs. However, in situations where there is little, if any, market activity for the asset at the measurement date, the fair value measurement reflects the Partnership’s own judgments about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset. Those judgments are developed by the Partnership based on the best information available in the circumstances, including expected cash flows and appropriately risk-adjusted discount rates, and available observable and unobservable inputs.

Note 14. Unit-Based Compensation

In conjunction with the execution of the Third Amended and Restated Limited Partnership Agreement dated December 14, 2018, 209,100 total Class A Units, representing profits interests, were authorized for issuance to members of management. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 the Partnership issued 46,205, 8,763, and 18,088 Class A Units, respectively, to certain employees of Midco. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, 6,991, 1,635 and 888 Class A Units were forfeited, respectively, due to the voluntary termination of certain employees. The unit awards are comprised of Class A-1 and Class A-2 incentive units. Class A-1 units derive value from the assets and operations of Midco. Class A-2 units derive value from the assets and operations of Pipeco. The awards include a performance condition and a service condition. Vesting occurs upon either (i) the date of consummation of a change in control or (ii) the date that is 1-year following the consummation of the initial public offering (“IPO”) of the Partnership (or its successor) (collectively “Exit Events”). Interests shall not become vested in the event of the participant’s termination before the Exit Events occur. The Exit Events are considered performance conditions, whereas the requirement of the participant to not be terminated prior to the 1- year anniversary of the consummation of the IPO would be considered a service condition. All of the incentive units are currently non-vested, except for 18,357 units held by early retirees that were granted accelerated vesting during 2018 and 2019.

 

F-29


As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the performance condition attached to the Class A-1 and A-2 Units was not deemed probable of occurring. The performance condition would become probable of achievement on consummation of the transaction or occurrence of the Exit Events. Upon the occurrence of the Exit Events, compensation cost would be recorded as a cumulative catch-up for the period of service rendered from the grant date through achievement of the Exit Events. The remaining compensation expense would be recognized on a straight-line basis over the remaining 1-year required service period. If a change of control event were to occur subsequent to an IPO, but prior to the completion of the 1-year service period, the Partnership would record the remaining unrecognized compensation cost as of the change of control date.

With the issuance of Fourth Amended Restated Limited Partnership Agreement dated October 22, 2020 (“4th LP Agreement”), a new class of profits interests, the A-3 units, were created and issued. A-3 units derive value from the assets and operations of Pipeco. All A-3 units vest on a change in control, if the participant is employed at the time of the event. Additionally, all units vest on termination of the participant by the Partnership. All of the Class A-3 incentive units are currently non-vested. The change in control event is considered a performance condition. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the performance condition attached to the Class A-3 Units was not deemed probable of occurring. Upon the occurrence of the change in control or participant termination by the Partnership, compensation cost would be recorded as a cumulative catch-up. The Class A-3 Units were given distribution priority over the Class A-2 Units in the case of a separate Pipeco liquidation. This change represents a type IV modification to the unvested Class A-2 Units, which establishes a new measurement date.

Effective May 4, 2021, the Partnership executed the First Amendment to the 4th LP Agreement that changed certain defined hurdles within the Midco distribution waterfall and therefore the value allocable to the Class A-1 Units upon an Exit Event. This change represents a type IV modification to the unvested Class A-1 Units, which establishes a new measurement date.

The weighted-average fair value of the Class A Units on the associated grant dates was estimated using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The issued and outstanding A-1 incentive units of 177,419 and 141,053 as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 were valued at $45.1 million and $34.8 million, respectively. The issued and outstanding A-2 incentive units of 28,570 and 25,722 were valued at $2.0 million and $1.2 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The issued and outstanding A-3 incentive units were valued at $0.4 million and $0.4 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. To allocate the equity value of the Partnership, we calculated breakpoints at which the different securities in the Partnership’s capital structure would participate in the allocation of value in accordance to the terms and preferences of the LP Agreement. The total value of each security was calculated by aggregating the values allocated in each such tranche for the specific security. The equity value of the Partnership was back-solved such that the value allocated to the common units equated to the transaction value as of the valuation date. Since the Partnership is privately held, the fair value of each security included a discount for lack of marketability, using a Finnerty model.

Note 15. Income Taxes

The Texas state margin tax requires the Partnership to pay a tax of 0.75% on its taxable margin, as defined in the tax code. The margin to which the tax rate is applied is calculated as a percentage of gross revenues for federal income tax purposes attributable to Texas based on an apportionment factor, less the cost of goods sold as defined for Texas margin tax purposes. During the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, all of the Partnership’s revenues for tax purposes were considered generated within Texas. The Partnership did not have any current Texas state margin tax due for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, the Partnership’s income tax provision was $1.9 million, $1.0 million, and $4.4 million, respectively. The current and prior years’ income tax provisions are solely attributable to Texas state margin tax and the associated deferred income taxes. The Partnership’s deferred income taxes result from differences between the carrying amount and tax bases related to property, plant and equipment and intangible assets.

 

F-30


As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, deferred tax liabilities of $7.2 million and $5.3 million, respectively, were recorded.

As of December 31, 2021, the Partnership’s federal tax returns for the fiscal years beginning in 2018 remain subject to examination by U.S., or federal tax authorities. The Partnership’s state tax returns for the fiscal years beginning in 2017 remain subject to examination by state tax authorities.

Note 16. Net income (loss) per unit

Basic net income (loss) per unit is computed using the weighted-average number of common units outstanding during the period. Diluted net income (loss) per unit is computed using the weighted-average number of common units and, if dilutive, common unit equivalents outstanding during the period. The Partnership elected not to allocate net income (loss) to the 2,154 vested Class A-2 incentive units held by retirees in calculating Class E income per unit due to the immaterial impact. The Partnership did not include the 16,203 vested Class A-1 incentive units held by retirees in calculating Class B net income (loss) per unit as it would have an anti-dilutive effect.

Contingently issuable units associated with the outstanding Class A-1 and A-2 performance-based incentive units were not included in the net income (loss) per unit calculations for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, as the vesting conditions had not been satisfied.

The following table presents the calculation of basic and diluted net income (loss) per unit:

 

    Year Ended December 31,  
    2021     2020     2019  
   

 

   

 

   

 

 
   

Class B

Units

   

Class C

Units

   

Class E

Units

   

Class B

Units

   

Class C

Units

   

Class E

Units

   

Class B

Units

   

Class C

Units

   

Class E

Units

 
   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 
    (In thousands, except unit amounts and per unit data)  

Basic and diluted earnings (loss) per limited partner unit

                 

Numerator:

                 

Allocation of undistributed net income (loss)

  $ (51,700   $ (832   $ 54,014     $ (1,120,630   $ (17,514   $ (17,645   $ (146,100   $ (1,360   $ 3,031  

Denominator:

                 

Number of limited partner units used in income (loss) per unit

    2,732,536,599       43,785,915       279,808,349       2,700,468,293       43,785,915       173,259,733       2,402,525,366       42,216,736       235,571,753  

Basic and diluted income (loss) per limited partner unit

    (0.02     (0.02     0.19     $ (0.41   $ (0.40   $ (0.10   $ (0.06   $ (0.03   $ 0.01  

Note 17. Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments

Under certain of our transportation services agreements with third party pipelines to transport natural gas and NGLs with current contract terms from 2021-2031, if we fail to ship a minimum throughput volume during any year, then we will pay a deficiency payment for transportation based on the volume shortfall up to the MVC amount. The partnership has made no historical shortfall payments through December 31, 2021.

Contingencies

In the normal course of its business affairs and operations, the Partnership is subject to possible loss contingencies arising from federal, state, and local environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. There are no matters, in the opinion of management, which may have a material adverse effect on the financial position, results of operations or cash flows of the Partnership, except as discussed below.

Legal Matters

The Partnership is periodically involved in litigation proceedings or other such claims. If we determine that a negative outcome is probable and the amount of loss is reasonably estimable, then we accrue the estimated amount. The results of litigation proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty. We could incur judgments, enter into settlements, or revise our expectations regarding the outcome of certain matters, and such developments could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or cash flows in the period in which the amounts are paid and/or accrued. As we learn new facts concerning contingencies, we reassess our position both with respect to accrued liabilities and other potential exposures.

 

F-31


In 2019, Cimarex Energy Co. (“Cimarex”) presented the results of an audit of the Partnership’s books and records pursuant to the audit provision of Cimarex’s gas gathering and processing agreement. This audit was commenced by Cimarex’s predecessor and most of the period in question relates to the time period prior to the date of ownership by the Partnership. Effective June, 10, 2021 Cimarex and the Partnership settled these audit claims for $6.8 million, of which $0.6 million was capital in nature. Since the majority of these claims related to the time period prior to the Partnership’s ownership of CR Permian, the Partnership had made claims on its representations and warranties insurance policy and against the former owners of Caprock and its management, including seeking the hold-back amount of $4.5 million that is currently held in escrow. In September, 2021, management agreed to a settlement of $2.5 million with the former owners of CR Permian and its management, which was paid to the Partnership during the fourth quarter.

During the Winter Storm Uri, we entered into a contract to deliver 60,000 MMBtu of natural gas worth in excess of $11.6 million to an agreed upon delivery point, at which point the customer took responsibility and title to the volumes. The customer later disputed the receipt of certain volumes at a downstream delivery point. We also have entered into an arbitration proceeding with an electricity vendor related to an under-usage credit exceeding $8.1 million that we believe we are entitled to, pursuant to the terms of the contract, from when the supply of electricity was disrupted and spot prices increased dramatically during Winter Storm Uri. However, the vendor has refused to refund the credit in contravention of the terms of the contract. Based on the Partnership’s historical collection experience, the counterparties’ sufficient creditworthiness and the valid claims that we hold, no allowance has currently been established for these items as we have legally enforceable agreements with these parties.

Contingent Liabilities

As part of the acquisition of Permian Gas on June 11, 2019, consideration included a contingent liability arrangement with PDC. The arrangement requires additional monies to be paid by the Partnership to PDC on a per Mcf basis if the actual annual Mcf volume amounts exceed forecasted annual Mcf volume amounts starting in 2020 and continuing through 2029. The arrangement defines the incentive rate per Mcf for each qualifying year and the total monies paid under this arrangement are capped at $60.5 million. Amounts are payable on an annual basis over the earn-out period. The fair value of the contingent liability recognized on the acquisition date of $3.9 million was estimated utilizing the following key assumptions: (1) present value factors based on the Partnership’s weighted-average cost of capital, 2) a probability weighted payout based on an estimate of future volumes and (3) a discount period consistent with the arrangement’s life and the respective due dates of the potential future payments. Based on current forecasts and discussions with PDC, management revalued this contingent liability with updated assumptions as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 and recaptured $0.7 million and $2.7 million, respectively, of the liability within operating income. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the estimated fair value of the contingent consideration liability was $0.8 million and $1.5 million, respectively.

As part of the acquisition of Caprock in 2018, the liabilities assumed included a contingent liability arrangement with Resolute Natural Resources Southwest, LLC (“Resolute”), a producer in the Permian Basin, stemming from Caprock’s acquisition of certain gas gathering and produced water gathering and disposal facilities from Resolute during 2016. The contingent liability arrangement required additional monies to be paid by Caprock to Resolute based on qualified wells drilled in a designated territory during the earn-out period from July 7, 2016 until June 30, 2019. The arrangement required Caprock to pay an agreed upon rate each time Resolute drilled a well. Amounts were payable on a quarterly basis over the earn-out period. During 2019, the Partnership made $9.1 million in earn-out payments and recaptured $8.3 million of the liability upon expiration of the earn-out period.

Note 18. Related Party Transactions

Transactions between related parties are considered to be related party transactions even though they may not be given accounting recognition. FASB ASC Topic 850, Related Party Transactions (“Topic 850”), requires that transactions with related parties that would make a difference in decision making shall be disclosed so that users of the financial statements can evaluate their significance.

 

F-32


Jetta Permian, LP (“Jetta”) and Primexx Energy Partners, Ltd. (“Primexx”) were considered related parties under Topic 850 by the Partnership. The Partnership has commercial gas gathering and processing contracts with Jetta and Primexx, both of which were affiliates of Blackstone under which we share common control. Jetta became a related party effective with Holdco’s purchase of EagleClaw on June 22, 2017. Effective July 1, 2021, Jetta was acquired by EOG Resources, Inc. and is no longer considered a related party. Primexx became a related party effective October 1, 2017. Effective October 6, 2021, Primexx is no longer considered a related party as it was purchased by Callon Petroleum Company.

For the year ended December 31, 2021, the Partnership paid Jetta and Primexx, $9.0 million and $53.9 million for gas purchases, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2020, the Partnership paid Jetta and Primexx, $14.4 million and $22.7 million for gas purchases, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2019, the Partnership paid Jetta and Primexx, $15.6 million and $19.2 million for gas and NGL purchases, respectively.

In a similar fashion, for the year ended December 31, 2021, Jetta and Primexx paid the Partnership $1.9 million and $5.4 million in gathering and processing fees, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2020, Jetta and Primexx paid the Partnership $6.8 million and $6.5 million in gathering and processing fees, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2019, Jetta and Primexx paid the Partnership $5.8 million and $4.6 million in gathering and processing fees, respectively.

As of December 31, 2021, Jetta and Primexx are no longer related parties. There were no related party payables due to Jetta and Primexx as of December 31, 2020. Related party receivables due from Jetta and Primexx as of December 31, 2020 amounted to $0.2 million.

Note 19. Segment Information

Our two operating segments represent the Partnership’s segments for which discrete financial information is available and is utilized on a regular basis by our chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) to assess performance and allocate resources. Our Chief Executive Officer is the CODM. No operating segments have been aggregated to form the reportable segments. Therefore, our two operating segments represent our reportable segments. The activities of each of our reportable segments from which the Partnership earns revenues and incurs expenses are described below:

 

 

Gathering and Processing: The Gathering and Processing segment, headquartered in Midland, Texas operates under three streams, 1) gas gathering and processing, 2) crude oil gathering, stabilization, and storage services, and 3) water gathering and disposal.

 

 

Transmission: The Transmission segment consists of an equity investment in PHP and our Delaware Link Pipeline that is under construction. The PHP pipeline transports natural gas from the Waha Texas Hub to the U.S. Gulf Coast and Mexico markets.

Our CODM uses Segment Adjusted EBITDA as the primary measure for reviewing profitability of our segments. We define Segment Adjusted EBITDA as segment earnings or loss adjusted to exclude interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization, the proportionate effect of these same items for our equity method investments and other non-recurring items.

Gathering and Processing revenues were $662.0 million, $410.2 million, and $378.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively. These revenues represent all revenues in the consolidated statements of operations. Earnings from the equity method investment are not recognized in revenues. All of the Partnership’s operating revenues are generated in the United States.

 

F-33


Below is a reconciliation of segment total assets to consolidated total assets:

 

     December 31,  
     2021      2020  
    

 

    

 

 
     (in thousands)  

Segment total assets

     

Gathering and Processing

   $ 2,916,774      $ 2,969,450  

Transmission

     635,784        633,270  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Segment total assets

     3,552,558        3,602,720  

Corporate

     648        855  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Consolidated total assets

   $ 3,553,206      $ 3,603,575  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

All of the Partnership’s long-lived assets are held in the United States.

Below is a reconciliation of Segment Adjusted EBITDA to consolidated net income (loss):

 

     Years Ended December 31,  
     2021      2020      2019  
    

 

    

 

    

 

 
     (in thousands)  

Segment Adjusted EBITDA:

        

Gathering and Processing

   $ 343,645      $ 231,015      $ 207,888  

Transmission

     82,025        (321      2,635  

Other

     (9,957      (9,617      (8,286
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Segment Adjusted EBITDA

   $ 415,713      $ 221,077      $ 202,237  

Less:

        

Consolidated interest expense

     (117,365      (135,516      (133,535

Consolidated income tax expense

     (1,865      (968      (4,357

Consolidated depreciation & amortization

     (243,558      (223,763      (202,664

Contract asset amortization

     (1,792      (1,805      (1,185

Proportionate equity method investment EBITDA

     (83,593      (1,150      (17

Stock-based compensation

     —          —          (3,809

Goodwill impairment

     —          (1,010,773      —    

Loss on disposal of assets

     (382      (3,454      (1,573

Derivative loss due to Winter Storm Uri

     (13,456      —          —    

Producer settlement

     (6,827      —          —    

Altus merger transaction costs

     (5,730      —          —    

Other one-time costs/expenses

     (2,856      —          —    

Losses from equity method investment

     —          (308      —    

Plus:

        

Interest income

     115        3        34  

Earnings from equity method investments

     63,074        —          440  

Gain on debt extinguishment

     4        868        —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Consolidated net income (loss)

   $ 1,482      $ (1,155,789    $ (144,429
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Below are total operating revenues by products and services:

 

     Years Ended December 31,  
     2021      2020      2019  
    

 

    

 

    

 

 
     (in thousands)  

Gas gathering and processing

   $ 229,833      $ 228,797      $ 196,307  

Crude gathering

     16,841        19,991        16,757  

Water gathering and disposal

     26,003        24,041        20,923  

Hydrocarbon product revenue

     385,622        135,330        144,270  

Other revenue

     3,745        2,017        487  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Consolidated operating revenues

   $ 662,044      $ 410,176      $ 378,744  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

F-34


Below is a summary of operating revenues by major customers that individually exceed 10% of consolidated operating revenues:

 

     Years Ended December 31,  
     2021      2020      2019  

CUSTOMER 1

   $ 184,967      $ 71,681      $ 95,883  

CUSTOMER 2

     111,742        29,512        13,680  

CUSTOMER 3

     59,301        55,573        59,186  

CUSTOMER 4

     43,599        52,149        64,172  

Other

     262,435        201,261        145,823  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Consolidated operating revenues

   $ 662,044      $ 410,176      $ 378,744  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, approximately 59% and 35%, respectively, of accounts receivable were derived from the above customers.

Note 20. Subsequent Events

Subsequent events have been evaluated from December 31, 2021 through February 23, 2022, the date these consolidated financial statements were issued.

Merger with Altus Midstream Company

On October 21, 2021, New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC (“Raptor Holdco”) as representative of the Partnership’s unitholders, entered into a Contribution Agreement with Altus Midstream Company (“Altus”) and its subsidiary Altus Midstream LP (“Altus LP”), under which the Partnership and Altus will combine their businesses in an all-stock transaction (the “Transaction”). On February 22, 2022, the Partnership closed the Transaction and in exchange for all of the equity interests of the Partnership and General Partner, Raptor Holdco received 50,000,000 shares of Altus’ Class C common stock and 50,000,000 common units of Altus LP. Upon the completion of the Transaction, the Partnership’s unitholders own approximately 75.5% of the new combined entity and Altus’ stockholders own approximately 24.5%.

Altus is the legal acquiror of the Partnership because Altus is issuing their shares to effectuate the Transaction. However, for accounting purposes, the Transaction will be treated as a reverse merger and accounted for using the acquisition method in accordance with ASC 805, Business Combinations. As such, Altus will be treated as the “acquired” company for accounting purposes. This determination is primarily based on the fact that upon consummation of the Transaction, the Partnership unitholders have a majority of the voting power of the combined company, the Partnership controls a majority of the governing body of the combined company, and the Partnership’s senior management comprises the majority of the senior management of the combined company.

Accordingly, for financial reporting purposes, the net assets of the Partnership will be stated at historical carrying values and its consolidated financial statements will be presented as the predecessor to the combined company in the historical financial statements following the consummation of the Transaction. Furthermore, for accounting purposes, the assets and liabilities of Altus will be recorded at their fair values measured as of the acquisition date, with any excess purchase price over the fair value of the net assets acquired, if any, to be recorded as goodwill. The results of Altus will be presented within the consolidated results of the combined company from the date of acquisition going forward. The initial allocation of the purchase price is still being assessed by the Partnership.

Immediately following the close of the Transaction, all outstanding Class A-1 and Class A-2 Units were exchanged for 2,650,000 shares of Class A common stock (“Class A Shares”) of Altus. These Class A Shares were distributed pro rata to all holders of Class A-1 and Class A-2 Units pro rata and will primarily vest over three to four years contingent upon continuous employment. Similarly, the Class A-3 Units were exchanged for approximately 163,000 Class A Shares and will vest over four years contingent upon continuous employment. This change represents a type IV modification to the unvested Class A Units, which establishes a new measurement date.

 

F-35

Exhibit 99.5

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED COMBINED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The following unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined financial statements are provided to aid you in your analysis of the financial aspects of the transaction and a redemption and direct exchange of Altus Midstream LP’s (“Altus LP”) Common Units for Class A Common Stock (“Redemption and Exchange of Common Units for Class A Common Stock”). The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined financial statements are based on the Altus Midstream Company (“Altus”) historical consolidated financial statements and the BCP Raptor Holdco, LP (“BCP”) historical consolidated financial statements as adjusted to give effect to the transaction and the Redemption and Exchange of Common Units for Class A Common Stock. The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined balance sheet gives pro forma effect to the transaction and the Redemption and Exchange of Common Units for Class A Common Stock as if they had been consummated on December 31, 2021. The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 gives effect to the transaction and the Redemption and Exchange of Common Units for Class A Common Stock as if they had occurred on January 1, 2021.

The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined financial statements have been derived from and should be read in conjunction with:

 

   

the accompanying notes to the unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined financial statements;

 

   

the historical audited consolidated financial statements of BCP as of and for the year ended December 31, 2021, included in Exhibit 99.4 to this Current Report on Form 8-K;

 

   

the historical audited consolidated financial statements of Altus as of and for the year ended December 31, 2021, which are included in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 (filed with the SEC on February 22, 2022); and

 

   

other information relating to BCP and Altus included elsewhere or incorporated by reference in this Current Report on Form 8-K.

The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined financial statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not necessarily indicative of what the actual results of operations and financial position would have been had the transaction and the Redemption and Exchange of Common Units for Class A Common Stock taken place on the dates indicated, nor are they indicative of the future consolidated results of operations or financial position of the combined company.

 

1


UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED COMBINED BALANCE SHEET AS OF

DECEMBER 31, 2021

(in thousands)

 

    Historical     Transaction
Accounting
Adjustments
          Redemption
and Exchange
of Common
Units for Class

A Common
Stock
          Pro Forma
Balance Sheet
 
  Altus     BCP  

ASSETS

             

Current assets:

             

Cash and cash equivalents

  $ 131,963     $ 18,729     $ (120,015     5 (d)    $ —         $ 29,042  
        (1,635     5 (t)       

Accounts receivable

    2,249       178,107       —           —           180,356  

Accounts receivable from Apache Corporation

    9,875       —         13,717       5 (s)      —           23,592  

Revenue receivables

    13,717       —         (13,717     5 (s)      —           —    

Inventories

    2,958       —         —           —           2,958  

Other current assets

    5,866       20,683       —           —           26,549  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total current assets

    166,628       217,519       (121,650       —           262,497  

Property, plant and equipment, net

    175,476       1,839,279       343,347       5 (a)      —           2,358,102  

Intangible assets, net

    11,511       786,049       1,689       5 (n)      —           799,249  

Operating lease right-of-use assets

    —         61,562       693       5 (r)      —           62,255  

Equity method interests

    1,364,826       626,477       390,174       5 (b)      —           2,381,477  

Deferred charges and other assets

    6,229       22,320       (2,139     5 (f)      —           25,717  
        (693     5 (r)       
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total assets

  $ 1,724,670     $ 3,553,206     $ 611,421       $ —         $ 5,889,297  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

LIABILITIES, NONCONTROLLING INTERESTS, AND EQUITY

             

Current liabilities:

             

Accounts payable

  $ —       $ 12,220     $ —         $ —         $ 12,220  

Accrued expenses

    —         135,643       13,428       5 (g)      —           151,124  
        2,053       5 (l)       

Derivative liability

    —         2,667       —           —           2,667  

Distributions payable to Preferred Unit limited partners

    11,562       —         —           —           11,562  

Mandatorily redeemable preferred unit limited partners, current

    —         —         116,692       5 (k)      —           116,692  

Other current liabilities

    15,682       4,339       (557     5 (r)      —           19,464  

Current portion of operating lease liabilities

    —         31,776       557       5 (r)      —           32,333  

Current portion of long-term debt, net

    —         54,280       —           —           54,280  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total current liabilities

    27,244       240,925       132,173         —           400,342  

Long-term debt, net

    657,000       2,253,422       —         5 (f)      —           2,910,422  

Derivative liabilities

    56,895       200       334       5 (c)      —           57,429  

Contingent liability

    —         839       4,451       5 (q)      —           5,290  

Deferred revenue

    —         11,674       —           —           11,674  

Deferred tax liabilities

    —         7,190       (2,238     5 (o)      —           4,952  

Operating lease liabilities

    —         29,889       136       5 (r)      —           30,025  

Asset retirement obligation

    68,331       —         (68,331     5 (h)      —           —    

Mandatorily redeemable preferred unit limited partners, noncurrent

    —         —         58,346       5 (k)      —           58,346  

Other noncurrent liabilities

    10,118       2,219       540       5 (p)      —           12,741  
        (136     5 (r)       
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total liabilities

  $ 819,588     $ 2,546,358     $ 125,275       $ —         $ 3,491,221  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

             

Redeemable noncontrolling interest - Common Unit limited partners

    769,855       —         1,006,843       5 (m)      (769,855     5 (v)      841,615  
            (165,228     5 (w)   

Redeemable noncontrolling interest - Preferred Unit limited partners

    712,476       —         (120,015     5 (d)      —           380,312  
        (212,149     5 (e)       

EQUITY:

             

Partners’ capital

    —         1,006,848       (1,006,848     5 (m)      —           —    

Class A Common Stock

    1       —         —           1       5 (v)      2  
            —         5 (w)   

Class C Common Stock

    1       —         5       5 (m)      (1     5 (v)      5  
            —         5 (w)   

Additional paid-in capital

    —         —         1,013,507       5 (j)      575,981       5 (v)      1,178,195  
        (540     5 (p)      165,228       5 (w)   
        (575,981     5 (u)       

Accumulated deficit

    (577,251     —         (13,428     5 (g)      193,874       5 (v)      (2,053
        398,440       5 (i)       
        (2,053     5 (l)       
        (1,635     5 (t)       

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

    —         —         —           —           —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests, partners’ capital, and equity

  $ 1,724,670     $ 3,553,206     $ 611,421       $ —         $ 5,889,297  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

2


UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED COMBINED STATEMENT OF

OPERATIONS FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

 

     Historical     Transaction
Accounting
Adjustments
          Pro Forma
Statement
of
Operations
       
   Altus     BCP  

OPERATING REVENUES:

            

Service revenue

   $ 142,727     $ 272,677     $ —         $ 415,404    

Product revenue

     8,136       385,622       —           393,758    

Product revenue - affiliate

     9,754       —         —           9,754    

Other revenue

     —         3,745       —           3,745    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Total revenues

     160,617       662,044       —           822,661    

OPERATING EXPENSES:

            

Cost of sales (exclusinve of depreciation and amortization shown separately below)

     7,793       233,619       —           241,412    

Cost of product sales - affiliate (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below)

     9,754       —         —           9,754    

Depreciation, amortization and accretion

     16,201       243,558       (6,950     6 (a)      252,809    

Operating expenses

     32,748       90,894       —           123,642    

General and administrative expenses

     14,182       28,588       13,428       6 (b)      111,747    
         2,053       6 (d)     
         47,029       6 (g)     
         360       6 (i)     
         4,472       6 (k)     
         1,635       6 (l)     

Taxes other than income

     13,886       11,512       —           25,398    

Loss on disposal of assets

     —         382       —           382    

Impairments

     441       —         —           441    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Total costs and expenses

     95,005       608,553       62,027         765,585    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

OPERATING INCOME (LOSS)

     65,612       53,491       (62,027       57,076    

Interest and other income

     4       4,147       —           4,151    

Interest expense

     —         (117,365     —           (117,365  

Warrants valuation adjustment

     664       —         —           664    

Equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliate

     113,764       63,074       18,822       6 (e)      195,660    

Impairment on equity method interests

     (160,441     —         160,441       6 (j)      —      

Unrealized derivative instrument gain (loss)

     82,114       —         (101,042     6 (c)      (18,928  

Transaction costs

     (4,472     —         4,472       6 (k)      —      

Other

     12,574       —         —           12,574    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Total other income (expenses), net

     44,207       (50,144     82,693         76,756    

Financing costs, net of capitalized interest

     10,598       —         (1,167     6 (f)      9,431    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES

   $ 99,221     $ 3,347     $ 21,833       $ 124,401    

Deferred income tax expense

     —         1,865       1,143       6 (h)      3,008    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

NET INCOME

   $ 99,221     $ 1,482     $ 20,690       $ 121,393    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest - Preferred Unit limited partners

     161,906             109,174    

Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest - Common Unit limited partners

     (48,741           8,734    
  

 

 

         

 

 

   

Net income (loss) attributable to Class A common stockholders (basic)

   $ (13,944         $ 3,485    
  

 

 

         

 

 

   

Net income (loss) attributable to Class A common stockholders (diluted)

   $ (62,685         $ 12,219    
  

 

 

         

 

 

   

Net loss attributable to Class B Units (basic and diluted)

     $ (51,700        
    

 

 

         

Net loss attributable to Class C Units (basic and diluted)

     $ (832        
    

 

 

         

Net income attributable to Class E Units (basic and diluted)

     $ 54,014          
    

 

 

         

Net income (loss) per share attributable to Class A common stockholders (basic)

   $ (3.72         $ 0.18    
  

 

 

         

 

 

   

Net income (loss) per share attributable to Class A common stockholders (diluted)

   $ (3.86         $ 0.18    
  

 

 

         

 

 

   

Net loss per unit attributable to Class B limited partner unitholders (basic and diluted)

     $ (0.02        
    

 

 

         

Net loss per unit attributable to Class C limited partner unitholders (basic and diluted)

     $ (0.02        
    

 

 

         

Net income per unit attributable to Class E limited partner unitholders (basic and diluted)

     $ 0.19          
    

 

 

         

Weighted average Class A common shares (basic)

     3,746             18,896       6 (m) 
  

 

 

         

 

 

   

Weighted average Class A common shares (diluted)

     16,246             66,246       6 (m) 
  

 

 

         

 

 

   

Weighted average Class B limited partner units (basic and diluted)

       2,732,537          
    

 

 

         

Weighted average Class C limited partner units (basic and diluted)

       43,786          
    

 

 

         

Weighted average Class E limited partner units (basic and diluted)

       279,808          
    

 

 

         

 

3


NOTES TO THE UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED COMBINED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1. Description of the Transaction and Redemption and Exchange of Common Units for Class A Common Stock

Description of the Transaction

On October 21, 2021, Altus and Altus Midstream LP entered into a contribution agreement with New Raptor Holdco, LLC (“Contributor”) and BCP to purchase 100% of the equity interests in BCP and BCP Raptor Holdco GP, LLC (“BCP GP”) in exchange for an aggregate of 50,000,000 shares of Altus’ Class C common stock and an aggregate of 50,000,000 common units of Altus LP. The transaction closed on February 22, 2022, at which time BCP and BCP GP became wholly owned subsidiaries of Altus LP. Following the transaction, legacy Altus shareholders hold approximately 25% of the Altus issued and outstanding Class A and Class C Common Stock (together, “Common Stock”) (approximately 20% held by Apache Midstream, LLC (“Apache”)) and legacy BCP and BCP GP unitholders will hold approximately 75% of the Altus outstanding Common Stock.

Redemption and Exchange of Common Units for Class A Common Stock

In January 2022, a direct exchange by Altus and Apache was effectuated at Apache’s option, pursuant to which Altus exchanged 12,500,000 Common Units held by Apache for 12,500,000 shares of Class A Common Stock, and cancelled a corresponding number of Apache’s 12,500,000 shares of Class C Common Stock.

Immediately following consummation of the transaction, a direct redemption occurred between Altus and certain Contributor members, pursuant to which Altus exchanged with those Contributors 2,650,000 Common Units for 2,650,000 shares of Class A Common Stock, and cancelled a corresponding number of the Contributors’ 2,650,000 shares of Class C Common Stock.

2. Basis of Pro Forma Presentation

The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined financial statements were prepared in accordance with Article 11 of SEC Regulation S-X, as amended by the final rule, Release No. 33-10786, Amendments to Financial Disclosures about Acquired and Disposed Businesses. Release No. 33-10786 replaces the existing pro forma adjustment criteria with simplified requirements to depict the accounting for the transaction (“Transaction Accounting Adjustments”) and the Redemption and Exchange of Common Units for Class A Common Stock and present the reasonably estimable synergies and other transaction effects that have occurred or are reasonably expected to occur (“Management’s Adjustments”). Management has elected not to present Management’s Adjustments and only presents Transaction Accounting Adjustments in the unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined financial information. The adjustments presented in the unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined financial statements have been identified and presented to provide relevant information necessary for an understanding of the combined company after the consummation of the transaction and the Redemption and Exchange of Common Units for Class A Common Stock.

The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined financial statements are based on the Altus historical consolidated financial statements and the BCP historical consolidated financial statements as adjusted to give effect to the transaction. The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined balance sheet gives pro forma effect to the transaction and the Redemption and Exchange of Common Units for Class A Common Stock as if they had been consummated on December 31, 2021. The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 gives effect to the transaction and the Redemption and Exchange of Common Units for Class A Common Stock as if they had occurred on January 1, 2021.

The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined financial statements were prepared using the acquisition method of accounting with BCP considered the accounting acquirer of Altus. Under the acquisition method of accounting, the purchase price is allocated to the underlying Altus assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their respective fair market values. Any excess of purchase price over the fair value of the net assets acquired will be recorded as goodwill. Based on the preliminary estimated fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, no goodwill was recognized in this transaction. Refer below to Note 3,“Accounting Treatment for the Transaction.”

 

4


Management has made significant estimates and assumptions in its determination of the pro forma adjustments. The pro forma adjustments reflecting the transaction are based on certain currently available information and certain assumptions and methodologies that management believes are reasonable under the circumstances. The pro forma adjustments, which are described in the accompanying notes, may be revised as additional information becomes available and is evaluated. Therefore, it is likely that the actual adjustments will differ from the pro forma adjustments, and it is possible the difference may be material. Management believes that its assumptions and methodologies provide a reasonable basis for presenting all of the significant effects of the transaction based on information available to management at this time and that the pro forma adjustments give appropriate effect to those assumptions and are properly applied in the unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined financial statements.

The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined financial statements do not give effect to any anticipated synergies, operating efficiencies, tax savings, or cost savings that may be associated with the transaction. Altus and BCP have not had any historical relationship prior to the transaction. Accordingly, no pro forma adjustments were required to eliminate activities between the companies.

3. Accounting Treatment for the Transaction

Altus will be the legal acquiror of BCP. However, for accounting purposes, the transaction will be treated as a reverse merger and accounted for using the acquisition method in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification 805, Business Combinations. As such, Altus will be treated as the “acquired” company for accounting purposes. This determination is primarily based on the fact that subsequent to the transaction, BCP unitholders will have a majority of the voting power of the combined company, BCP will control a majority of the governing body of the combined company, and BCP’s senior management will comprise the majority of the senior management of the combined company upon consummation of the transaction.

Accordingly, for financial reporting purposes, the net assets of BCP will be stated at historical carrying values and its consolidated financial statements will be presented as the predecessor to the combined company in the historical financial statements following the consummation of the transaction. Furthermore, for accounting purposes, the assets and liabilities of Altus will be recorded at their fair values measured as of the acquisition date, with any excess purchase price over the fair value of the net assets acquired, if any, to be recorded as goodwill. Based on the preliminary estimated fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, no goodwill was recognized in the transaction. The results of Altus will be presented within the consolidated results of BCP from the date of acquisition going forward.

4. Preliminary Estimated Purchase Price and Purchase Price Allocation

Management performed a preliminary estimation of fair values of the Altus assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2021. As of the date of this Current Report on Form 8-K, BCP has not completed the detailed valuation studies necessary to arrive at the required estimates of the fair value of the Altus assets to be acquired and the liabilities to be assumed and the related purchase price allocation. The preliminary fair value estimates are subject to change based on the final valuations. BCP estimated the preliminary fair value of the Altus assets and liabilities based on discussions with Altus’ management, preliminary valuation studies, due diligence, and information presented in Altus public filings. The final purchase price and purchase price allocation may be different than what is presented herein, and such differences could be material.

Preliminary Estimated Purchase Price

The following table summarizes the preliminary estimate of the purchase price (in thousands, except shares and per share price):

 

Class A Common Stock shares outstanding

     16,246,460  

Class A Common Stock share price (1)

   $ 62.35  
  

 

 

 

Equity portion of consideration effectively transferred

   $ 1,012,967  

Liability incurred for replacement share based awards

   $ 540  
  

 

 

 

Total estimated consideration effectively transferred

   $ 1,013,507  
  

 

 

 

 

5


(1)

The final purchase price will be based on the fair value of the issued and outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock as of the closing date. For purposes of preparing these unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined financial statements, the estimated fair value is based on the closing stock price of the Class A Common Stock on the transaction closing date of February 22, 2022.

Preliminary Estimated Purchase Price Allocation

The following table summarizes allocation of the preliminary estimate of the purchase price to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed (in thousands):

 

Current assets

   $ 44,978  

Property, plant and equipment, net

     518,821  

Intangible assets, net

     13,200  

Equity method interests

     1,755,000  

Other non—current assets

     6,328  
  

 

 

 

Total assets acquired

     2,338,327  

Current liabilities assumed

     (157,364

Long-term debt assumed

     (657,000

Derivative liabilities

     (57,229

Mandatorily redeemable preferred unit limited partners

     (58,346

Other non-current liabilities assumed

     (14,569
  

 

 

 

Total liabilities assumed

     (944,508

Redeemable noncontrolling interest - Preferred Unit limited partners

     (380,312
  

 

 

 

Total consideration effectively transferred

   $ 1,013,507  
  

 

 

 

5. Adjustments to Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Consolidated Combined Balance Sheet

The pro forma adjustments, based on preliminary estimates that could change materially as additional information is obtained, are as follows:

Pro forma Transaction Accounting Adjustments

 

(a)

Reflects the pro forma adjustments to historical amounts to record the estimated fair value of property, plant and equipment that includes gathering, transmission and processing facilities, other fixed assets and elimination of the asset retirement obligation asset (see Note 6(a) below).

 

(b)

Reflects the pro forma adjustments to historical amounts to record the estimated fair value of equity method investments (see Note 6(e) below).

 

     Ownership     Fair Value as of
December 31, 2021
 

Gulf Coast Express Pipeline, LLC

     16.0   $ 470,000  

EPIC Crude Oil Pipeline, LP

     15.0     —    

Permian Highway Pipeline, LLC

     26.7     815,000  

Breviloba, LLC

     33.0     470,000  
    

 

 

 
     $ 1,755,000  
    

 

 

 

 

(c)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to historical amounts to record the estimated fair value of the derivative liability (see Note 6(c) below).

 

6


(d)

Reflects the Series A Preferred Units mandatory redemption in the amount of $120.0 million. The redemption has been recorded as a reduction to Redeemable noncontrolling interest—Preferred Unit limited partners and reduction to Cash and cash equivalents of $120.0 million.

 

(e)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to record Redeemable noncontrolling interest—Preferred Unit limited partners at fair value of $380.3 million.

 

(f)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to record the long-term debt at fair value. The historical amount of the revolving credit facility of $657.0 million approximates the fair value since the revolving credit facility has a floating interest rate. The interest rate per annum for borrowings under this facility is either a base rate plus a margin, or the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), plus a margin. The historical deferred debt issuance costs balance of $2.1 million was eliminated (see Note 6(f) below).

 

(g)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment for $13.4 million of Altus estimated transaction costs to be incurred consisting of advisory, legal, accounting and auditing fees and other professional fees. The adjustment has been recorded as an increase to Accrued expenses and increase to Accumulated deficit of $13.4 million (see Note 6(b) below).

 

(h)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to eliminate the asset retirement obligation balance of $68.3 million since the ultimate dismantlement and removal dates of the Altus pipelines and infrastructure are not determinable based on the future operating plans of the combined business, such that the fair value of the liability is not currently estimable (see Note 6(a) below).

 

(i)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to eliminate the Altus historical Accumulated deficit.

 

(j)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to record consideration effectively transferred in amount of $1,013.5 million to Altus APIC.

 

(k)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to record Mandatorily redeemable preferred unit limited partners at fair value of $175.0 million of which $116.7 million is current.

 

(l)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment for $2.1 million of BCP estimated transaction costs to be incurred consisting of advisory, legal, accounting and auditing fees and other professional fees. The adjustment has been recorded as an increase to Accrued expenses and increase to Accumulated deficit of $2.1 million (see Note 6(d) below).

 

(m)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to record 50,000,000 shares of Class C Common Stock issued and reclass of BCP’s partners’ capital to Redeemable noncontrolling interest—Common Unit limited partners.

 

(n)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to historical amounts to record the estimated fair value of rights of way (see Note 6(a) below). Altus rights of way were reclassified from Property, plant and equipment, net to Intangible assets, net.

 

(o)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to record a reduction to deferred tax liability of $2.2 million related to the fair value adjustments to Altus’ assets (see Note 6(h) below).

 

(p)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to record BCP liability of $0.5 million incurred for replacement share—based awards of Altus which is part of the consideration effectively transferred.

 

(q)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to record an assumed liability of $4.5 million related to the fair value of earnout consideration for Altus’ prior acquisition. On November 9, 2018, Altus (formerly known as Kayne Anderson Acquisition Corp.) consummated an acquisition of certain entities previously owned by Apache Corporation. In connection with this acquisition, Apache Corporation has the right to receive earnout consideration of up to 1,250,000 shares of Class A Common Stock.

 

(r)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to reclassify Altus’ existing lease agreements under ASC 842 to conform to BCP’s accounting practices.

 

7


(s)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to reclassify revenues earned by Altus that have not yet been invoiced to Apache Corporation to conform to BCP’s accounting practices.

 

(t)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to record Altus’ payment required to terminate unvested restricted stock units (see Note 6(l) below).

 

(u)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to eliminate Altus’ Additional paid-in capital arising from the exchange of Common Units for Class A Common Stock (see Note 5(v) below).

Pro forma Adjustments for Redemption and Exchange of Common Units for Class A Common Stock

 

(v)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to record a direct exchange by Altus and Apache, pursuant to which Altus exchanged 12,500,000 Common Units held by Apache for 12,500,000 shares of Class A Common Stock, and cancelled a corresponding number of Apache’s 12,500,000 shares of Class C Common Stock.

 

(w)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to record a direct redemption between Altus and certain Contributor members, pursuant to which Altus exchanged with those Contributors 2,650,000 Common Units for 2,650,000 shares of Class A Common Stock, and cancelled a corresponding number of the Contributors’ 2,650,000 shares of Class C Common Stock.

6. Adjustments to Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Consolidated Combined Statement of Operations

The pro forma adjustments, based on preliminary estimates that could change materially as additional information is obtained, are as follows:

Pro forma Transaction Accounting Adjustments

 

(a)

Reflects the pro forma adjustments to eliminate historical depreciation and accretion expenses and record depreciation and amortization expense based on the fair value of the property plant and equipment and rights of way and the estimated remaining useful lives (see Notes 5(a), 5(h) and 5(n) above).

 

(b)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to record Altus’ estimated transaction costs to be incurred of $13.4 million (see Note 5(g) above).

 

(c)

Reflects the pro forma adjustments to eliminate historical unrealized derivative instrument gain and record unrealized derivative instrument loss based on the fair value of the derivative liability (see Note 5(c) above).

 

(d)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to record BCP’s estimated transaction costs to be incurred of $2.1 million (see Note 5(l) above).

 

(e)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to eliminate equity in losses of EPIC Crude Oil Pipeline unconsolidated affiliate, as no value was allocated in the transaction to EPIC Crude Oil Pipeline (see Note 5(b) above).

 

(f)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to eliminate the historical deferred debt issuance costs amortization (see Note 5(f) above).

 

(g)

BCP’s stock compensation expense was calculated using an assumed grant date fair value of Altus Class A Common Stock of $62.35 per share based on the closing price as of February 22, 2022 and three- or four-year cliff vesting terms of assumed Restricted Share awards.

 

(h)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to record deferred income tax expense related to the fair value adjustments to Altus’ assets (see Note 5(o) above).

 

(i)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to record Altus’ stock compensation expense.

 

(j)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to eliminate the historical impairment of EPIC Crude Oil Pipeline equity method interest, as no value was allocated in the transaction to EPIC Crude Oil Pipeline (see Note 5(b) above).

 

8


(k)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to reclassify transaction costs incurred by Altus to general and administrative expenses to conform to BCP’s accounting practices.

 

(l)

Reflects a pro forma adjustment to record expense for Altus’ payment required to terminate unvested restricted stock units (see Note 5(t) above).

 

(m)

The pro forma basic and diluted number of shares presented in the unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined statement of operations are based upon the number of BCP’s shares outstanding as if the transaction occurred on January 1, 2021. The calculation of weighted average shares outstanding for pro forma basic and diluted net income per share assumes that the shares issuable in connection with the transaction and the Redemption and Exchange of Common Units for Class A Common Stock have been outstanding for the entirety of the period presented.

Pro forma weighted average common shares outstanding presented in the unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021—basic and diluted are calculated as follows:

 

     Basic number
of shares
     Diluted number
of shares
 

December 31, 2021

     

Class A common stockholders

     18,896,460        18,896,460  

Redeemable noncontrolling interest - Common Unit limited partners

     —          47,350,000  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 
     18,896,460        66,246,460  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

9

Exhibit 99.6

BCP RAPTOR HOLDCO, LP

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Unless the context otherwise requires, all references in this section to “BCP,” “EagleClaw Midstream,” “ECM,” “the Partnership,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to BCP Raptor Holdco, LP and its subsidiaries prior to the consummation of the Transaction.

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with the audited consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing as Exhibit 99.4 to this Current Report on Form 8-K (“Form 8-K”) and the final proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 on January 12, 2022 (the “Proxy Statement”). The discussion and analysis should also be read together with the unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated combined financial information appearing as Exhibit 99.5 to this Form 8-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates, and beliefs that involve risks and uncertainties. As a result of many factors, such as those identified in this Form 8-K and those discussed in the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” appearing in the Proxy Statement, our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Note that terms used, but not defined herein, shall have the meanings set forth in the Proxy Statement.

Overview

BCP Raptor Holdco, LP (“BCP”) is the parent of ECM, which is an integrated midstream energy company operating in the Permian Basin providing comprehensive gathering, transportation, compression, processing, and treating services for companies that produce natural gas, natural gas liquids (“NGLs”), crude oil, and water. BCP is headquartered in Midland, Texas and has a significant presence in Houston, Texas. ECM operates in the Southern Delaware Basin, specifically in Culberson, Loving, Pecos, Reeves, and Ward Counties, Texas. ECM is one of the largest gas processors in the Delaware Basin, with 1,320 million cubic feet per day (“MMcf/d”) of capacity and more than 1,400 miles of operated pipelines. ECM has long-term dedications of approximately 750,000 acres for gas, crude, and water midstream services from nearly 30 successful and active producers in the Delaware Basin.

Our Operations

The Partnership has determined it has two operating segments, which represent its reportable segments: the Gathering and Processing segment and the Transmission segment. The Gathering and Processing segment represents the consolidated operations of the Partnership. The Transmission segment is comprised of the Partnership’s investment in unconsolidated affiliate, Permian Highway Pipeline, LLC (“PHP”) and the Delaware Link Pipeline that is under construction.

Gathering and Processing

The Gathering and Processing segment operates under three entities: EagleClaw Midstream Ventures, LLC (“ECMV”), Pinnacle Midstream, LLC (“Pinnacle”) and CR Permian Holdings, LLC (“CR Permian”). That segment includes gas gathering and compression assets located throughout the Southern Delaware Basin, with approximately 1,000 miles of low and high-pressure steel pipeline. Gas processing assets are centralized at four processing complexes with total cryogenic processing capacity of 1.3 billion cubic feet per day (“Bcf/d”): the East Toyah complex (460 MMcf/d), the Pecos Bend complex (520 MMcf/d), the Pecos complex (260 MMcf/d) and the Sierra Grande complex (60 MMcf/d). Current residue gas outlets include the El Paso Natural Gas Pipeline, ET Comanche Trail Pipeline, Oneok Roadrunner Pipeline, ET Oasis Pipeline and Whitewater Agua Blanca. NGL outlets include Energy Transfer GC NGL Pipeline and Grand Prix Pipeline.

The Gathering and Processing segment also includes ECM’s crude oil gathering, stabilization, and storage services throughout the Texas Delaware Basin. Crude gathering assets are centralized at the Caprock Stampede Terminal and the Pinnacle Sierra Grande Terminal. The system includes approximately 200 miles of gathering pipeline and 90,000 barrels of crude storage. The crude facilities have connections for takeaway transportation into Plains’ 285 Central Station and State Line and Oryx’ Orla & Central Mentone.

 

1


Finally, ECM has water gathering and disposal assets located in northern Reeves County, Texas which are included in the Gathering and Processing segment. The system includes approximately 70 miles of gathering pipeline and approximately 500,000 barrels per day of permitted disposal capacity at 16 active and permitted disposal wells.

Transmission

The Transmission segment consists of a 26.67% equity interest in PHP, and the Delaware Link Pipeline that is under construction. PHP was formed to develop, construct, own, operate and maintain the PHP Pipeline. Beginning at the Waha Texas Hub and extending to the U.S. Gulf Coast and Mexico markets, the 430-mile pipeline is designed to transport up to approximately 2.1 Bcf/d of natural gas. The approximately $2.3 billion pipeline project was placed in full commercial service on January 1, 2021.

Refer to the “Information Concerning BCP and EagleClaw Midstream” section of the Proxy Statement for further details on our business.

Factors Affecting Our Business

The Significance of Crude Oil and Producer Volumes on Our Revenues, Cost of Sales and Gross Margin

The Partnership’s assets include more than 1,400 miles of natural gas, NGLs, condensate, and crude oil pipelines as well as 1,320 MMcf/d of natural gas processing capacity which service 750,000 dedicated acres across nearly 30 customers under long-term contracts as of December 31, 2021. All of the gas gathered and processed by the Partnership is associated gas included in the oil stream, making producers’ oil break-even prices the primary driver of activity, not natural gas prices. The average price of West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”) crude oil was $77.11/bbl during the fourth quarter of 2021. If crude prices were to fall below producers’ break-even prices for a prolonged period of time, drilling activity and volumes might decline as we experienced during the second quarter of 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recent Developments

Merger with Altus Midstream Company

On October 21, 2021, New BCP Raptor Holdco, LLC (“Raptor Holdco”) as representative of the Partnership’s unitholders, entered into a Contribution Agreement with Altus Midstream Company (“Altus”) and its subsidiary Altus Midstream LP (“Altus LP”), under which the Partnership and Altus will combine their businesses in an all-stock transaction (the “Transaction”). On February 22, 2022, the Partnership closed the Transaction and in exchange for all of the equity interests of the Partnership and General Partner, Raptor Holdco received 50,000,000 shares of Altus’ Class C common stock and 50,000,000 common units of Altus LP. Upon the completion of the Transaction, the Partnership’s unitholders own approximately 75.5% of the new combined entity and Altus’ stockholders own approximately 24.5%.

 

2


Altus is the legal acquiror of the Partnership because Altus is issuing their shares to effectuate the Transaction. However, for accounting purposes, the Transaction will be treated as a reverse merger and accounted for using the acquisition method in accordance with ASC 805, Business Combinations. As such, Altus will be treated as the “acquired” company for accounting purposes. This determination is primarily based on the fact that upon consummation of the Transaction, the Partnership unitholders have a majority of the voting power of the combined company, the Partnership controls a majority of the governing body of the combined company, and the Partnership’s senior management comprises the majority of the senior management of the combined company.

Accordingly, for financial reporting purposes, the net assets of the Partnership will be stated at historical carrying values and its consolidated financial statements will be presented as the predecessor to the combined company in the historical financial statements following the consummation of the Transaction, with one adjustment, which is to retroactively adjust the accounting acquirer’s legal capital to reflect the legal capital of the accounting acquiree. Furthermore, for accounting purposes, the assets and liabilities of Altus will be recorded at their fair values measured as of the acquisition date, with any excess purchase price over the fair value of the net assets acquired, if any, to be recorded as goodwill. The results of Altus will be presented within the consolidated results of the Partnership from the date of acquisition going forward. The initial allocation of the purchase price is still being assessed by the Partnership.

Immediately following the close of the Transaction, all outstanding Class A-1 and Class A-2 Units were exchanged for 2,650,000 shares of Class A common stock (“Class A Shares”) of Altus. These Class A Shares were distributed pro rata to all holders of Class A-1 and Class A-2 Units pro rata and will primarily vest over three to four years contingent upon continuous employment. Similarly, the Class A-3 Units were exchanged for approximately 163,000 Class A Shares and will vest over four years contingent upon continuous employment. This change represents a type IV modification to the unvested Class A Units, which establishes a new measurement date.

Key Performance Metrics

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income (loss) adjusted for interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, impairment charges, asset write-offs, the proportionate EBITDA from our equity method investment, equity in earnings (losses) from investments recorded using the equity method, stock-based compensation expense, extraordinary losses and unusual or non-recurring charges. Adjusted EBITDA provides a basis for comparison of our business operations between current, past and future periods by excluding items that we do not believe are indicative of our core operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA is $415.7 million, $221.1 million and $202.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Measures” section below for further discussion.

Segment Adjusted EBITDA

Segment Adjusted EBITDA is defined as segment net earnings or loss adjusted to exclude interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization, the proportionate effect of these same items for our equity method investments and other non-recurring items. Segment Adjusted EBITDA for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 is as follows:

 

     Years Ended December 31,  
     2021      2020      2019  
     (in thousands)  

Gathering and Processing

   $  343,645      $  230,015      $  207,888  

Transmission

     82,025        (321      2,635  

Other

     (9,957      (9,617      (8,286

Total Segment Adjusted EBITDA

     415,713        221,077        202,237  

 

3


Results of Operations

Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2021 and 2020

The following table is a reference for the discussion that follows:

 

     Years Ended December 31,      Change  
     2021      2020      $      %  
                             
     (dollars in thousands)  

Operating revenues:

           

Service revenue

   $ 272,677      $ 272,829      $ (152)        (0.1 )% 

Product revenue

     385,622        135,330        250,292        184.9

Other revenue

     3,745        2,017        1,728        85.7
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Total operating revenues

     662,044        410,176        251,868        61.4

Operating costs and expenses:

           

Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)

     233,619        65,053        168,566        259.1

Depreciation and amortization

     243,558        223,763        19,795        8.8

Operating expenses

     90,894        93,704        (2,810      (3.0 )% 

General and administrative expenses

     28,588        22,917        5,671        24.7

Ad valorem taxes

     11,512        10,985        527        4.8

Loss on disposal of assets

     382        3,454        (3,072      (88.9 )% 

Goodwill impairment

     —          1,010,773        (1,010,773      (100.0 )% 
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Total operating costs and expenses

     608,553        1,430,649        (822,096      (57.5 )% 
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Operating income (loss)

     53,491        (1,020,473      1,073,964        (105.2 )% 
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Other income (expense):

           

Interest and other income

     4,147        1,476        2,671        181.0

Interest expense

     (117,365      (135,516      18,151        (13.4 )% 

Equity in earnings (losses) of unconsolidated

affiliate

     63,074        (308      63,382        N/M  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Total other expense, net

     (50,144      (134,348      84,204        (62.7 )% 
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Income (loss) before income taxes

     3,347        (1,154,821      1,158,168        (100.3 )% 
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Income tax provision

     (1,865      (968      (897      92.7
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Net income (loss)

   $ 1,482      $  (1,155,789)      $ 1,157,271        (100.1 )% 
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

N/M—Not meaningful

Service revenue

Service revenue consists of service fees paid to us by our customers for providing comprehensive gathering, processing, treating and water disposal services necessary to bring natural gas, NGLs and crude oil to market. Service revenue was flat year over year. Service revenues are included entirely in the Gathering and Processing segment.

Product revenue

Product revenue consists of commodity sales (including condensate, natural gas, and NGLs). Product revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021, increased by $250.3 million, or 184.9%, to $385.6 million, compared to $135.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to period over period increases in commodity prices. For the year ended December 31, 2021 versus the same period in 2020, natural gas residue prices increased $3.06 per MMBtu or over 290%, NGL prices increased $23.87 per barrel or over 190% and condensate prices increased $15.07 per barrel or over 45%. Similarly over the same period, natural gas residue volumes increased 11.8 million MMBtu or 9%, NGL volumes decreased 4.7 million barrels or 18% and condensate volumes increased 1.7 million barrels or 64%. Product revenues are included entirely in the Gathering and Processing segment.

 

4


Other revenue

Other revenue consists of the amortization of contract liabilities related to capital reimbursements received from our customers. Other revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021, increased by $1.7 million, or 85.7%, to $3.7 million, compared to $2.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to new capital reimbursements received resulting in increased amortization. Other revenues are included entirely in the Gathering and Processing segment.

Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)

Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) primarily consists of purchases of NGLs and natural gas from our producers at contracted market prices to support product sales to other third parties. Cost of sales for the year ended December 31, 2021, increased $168.5 million or 259.1%, to $233.6 million, compared to $65.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to the period over period increase in commodity prices. Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) are included entirely in the Gathering and Processing segment.

Depreciation and amortization

Depreciation and amortization consists of depreciation expense on property, plant and equipment and amortization expense for intangible assets. Depreciation and amortization for the year ended December 31, 2021, increased $19.8 million, or 8.8%, to $243.6 million, compared to $223.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to an increase in our depreciable asset base from projects placed into service over the past year.

Operating expenses

Operating expenses consist of equipment rental fees, labor, outside services, and lubricants and chemicals all incurred in the operation of our assets. Operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2021, decreased $2.8 million, or 3.0%, to $90.9 million, compared to $93.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to decreased electricity costs associated with electricity credits received from one of our primary electricity providers during the month of February.

General and administrative expenses

General and administrative expenses consist of day-to-day costs we incur to administer our business including administrative labor, insurance costs and legal fees. General and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2021, increased $5.7 million, or 24.7%, to $28.6 million, compared to $22.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to $5.7 million of transactions costs incurred for the Altus merger during the current year.

Ad valorem taxes

Ad valorem taxes for the year ended December 31, 2021, increased $0.5 million, or 4.8%, to $11.5 million, compared to $11.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to the aforementioned increase to our fixed asset base and its increased utilization.

Loss on disposal of assets

Loss on disposal of assets consists of the losses associated with the dispositions of fixed assets. Loss on disposal of assets for the year ended December 31, 2021, decreased $3.1 million, or 88.9%, to $0.4 million, compared to $3.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to the write-off of a compressor during the year ended December 31, 2020.

Goodwill impairment

Goodwill impairment represents the charge to earnings and is calculated as the amount by which a reporting unit’s carrying value exceeds its fair value, determined during a goodwill impairment test. Goodwill impairment decreased $1.0 billion due to the goodwill impairment for the year ended December 31, 2020 and no impairment taken during the year ended December 31, 2021.

 

5


Interest and other income

Interest and other income consists of miscellaneous, non-operational interest and income or expense activities entered into by the Partnership. Interest and other income for the year ended December 31, 2021, increased $2.6 million, to income of $4.1 million, compared to income of $1.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to a $2.5 million settlement from the former owners of one of our subsidiaries, CR Permian Holdings, LLC, that was acquired in November of 2018.

Interest expense

Interest expense includes mainly the interest incurred on our outstanding indebtedness and associated interest rate swaps, as well as amortization of deferred financing costs, mainly debt origination and commitment fees. Interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2021, decreased $18.1 million, or 13.4%, to $117.4 million, compared to $135.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to lower settlements and fair value marks on our interest rate swaps totaling $23.4 million. Also, interest expense on our outstanding term loans decreased $10.9 million due to a period over period decrease in the floating rates of the associated debt. Partially offsetting these decreases was a decrease in capitalized interest of $15.3 million, primarily associated with ceasing interest capitalization on our equity investment in PHP after the associated pipeline went into service in January of 2021.

Equity in earnings (losses) of unconsolidated affiliate

Equity in earnings (losses) of unconsolidated affiliate consists of the earnings associated with the investment in PHP. Equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliate for the year ended December 31, 2021, increased $63.4 million, to $63.1 million, as compared to $0.3 million equity in losses for the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to the PHP pipeline going into service during January of 2021.

Income tax provision

Our provision for income taxes is solely attributable to Texas state margin tax and the associated deferred income taxes which result from differences between the carrying amount and tax bases related to property, plant and equipment and intangible assets. Income tax provision for the year ended December 31, 2021, increased $0.9 million, to $1.9 million, compared to $1.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. Income tax provision as a percentage of revenue was 0.3% during the year ended December 31, 2021 and 0.2% during the year ended December 31, 2020.

Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2020 and 2019

The following table is a reference for the discussion that follows:

 

     Years Ended December 31,      Change  
     2020      2019      $      %  
                             
     (dollars in thousands)  

Operating revenues:

           

Service revenue

   $  272,829      $  233,987      $  38,842        16.6

Product revenue

     135,330        144,270        (8,940      (6.2 )% 

Other revenue

     2,017        487        1,530        N/M  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Total operating revenues

     410,176        378,744        31,432        8.3

Operating costs and expenses:

           

Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and

amortization)

     65,053        70,272        (5,219      (7.4 )% 

Depreciation and amortization

     223,763        202,664        21,099        10.4

Operating expenses

     93,704        85,537        8,167        9.5

General and administrative expenses

     22,917        22,601        316        1.4

Ad valorem taxes

     10,985        8,172        2,813        34.4

 

6


     Years Ended December 31,      Change  
     2020      2019      $      %  
                             
     (dollars in thousands)  

Loss on disposal of assets

     3,454        1,573        1,881        119.6

Goodwill impairment

     1,010,773        —          1,010,773        100.0
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Total operating costs and expenses

     1,430,649        390,819        1,039,830        266.1
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Operating loss

     (1,020,473      (12,075      (1,008,398      N/M  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Other income (expense):

           

Interest and other income

     1,476        1,736        (260      N/M  

Interest expense

     (135,516      (133,535      (1,981      1.5

Gain on sales of interests of unconsolidated affiliate

     —          3,362        (3,362      (100.0 )% 

Equity in earnings (losses) of unconsolidated affiliate

     (308      440        (748      (170.0 )% 
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Total other expense, net

     (134,348      (127,997      (6,351      5.0
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Loss before income taxes

     (1,154,821      (140,072      (1,014,749      N/M  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Income tax provision

     (968      (4,357      3,389        (77.8 )% 
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Net loss

   $  (1,155,789)      $  (144,429)      $  (1,011,360)        N/M  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

N/M —Not meaningful

Service revenue

Service revenue consists of service fees paid to us by our customers for providing comprehensive gathering, treating, processing and water disposal services necessary to bring natural gas, NGLs and crude oil to market. Service revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020, increased by 38.8 million, or 16.6%, to $272.8 million, compared to $234.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, primarily due to a period over period increase in gathered gas volumes of 179.2 Mcf per day and processed gas volumes of 140.2 Mcf per day. Service revenues are included entirely in the Gathering and Processing segment.

Product revenue

Product revenue consists of commodity sales (including condensate, natural gas, and NGLs). Product revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020, decreased by $9.0 million, or 6.2%, to $135.3 million, compared to $144.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, primarily due to period over period decreases in NGL prices of $2.52 per barrel or 17% and condensate prices of $11.54 per barrel or 25%. Partially offsetting these increases was a period over period increase in natural gas prices of $0.21 per MMBtu or 28% and an increase in overall product volumes sold related to the portion of the aforementioned increase of our processed gas volumes where we act as the principal on the sale at the plant tailgate. During the year ended December 31, 2020, natural gas residue volumes increased 31.6 million MMBtu or 33%, NGL volumes increased 210.7 thousand barrels or 1% and condensate volumes increased 387.5 thousand barrels or 21%. Product revenues are included entirely in the Gathering and Processing segment.

Other revenue

Other revenue consists of the amortization of contract liabilities related to capital reimbursements received from our customers. Other revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020, increased by $1.5 million to $2.0 million, compared to $0.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, primarily due to new contract liabilities and their associated amortization. Other revenues are included entirely in the Gathering and Processing segment.

Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)

Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) primarily consists of purchases of NGLs from our producers at contracted market prices to support product sales to other third parties. Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) for the year ended December 31, 2020, decreased $5.2 million or 7.4%, to $65.1 million, compared to $70.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, primarily due to the period over period decrease in NGL prices. Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) are included entirely in the Gathering and Processing segment.

 

7


Depreciation and amortization

Depreciation and amortization consists of depreciation expense on property, plant and equipment and amortization expense for intangible assets. Depreciation and amortization for the year ended December 31, 2020, decreased $21.1 million, or 10.4%, to $223.8 million, compared to $202.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, primarily due to the acquisition of the Permian Gas assets in June of 2019 and the overall increase in our depreciable asset base due to projects placed into service over the past year.

Operating expenses

Operating expenses consist of equipment rental fees, labor, outside services, and lubricants and chemicals all incurred in the operation of our assets. Operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020, increased $8.2 million, or 9.6%, to $93.7 million, compared to $85.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, primarily due to increased equipment rental fees associated with increased compression needs related to the increase in volumes on our gathering systems.

Ad valorem taxes

Ad valorem taxes for the year ended December 31, 2020, increased $2.8 million, or 34.4%, to $11.0 million, compared to $8.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, primarily due to the aforementioned increase to our fixed asset base and its increased utilization, including the Permian Gas acquisition.

Loss on disposal of assets

Loss on disposal of assets consists of the loss associated with the disposition of a fixed asset. Loss on disposal of assets for the year ended December 31, 2020, increased $1.9 million, or 119.6%, to $3.5 million, compared to $1.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, primarily due to the write-off of a compressor during the year ended December 31, 2020.

Goodwill impairment

Goodwill impairment represents the charge to earnings and is calculated as the amount by which a reporting unit’s carrying value exceeds its fair value, determined during a goodwill impairment test. Goodwill impairment increased $1.0 billion due to the goodwill impairment for the year ended December 31, 2020 and no impairment taken during the year ended December 31, 2019. During the first four months of 2020, current and forward commodity prices significantly declined from their levels at December 31, 2019 due primarily to the decreases in energy demand as a result of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and actions taken by OPEC+ relating to the oversupply of oil. Based on our quantitative assessments, we determined that all goodwill at all reporting units should be fully impaired, and accordingly recorded a $1.0 billion impairment for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Gain on sales of interest in unconsolidated affiliate

Gain on sale of interest in unconsolidated affiliate for the year ended December 31, 2020, decreased $3.4 million to $0 due to no gain being recognized during the year ended December 31, 2020. The gain of $3.4 million recorded during the year ended December 31, 2019 related to the sale of 23.3% of our interests held in PHP to two different third parties that exercised purchase options that were provided through PHP’s LLC agreement.

Income tax provision

Our provision for income taxes consists primarily of the Texas state margin tax and the associated deferred income taxes which result from differences between the carrying amount and tax bases related to property, plant and equipment and intangible assets. Income tax provision for the year ended December 31, 2020, decreased $3.4 million, to $1.0 million, compared to $4.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. Income tax provision as a percentage of revenue was 0.2% during the year ended December 31, 2020 and 1.2% during the year ended December 31, 2019.

 

8


Non-GAAP Measures

In addition to net income (loss), which is a measure presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, management believes that Adjusted EBITDA provides relevant and useful information to management and investors to assess our performance. Adjusted EBITDA is a supplemental measure of BCP’s performance that is neither required by nor presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. This measure is limited in its usefulness and should not be considered a substitute for U.S. GAAP metrics such as income (loss) from operations, net income (loss), or any other performance measures derived in accordance with U.S. GAAP and may not be comparable to similar measures used by other companies.

Adjusted EBITDA represents net income (loss) adjusted for interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, impairment charges, asset write-offs, the proportionate EBITDA from our equity method investment, equity in earnings (losses) from investments recorded using the equity method, stock-based compensation expense, extraordinary losses and unusual or non-recurring charges.

We believe that Adjusted EBITDA provides a meaningful understanding of certain aspects of earnings (loss) before the impact of investing and financing charges and income taxes. Adjusted EBITDA is useful to an investor in evaluating our performance because this measure:

 

   

Is widely used by analysts, investors and competitors to measure a company’s operating performance;

 

   

Is a financial measurement that is used by rating agencies, lenders, and other parties to evaluate our credit worthiness; and

 

   

Is used by our management for various purposes, including as a measure of performance and as a basis for strategic planning and forecasting.

The reconciliations of net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 are as follows:

 

     Years Ended December 31,  
     2021      2020      2019  
                      
     (in thousands)  

Net Income (loss)

   $ 1,482      $ (1,155,789    $ (144,429

Add back:

        

Interest expense

     117,365        135,516        133,535  

Provision for income taxes

     1,865        968        4,357  

Depreciation and amortization

     243,558        223,763        202,664  

Contract asset amortization

     1,792        1,805        1,185  

Proportionate equity method investments EBITDA

     83,593        1,150        17  

Stock-based compensation

     —          —          3,809  

Goodwill impairment

     —          1,010,773        —    

Loss on disposal of assets

     382        3,454        1,573  

Derivative loss due to Winter Storm Uri

     13,456        —          —    

Producer settlement

     6,827        —          —    

Altus merger transaction costs

     5,730        —          —    

Other one-time costs/expenses

     2,856        —          —    

Losses from equity method investments

     —          308        —    

Deduct:

        

Interest income

     (115      (3      (34

Earnings from equity method investments

     (63,074      —          (440

Gain on debt extinguishment

     (4      (868      —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA

   $  415,713      $ 221,077      $  202,237  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

9


Liquidity and Capital Resources

The Partnership’s primary use of capital since inception has been for the initial construction of gathering and processing assets. For 2021, the Partnership’s primary capital spending requirements are related to expanding our gathering system to service new wells as they come on-line and for facility improvements.

The Partnership believes that cash on hand, cash flow from operations and borrowings under its credit facilities will be sufficient to fund its planned capital expenditures and operating expenses over the next twelve months. To date, the funds received from previous partners’ capital contributions, as well as the Partnership’s ability to obtain lending commitments, have provided the liquidity necessary for the Partnership to fund its operations. If the Partnership is unable to generate positive operating cash flows, additional debt and equity financings may be necessary to sustain future operations.

Given the crude oil price collapse on lower demand and economic activity resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and related governmental actions during 2020, the Partnership continues to monitor expected natural gas throughput volumes. Throughout the year ended December 31, 2021, the Partnership has realized increases in throughput volumes and increases in commodity values as a result of higher demand and improving economic conditions. We expect this trend to continue throughout 2022. BCP’s results, including projections related to capital resources and liquidity, could be materially affected by the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

Capital Requirements

During the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, capital spending for midstream infrastructure assets totaled $82.7 million, $199.1 million and $457.0 million, respectively. Management believes its existing gathering, processing, and transmission infrastructure capacity is capable of fulfilling its midstream contracts to service all of our third-party customers.

Additionally, during the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, the Partnership made cash contributions totaling $20.5 million, $306.5 million and $348.9 million, respectively, for the 26.67% interest ownership in PHP. Contributions for the year ended December 31, 2019 were partially offset by proceeds of $92.7 million associated with the sale of 23.3% of our interests in PHP to two third parties.

The Partnership anticipates its existing capital resources will be sufficient to fund the Partnership’s future capital expenditures for PHP and the Partnership’s existing infrastructure assets. For further information on the PHP equity method investment, refer to Note 7, Investment in Unconsolidated Affiliate, to our consolidated financial statements appearing in Exhibit 99.4 to this Form 8-K.

Distributions

During March 2021, the Partnership borrowed the additional $30.2 million associated with the conversion date term commitment for the $513 million term loan as all conditions of the term conversion were met. The Partnership subsequently distributed the full borrowing to our equity sponsors. During November 2021, an additional $21.0 million was distributed to equity sponsors utilizing cash on hand.

Cash Flows

The following tables present cash flows from operating, investing, and financing activities during the periods presented:

 

     Years Ended December 31,  
     2021      2020      2019  
                      
     (in thousands)  

Net cash flows from operating activities

   $ 235,569      $ 102,096      $ 44,658  

Net cash flows from investing activities

     (99,621      (505,586      (713,239

Net cash flows from financing activities

     (136,810      372,774        627,566  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net change in cash

   $ (862    $  (30,716    $  (41,015
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

10


Operating Activities

Changes in cash flows from operating activities between periods primarily result from changes in earnings (as discussed in “Results of Operations” above), excluding the impacts of non-cash items and changes in operating assets and liabilities. Non-cash items include recurring non-cash expenses, such as depreciation and amortization expense and equity in earnings (losses) from unconsolidated affiliate. Cash flows from operating activities also differ from earnings as a result of non-cash charges that may not be recurring such as impairment charges. Changes in operating assets and liabilities between periods result from factors such as the changes in the value of derivative assets and liabilities, timing of accounts receivable collection, payments on accounts payable, the timing of purchases and sales of products, and the timing of advances and deposits received from customers.

Following is a summary of operating activities by period:

Year Ended December 31, 2021

Operating activities provided $235.6 million of cash, resulting from our net income of $1.5 million distributions from our unconsolidated affiliate of $68.3 million, non-cash charges of $209.7 million offset by $19.4 million in derivative settlements and net cash used in changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $24.5 million. Non-cash charges of $209.7 million consist primarily of depreciation and amortization of $243.6 million, $12.5 million derivative fair value adjustments, $13.4 million amortization of deferred financing costs, $1.8 million amortization of contract costs and $1.9 million in deferred income taxes partially offset by $63.1 million in equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliate. Net cash used in changes in our operating assets and liabilities consisted primarily of a $88.5 million increase in accounts receivable, a $11.5 million increase in other assets, a $2.7 million decrease in accounts payable, offset by an increase in accrued liabilities of $77.4 million and a decrease of $0.8 million in net operating lease activity.

Year Ended December 31, 2020

Operating activities provided $102.1 million of cash, resulting from our net loss of $1.2 billion, $7.8 million of derivative settlements net cash used in changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $1.1 million, offset by non-cash charges of $1.3 billion. Non-cash charges of $1.3 billion consist primarily of a $1.0 billion goodwill impairment, depreciation and amortization of $223.8 million, $17.3 million derivative fair value adjustments and $11.9 million amortization of deferred financing costs. Net cash used in changes in our operating assets and liabilities consisted primarily of a $7.3 million increase in accounts receivable, a $6.6 million increase in other assets and an increase of $0.7 million in net operating lease activity, offset by an increase in accounts payable of $4.2 million, and increase in accrued liabilities of $9.2 million.

Year Ended December 31, 2019

Operating activities provided $44.7 million of cash, resulting from our net loss of $144.4 million, net cash used in changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $23.9 million, offset by $1.5 million of derivative settlements and net non-cash charges of $211.5 million. Non-cash charges of $211.5 million consist primarily of depreciation and amortization of $202.7 million, amortization of deferred financing costs of $9.7 million, stock-based compensation of $3.8 million and deferred taxes of $4.4 million, partially offset by a contingent liability remeasurement of $8.1 million. Net cash used in changes in our operating assets and liabilities consisted primarily of a $27.3 million increase in accounts receivable and an increase in other assets of $14.3 million, partially offset by a $17.8 million increase in accrued liabilities.

Investing Activities

Cash flows from investing activities primarily consist of cash amounts paid for acquisitions, capital expenditures, and cash distributions from and investments in our unconsolidated affiliate. Changes in capital expenditures between periods primarily result from increases or decreases in our growth capital expenditures to fund our construction and expansion projects.

Following is a summary of investing activities by period:

 

11


Year Ended December 31, 2021

Investing activities used $99.6 million of cash, resulting from purchases of property and equipment of $78.0 million, intangible asset expenditures of $4.7 million and investments in our unconsolidated affiliate of $20.5 million partially offset by proceeds from disposal of assets of $3.6 million.

Year Ended December 31, 2020

Investing activities used $505.6 million of cash, resulting from purchases of property and equipment of $181.4 million, intangible asset expenditures of $17.6 million and investments in our unconsolidated affiliate of $306.5 million.

Year Ended December 31, 2019

Investing activities used $713.2 million of cash, resulting from purchases of property and equipment of $329.3 million, intangible asset expenditures of $27.7 million, investments in our unconsolidated affiliate of $348.9 million and acquisition from third parties, net of cash received of $100.0 million partially offset by proceeds from sales of interests in our unconsolidated affiliate of $92.7 million.

Financing Activities

Changes in cash flows from financing activities between periods primarily result from changes in the levels of borrowings, which are primarily used to fund our acquisitions and growth capital expenditures and equity contributions from or distributions to our partners.

Following is a summary of financing activities by period:

Year Ended December 31, 2021

Financing activities used $136.8 million of cash, resulting from principal payments on debt of $166.0 million and partner distributions of $51.2 million, partially offset by proceeds from issuance of debt obligations, net of issuance costs of $65.5 million and partner contributions of $14.9 million.

Year Ended December 31, 2020

Financing activities provided $372.8 million of cash, resulting from proceeds from issuance of debt obligations, net of issuance costs of $375.0 million, and equity contributions of $280.9 million, net of repayments of debt of $203.9 million and consideration payable from acquisition of $79.3 million.

Year Ended December 31, 2019

Financing activities provided $627.6 million of cash, resulting from proceeds from issuance of debt obligations, net of issuance costs of $519.8 million, equity contributions of $586.8 million, net of repayments of debt of $180.7 million, payments of contingent liability of $9.1 million and equity distributions of $289.3 million.

Financing Arrangements

See Note 10, Long Term Debt, and Note 11, Equity, respectively, to our consolidated financial statements appearing in Exhibit 99.4 to this Form 8-K for a discussion of debt and equity financing arrangements for the Partnership.

Contractual Obligations

Long term debt obligation and related interest payments – We have contractual obligations for principal and interest payments on our senior notes. See Note 10, Long Term Debt, to our consolidated financial statements appearing in Exhibit 99.4 to this Form 8-K for additional information.

Operating lease commitments – We have contractual obligations for operating leases on certain real estate and equipment. See Note 9, Leases, to our consolidated financial statements appearing in Exhibit 99.4 to this Form 8-K for additional information.

 

12


Under certain of our transportation services agreements with third party pipelines to transport natural gas and NGLs with current contract terms from 2021-2031, if we fail to ship a minimum throughput volume during any year, then we will pay a deficiency payment for transportation based on the volume shortfall up to the MVC amount. The partnership has made no historical shortfall payments through December 31, 2021.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined by applicable rules and regulations of the SEC, that are reasonably likely to have a current or future material effect on our financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.

Critical Accounting Policies

The preparation of our consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires our management to make a number of estimates and assumptions relating to the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the periods presented. We evaluate our significant estimates on an ongoing basis. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results could differ from those estimates under different assumptions or conditions, impacting our reported results of operations and financial condition.

We believe that the accounting policies described below involve a significant degree of judgment and complexity and have the greatest potential effect on our consolidated financial statements. Accordingly, we believe these are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our consolidated financial condition and results of operations. For further information, see Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to our consolidated financial statements included in Exhibit 99.4 to this Form 8-K.

Revenue Recognition

We provide gathering, processing, and disposal services and we sell commodities (including condensate, NGLs and natural gas) under various contracts.

We recognize revenues for services and products under revenue contracts as our obligations to perform services or deliver/sell products under the contracts are satisfied. A contract’s transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation in the contract and recognized as revenue when, or as, the performance obligation is satisfied. These contracts include:

Fee-based arrangements—Under fee-based contract arrangements, the Partnership provides gathering, processing and disposal services to producers and earns a net margin based on volumes. While transactions vary in form, the essential element of each transaction is the use of the Partnership’s assets to transport a product or provide a processed product to an end-user at the tailgate of the plant or pipeline. This revenue stream is generally directly related to the volume of water, natural gas, crude oil, NGLs, and condensate that flows through the Partnership’s systems and facilities and is not normally dependent on commodity prices. The Partnership primarily acts as an agent under these contracts selling the underlying commodities on behalf of the producer and remitting back to the producer the net proceeds. These such sales and remitted proceeds are presented net within revenue. However, in certain instances the Partnership acts as the principal for processed NGLs by purchasing them from the associated producer at the tailgate of the plant at index prices. This purchase and the associated 3rd party sale are presented gross within revenues and cost of sales.

 

13


Percent-of-proceeds arrangements—Under percentage-of-proceeds based contract arrangements, the Partnership will gather and process natural gas on behalf of producers and sell the outputs, including residue gas, NGLs and condensate at market prices. The Partnership remits an agreed-upon percentage of proceeds to the producer based on the market price received from 3rd parties or the index price defined in the contract. Under these arrangements, revenue is recognized net of the agreed-upon proceeds remitted to producers when the Partnership acts as an agent of the producer for the associated 3rd party sale. However, in certain instances the Partnership acts as the principal for processed residue and NGLs by purchasing these volumes from the associated producer at the tailgate of the plant at index prices. This purchase and the associated 3rd party sale are presented gross within revenues and cost of sales.

Percent-of-products arrangements—Under percent-of-products based contract arrangements, the Partnership will gather and process natural gas on behalf of producers. As partial compensation for services, the producer assigns to the Partnership, for no additional consideration, all right, title and interest to a set percentage, as defined in the contract, of the processed residue volumes. The Partnership recognizes the fair value of these products as revenue when the associated performance obligation has been met.

Product sales contracts—Under these contracts, we sell natural gas, NGLs or condensate to third parties. These sales are presented gross within revenues and cost of sales or net within revenues depending on whether the Partnership acts as the agent or the principal in the sale transaction as discussed above.

Our fee-based service contracts primarily have a single performance obligation to deliver a series of distinct goods or services that are substantially the same and have the same pattern of transfer to our producers. For performance obligations associated with these contracts, we recognize revenues over time utilizing the output method based on the actual volumes of products delivered/sold or services performed, because the single performance obligation is satisfied over time using the same performance measure of progress toward satisfaction of the performance obligation. The transaction price under our fee-based service contracts includes variable consideration that varies primarily based on actual volumes that are delivered under the contracts. Because the variable consideration specifically relates to our efforts to transfer the services and/or products under the contracts, we allocate the variable consideration entirely to the distinct service utilizing the allocation exception guidance under Topic 606, and accordingly recognize the variable consideration as revenues at the time the good or service is transferred to the producer.

We recognize revenues at a point in time for performance obligations associated with percent-of-proceeds contract elements, percent-of-products contract elements and product sale contracts, and these revenues are recognized because control of the underlying product is transferred to the customer or producer when the distinct good is provided to the customer or producer.

The evaluation of when performance obligations have been satisfied and the transaction price that is allocated to our performance obligations requires judgments and assumptions, including our evaluation of the timing of when control of the underlying good or service has transferred to our producers or customers. Actual results can vary from those judgments and assumptions.

Minimum Volume Commitments—The Partnership has certain agreements that provide for quarterly or annual minimum volume commitments (MVCs). Under these MVCs, our producers agree to ship and/or process a minimum volume of production on our gathering systems or to pay a minimum monetary amount over certain periods during the term of the MVC. A producer must make a shortfall payment to us at the end of the contracted measurement period if its actual throughput volumes are less than its contractual MVC for that period. None of the Partnership’s MVC provisions allow for producers to make up past deficient volumes in a future period. However, certain MVC provisions allow producers to carryforward volumes delivered in excess of a current period MVC to future periods. The Partnership recognizes revenue associated with MVCs when a counterparty has not met the contractual MVC at the completion of the contracted measurement period or we determine that the counterparty cannot meet the contractual MVC by the end of the contracted measurement period. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 the Partnership recognized revenues from minimum MVCs of $2.5 million, $0.1 million and $1.8 million, respectively.

 

14


Fair Value Measurements

Fair value accounting is applied for all assets and liabilities and nonfinancial assets and liabilities that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring basis (at least annually). Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or an exit price that would be paid to transfer a liability in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The Partnership follows the established framework for measuring fair value and expands disclosures about fair value measurements.

Valuation techniques used to measure fair value must maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. The authoritative guidance establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to measurements involving significant unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are as follows:

 

   

Level 1—Inputs are quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Partnership has the ability to access at the measurement date.

 

   

Level 2—Inputs are observable, unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities, unadjusted quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the related assets or liabilities.

 

   

Level 3—Unobservable inputs are used when little or no market data is available. The fair value hierarchy gives the lowest priority to level 3 inputs.

The level in the fair value hierarchy within which a fair value measurement in its entirety falls is based on the lowest-level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety.

The Partnership’s consolidated financial instruments consist of accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses and are stated at their carrying value, which approximates fair value due to the short time to the expected receipt or payment date. The consolidated financial statements also include fair value level 2 measurements of commodity swaps and interest rate derivatives.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

In accordance with FASB ASC Topic 360, Property, Plant and Equipment, long-lived assets, excluding goodwill, to be held and used by the Partnership are reviewed to determine whether any events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the asset may not be recoverable. For long-lived assets to be held and used, the Partnership bases their evaluation on impairment indicators such as the nature of the assets, the future economic benefit of the assets, any historical or future profitability measurements and other external market conditions or factors that may be present.

In performing this review, an undiscounted cash flow test is performed at the lowest level for which identifiable cash flows are independent of cash flows from other assets. If the sum of the undiscounted future net cash flows is less than the net book value of the property, an impairment loss is recognized for the excess, if any, of the property’s net book value over its estimated fair value.

 

15


Recently Issued and Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to our consolidated financial statements appearing in Exhibit 99.4 to this Form 8-K for a discussion of accounting pronouncements recently adopted and recently issued accounting pronouncements not yet adopted and their potential impact to our consolidated financial statements.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

We are exposed to a variety of market and other risks, including the effects of changes in interest rates and inflation, as well as risks to the availability of funding sources, hazard events, and specific asset risks.

Interest Rate Risk

The market risk inherent in our financial instruments and our financial position represents the potential loss arising from adverse changes in interest rates. As of December 31, 2021, we have interest bearing debt with a principal amount of $2.3 billion, respectively.

Our $1.25 billion term loan as of December 31, 2021 is a variable rate loan that accrues interest periodically at a rate equal to 4.25% plus LIBOR subject to a floor of 1%. Average 1 month USD LIBOR subject to the 1% floor was 1.000%, 1.171% and 2.321% for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Our $100 million revolving line of credit as of December 31, 2021 is a variable rate loan that accrues interest periodically at a rate equal to LIBOR plus the applicable margin based on our consolidated total leverage ratio, which is between 3.75% and 4.00%.

Our $690 million term loan as of December 31, 2021 is a variable rate loan that accrues interest periodically rate equal to 4.75% plus LIBOR. Average 1 month USD LIBOR was 0.103%, 0.629% and 2.299% for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Our $60 million revolving line of credit as of December 31, 2021 is a variable rate loan that accrues interest periodically a rate equal to LIBOR plus the applicable margin based on our consolidated total leverage ratio, which is between 4.25% and 4.75%.

Our $513 million term loan as of December 31, 2021 is a variable rate loan that accrues interest periodically rate equal to 1.625% plus adjusted LIBOR (subject to a 1% floor) for four years after the closing date and at a rate equal to 1.875% plus adjusted LIBOR (subject to a 1% floor) thereafter.

 

16


Based upon our interest rates as of December 31, 2021, a one percent (1%) increase subject to the floor in interest rates in our variable rate indebtedness would result in approximately $1.4 million in additional annual interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2021.

 

17

Exhibit 99.7

INFORMATION ABOUT KINETIK

In this Exhibit 99.7, unless otherwise indicated or the context so requires, references to the “Company,” “we,” “our” and “us” refer to Kinetik Holdings Inc., in each case including its subsidiaries.

Overview

We are an integrated midstream energy company in the Permian Basin providing comprehensive gathering, transportation, compression, processing, and treating services for companies that produce natural gas, NGLs, crude oil, and water. We operate approximately 2 Bcf/day of newly constructed cryogenic natural gas processing capacity strategically located near the Waha Hub in West Texas. As measured by processing capacity, we are the largest natural gas processor in the Delaware Basin and fourth largest across the entire Permian Basin. In addition, we have interests in four newly built, long-term contracted pipelines transporting natural gas, NGLs, and crude oil from the Permian Basin to the Gulf Coast. We have long-term dedications of approximately 850,000 acres for gas, crude oil, and water midstream services from 30 successful and active producers in the Delaware Basin.

Our Operations

The map below illustrates our areas of operation:

 

LOGO

We generate a balanced mix of earnings from our two businesses: (i) Midstream Logistics, which is our midstream gathering and processing and related business, and (ii) Pipeline Transportation, which is our long-haul transportation business.

Midstream Logistics

Our Midstream Logistics business includes gas gathering and compression assets located throughout the Texas Delaware Basin, with over 1,700 miles of low and high-pressure steel pipeline. Gas processing assets are centralized at five processing complexes with total cryogenic processing capacity of 1.9 Bcf/d: the Diamond complex (600 MMcf/d), the East Toyah complex (460 MMcf/d), the Pecos Bend complex (520 MMcf/d), the Pecos complex (260 MMcf/d) and the Sierra Grande complex (60 MMcf/d). Current residue gas outlets include the El Paso Natural Gas Pipeline, ET Comanche Trail Pipeline, Oneok Roadrunner Pipeline, ET Oasis Pipeline and Whitewater Agua Blanca. NGL outlets include Enterprise’s Shin Oak NGL Pipeline (in which we own a 33.0% equity interest), Energy Transfer’s Lone Star NGL Pipeline and Targa’s Grand Prix NGL Pipeline (in which funds affiliated with Blackstone, our largest shareholder, own a 25.0% equity interest).


Our Midstream Logistics business also includes our crude oil gathering, stabilization, and storage services throughout the Texas Delaware Basin. Crude gathering assets are centralized at the Caprock Stampede Terminal and the Pinnacle Sierra Grande Terminal. The system includes approximately 200 miles of gathering pipeline and 90,000 barrels of crude storage. The crude facilities have connections for takeaway transportation into Plains’ 285 Central Station and State Line and Plains/Oryx Orla & Central Mentone. Other assets include two NGL, crude oil and condensate loading terminals with eight Lease Automatic Custody Transfer units in total and NGL bullet tank storage.

Finally, we have water gathering and disposal assets located in northern Reeves County, Texas. The system includes approximately 70 miles of gathering pipeline and approximately 500,000 Bbl/d of permitted disposal capacity at 16 active and permitted disposal wells.

Pipeline Transportation

Our Pipeline Transportation business consists of equity interests in (i) Permian Highway Pipeline, LLC (“PHP”), (ii) Gulf Coast Express Pipeline LLC (“GCX”), (iii) Breviloba LLC (“Breviloba”), which owns the Shin Oak NGL Pipeline (“Shin Oak”), and (iv) EPIC Crude Holdings LP (“EPIC”), which owns the EPIC Crude Oil Pipeline (“EPIC Crude” and collectively, our “Pipeline Transportation JVs”).

Permian Highway Pipeline. Beginning at the Waha Hub in West Texas and extending to the U.S. Gulf Coast and Mexico markets, the 430-mile pipeline is designed to transport up to approximately 2.1 Bcf/d of natural gas. The approximately $2.3 billion pipeline project was placed in full commercial service on January 1, 2021. Although we own a 53.3% equity interest in PHP, we will not be able to unilaterally control the operations of the Permian Highway Pipeline, which is operated by Kinder Morgan.

Gulf Coast Express Pipeline. GCX owns and operates he Gulf Coast Express Pipeline, a long-haul natural gas pipeline with capacity of approximately 2.0 Bcf/d and transports natural gas from the Waha area in northern Pecos County, Texas, to the Agua Dulce Hub near the Texas Gulf Coast. The Gulf Coast Express Pipeline is operated by Kinder Morgan and was placed into service in September 2019. We own a 16.0% equity interest in GCX.

Shin Oak NGL Pipeline. The Shin Oak NGL Pipeline has capacity of up to 550 MBbl/d and transports NGL production from the Orla area in northern Reeves County, Texas, through the Waha area in northern Pecos County, Texas, and the Midland Basin area in Midland and Glasscock Counties, Texas, and on to Mont Belvieu, Texas. Shin Oak is operated by Enterprise Products and was placed into service during 2019. We own a 33.0% interest in Breviloba, which owns the Shin Oak NGL Pipeline.

EPIC Crude Oil Pipeline. EPIC Crude extends from the Orla area in northern Reeves County, Texas to the Port of Corpus Christi, Texas, and has Permian Basin initial throughput capacity of approximately 600 MBbl/d. The project includes terminals in Orla, Pecos, Crane, Robstown, Hobson, and Gardendale, Texas with Port of Corpus Christi connectivity and export access. It services Delaware Basin, Midland Basin, and Eagle Ford Shale production. EPIC Crude is operated by EPIC Consolidated Operations, LLC and was placed into service in early 2020. We own a 15.0% equity interest in EPIC Crude Holdings, which owns EPIC Crude.


Customers

Our relationships with our customers involve long-term acreage dedications or quarterly or annual MVCs. Acreage dedications are commitments from upstream operators or exploration and production companies in which all production from a given area is exclusively committed to a midstream company for the provision of midstream services or the midstream company’s purchase of such production. We currently have approximately 850,000 acres pursuant to acreage dedications with customers. Under our MVCs agreements, our producers agree to deliver a minimum volume of production on our gathering and/or processing systems or to pay a minimum monetary amount over certain periods during the term of the MVC. A producer must make a shortfall payment to us at the end of the contractual measurement period if its actual throughput volumes are less than its contractual MVC for that period.

The contracts related to these customer commitments contain various fee structures and include distinctly one, or a combination, of the following types of fee arrangements:

 

   

Fee-based arrangements—Under fee-based contract arrangements, we provide gathering, processing, storage and disposal services to producers and earn a net margin based on volumes. While transactions vary in form, the essential element of each contract is the use of our assets to transport a product or provide a processed product to an end-user at the tailgate of the plant or pipeline. This revenue stream is generally directly related to the volume of water, natural gas, crude oil, NGLs, and condensate that flows through our systems and facilities and is not normally dependent on commodity prices. We primarily act as an agent under these contracts selling the underlying commodities on behalf of the producer and remitting back to the producer the net proceeds after fees are allocated to us for our services. These sales and remitted proceeds are presented net within revenue. However, in certain instances we act as the principal for processed residue gas and NGLs by purchasing them from the associated producer at the tailgate of the plant at index prices. This purchase and the associated third-party sale are presented gross within revenues and cost of sales.

 

   

Percent-of-proceeds arrangements—Under percent-of-proceeds based contract arrangements, we will gather and process natural gas on behalf of producers and sell the outputs, including residue gas, NGLs and condensate at market prices. We remit an agreed-upon percentage of proceeds to the producer based on the market price received from third-parties or the index price defined in the contract. Under these arrangements, revenue is recognized net of the agreed-upon proceeds remitted to producers when we act as an agent of the producer for the associated third-party sale. However, in certain instances we act as the principal for processed residue and NGLs by purchasing these volumes from the associated producer at the tailgate of the plant at index prices. This purchase and the associated third-party sale are presented gross within revenues and cost of sales.

 

   

Percent-of-products arrangements—Under percent-of-products based contract arrangements, we will gather and process natural gas on behalf of producers. As partial compensation for services, the producer assigns us, for no additional consideration, all right, title and interest to a set percentage, as defined in the contract, of the processed outputs including residue gas, NGLs and condensate. We recognize the fair value of these products as revenue when the associated performance obligation has been met.

 

   

Product sales contracts—Under these contracts, we sell natural gas, NGLs or condensate to third parties. These sales are presented gross within revenues and cost of sales or net within revenues depending on whether we act as the agent or the principal in the sale transaction as discussed above.


Customer Agreements with Apache

Apache is an independent energy company that explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, crude oil, and NGLs. Apache has been one of the Company’s most significant customers since it commenced operations. The Company provides gas gathering, compression, processing, transmission, and NGL transmission services pursuant to acreage dedications provided by Apache, comprising the entire Alpine High resource play and surrounding areas. Revenues under these contracts are 100 percent fee-based, resulting in no direct commodity price exposure attributable to the contracts.

In addition, Apache agreed that any gas produced from Apache-operated wells located within the dedication area that is owned by other working interest owners and royalty owners is dedicated to the Company, so long as Apache has the right to market such gas. The agreements are effective for primary terms ending March 31, 2032. The primary term will automatically extend for two five-year periods unless Apache provides at least nine months’ prior written notice of its election not to extend the primary term. The covenants under the agreements are intended to run with the land and will be binding on any transferee of the interests within the dedicated area.

During 2020, we entered into separate agreements to provide compressor maintenance, operations and related services to Apache for a fixed monthly fee per compressor services.

Environmental, Social and Governance Considerations

Overview

We strongly value ethics, responsibility and integrity. Our environmental policies are designed to ensure that our employees, officers and directors conduct business with the highest standards of integrity and in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. In June of 2021, we published our inaugural Environmental, Social and Governance Report (the “Report”). The Report focused on four key areas: Governance, Environmental, Health and Safety, and Community Engagement.

Governance

We utilize a robust internal structure to implement ESG policy, including (i) the Board of Directors for governance and oversight; (ii) the president and CEO to monitor implementation; (iii) an Executive Steering Committee for strategic development; and (iv) an ESG Working Committee to handle implementation and coordinate all ESG initiatives with the Company.

We see ESG as a critical component of how the Company and in 2021, we started tying bonuses to ESG goals. In 2022, we will be tying 20% of all salaried employees’ (including executives) at-risk pay to the achievement of specific ESG goals.

We restructured our Environmental, Health, and Safety function to reflect our 2020 focus of building a robust health and safety program. Reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer, the newly created Vice President of Environmental, Health and Safety expanded his team to increase expertise and compliance with regulatory obligations. The team now includes a Director of Health and Safety, a Director of Environmental compliance and a Director of Pipeline Integrity Management.

We have developed an enterprise risk management program across all functional areas to identify mechanisms for prioritization and mitigation. The program features areas including emergency events, risks associated with climate change, human capital, company reputation, information technology and cybersecurity. We have defined tools, teams and processes to mitigate and manage these topics, implementing a robust, plan-based business strategy that aims to identify, assess, and prepare for any dangers, hazards, and other potentials for disaster—both physical and figurative—that may interfere with the organization’s operations and objectives.

As an organization with significant infrastructure, cybersecurity is of great importance. The Company adheres to external cybersecurity standards such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology and ISO frameworks along with Sarbanes-Oxley controls in our accounting system. We have multi-factor authentication for all users, a 180-day password change policy, separation of duties in accounting systems, controlled access to network drives based on department groups, endpoint protection, mobile device management, and device encryption.


We also recognize the importance of receiving, retaining, and addressing concerns from our directors, officers, employees and other stakeholders of the Company seriously and expeditiously. We have a Whistleblower Policy that outlines how the Company addresses potential non-compliance with prevailing accounting and auditing standards, Code of Conduct and other policies. We use a third-party Ethics and Compliance Hotline and a web-based message interface to enable anyone to report concerns. All Company contractors are required to sign off on the Company Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. In 2020, we did not have any fines or lawsuits related to ethics or compliance.

Environmental

The Company is committed to being a good steward of the environment. Our primary focus is on air quality, emissions and land use/disturbance(s) in and around our pipelines and processing facilities, both during construction and operation. Our approach to environmental sustainability is codified in the corporate Environmental Health and Safety (“EHS”) management system. In 2020, we updated and implemented changes to this system to articulate commitments more clearly, and to demonstrate closer alignment with API RP 1173-Pipeline Safety Management Systems and ISO 14001:2015-Environmental Management Systems. The Company conducts end-to-end environmental impact assessments (“EIAs”), paying particular attention to sensitive habitats, conservation areas for threatened and endangered species, and areas with high biodiversity value. We also develop restoration and reclamation plans and strategies and maintains project-specific spill prevention and response procedures.

In 2020, we joined The Environmental Partnership, a group of companies in the U.S. oil and natural gas industry committed to continuously improving the industry’s environmental performance and representing 70 percent of total onshore U.S. oil and natural gas production. At the end of 2020, the Company was included as a part of the organization’s new Flare Management Program to share information on best practices to reduce flare volumes, advance new and proven technologies, improve flare reliability and efficiency when flaring occurs, and foster collaboration to reduce emissions and collect data to inform efforts to minimize flaring. Flaring is typically used when there is a lack of gas gathering lines or processing capacity, during facility or gathering maintenance, or during unplanned events for safety measures to alleviate pressure. Flaring burns the gas, which releases fewer greenhouse gases than venting. Participants of the Flare Management Program have committed to report data to calculate flare intensity, a measurement of flare volumes relative to production. The Flare Management Program will then analyze and aggregate the data for its annual report and utilize the insights from the participants’ combined actions and reporting to better understand and identify additional opportunities for the industry to further reduce flaring.

Also in 2020, the Company joined Our Nation’s Energy Future (“ONE Future”), a growing coalition of 50 companies committed to voluntarily reducing methane emissions across the natural gas value chain to 1% or less by 2025. By joining, the Company has committed to meeting the lowest methane intensity targets set by ONE Future for the natural gas gathering and processing segments. In November 2020, ONE Future reported its 24-member companies in 2019 achieved a methane intensity number of 0.334%, beating its 1% target by a 67 percent margin. Members agree to measure company emissions and track progress over time in accordance with EPA-approved reporting protocols to achieve quantified results. As we communicated in our 2020 ESG report, our overall methane intensity is at 0.057%, which is below ONE Future’s 2025 target for the sectors we operate in. ONE Future’s methane emission intensity goals for the Gathering & Boosting and Processing sectors are 0.08% and 0.11%, respectively. In 2020, we reported our performance was below both those targets (0.04% for Gathering & Boosting and 0.018% for Processing).

In April 2021, we became the first major gathering and processing company in the Permian Basin to power its operations completely on renewable energy. The Company sources all electric power for operations entirely from renewable resources. This assures that we have a reliable, secure, and cost-effective source of clean, renewable solar and wind energy for the foreseeable future. For customers, it offers adjunct advantages in materially reducing overall indirect “Scope 2” emissions in their production operations.


The Company has deployed numerous tools to track, report, and reduce its operational emissions. This includes (i) Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) to proactively identify and rectify any potential methane and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from our operations; (ii) Optical Gas Imaging (“OGI”), which uses pictures from infrared energy to detect leaks, with the purchase of an OGI camera and the retention of a thermographer; (iii) the use of pressurized tanker trucks to haul approximately 3,000 barrels per day of plant condensate, which prevents the potential loss of vapors during transit, to reduce overall GHG emissions; (iv) energy efficient equipment, including electric pumps and electric drive gas and refrigeration compressors; (v) oil and gas storage tank vapor control systems to prevent fugitive or unplanned emissions, the Company has 17 devices deployed to its compressor stations to control emissions on storage tanks; and (vi) extensive training and a prohibition against routine flaring in the Company’s operations.

Our pipelines and processing facilities are included in an Asset Integrity Management Program, ensuring we construct, operate, and maintain safe and reliable equipment throughout the operational lifecycle. Our pipelines are regularly patrolled by operations personnel on the ground and periodically reviewed by air by a third party, as well as monitored through Gas Control data monitoring systems. The Company tracks and reports on the percentage of operated pipeline assets that are inspected annually. We also coordinate with Texas811, a non-profit one-call contact notification center, whose members are made up of companies and municipalities, and uses the non-profit to centralize notifications of planned excavations near underground lines. The Company inspects, tests, and monitors Company gas processing facilities regularly, ensuring all equipment is operated and maintained in accordance with the original design. This includes staffing gas processing facilities 24/7 and utilizing a Computerized Maintenance Management System (“CMMS”) to schedule and document planned inspections, repairs, or other preventive maintenance activity. When conducting inspections, the Company adheres to Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) recommendations, Recognized and Generally Accepted Good Engineering Practices (RAGAGEP), or other applicable standard industry procedures.

The Company engages in produced water management. Our upstream energy customers generate wastewater as a byproduct of oil and gas production. Known as “produced water,” it contains increased levels of salt, organic compounds and trace hydrocarbons. This saltwater is considered a waste product and is reinjected underground into saltwater disposal wells, commonly known as “SWDs.” On average, every barrel of oil produced in the Permian Basin results in approximately four barrels of produced water; in the Delaware Basin of the Permian, the water-to-oil ratios are significantly higher, reaching up to 10 barrels of produced water for every one barrel of oil.

The Company owns and operates the Mustang and Appaloosa Produced Water Gathering and Disposal systems in Reeves County, Texas. Customers deliver produced water at various receipt points along the pipeline gathering systems. The produced water is transported to the SWD facilities via buried pipelines. At the SWD facilities, solids and hydrocarbons are separated and the filtered water is injected downhole into non-productive formations.

In 2020, we permitted three new saltwater disposal wells and brought one new saltwater disposal well online, bringing our total operational SWD count to 12, with an additional four approved permits. In 2021, no new SWD wells were brought online and the total number of operational SWD wells remained at 12 wells. Our interconnected produced water gathering and disposal systems consists of approximately 70 miles of produced water gathering lines. Together, these assets enabled the Company to transport and responsibly dispose of over 55 million barrels of produced water in 2021, saving more than 425,000 truck trips and preventing the potential for spills and leaks that could negatively impact adjacent lands and waters.

During the disposal well planning process, the Company follows a rigorous screening process for planning future disposal wells to ensure that areas of subsurface concern and seismic risk are avoided. The Company incorporates TexNet seismic activity data into disposal well evaluations and stays apprised to the research from the Center for Integrated Seismicity Research (CISR) at The University of Texas. Recent seismic events have occurred in areas of west of our operations, and we received notice from the Texas Railroad Commission in October 2021 regarding two of our SWDs located within the Northern Culberson-Reeves Seismic Response Area near Pecos, Texas, and potentially subject to curtailment. We are working with the industry and the Texas Railroad Commission to create a Seismic Response Action plan to mitigate future seismic activity; however, based on current data, our shallow SWDs are not believed to be the underlying cause of the seismic activity in the area.

Health and Safety

The Company has focused on building a robust health and safety program within the organization to establish a culture of safety and deliver on our goals as a responsible operator. Conforming to our EHS management system requirements helps us consistently achieve results on a sustainable basis. For 2022, the Company has set annual safety goals, including a Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) of 1.0 and Motor Vehicle Incident Rate (MVIR) of 1.25, to align with our GPA Midstream peers.


In 2020, we implemented new computer-based management systems to better track compliance, performance and training. We use a CMMS to track compliance-related tasks for pipelines, gas processing facilities, compressor stations and crude terminals. Additionally, we utilize health and safety software to deliver computer-based health and safety training, management of change process and reporting tools. All field personnel must complete at least 15 hours of mandatory computer-based safety training on topics including driver safety and OSHA Ten.

Within the processing facilities, control rooms are staffed 24/7, and on regulated pipelines, there is a remote operating center to monitor and minimize potential leaks. The Company also has engineering controls and emergency actions specific to each plant, such as automatic shutdowns with the detection of high- or low-pressure incidents in the system. In addition, the Company has administrative controls that include frequent walk-throughs and maintenance to determine that processes are followed. All controls are supplemented by rigorous record keeping and employee training internally, and by coordinating with the public through awareness programs and with Reeves County Emergency Management.

The Company operates a fleet of approximately 130 vehicles. The Company has codified recommended practices in the Safe Driving Policy, which seeks to ensure the safety of employees who drive company vehicles or personal vehicles on company business. The policy also provides basic requirements and guidance for general vehicle safety, safety equipment and employee responsibilities. In addition, in 2019, we installed GPS data recorders in each vehicle in the fleet. These data recorders track speeding and hard braking, among other risk factors, 24/7 while the vehicle is in motion. The data is then aggregated into a scorecard that is used to assess driver safety performance.

COVID-19 added greater complexity to our safety protocols in 2020 and 2021. At the onset of the pandemic, a team was put together to identify areas requiring action in the workplaces. To protect employees, contractors and visitors to our facilities and operations during the pandemic, we issued the Working Safely Policy. The Working Safely Policy outlined new procedures, protocols and policies to minimize the risk of contracting COVID-19, giving clear guidance on hygiene and cleaning, temperature scans, wearing face masks, social distancing and travel restrictions. The Company conducts contact tracing and testing, provide free on-site antibody testing and on-site flu shots, and in 2021, issued a mandatory daily screening questionnaire for identified employees that work in office locations or in close proximity to our control rooms.

Regulation of Our Operations

Our operations are regulated at the federal, state and local levels and include regulatory oversight by several agencies including, but not limited to, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), the Department of Transportation (“DOT”), and the Texas Railroad Commission. The DOT is the primary regulator of the operation of oil and natural gas pipelines pursuant to the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979 and the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 (“NGPSA”). The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (“PHMSA”), located within the DOT, is responsible for establishing and enforcing the proper design, construction, operation, maintenance, testing, and inspection standards for oil and natural gas pipelines. We are also subject to governmental safety regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate.

Our business has operating risks normally associated with the gathering, stabilization, transportation and storage of crude oil and gathering, compression, dehydration, treatment, processing and transportation of natural gas, which could cause damage to life or property. In accordance with industry practice, we maintain insurance against some, but not all, potential operating losses. For some operating risks, we may not obtain insurance if the cost of available insurance is excessive relative to the risks presented; in such a case, if a significant operating accident or other event occurs which is not fully covered by the insurance the Company has, this could adversely affect our operations and business.


Our business operations are also subject to numerous environmental and occupational health and safety laws and regulations imposed at the federal, regional, state and local levels. The activities the Company conducts in connection with the gathering, compression, dehydration, treatment, processing and transportation of natural gas and gathering, stabilization, transportation and storage of crude oil are subject to, or may become subject to, stringent environmental regulation. We have implemented a number of programs and policies designed to monitor and pursue continued operation of our activities in a manner consistent with environmental and occupational health and safety laws and regulations. To that end, the Company has incurred and will continue to incur operating and capital expenditures to comply with these laws and regulations. Some of these environmental compliance costs may be material and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Certain existing environmental and occupational health and safety laws and regulations include the following U.S. legal standards, which may be amended from time to time:

 

   

the Clean Air Act (CAA), which restricts the emission of air pollutants from many sources and imposes various pre-construction, operational, monitoring and reporting requirements, and which the EPA has relied upon as authority for adopting climate change regulatory initiatives relating to greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions;

 

   

the Clean Water Act, which regulates discharges of pollutants to state and federal waters as well as establishing the extent to which waterways are subject to federal jurisdiction and rulemaking as protected waters of the United States;

 

   

the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), which imposes liability on generators, transporters, and arrangers of hazardous substances at sites where releases, or threatened releases, of such hazardous substances has occurred;

 

   

the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which governs the generation, treatment, storage, transport, and disposal of solid wastes, including hazardous wastes;

 

   

the Oil Pollution Act, which imposes liability for removal costs and damages arising from an oil spill in waters of the United States on owners and operators of onshore facilities, pipelines and other facilities;

 

   

the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to evaluate major agency actions that have the potential to significantly impact the environment, to include the preparation of an Environmental Assessment to assess potential direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of the proposed project, and, if necessary, prepare a more detailed Environmental Impact Statement that may be made available to the public for comment;

 

   

the Safe Drinking Water Act, which ensures the quality of the nation’s public drinking through adoption of drinking water standards and controlling the injection of waste fluids into below-ground formations that may adversely affect drinking water sources;

 

   

the Endangered Species Act, which imposes restrictions on activities that may adversely affect federally identified endangered and threatened species or their habitats, to include the implementation of operating restrictions or a temporary, seasonal, or permanent ban in affected areas;

 

   

the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, which requires the implementation of a safety hazard communication program and the dissemination of information to employees, local emergency planning committees, and response departments on toxic chemicals use and inventories;

 

   

the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which establishes workplace standards for the protection of both the health and safety of employees, to include the implementation of hazard communications programs to inform employees about hazardous substances in the workplace, the potential harmful effects of those substances, and appropriate control measures; and

 

   

the DOT regulations relating to the advancement of safe transportation of energy and hazardous materials and emergency response preparedness.


These environmental and occupational health and safety laws and regulations generally restrict the level of substances generated as a result of our operations that may be emitted to the ambient air, discharged to surface water, and disposed or released to surface and below-ground soils and groundwater. There are also state and local jurisdictions where we operate in the United States that have, are developing, or are considering developing, similar environmental and occupational health and safety laws. Any failure by the Company to comply with these laws and regulations could result in adverse effects upon our business to include the (i) assessment of sanctions, including administrative, civil, and criminal penalties; (ii) imposition of investigatory, remedial, and corrective action obligations or the incurrence of capital expenditures; (iii) occurrence of delays or cancellations in the permitting, development or expansion of projects; and (iv) issuance of injunctions restricting or prohibiting some or all of our activities in a particular area. Some environmental laws provide for citizen suits which allow for environmental organizations to act in place of the government and sue operators for alleged violations of environmental law. The ultimate financial impact arising from environmental laws and regulations is not clearly known nor determinable as existing standards are subject to change and new standards continue to evolve.

Environmental laws and regulations are frequently subject to change. More stringent environmental laws that apply to our operations and the operations of our customers may result in increased and material operating costs and capital expenditures for compliance, including, but not limited to, those related to the emission of GHGs and climate change. For example, in November 2020, the EPA proposed new rules under the CAA that would establish comprehensive standards of performance and emission guidelines for methane and VOC emissions from existing operations in the oil and gas sector, including the exploration and production, transmission, processing, and storage segments. The proposal also would impose revised and expand existing new source performance standards for methane and VOC emissions from the same source categories. The EPA is currently seeking public comments on its proposal, which the EPA hopes to finalize by the end of 2022. Once finalized, the regulations are likely to be subject to legal challenge and, with respect to the requirements for existing sources, will also need to be incorporated into the states’ implementation plans, which will need to be approved by the EPA in individual rulemakings that could also be subject to legal challenge. As a result, we cannot predict the scope of any final methane regulatory requirements or the cost to comply with such requirements. However, given the long-term trend toward increasing regulation, future federal GHG regulations of the oil and gas industry remain a significant possibility. In the future, we could be required to replace existing equipment with low- or no-emitting alternatives, perform more frequent leak detection and repair surveys, or incur other costs to comply with federal or state regulations related to the emission of methane and VOCs from our operations.

We own and operate several assets that have been used for crude oil and natural gas midstream services. Under environmental laws such as CERCLA and RCRA, we could incur strict, joint and several liability for remediating hydrocarbons, hazardous substances or wastes or other emerging contaminants, such as per- and poly-fluoroalkyl (PFAS), that may become subject to regulation. We could also incur costs related to the cleanup of third-party sites to which we sent regulated substances for disposal or to which we sent equipment for cleaning, and for damages to natural resources or other claims relating to releases of regulated substances at or from such third-party sites.

Trends in environmental and worker health and safety regulation over time has been to typically place increasing restrictions and limitations on activities that could result in adverse effects to the environment or expose workers to injury. These changes in environmental and worker safety laws and regulations, or reinterpretations or enforcement policies that may arise in the future and result in increasingly stringent or costly waste management or disposal, pollution control, remediation or worker health and safety-related requirements, may have a material adverse effect on our business, operations, and financial condition. We may not have insurance or be fully covered by insurance against all risks relating to environmental or occupational health and safety, and we may be unable to pass on the increased cost of compliance arising from such risks to our customers. We regularly review regulatory and environmental issues as they pertain to the Company and we consider these as part of our general risk management approach. For more information, please see “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business.”

Title to Properties and Permits

Certain of the pipelines connecting our facilities are constructed on rights-of-way granted by the apparent record owners of the property and in some instances these rights-of-way are revocable at the election of the grantor. In several instances, lands over which rights-of-way have been obtained could be subject to prior liens that have not been subordinated to the right-of-way grants. We have obtained permits from public authorities to cross over or under, or to lay pipelines in or along, watercourses, county roads, municipal streets and state highways and, in some instances, these permits are revocable at the election of the grantor. These permits may also be subject to renewal from time to time and we will generally seek renewal or arrange alternative means of transport through additional investment or commercial agreements. We have also obtained permits from railroad companies to cross over or under lands or rights-of-way, many of which are also revocable at the grantor’s election.


We believe we have satisfactory permits and/or title to all our material rights-of-way. We also believe that we have satisfactory title to all of our material assets.

Seasonality of Business

The crude oil, natural gas and NGLs that we handle, process and store are directly affected by the level of supply and demand for crude oil, natural gas and NGLs in the markets served directly or indirectly by our assets. However, we believe that many effects of seasonality on our revenues are substantially mitigated through the use of our fee-based commercial agreements.

Employees

Following the closing of the Transactions, the Company employed a workforce of 266 employees.

Legal Proceedings

The Company is party to lawsuits arising in the ordinary course of its business. We cannot predict the outcome of any such lawsuits with certainty, but its management does not expect the outcome of pending or threatened legal matters to have a material adverse impact on its financial condition.