As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 27, 2017
Registration Statement No. 333-221745
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
AMENDMENT NO. 1
TO
FORM F-3
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
TEEKAY OFFSHORE PARTNERS L.P.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charters)
Republic of the Marshall Islands | 98-051255 | |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
4th Floor, Belvedere Building,
69 Pitts Bay Road,
Hamilton HM 08, Bermuda
Telephone: (441) 298-2530
Fax: (441) 292-3931
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of Registrants principal executive office)
Watson Farley & Williams LLP
Attention: Daniel C. Rodgers
250 West 55th Street
New York, New York 10019
(212) 922-2200
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
Copy to:
David S. Matheson
Perkins Coie LLP
1120 N.W. Couch Street, Tenth Floor
Portland, OR 97209-4128
(503) 727-2008
Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: From time to time after this registration statement becomes effective, as determined by market conditions.
If the only securities being registered on this Form are being offered pursuant to dividend or interest reinvestment plans, please check the following box. ☐
If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box. ☑
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a registration statement pursuant to General Instruction I.C. or a post-effective amendment thereto that shall become effective upon filing with the Commission pursuant to Rule 462(e) under the Securities Act, check the following box. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment to a registration statement filed pursuant to General Instruction I.C. filed to register additional securities or additional classes of securities pursuant to Rule 413(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933.
Emerging growth company ☐
If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐
The term new or revised financial accounting standard refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.
The Registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.
PROSPECTUS
Teekay Offshore Partners L.P.
$200,000,000
Common Units
Preferred Units
Convertible Preferred Units
Debt Securities
Convertible Debt Securities
Warrants
We may, from time to time, offer to sell in one or more offerings up to an aggregate of $200,000,000 of our common units, preferred units, convertible preferred units, debt securities or convertible debt securities, warrants or any combination of the foregoing. We refer to our common units, preferred units, convertible preferred units, debt securities, convertible debt securities and warrants collectively as the securities. The securities we may offer may be convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for other securities. We may offer the securities separately or together, in separate series or classes and in amounts, at prices and on terms described in one or more supplements to this prospectus.
This prospectus describes some of the general terms that may apply to these securities. Each time we sell securities, the specific terms of the securities to be offered including the amount of securities offered, and any other information relating to a specific offering, will be set forth in an amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, or in a supplement to this prospectus, or may be set forth in one or more documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus.
We may offer and sell these securities to or through one or more underwriters, dealers and agents, or directly to purchasers, or through other means, on a continuous or delayed basis. If any underwriters are involved in the sale of any securities offered by this prospectus and any prospectus supplement, their names, and any applicable purchase price, fee, commission or discount arrangement between or among them, will be set forth, or may be calculable from the information set forth, in the applicable prospectus supplement.
You should read this prospectus and any prospectus supplement carefully before you invest in any of our securities. This prospectus may not be used to offer and sell securities unless accompanied by a prospectus supplement.
Our common units are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (or NYSE) under the symbol TOO. On December 26, 2017, the last reported sale price of our common units on the NYSE was $2.28 per unit. Our 7.25% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Units (or the Series A Preferred Units) and our 8.50% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Units (or the Series B Preferred Units), are traded on the NYSE under the symbols TOOPRA and TOOPRB, respectively. On December 26, 2017, the last reported sale prices of our Series A Preferred Units and our Series B Preferred Units on the NYSE were $22.97 per unit and $24.75 per unit, respectively.
Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. In addition, limited partnerships are inherently different than corporations. You should carefully consider the section entitled Forward-Looking Statements contained on page 2 and each of the factors described under Risk Factors beginning on page 4 of this prospectus before you make an investment in our securities.
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
The date of this prospectus is December 27, 2017
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You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus, any prospectus supplement and the documents incorporated by reference into this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone else to give you different information. If anyone provides you with additional, different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. We are not offering these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement, as well as the information we previously filed or hereafter file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (or SEC) that is incorporated by reference into this prospectus, is accurate as of any date other than its respective date. We will disclose material changes in our affairs in an amendment to this prospectus, a prospectus supplement or a future filing with the SEC incorporated by reference in this prospectus.
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This prospectus is part of a registration statement on Form F-3 that we have filed with the SEC using a shelf registration process. Under this shelf registration process, we may sell from time to time any combination of the common units, preferred units, convertible preferred units, debt securities, convertible debt securities or warrants described in this prospectus in one or more offerings up to an aggregate offering price of $200,000,000. This prospectus provides you with a general description of the securities we may offer. Each time we sell securities under this prospectus, we will provide a prospectus supplement that contains specific information about the terms of the offering and of the securities being offered. The prospectus supplement may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus. If information varies between this prospectus and any applicable prospectus supplement, you should rely on the information in the prospectus supplement.
You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus, any prospectus supplement, any written communication from us or any free writing prospectus we may authorize to be delivered to you and the documents incorporated by reference herein and therein. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with different information. This prospectus may only be used where it is legal to sell these securities. You should not assume that the information contained in or incorporated by reference into this prospectus, any prospectus supplement or any free writing prospectus we may authorize to be delivered to you is accurate as of any date other than its respective date. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, as well as other information, may have changed since such dates.
Unless otherwise indicated, references in this prospectus to Teekay Offshore Partners, we, us and our and similar terms refer to Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries, except that those terms, when used in this prospectus in connection with the common or preferred units or debt securities described herein, shall mean specifically Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. References in this prospectus to Teekay Corporation refer to Teekay Corporation and/or any one or more of its subsidiaries.
Unless otherwise indicated, all references in this prospectus to dollars and $ are to, and amounts are presented in, U.S. Dollars, and financial information presented in this prospectus is prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (or GAAP).
You should read carefully this prospectus, the applicable prospectus supplement, any applicable free writing prospectus, and the additional information described below under the headings Where You Can Find More Information and Incorporation of Documents by Reference.
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All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in or incorporated by reference into this prospectus and any prospectus supplements are forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, provides a safe harbor for forward-looking statements to encourage companies to provide prospective information about themselves so long as they identify these statements as forward-looking and provide meaningful cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ from the projected results. We and our representatives may from time to time make other oral or written statements that are also forward-looking statements. Such statements include, in particular, statements about our operations, cash flows, financial position, plans, strategies, business prospects, changes and trends in our business, and the markets in which we operate. In some cases, you can identify the forward-looking statements by the use of words such as may, will, could, should, would, expect, plan, anticipate, intend, forecast, believe, estimate, predict, propose, potential, continue or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology.
Forward-looking statements reflect managements current plans, expectations, estimates, assumptions and beliefs concerning future events affecting us. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited, to those factors discussed under the heading Risk Factors and Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations set forth in our Annual Reports on Form 20-F and any Reports on Form 6-K that we incorporate herein by reference, as well as in any prospectus supplement relating to this prospectus and other public filings with the SEC.
We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in our expectations or events or circumstances that may arise after the date on which such statement is made. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of these factors. In addition, we cannot assess the effect of each such factor on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to be materially different from those contained in any forward-looking statement, and accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
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Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. is an international provider of marine transportation, oil production, storage, long-distance towing and offshore installation and maintenance and safety services to the offshore oil industry, focusing on the deep-water offshore oil regions of the North Sea, Brazil and the East Coast of Canada. We were formed as a Marshall Islands limited partnership in August 2006 by Teekay Corporation (NYSE: TK), a portfolio manager and project developer in the marine midstream market. In September 2017, an affiliate of Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE: BBU) (TSX: BBU.UN) (or Brookfield) purchased from an affiliate of Teekay Corporation a 49% interest in our general partner and purchased from us common units. We seek to leverage the expertise, relationships and reputations of Teekay Corporation and Brookfield to pursue long-term growth opportunities. Our growth strategy focuses primarily on increasing our fleet of shuttle tankers and floating production, storage and offloading (or FPSO) units under medium to long-term charters while evaluating opportunities to expand into related offshore services segments. Over the long-term, we intend to continue our practice of primarily acquiring vessels as needed for approved projects only after charters for the projects have been awarded to us, rather than ordering vessels on a speculative basis. We have entered into, and may enter into additional joint ventures and partnerships with companies that may provide increased access to new opportunities, and we may engage in vessel or business acquisitions. We are structured as a master limited partnership. As of September 25, 2017, the public held a total of 26.7% of our outstanding common units, Brookfield TK TOLP L.P. (or Brookfield TOLP), an affiliate of Brookfield, held 59.5% of our outstanding common units and Brookfield TK TOGP L.P. (or Brookfield TOGP), an affiliate of Brookfield, held a 49% interest in our general partner, and an affiliate of Teekay Corporation held the remaining 13.8% of our outstanding common units and a 51% interest in our general partner.
Our operations are conducted through, and our operating assets are owned by, our subsidiaries. Our general partner, Teekay Offshore GP L.L.C., a Marshall Islands limited liability company, has an economic interest in us and manages our operations and activities.
Our general partner does not receive any management fee or other compensation in connection with its management of our business, but it is entitled to be reimbursed for all direct and indirect expenses incurred on our behalf. Pursuant to services agreements between us and our subsidiaries, on the one hand, and subsidiaries of Teekay Corporation, on the other hand, the Teekay Corporation subsidiaries provide to us certain administrative services and to our subsidiaries certain strategic, business development, advisory, ship management, technical and administrative services.
We are a limited partnership organized under the laws of the Republic of The Marshall Islands. Our principal executive offices are located at 4th Floor, Belvedere Building, 69 Pitts Bay Road, Hamilton HM 08, Bermuda, and our phone number is (441) 298-2530. Our website address is www.teekayoffshore.com. The information contained in our website is not part of this prospectus.
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An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Before investing in our securities, you should carefully consider all of the information included or incorporated by reference into this prospectus. Although many of our business risks are comparable to those of a corporation engaged in a similar business, limited partner interests are inherently different from the capital stock of a corporation. When evaluating an investment in any of our securities, you should carefully consider the following risk factor together with all other information included in this prospectus, including those risks discussed under the caption Risk Factors in our latest Annual Report on Form 20-F, and if applicable, in our Reports on Form 6-K, filed with or furnished to the SEC, which are incorporated by reference into this prospectus, and information included in any applicable prospectus supplement. Each of the risks described in these sections and documents could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, and could result in a loss of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties known or not known to us or that we deem immaterial may also impair our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
U.S. tax authorities could treat us as a passive foreign investment company, which could have adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. unitholders.
A non-U.S. entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes will be treated as a passive foreign investment company (or PFIC) for such purposes in any taxable year for which either (a) at least 75% of its gross income consists of passive income, or (b) at least 50% of the average value of the entitys assets is attributable to assets that produce or are held for the production of passive income. For purposes of these tests, passive income includes dividends, interest, gains from the sale or exchange of investment property and rents and royalties other than rents and royalties that are received from unrelated parties in connection with the active conduct of a trade or business. By contrast, income derived from the performance of services does not constitute passive income.
There are legal uncertainties involved in determining whether the income derived from our time-chartering activities constitutes rental income or income derived from the performance of services, including the decision in Tidewater Inc. v. United States, 565 F.3d 299 (5th Cir. 2009), which held that income derived from certain time-chartering activities should be treated as rental income rather than services income for purposes of a foreign sales corporation provision of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (or the Code). However, the Internal Revenue Service (or IRS) stated in an Action on Decision (AOD 2010-01) that it disagrees with, and will not acquiesce to, the way that the rental versus services framework was applied to the facts in the Tidewater decision, and in its discussion stated that the time charters at issue in Tidewater would be treated as producing services income for PFIC purposes. The IRSs statement with respect to Tidewater cannot be relied upon or otherwise cited as precedent by taxpayers. Consequently, in the absence of any binding legal authority specifically relating to the statutory provisions governing PFICs, there can be no assurance that the IRS or a court would not follow the Tidewater decision in interpreting the PFIC provisions of the Code. Nevertheless, based on the current composition of our assets and operations (and those of our subsidiaries), we intend to take the position that we are not now and have never been a PFIC, and our counsel, Perkins Coie LLP, is of the opinion that it is more likely than not we are not a PFIC based on representations we have made to them regarding the composition of our assets, the source of our income and the nature of our activities and operations. No assurance can be given, however, that the opinion of Perkins Coie LLP would be sustained by a court if contested by the IRS, or that we would not constitute a PFIC for any future taxable year if there were to be changes in our assets, income or operations.
If the IRS were to determine that we are or have been a PFIC for any taxable year during which a U.S. Holder (as defined below under Material United States Federal Income Tax Considerations) held units, such U.S. Holder would face adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences. For a more comprehensive discussion regarding our status as a PFIC and the tax consequences to U.S. Holders if we are treated as a PFIC, please read Material United States Federal Income Tax ConsiderationsUnited States Federal Income Taxation of U.S. HoldersConsequences of Possible PFIC Classification.
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Unless we specify otherwise in any prospectus supplement, we will use the net proceeds from our sale of securities covered by this prospectus for general partnership purposes, which may include, among other things:
| paying or refinancing a portion of our indebtedness outstanding at the time; and |
| funding working capital, capital expenditures or acquisitions. |
The actual application of proceeds from the sale of any particular offering of securities covered by this prospectus will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement relating to the offering.
RATIO OF EARNINGS TO FIXED CHARGES AND
TO FIXED CHARGES AND PREFERRED UNIT DISTRIBUTIONS
The following table sets forth our ratio of earnings to fixed charges and of earnings to fixed charges and preferred unit distributions for each of the periods indicated.
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017 |
Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ratio of earnings to fixed charges(1) |
| (2) | 1.1x | 1.6x | 1.2x | 1.7x | 2.9x | |||||||||||||||||
Ratio of earnings to fixed charges and preferred unit distributions(1) |
| (2) | | (3) | 1.4x | 1.1x | 1.6x | 2.9x |
(1) | This data is unaudited for all periods presented. For purposes of computing these ratios on a consolidated basis, earnings is the result of adding (a) pre-tax income from continuing operations before adjustment for minority interests in consolidated subsidiaries or income or loss from equity investees, (b) fixed charges, (c) amortization of capitalized interest and (d) distributed income of equity investees, and subtracting interest capitalized. Fixed charges represent (i) interest expensed and capitalized, (ii) amortized premiums, discounts and capitalized expenses related to indebtedness and (iii) interest within time-charter hire expense. Preferred unit distributions represent the amount of pre-tax earnings that is required to pay the cash distributions on outstanding preferred units and is computed as the amount of (x) the distribution divided by (y) the result of one minus the effective income tax rate applicable to continuing operations. No preferred units were outstanding during any of 2012. We issued Series A Preferred Units in April 2013, Series B Preferred Units in April 2015, Series C Preferred Units in July 2015, Series C-1 Preferred Units in June 2016 and Series D Preferred Units in June 2016. In June 2016, we exchanged all outstanding Series C Preferred Units for common units and Series C-1 Preferred Units. In September 2017, we repurchased and subsequently cancelled all outstanding Series C-1 and Series D Preferred Units. |
(2) | For the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the ratio of earnings to fixed charges and to fixed charges and preferred unit distributions were in each case less than 1.0x. The amount of the deficiencies were $338.6 million and $379.5 million, respectively. |
(3) | For the year ended December 31, 2016, the ratio of earnings to fixed charges and preferred unit distributions was less than 1.0x. The amount of the deficiency was $34.7 million. |
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DESCRIPTION OF EQUITY SECURITIES
The following descriptions of our common units and Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units do not purport to be complete and are subject to, and qualified in their entirety by reference to, the provisions of our fifth amended and restated partnership agreement (or the partnership agreement), which is incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement, and sets forth the terms of our common units, Series A Preferred Units and our Series B Preferred Units. Although the partnership agreement refers to Series C, C-1 and D preferred units, none of those units remains issued and outstanding; accordingly, the following descriptions do not discuss such series of preferred units. A copy of the partnership agreement may be obtained from us as described under Where You Can Find Additional Information. We may also offer additional common units, preferred units or convertible preferred units, in one or more series, the terms of which may differ substantially from the terms of the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units described herein. We will set forth in an accompanying prospectus supplement a description of the preferred units or convertible preferred units that may be offered under this prospectus. The terms of the offering of securities, including the public offering price and any net proceeds to us, will be contained in the accompanying prospectus supplement and other offering material relating to such offering.
Common Units
Our common units represent limited partner interests in us. The holders of units are entitled to participate in partnership distributions and exercise the rights and privileges available to limited partners under our partnership agreement. For a description of the rights of holders of our common units to receive partnership distributions, please read Cash Distributions. For a description of certain other rights and privileges of holders of our common units under our partnership agreement, please read The Partnership Agreement.
Number of Units
As of December 20, 2017, there were 410,045,210 of our common units outstanding. The common units represent an aggregate 99.24% limited partner interest and the general partner interest represents a 0.76% general partner interest in us. Our general partners 0.76% interest in us will be reduced if we issue certain additional partnership securities and our general partner does not elect to invest in such securities to maintain its 0.76% general partner interest. Please read The Partnership AgreementIssuance of Additional Securities.
Voting
On any matter in which the holders of our common units are entitled to vote as a class, such holders will be entitled to one vote per unit. For a description of matters on which the common units are entitled to vote, please read The Partnership Agreement.
Distributions
The holders of our common units are entitled to receive, to the extent permitted by law, such distributions as may from time to time be declared by our general partners board of directors. Upon any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs, whether voluntary or involuntary, the holders of our common units are entitled to receive distributions of our assets, after we have satisfied or made provision for our debts and other obligations and for payment to the holders any class or series of limited partner interests (including the Series A Preferred Units and the Series B Preferred Units) having preferential rights to receive distributions of our assets.
Exchange Listing
Our common units are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, where they trade under the symbol TOO.
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Transfer Agent and Registrar
Computershare Inc. serves as registrar and transfer agent for our common units.
Preferred Units
In April 2013, we issued 6,000,000 of our Series A Preferred Units, which are all outstanding as of the date hereof. In April 2015, we issued 5,000,000 of our Series B Preferred Units, which are all outstanding as of the date hereof. We may, without notice to or consent of the holders of the then-outstanding Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, authorize and issue additional Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and Junior Securities (as defined in the partnership agreement). We may authorize and issue Parity Securities and Senior Securities (as defined in the partnership agreement), subject to any rights of the holders of the then-outstanding Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units described under Voting Rights.
The Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units entitle the holders thereof to receive cumulative cash distributions when, as and if declared by our general partners board of directors out of legally available funds for such purpose. Subject to the matters described under Liquidation Rights, each Series A Preferred Unit and Series B Preferred Unit generally has a fixed liquidation preference of $25.00 per unit plus an amount equal to accumulated and unpaid distributions thereon to the date fixed for payment, whether or not declared. Please read Liquidation Rights.
The Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units represent perpetual equity interests in us and, unlike our indebtedness, do not give rise to a claim for payment of a principal amount at a particular date. As such, the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units rank junior to all of our indebtedness and other liabilities with respect to assets available to satisfy claims against us.
All the Series A Preferred Units and all the Series B Preferred Units, respectively, are represented by a single certificate issued to the Depository Trust Company (or the Securities Depository) and registered in the name of its nominee and, so long as a Securities Depository has been appointed and is serving, no person acquiring Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units will be entitled to receive a certificate representing such units unless applicable law otherwise requires or the Securities Depository resigns or is no longer eligible to act as such and a successor is not appointed. Please read Book-Entry System.
The Series A Preferred Units and the Series B Preferred Units are not convertible into common units or other of our securities, and the Series A Preferred Units and the Series B Preferred do not have exchange rights and are not entitled or subject to any preemptive or similar rights. The Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units are not subject to mandatory redemption or to any sinking fund requirements. The Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units are subject to redemption, in whole or in part, at our option commencing on April 30, 2018 and April 20, 2020, respectively. Please read Redemption.
Computershare serves as the paying agent (or the Paying Agent), and the registrar and transfer agent (or the Registrar and Transfer Agent) for the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units. The address of the Paying Agent is 250 Royall Street, Canton MA 02021.
Ranking
The Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units, with respect to anticipated quarterly distributions and distributions upon the liquidation, winding-up and dissolution of our affairs, rank:
| senior to the Junior Securities (including our common units); |
| on a parity with other Parity Securities; and |
| junior to the Senior Securities. |
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Under the partnership agreement, we may issue Junior Securities from time to time in one or more series without the consent of the holders of the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units. Our general partners board of directors has the authority to determine the preferences, powers, qualifications, limitations, restrictions and special or relative rights or privileges, if any, of any such series before the issuance of any units of that series. Our general partners board of directors will also determine the number of units constituting each series of securities. Our ability to issue additional Parity Securities in certain circumstances or Senior Securities is limited as described under Voting Rights.
Liquidation Rights
The holders of outstanding Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units will be entitled, in the event of any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs, whether voluntary or involuntary, to receive the liquidation preference of $25.00 per unit in cash plus an amount equal to accumulated and unpaid distributions thereon to the date fixed for payment of such amount (whether or not declared), and no more, before any distribution will be made to the holders of our common units or any other Junior Securities. A consolidation or merger of us with or into any other entity, individually or in a series of transactions, will not be deemed a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs for this purpose. In the event that our assets available for distribution to holders of the outstanding Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and any other Parity Securities are insufficient to permit payment of all required amounts, our assets then remaining will be distributed among the Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and any Parity Securities, as applicable, ratably on the basis of their relative aggregate liquidation preferences. After payment of all required amounts to the holders of the outstanding Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units and other Parity Securities, our remaining assets and funds will be distributed among the holders of the common units and any other Junior Securities then outstanding according to their respective rights.
Voting Rights
The Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units have no voting rights except as set forth below or as otherwise provided by Republic of the Marshall Islands law. In the event that six quarterly distributions, whether consecutive or not, payable on the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units are in arrears, the holders of the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units will have the right, voting as a class together with holders of any other Parity Securities upon which like voting rights have been conferred and are exercisable, to elect one member of our general partners board of directors, and the size of our general partners board of directors will be increased as needed to accommodate such change (unless the holders of Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and Parity Securities upon which like voting rights have been conferred, voting as a class, have previously elected a member of our general partners board of directors, and such director continues then to serve on the board of directors). Distributions payable on the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, as applicable, will be considered to be in arrears for any quarterly period for which full cumulative distributions through the most recent Distribution Payment Date (as defined below) have not been paid on all outstanding Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, as applicable. The right of such holders of Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units to elect a member of our general partners board of directors will continue until such time as all distributions accumulated and in arrears on the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, as applicable, have been paid in full, or funds for the payment thereof have been declared and set aside, at which time such right will terminate, subject to revesting in the event of each and every subsequent failure to pay six quarterly distributions as described above. Upon any termination of the right of the holders of the Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and any other Parity Securities to vote as a class for such director, the term of office of such director then in office elected by such holders voting as a class will terminate immediately. Any directors elected by the holders of the Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and any other Parity Securities shall each be entitled to one vote per director on any matter before our general partners board of directors.
Unless we have received the affirmative vote or consent of the holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding Series A Preferred Units, voting as a single class, we may not adopt any amendment to our
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partnership agreement that has a material adverse effect on the existing terms of the Series A Preferred Units. Unless we have received the affirmative vote or consent of the holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding Series B Preferred Units, voting as a single class, we may not adopt any amendment to our partnership agreement that has a material adverse effect on the existing terms of the Series B Preferred Units.
In addition, unless we have received the affirmative vote or consent of the holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units, voting as a class together with holders of any other Parity Securities upon which like voting rights have been conferred and are exercisable, we may not:
| issue any Parity Securities or Senior Securities if the cumulative distributions payable on outstanding Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units are in arrears; or |
| create or issue any Senior Securities. |
On any matter described above in which the holders of the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units are entitled to vote as a class, such holders will be entitled to one vote per unit. The Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units held by us or any of our subsidiaries or affiliates will not be entitled to vote.
Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units held in nominee or street name account will be voted by the broker or other nominee in accordance with the instruction of the beneficial owner unless the arrangement between the beneficial owner and his nominee provides otherwise.
Distributions
General
Holders of Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units are entitled to receive, when, as and if declared by our general partners board of directors out of legally available funds for such purpose, cumulative cash distributions.
Distribution Rate
Distributions on the Series A Preferred Units accrue at a rate of 7.25% per annum per $25.00 stated liquidation preference per Series A Preferred Unit. Distributions on the Series B Preferred Units accrue at a rate of 8.50% per annum per $25.00 stated liquidation preference per Series B Preferred Unit.
Distribution Payment Dates
The Distribution Payment Dates for the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units are each February 15, May 15, August 15 and November 15. Distributions accumulate in each distribution period from and including the preceding Distribution Payment Date to but excluding the applicable Distribution Payment Date for such distribution period, and distributions accrue on accumulated distributions at the applicable distribution rate. If any Distribution Payment Date otherwise would fall on a day that is not a Business Day, declared distributions will be paid on the immediately succeeding Business Day without the accumulation of additional distributions. Distributions on the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units are payable based on a 360-day year consisting of twelve 30-day months. Business Day means a day on which The New York Stock Exchange is open for trading and which is not a Saturday, a Sunday or other day on which banks in New York City are authorized or required by law to close.
Payment of Distributions
Not later than the close of business, New York City time, on each Distribution Payment Date, we will pay those quarterly distributions, if any, on the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units that have been
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declared by our general partners board of directors to the holders of such units as such holders names appear on our unit transfer books maintained by the Registrar and Transfer Agent on the applicable Record Date. The applicable record date (or Record Date) is the fifth Business Day immediately preceding the applicable Distribution Payment Date, except that in the case of payments of distributions in arrears, the Record Date with respect to a Distribution Payment Date will be such date as may be designated by our general partners board of directors in accordance with our partnership agreement, as amended.
So long as the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units are held of record by the nominee of the Securities Depository, declared distributions will be paid to the Securities Depository in same-day funds on each Distribution Payment Date. The Securities Depository will credit accounts of its participants in accordance with the Securities Depositorys normal procedures. The participants will be responsible for holding or disbursing such payments to beneficial owners of the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units in accordance with the instructions of such beneficial owners.
No distribution may be declared or paid or set apart for payment on any Junior Securities (other than a distribution payable solely in units of Junior Securities) unless full cumulative distributions have been or contemporaneously are being paid or provided for on all outstanding Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and any Parity Securities through the most recent respective distribution payment dates. Accumulated distributions in arrears for any past distribution period may be declared by our general partners board of directors and paid on any date fixed by our general partners board of directors, whether or not a Distribution Payment Date, to holders of the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units on the Record Date for such payment, which may not be more than 60 days, nor less than 15 days, before such payment date. Subject to the next succeeding sentence, if all accumulated distributions in arrears on all outstanding Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and any Parity Securities have not been declared and paid, or sufficient funds for the payment thereof have not been set apart, payment of accumulated distributions in arrears will be made in order of their respective distribution payment dates, commencing with the earliest. If less than all distributions payable with respect to all Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and any Parity Securities are paid, any partial payment will be made pro rata with respect to the Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and any Parity Securities entitled to a distribution payment at such time in proportion to the aggregate distribution amounts remaining due in respect of such Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and other such Parity Securities at such time. Holders of the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units will not be entitled to any distribution, whether payable in cash, property or units, in excess of full cumulative distributions. Except insofar as distributions accrue on the amount of any accumulated and unpaid distributions as described under DistributionsDistribution Rate, no interest or sum of money in lieu of interest will be payable in respect of any distribution payment which may be in arrears on the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units.
Redemption
Optional Redemption
Commencing on April 30, 2018, we may redeem, at our option, in whole or in part, the Series A Preferred Units at a redemption price in cash equal to $25.00 per unit plus an amount equal to all accumulated and unpaid distributions thereon to the date of redemption, whether or not declared. Commencing on April 20, 2020, we may redeem, at our option, in whole or in part, the Series B Preferred Units at a redemption price in cash equal to $25.00 per unit plus an amount equal to all accumulated and unpaid distributions thereon to the date of redemption, whether or not declared. Any such optional redemption shall be effected only out of funds legally available for such purpose. We may undertake multiple partial redemptions.
Redemption Procedures
We will give notice of any redemption by mail, postage prepaid, not less than 30 days and not more than 60 days before the scheduled date of redemption, to the holders of any units to be redeemed as such holders
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names appear on our unit transfer books maintained by the Registrar and Transfer Agent at the address of such holders shown therein. Such notice shall state: (1) the redemption date, (2) the number of Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, as applicable, to be redeemed and, if less than all outstanding Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units are to be redeemed, the number (and the identification) of units to be redeemed from such holder, (3) the redemption price, (4) the place where the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units are to be redeemed and shall be presented and surrendered for payment of the redemption price therefor and (5) that distributions on the units to be redeemed will cease to accumulate from and after such redemption date.
If fewer than all of the outstanding Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, as applicable, are to be redeemed, the number of units to be redeemed will be determined by us, and such units will be redeemed by such method of selection as the Securities Depository shall determine, pro rata or by lot, with adjustments to avoid redemption of fractional units. So long as all Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, as applicable, are held of record by the nominee of the Securities Depository, we will give notice, or cause notice to be given, to the Securities Depository of the number of Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, as applicable, to be redeemed, and the Securities Depository will determine the number of Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units to be redeemed from the account of each of its participants holding such units in its participant account. Thereafter, each participant will select the number of units to be redeemed from each beneficial owner for whom it acts (including the participant, to the extent it holds Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, as applicable, for its own account). A participant may determine to redeem Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, as applicable, from some beneficial owners (including the participant itself) without redeeming Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units from the accounts of other beneficial owners.
So long as the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, as applicable, are held of record by the nominee of the Securities Depository, the redemption price will be paid by the Paying Agent to the Securities Depository on the redemption date. The Securities Depositorys normal procedures provide for it to distribute the amount of the redemption price in same-day funds to its participants who, in turn, are expected to distribute such funds to the persons for whom they are acting as agent.
If we give or cause to be given a notice of redemption, then we will deposit with the Paying Agent funds sufficient to redeem the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, as applicable, as to which notice has been given by the close of business, New York City time, no later than the Business Day immediately preceding the date fixed for redemption, and will give the Paying Agent irrevocable instructions and authority to pay the redemption price to the holder or holders thereof upon surrender or deemed surrender (which will occur automatically if the certificate representing such units is issued in the name of the Securities Depository or its nominee) of the certificates therefor. If notice of redemption shall have been given, then from and after the date fixed for redemption, unless we default in providing funds sufficient for such redemption at the time and place specified for payment pursuant to the notice, all distributions on such units will cease to accumulate and all rights of holders of such units as our unitholders will cease, except the right to receive the redemption price, including an amount equal to accumulated and unpaid distributions through the date fixed for redemption, whether or not declared. We will be entitled to receive from the Paying Agent the interest income, if any, earned on such funds deposited with the Paying Agent (to the extent that such interest income is not required to pay the redemption price of the units to be redeemed), and the holders of any units so redeemed will have no claim to any such interest income. Any funds deposited with the Paying Agent hereunder by us for any reason, including, but not limited to, redemption of Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, that remain unclaimed or unpaid after two years after the applicable redemption date or other payment date, shall be, to the extent permitted by law, repaid to us upon our written request, after which repayment the holders of the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units entitled to such redemption or other payment shall have recourse only to us.
If only a portion of the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, as applicable, represented by a certificate has been called for redemption, upon surrender of the certificate to the Paying Agent (which will occur
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automatically if the certificate representing such units is registered in the name of the Securities Depository or its nominee), the Paying Agent will issue to the holder of such units a new certificate (or adjust the applicable book-entry account) representing the number of Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units represented by the surrendered certificate that have not been called for redemption.
Notwithstanding any notice of redemption, there will be no redemption of any Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units called for redemption until funds sufficient to pay the full redemption price of such units, including all accumulated and unpaid distributions to the date of redemption, whether or not declared, have been deposited by us with the Paying Agent.
We and our affiliates may from time to time purchase the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units, subject to compliance with all applicable securities and other laws.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that full cumulative distributions on the Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and any Parity Securities have not been paid or declared and set apart for payment, we may not repurchase, redeem or otherwise acquire, in whole or in part, any Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units or Parity Securities except pursuant to a purchase or exchange offer made on the same terms to all holders of Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and any Parity Securities. Common units and any other Junior Securities may not be redeemed, repurchased or otherwise acquired unless full cumulative distributions on the Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and any Parity Securities for all prior and the then-ending distribution periods have been paid or declared and set apart for payment.
No Sinking Fund
Neither the Series A Preferred Units nor the Series B Preferred Units have the benefit of any sinking fund.
No Fiduciary Duty
We, our general partner, and our general partners officers and directors, do not owe any fiduciary duties to holders of the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units other than a contractual duty of good faith and fair dealing pursuant to our partnership agreement.
Book-Entry System
All Series A Preferred Units and all Series B Preferred Units, respectively, are represented by a single certificate issued to the Securities Depository (and its successors or assigns or any other securities depository selected by us), and registered in the name of its nominee (initially, Cede & Co.). No holder of Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units is entitled to receive a certificate evidencing such units unless otherwise required by law or the Securities Depository gives notice of its intention to resign or is no longer eligible to act as such and we have not selected a substitute Securities Depository within 60 calendar days thereafter. Payments and communications made by us to holders of the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units will be duly made by making payments to, and communicating with, the Securities Depository. Accordingly, unless certificates are available to holders of Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, each purchaser of Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units must rely on (1) the procedures of the Securities Depository and its participants to receive distributions, any redemption price, liquidation preference and notices, and to direct the exercise of any voting or nominating rights, with respect to such Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units and (2) the records of the Securities Depository and its participants to evidence its ownership of such Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units.
So long as the Securities Depository (or its nominee) is the sole holder of the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, as applicable, no beneficial holder of the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units will be deemed to be a unitholder of us. The Depository Trust Company, the initial Securities Depository,
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is a New York-chartered limited purpose trust company that performs services for its participants, some of whom (and/or their representatives) own The Depository Trust Company. The Securities Depository maintains lists of its participants and will maintain the positions (i.e., ownership interests) held by its participants in the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units, whether as a holder of the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units for its own account or as a nominee for another holder of the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units.
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The following is a summary of certain material terms of our partnership agreement. For additional information, we refer you to our partnership agreement, which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. Although the partnership agreement refers to Series C, C-1 and D preferred units, none of those units remains issued and outstanding; accordingly, the following description does not discuss such series of preferred units.
Organization and Duration
We were formed on August 31, 2006 under the Marshall Islands Limited Partnership Act (or the Marshall Islands Act) and have perpetual existence.
Purpose
Our partnership agreement provides that we may directly or indirectly engage in business activities approved by our general partner, including owning interests in subsidiaries through which we conduct operations. Although our general partner has the ability to cause us to engage in activities other than the marine transportation, processing and storage of crude oil, our general partner has no current plans to do so and may decline to do so free of any fiduciary duty or obligation whatsoever to us or our limited partners, including any duty to act in good faith or in the best interests of us or our limited partners. Our general partner owes a contractual duty of good faith and fair dealing to the holders of Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units pursuant to our partnership agreement. Our general partner is authorized in general to perform all acts it determines to be necessary or appropriate to carry out our purposes and to conduct our business.
Power of Attorney
Each limited partner, and each person who acquires any limited partner interest from another limited partner, grants to our general partner and, if appointed, a liquidator, a power of attorney to, among other things, execute and file documents required for our qualification, continuance or dissolution. The power of attorney also grants our general partner the authority to amend, and to make consents and waivers under, our partnership agreement.
Capital Contributions
No holder of common units, Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units is obligated to make additional capital contributions, except as described below under Limited Liability.
Voting Rights
The following matters require the unitholder or common unitholder vote specified below. Matters requiring the approval of a common unit majority require the approval of a majority of our common units.
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In voting their common units or any Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units they may hold, our general partner and its affiliates (including for certainty Teekay Corporation and Brookfield) have no fiduciary duty or obligation whatsoever to us or our unitholders, including any duty to act in good faith or in the best interests of us and our unitholders.
Action |
Common / Unitholder Approval Required | |
Issuance of additional common units or other limited partner interests | No approval rights. | |
Amendment of our partnership agreement | Certain amendments may be made by our general partner without the approval of our common unitholders. Other amendments generally require the approval of a common unit majority. Please read Amendment of Our Partnership Agreement below. | |
Merger of our partnership or the sale of all or substantially all of our assets | Common unit majority. Please read Merger, Sale or Other Disposition of Assets below. | |
Dissolution of our partnership | Common unit majority. Please read Termination and Dissolution below | |
Reconstitution of our partnership upon dissolution | Common unit majority. Please read Termination and Dissolution below. | |
Withdrawal of our general partner | Our general partner may withdraw as general partner without first obtaining approval of any unitholder by giving 90 days written notice, and that withdrawal will not constitute a violation of our partnership agreement. Please read Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner below. | |
Removal of our general partner | Not less than 66 2/3% of our outstanding units, voting as a single class, including units held by our general partner and its affiliates. Please read Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner below. | |
Transfer of the general partner interest in us | No approval rights. Please read Transfer of General Partner Interest below. | |
Transfer of incentive distribution rights | No approval rights. Please read Transfer of Incentive Distribution Rights below. | |
Transfer of ownership interests in our general partner | No approval rights. Please read Transfer of Ownership Interests in General Partner below. |
Holders of the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units have no voting rights, other than the limited voting rights described in Description of Equity SecuritiesPreferred UnitsVoting Rights.
Limited Liability
Assuming that a limited partner does not participate in the control of our business within the meaning of the Marshall Islands Act, the limited partners liability under the Marshall Islands Act will be limited, subject to possible exceptions, to the amount of capital the limited partner is obligated to contribute to us for the limited partners units plus the limited partners share of any undistributed profits and assets. If it were determined, however, that the right, or exercise of the right, by our limited partners as a group:
| to remove or replace our general partner; |
| to approve some amendments to our partnership agreement; or |
| to take other action under our partnership agreement; |
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constituted that a limited partner participates in the control of our business for the purposes of the Marshall Islands Act, then our limited partners could be held personally liable for our obligations under the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, to the same extent as our general partner. This liability would extend to persons who transact business with us and reasonably believe that the limited partner is a general partner. Neither our partnership agreement nor the Marshall Islands Act specifically provides for legal recourse against our general partner if a limited partner were to lose limited liability through any fault of our general partner. While this does not mean that a limited partner could not seek legal recourse, we know of no precedent for this type of a claim in the Republic of the Marshall Islands case law.
Under the Marshall Islands Act, a limited partnership may not make a distribution to a partner if, at the time of the distribution, after giving effect to the distribution, all liabilities of the limited partnership, other than liabilities to partners on account of their partnership interests and liabilities for which the recourse of creditors is limited to specific property of the limited partnership, would exceed the fair value of the assets of the limited partnership, except that the fair value of property that is subject to a liability for which the recourse of creditors is limited shall be included in the assets of the limited partnership only to the extent that the fair value of that property exceeds that liability. The Marshall Islands Act provides that a limited partner who receives a distribution and knew at the time of the distribution that the distribution was in violation of the Marshall Islands Act shall be liable to the limited partnership for the amount of the distribution for three years. Under the Marshall Islands Act, an assignee of partnership interests who becomes a limited partner of a limited partnership is liable for the obligations of the assignor to make contributions to the partnership, except the assignee is not obligated for liabilities unknown to the assignee at the time the assignee became a limited partner and that could not be ascertained from the partnership agreement.
Maintenance of limited liability may require compliance with legal requirements in the jurisdictions in which our subsidiaries conduct business, which may include qualifying to do business in those jurisdictions.
Limitations on the liability of limited partners for the obligations of a limited partner have not been clearly established in many jurisdictions. If, by virtue of our ownership or control of operating subsidiaries or otherwise, it were determined that we were conducting business in any jurisdiction without compliance with the applicable limited partnership or limited liability company statute, or that the right or exercise of the right by our limited partners as a group to remove or replace our general partner, to approve some amendments to our partnership agreement, or to take other action under our partnership agreement constituted participation in the control of our business for purposes of the statutes of any relevant jurisdiction, then our limited partners could be held personally liable for our obligations under the law of that jurisdiction to the same extent as our general partner under the circumstances. We intend to operate in a manner that our general partner considers reasonable and necessary or appropriate to preserve the limited liability of our limited partners.
Issuance of Additional Securities
Our partnership agreement authorizes us to issue an unlimited number of additional partnership securities and rights to buy partnership securities for the consideration and on the terms and conditions determined by our general partner, without the approval of our unitholders, other than the limited approval rights of the holders of the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units described above under Description of Equity SecuritiesPreferred UnitsVoting Rights.
We may fund acquisitions through the issuance of additional common units or other equity securities. Holders of any additional common units, Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units we may issue will be entitled to share equally with the then-existing holders of our common units, Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, as applicable, in distributions. In addition, the issuance of additional common units or other equity securities interests may dilute the value of the interests of the then-existing holders of our common units in our net assets.
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In accordance with the Republic of the Marshall Islands law and the provisions of our partnership agreement, we may also issue additional partnership securities that, as determined by our general partner, have special voting or other rights to which our common units, Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units are not entitled.
Upon issuance of certain additional partnership securities (including our common units, but excluding our Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units), our general partner will have the right, but not the obligation, to make additional capital contributions to the extent necessary to maintain its general partner interest in us at the same percentage level as before the issuance. Our general partners 0.76% interest in us will thus be reduced if we issue certain additional partnership securities and our general partner does not elect to maintain its 0.76% general partner interest. Our general partners interest does not entitle it to receive any portion of distributions made in respect of the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units and our general partners interest will not be affected by the issuance of any additional Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units. Our general partner and its affiliates also have the right, which it may from time to time assign in whole or in part to any of its affiliates, to purchase common units or other equity securities whenever, and on the same terms that, we issue those securities to persons other than our general partner and its affiliates, to the extent necessary to maintain its and its affiliates percentage interest in us, including its interest represented by common units, that existed immediately prior to each issuance. Other holders of common units will not have similar preemptive rights to acquire additional common units or other partnership securities.
Amendment of Our Partnership Agreement
General
Amendments to our partnership agreement may be proposed only by or with the consent of our general partner. However, our general partner has no duty or obligation to propose any amendment and may decline to do so free of any fiduciary duty or obligation whatsoever to us or our limited partners, including any duty to act in good faith or in the best interests of us or our limited partners. In order to adopt a proposed amendment, other than the amendments discussed below, our general partner must seek written approval of the holders of the number of common units required to approve the amendment or call a meeting of our common unitholders to consider and vote upon the proposed amendment. In addition, holders of Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units must approve certain amendments as described above under Description of Equity SecuritiesPreferred UnitsVoting Rights. Except as we describe below, or for amendments that require Series A Preferred Unit or Series B Preferred Unit approval or approval of Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units voting together as a class with all other classes or series of parity securities upon which like voting rights have been conferred and are exercisable, an amendment must be approved by a common unit majority.
Prohibited Amendments
No amendment may be made that would:
(1) | increase the obligations of any limited partner without its consent, unless approved by at least a majority of the type or class or series of limited partner interests so affected; |
(2) | increase the obligations of, restrict in any way any action by or rights of, or reduce in any way the amounts distributable, reimbursable or otherwise payable by us to our general partner or any of its affiliates without the consent of our general partner, which may be given or withheld at its option; |
(3) | change the term of our partnership; |
(4) | provide that our partnership is not dissolved upon an election to dissolve our partnership by our general partner that is approved by the holders of a common unit majority; or |
(5) | give any person the right to dissolve our partnership other than our general partners right to dissolve our partnership with the approval of the holders of a common unit majority. |
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The provision of our partnership agreement preventing the amendments having the effects described in clauses (1) through (5) above can be amended upon the approval of the holders of at least 90% of the outstanding units voting together as a single class (including units owned by our general partner and its affiliates).
No Unitholder Approval
Our general partner may generally make amendments to our partnership agreement without the approval of any limited partner to reflect:
(1) | a change in our name or the location of our principal place of business, registered agent or registered office; |
(2) | the admission, substitution, withdrawal or removal of partners in accordance with our partnership agreement; |
(3) | a change that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate for us to qualify or to continue our qualification as a limited partnership or a partnership in which the limited partners have limited liability under the laws of any jurisdiction; |
(4) | an amendment that is necessary, upon the advice of our counsel, to prevent us or our general partner or its directors, officers, agents, or trustees from in any manner being subjected to the provisions of the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940, the U.S. Investment Advisors Act of 1940, or plan asset regulations adopted under the U.S. Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, whether or not substantially similar to plan asset regulations currently applied or proposed; |
(5) | an amendment that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate for the authorization of additional partnership securities or rights to acquire partnership securities (subject to the limited approval rights of holders of Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units described above under Voting Rights); |
(6) | any amendment expressly permitted in our partnership agreement to be made by our general partner acting alone; |
(7) | an amendment effected, necessitated, or contemplated by a merger agreement that has been approved under the terms of our partnership agreement; |
(8) | any amendment that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate for the formation by us of, or our investment in, any corporation, partnership or other entity, as otherwise permitted by our partnership agreement; |
(9) | a change in our fiscal year or taxable year and related changes; |
(10) | certain mergers or conveyances as set forth in our partnership agreement; or |
(11) | any other amendments substantially similar to any of the matters described in (1) through (10) above. |
In addition, our general partner may make amendments to our partnership agreement without the approval of any limited partner (subject to the limited approval rights of holders of Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units described above under Description of Equity SecuritiesPreferred UnitsVoting Rights) if our general partner determines that those amendments:
(1) | do not adversely affect our limited partners (or any particular class or series of limited partners) in any material respect; |
(2) | are necessary or appropriate to satisfy any requirements, conditions, or guidelines contained in any opinion, directive, order, ruling or regulation of any Republic of the Marshall Islands authority; |
(3) | are necessary or appropriate to facilitate the trading of limited partner interests or to comply with any rule, regulation, guideline or requirement of any securities exchange on which our units are or will be listed for trading; |
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(4) | are necessary or appropriate for any action taken by our general partner relating to splits or combinations of our units under the provisions of our partnership agreement; or |
(5) | are required to effect the intent of the provisions of our partnership agreement or are otherwise contemplated by our partnership agreement. |
Opinion of Counsel and Unitholder Approval
Our general partner will not be required to obtain an opinion of counsel that an amendment will not result in a loss of limited liability to our limited partners if one of the amendments described above under No Unitholder Approval should occur. No other amendments to our partnership agreement will become effective without the approval of holders of at least 90% of our outstanding units voting as a single class unless we obtain an opinion of counsel to the effect that the amendment will not affect the limited liability under applicable law of any of our limited partners.
In addition to the above restrictions, any amendment that would have a material adverse effect on the rights or privileges of any type or class or series of units (other than Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units) in relation to other classes or series of units will require the approval of at least a majority of the type or class or series of units so affected; provided, however, that any amendment that would have a material adverse effect on the existing terms of the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units will require the approval of at least two-thirds of the outstanding Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, respectively. Any amendment that reduces the voting percentage required to take any action must be approved by the affirmative vote of limited partners whose aggregate outstanding units constitute not less than the voting requirement sought to be reduced.
Merger, Sale, or Other Disposition of Assets
A merger or consolidation of us requires the consent of our general partner, in addition to the approval of a common unit majority. However, our general partner will have no duty or obligation to consent to any merger or consolidation and may decline to do so free of any fiduciary duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in good faith or in the best interests of us or the limited partners; provided, however, that our general partner owes a contractual duty of good faith and fair dealing to holders of the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units pursuant to our partnership agreement. In addition, our partnership agreement generally prohibits our general partner, without common unitholder approval, from causing us to sell, exchange, or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets. Our general partner may, however, mortgage, pledge, hypothecate, or grant a security interest in all or substantially all of our assets without unitholder approval.
If conditions specified in our partnership agreement are satisfied, our general partner may convert us or any of our subsidiaries into a new limited liability entity or merge us or any of our subsidiaries into, or convey some or all of our assets to, a newly formed entity if the sole purpose of that merger or conveyance is to effect a mere change in our legal form into another limited liability entity.
Our unitholders are not entitled to dissenters rights of appraisal under our partnership agreement or applicable law in the event of a conversion, merger or consolidation, a sale of substantially all of our assets, or any other transaction or event.
Termination and Dissolution
We will continue as a limited partnership until terminated under our partnership agreement. We will dissolve upon:
(1) | the election of our general partner to dissolve us, if approved by the holders of a common unit majority; |
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(2) | the absence of any limited partners, unless the partnership is continued without dissolution in accordance with the Marshall Islands Act; |
(3) | the entry of a decree of judicial dissolution of us; or |
(4) | the withdrawal or removal of our general partner or any other event that results in its ceasing to be our general partner other than by reason of a transfer of its general partner interest in accordance with our partnership agreement or withdrawal or removal following approval and admission of a successor. |
Upon a dissolution under clause (4), the holders of a common unit majority may also elect, within specific time limitations, to continue our business on the same terms and conditions described in our partnership agreement by appointing as general partner an entity approved by the holders of a common unit majority, subject to our receipt of an opinion of counsel to the effect that the action would not result in the loss of limited liability of any limited partner.
Liquidation and Distribution of Proceeds
Upon our dissolution, unless we are continued as a new limited partnership, the liquidator authorized to wind up our affairs will, acting with all of the powers of our general partner that are necessary or appropriate, liquidate our assets and apply the proceeds of the liquidation as described in our partnership agreement. The liquidation rights of holders of Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and Parity Securities are described under Description of Equity SecuritiesLiquidation Rights. The liquidator may defer liquidation or distribution of our assets for a reasonable period or distribute assets to partners in kind if it determines that a sale would be impractical or would cause undue loss to our partners.
Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner
Our general partner may withdraw as general partner without first obtaining approval of any common unitholder by giving 90 days written notice, and that withdrawal will not constitute a violation of our partnership agreement. In addition, our partnership agreement permits our general partner in some instances to sell or otherwise transfer all of its general partner interest in us without the approval of the common unitholders. Please read Transfer of General Partner Interest and Transfer of Incentive Distribution Rights.
Upon withdrawal of our general partner under any circumstances, other than as a result of a transfer by our general partner of all or a part of its general partner interest in us, the holders of a common unit majority may select a successor to that withdrawing general partner. If a successor is not elected, we will be dissolved, wound up and liquidated, unless within a specified period of time after that withdrawal, the holders of a common unit majority agree in writing to continue our business and to appoint a successor general partner. Please read Termination and Dissolution.
Our general partner may not be removed unless that removal is approved by the vote of the holders of not less than 66 2/3% of our outstanding units, including units held by our general partner and its affiliates, and we receive an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability. Any removal of our general partner is also subject to the approval of a successor general partner by the vote of the holders of a majority of our outstanding common units, including common units held by our general partner and its affiliates. The ownership of more than 33 1/3% of our outstanding units by our general partner and its affiliates would give them the practical ability to prevent our general partners removal.
Our partnership agreement also provides that if our general partner is removed as our general partner under circumstances where cause does not exist and units held by our general partner and its affiliates are not voted in favor of that removal, our general partner will have the right to convert its general partner interest and its incentive distribution rights into common units or to receive cash in exchange for those interests based on the fair market value of the interests at the time.
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In the event of removal of our general partner under circumstances where cause exists or withdrawal of our general partner where that withdrawal violates our partnership agreement, a successor general partner will have the option to purchase the general partner interest and incentive distribution rights of the departing general partner for a cash payment equal to the fair market value of those interests. Under all other circumstances where our general partner withdraws or is removed by our limited partners, the departing general partner will have the option to require the successor general partner to purchase the general partner interest of the departing general partner and its incentive distribution rights for their fair market value. In each case, this fair market value will be determined by agreement between the departing general partner and the successor general partner. If no agreement is reached, an independent investment banking firm or other independent expert selected by the departing general partner and the successor general partner will determine the fair market value. Or, if the departing general partner and the successor general partner cannot agree upon an expert, then an expert chosen by agreement of the experts selected by each of them will determine the fair market value.
If the option described above is not exercised by either the departing general partner or the successor general partner, the departing general partners general partner interest and its incentive distribution rights will automatically convert into common units equal to the fair market value of those interests as determined by an investment banking firm or other independent expert selected in the manner described in the preceding paragraph.
In addition, we will be required to reimburse the departing general partner for all amounts due the departing general partner, including, without limitation, any employee-related liabilities, including severance liabilities, incurred for the termination of any employees employed by the departing general partner or its affiliates for our benefit.
Transfer of General Partner Interest
Our general partner and its affiliates may at any time transfer units to one or more persons, without unitholder approval. As a condition of this transfer, the transferee must, among other things, assume the rights and duties of our general partner, agree to be bound by the provisions of our partnership agreement and furnish an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability.
Transfer of Ownership Interests in General Partner
At any time, members of our general partner may sell or transfer all or part of their membership interests in our general partner to an affiliate or a third party without the approval of our unitholders.
Transfer of Incentive Distribution Rights
Our incentive distribution rights may be transferred to one or more persons, without unitholder approval. As a condition of this transfer, the transferee must agree to be bound by the provisions of our partnership agreement.
Transfer of Common Units, Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units
By transfer of common units, Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units in accordance with our partnership agreement, each transferee of common units, Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units automatically is admitted as a limited partner with respect to the common units, Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units transferred when such transfer and admission is reflected in our books and records. Our general partner will cause any transfers to be recorded on our books and records no less frequently than quarterly. Each transferee automatically is deemed to:
| represent that the transferee has the capacity, power and authority to become bound by our partnership agreement; |
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| agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of, and to have executed, our partnership agreement; |
| grants power of attorney to officers of our general partner and any liquidator of us as specified in our partnership agreement; and |
| give the consents and approvals contained in our partnership agreement. |
We are entitled to treat the nominee holder of a common unit, Series A Preferred Unit or Series B Preferred Unit as the absolute owner. In that case, the beneficial holders rights are limited solely to those that it has against the nominee holder as a result of any agreement between the beneficial owner and the nominee holder.
Common units, Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units are securities and are transferable according to the laws governing transfer of securities. In addition to other rights acquired upon transfer, the transferor gives the transferee the right to become a limited partner in our partnership for the transferred common units.
Until a common unit, Series A Preferred Unit or Series B Preferred Unit has been transferred on our books, we and our transfer agent may treat the record holder of the unit as the absolute owner of such unit for all purposes, except as otherwise required by law or stock exchange regulations.
Change of Management Provisions
Our partnership agreement contains specific provisions that are intended to discourage a person or group from attempting to remove Teekay Offshore GP L.L.C. as our general partner or otherwise change management. If any person or group other than our general partner and its affiliates acquires beneficial ownership of 20% or more of our partnership securities of any class or series then outstanding, that person or group will lose voting rights on all of its partnership securities. This loss of voting rights does not apply to the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units or to any person or group that acquires the partnership securities from our general partner or its affiliates and any transferees of that person or group approved by our general partner or to any person or group who acquires the partnership securities with the prior approval of the board of directors of our general partner.
Our partnership agreement also provides that if our general partner is removed under circumstances where cause does not exist and units held by our general partner and its affiliates are not voted in favor of that removal, our general partner will have the right to convert its general partner interest and its incentive distribution rights into common units or to receive cash in exchange for those interests.
Call Right
If at any time our general partner and its affiliates hold more than 80% of the then-issued and outstanding limited partner interests of any class or series, except for the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units, our general partner will have the right, which it may assign in whole or in part to any of its affiliates or to us, to acquire all, but not less than all, of the remaining limited partner interests of the class or series held by unaffiliated persons as of a record date to be selected by our general partner, on at least 10 but not more than 60 days notice. The purchase price in this event is the greater of (x) the average of the daily closing prices of the limited partner interests of such class or series over the 20 trading days preceding the date three days before notice of exercise of the call right is first mailed and (y) the highest price paid by our general partner or any of its affiliates for limited partner interests of such class or series during the 90-day period preceding the date such notice is first mailed.
As a result of our general partners right to purchase outstanding limited partner interests, a holder of limited partner interests (except for the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units) may have the holders limited partner interests purchased at an undesirable time or price.
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Meetings; Voting
Unlike the holders of common stock in a corporation, the holders of our common units have only limited voting rights on matters affecting our business. They have no right to elect our general partner (who manages our operations and activities) or the directors of our general partner, on an annual or other continuing basis. On those matters that are submitted to a vote of common unitholders, each record holder of a common unit may vote according to the holders percentage interest in us, although additional limited partner interests having special voting rights could be issued.
Holders of the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units generally have no voting rights. However, holders of Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units have limited voting rights as described above under Description of Equity SecuritiesPreferred UnitsVoting Rights.
Except as described below regarding a person or group owning 20% or more of any class or series of limited partner interest then outstanding, limited partners as of the record date will be entitled to notice of, and to vote at, any meetings of our limited partners and to act upon matters for which approvals by the holders of such class or series of limited partner interests may be solicited.
Any action that is required or permitted to be taken by our unitholders, or any applicable class or series thereof, may be taken either at a meeting of the applicable unitholders or without a meeting if consents in writing describing the action so taken are signed by holders of the number of units necessary to authorize or take that action at a meeting. Meetings of our unitholders may be called by our general partner or by unitholders owning at least 20% of the outstanding units of the class or series for which a meeting is proposed. Unitholders may vote either in person or by proxy at meetings. The holders of a majority of the outstanding units of the class, classes or series for which a meeting has been called, represented in person or by proxy, will constitute a quorum unless any action by the unitholders requires approval by holders of a greater percentage of the units, in which case the quorum will be the greater percentage.
If at any time any person or group, other than our general partner and its affiliates, or a direct or subsequently approved transferee of our general partner or its affiliates or a transferee approved by the board of directors of our general partner, acquires, in the aggregate, beneficial ownership of 20% or more of our partnership securities of any class or series then outstanding, that person or group will lose voting rights on all of its partnership interests, except for the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units, and such partnership interests may not be voted on any matter and will not be considered to be outstanding when sending notices of a meeting of unitholders, calculating required votes, determining the presence of a quorum, or for other similar purposes. Common units, Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units held in nominee or street name account will be voted by the broker or other nominee in accordance with the instruction of the beneficial owner unless the arrangement between the beneficial owner and the beneficial owners nominee provides otherwise.
Any notice, demand, request report, or proxy material required or permitted to be given or made to record holders of common units, Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units under our partnership agreement will be delivered to the record holder by us or by our transfer agent.
Status as Limited Partner
Except as described above under Limited Liability, our common units, Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units will be fully paid, and our unitholders will not be required to make additional contributions. By transfer of common units, Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units in accordance with our partnership agreement, each transferee of common units, Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units shall be admitted as a limited partner with respect to the common units, Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units transferred when such transfer and admission is reflected in our books and records.
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Indemnification
Under our partnership agreement, in most circumstances, we will indemnify the following persons, to the fullest extent permitted by law, from and against all losses, claims, damages or similar events:
(1) | our general partner; |
(2) | any departing general partner; |
(3) | any person who is or was an affiliate of our general partner or any departing general partner; |
(4) | any person who is or was an officer, director, member, fiduciary, trustee or partner of any entity described in (1), (2) or (3) above; |
(5) | any person who is or was serving as a director, officer, member, partner, fiduciary or trustee of another person at the request of our general partner or any departing general partner or any affiliate of the general partner or any departing general partner; provided that such person will not be indemnified by reason of providing, on a fee-for-services basis, trustee fiduciary or custodial services; or |
(6) | any person designated by our general partner. |
Any indemnification under these provisions will only be out of our assets. Unless it otherwise agrees, our general partner will not be personally liable for, or have any obligation to contribute or lend funds or assets to us to enable us to effectuate, indemnification.
We are authorized to purchase (or to reimburse our general partner for the costs of) insurance against liabilities asserted against and expenses incurred by our general partner, its affiliates and such other persons as the general partner may determine and described in the paragraph above, whether or not it would have the power to indemnify such person against such liabilities under the provisions described in the paragraphs above. Our general partner has purchased insurance covering its officers and directors against liabilities asserted and expenses incurred in connection with their activities as officers and directors of the general partner or any of its direct or indirect subsidiaries.
Reimbursement of Expenses
Our partnership agreement requires us to reimburse our general partner for all direct and indirect expenses it incurs or payments it makes on our behalf and all other expenses allocable to us or otherwise incurred by our general partner in connection with operating our business. These expenses include salary, bonus, incentive compensation and other amounts paid to persons who perform services for us or on our behalf, and expenses allocated to our general partner by its affiliates. Our general partner is entitled to determine the expenses that are allocable to us.
Books and Reports
Our general partner is required to keep appropriate books of our business at our principal offices. The books will be maintained for both tax and financial reporting purposes on an accrual basis. For tax and fiscal reporting purposes, our fiscal year is the calendar year.
We intend to furnish or make available to record holders of our common units, Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units, within 120 days after the close of each fiscal year, an annual report containing audited financial statements and a report on those financial statements by our independent chartered accountants. Except for our fourth quarter, we also intend to furnish or make available summary financial information within 90 days after the close of each quarter.
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Right to Inspect Our Books and Records
Our partnership agreement provides that a limited partner can, for a purpose reasonably related to the limited partners interest as a limited partner, upon reasonable demand and at the limited partners own expense, have furnished to the limited partner:
(1) | a current list of the name and last known address of each partner; |
(2) | a copy of our tax returns; |
(3) | information as to the amount of cash, and a description and statement of the agreed value of any other property or services, contributed or to be contributed by each partner and the date on which each became a partner; |
(4) | copies of our partnership agreement, the certificate of limited partnership of our partnership, related amendments and powers of attorney under which they have been executed; |
(5) | information regarding the status of our business and financial condition; and |
(6) | any other information regarding our affairs as is just and reasonable. |
Our general partner may, and intends to, keep confidential from the limited partners trade secrets or other information the disclosure of which our general partner believes in good faith is not in our best interests or that we are required by law or by agreements with third parties to keep confidential.
Registration Rights
Under our partnership agreement, we have agreed to register for resale under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (or the Securities Act), and applicable state securities laws any common units or other partnership securities proposed to be sold by our general partner or any of its affiliates or their assignees if an exemption from the registration requirements is not otherwise available or advisable. These registration rights continue for two years following any withdrawal or removal of Teekay Offshore GP L.L.C. as our general partner. We are obligated to pay all expenses incidental to the registration, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions.
In connection with Brookfields investment in us in September 2017 and related transactions, we, Brookfield TOLP and Teekay Corporation entered into a registration rights agreement relating to the registration under the Securities Act of certain of our common units and warrants (or the Registration Rights Agreement). During the period the Registration Rights Agreement is in effect, we have agreed with Brookfield and Teekay Corporation to suspend the registration rights granted to our general partner and its affiliates under our partnership agreement, which are described above. The Registration Rights Agreement provides each of Brookfield TOLP and Teekay Corporation with the right to demand that we file, prior to September 25, 2018, a shelf registration statement with respect to (a) our common units beneficially owned by Brookfield TOLP and its affiliates or Teekay Corporation and its affiliates as of September 25, 2017, including those common units issued to Brookfield TOLP and to an affiliate of Teekay Corporation on such date and (b) our common units issuable upon the exercise of warrants we issued to Brookfield TOLP and to an affiliate of Teekay Corporation in connection with their respective purchases of common units on September 25, 2017 (collectively, the Registrable Securities). The Registration Rights Agreement also provides Brookfield TOLP and Teekay Corporation the right to demand that we register the Registrable Securities in an underwritten offering, on or after September 25, 2018, as well as the right to include the Registrable Securities in any registration statement filed by us in connection with a public offering of our common units or securities convertible into, or exchangeable for, common units, subject to customary exceptions and limitations. The Registration Rights Agreement provides that we will pay all registration expenses other than underwriting discounts and commissions (which will be paid by the holder of the securities being registered), but including the reasonable fees and expenses of any counsel on behalf of the holders of the Registrable Securities.
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Conflicts of Interest
Conflicts of interest exist and may arise in the future as a result of the relationships between our general partner and its affiliates, including Teekay Corporation and Brookfield, on the one hand, and us and our unaffiliated limited partners, on the other hand. The directors and officers of our general partner, Teekay Offshore GP L.L.C., have certain fiduciary duties to manage our general partner in a manner beneficial to its owners, Teekay Corporation and Brookfield TOGP. At the same time, our general partner has a fiduciary duty to manage us in a manner beneficial to us and our common unitholders. Teekay Corporation and Brookfield TOGP have the authority to appoint our general partners directors, who in turn appoint our general partners officers. Under our partnership agreement, we, our general partner and our general partners officers and directors will not owe any fiduciary duties to holders of the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units other than a contractual duty of good faith and fair dealing pursuant to our partnership agreement.
Our partnership affairs are governed by our partnership agreement and the Marshall Islands Act. The provisions of the Marshall Islands Act resemble provisions of the limited partnership laws of a number of states in the United States, most notably Delaware. We are not aware of any material difference in unitholder rights between the Marshall Islands Act and the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act. The Marshall Islands Act also provides that, for non-resident limited partnerships such us, it is to be applied and construed to make the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, with respect to the subject matter of the Marshall Islands Act, uniform with the laws of the State of Delaware and, so long as it does not conflict with the Marshall Island Act or decisions of certain Republic of the Marshall Islands courts, the non-statutory law (or case law) of the courts of the State of Delaware is adopted as the law of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. There have been, however, few, if any, court cases in the Republic of the Marshall Islands interpreting the Marshall Islands Act, in contrast to Delaware, which has a fairly well-developed body of case law interpreting its limited partnership statute. Accordingly, we cannot predict whether Republic of the Marshall Islands courts would reach the same conclusions as courts in Delaware. For example, the rights of our unitholders and fiduciary responsibilities of our general partner under Republic of the Marshall Islands law are not as clearly established as under judicial precedent in existence in Delaware. Due to the less developed nature of Republic of the Marshall Islands law, our public unitholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions by our general partner or controlling unitholders than would unitholders of a limited partnership organized in the United States.
Whenever a conflict arises between our general partner or its affiliates, on the one hand, and us or any other partner, on the other, our general partner will resolve that conflict. Our partnership agreement contains provisions that modify and restrict our general partners fiduciary duties to our unitholders under Republic of the Marshall Islands law. Our partnership agreement also restricts the remedies available to unitholders for actions taken by our general partner that, without those limitations, might constitute breaches of fiduciary duties.
Our general partner will not be in breach of its obligations under the partnership agreement or its duties to us or the common unitholders if the resolution of the conflict is:
| approved by the conflicts committee of our general partners board of directors, although our general partner is not obligated to seek such approval; |
| approved by the vote of a majority of the outstanding common units, excluding any common units owned by our general partner or any of its affiliates, although our general partner is not obligated to seek such approval; |
| on terms no less favorable to us than those generally being provided to or available from unrelated third parties, but our general partner is not required to obtain confirmation to such effect from an independent third party; or |
| fair and reasonable to us, taking into account the totality of the relationships between the parties involved, including other transactions that may be particularly favorable or advantageous to us. |
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Our general partner may, but is not required to, seek the approval of such resolution from the conflicts committee of the board of directors of our general partner or from the limited partners. If our general partner does not seek approval from the conflicts committee, and the board of directors of our general partner determines that the resolution or course of action taken with respect to the conflict of interest satisfies either of the standards set forth in the third and fourth bullet points above, then it will be presumed that, in making its decision, the board of directors, including the board members affected by the conflict, acted in good faith, and in any proceeding brought by or on behalf of any limited partner or the partnership, the person bringing or prosecuting such proceeding will have the burden of overcoming such presumption. Unless the resolution of a conflict is specifically provided for in our partnership agreement, our general partner or the conflicts committee may consider any factors it determines in good faith to consider when resolving a conflict. When our partnership agreement requires someone to act in good faith, it requires that person to reasonably believe that the person is acting in the best interests of the partnership, unless the context otherwise requires. The definition of good faith specified above does not apply to the contractual duty of good faith and fair dealing we owe to holders of Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units.
Conflicts of interest could arise in the situations described below, among others.
Actions taken by our general partner may affect the amount of cash available for distribution to unitholders.
The amount of cash that is available for distribution to unitholders is affected by decisions of our general partner regarding such matters as:
| the amount and timing of asset purchases and sales; |
| cash expenditures; |
| borrowings; |
| the issuance of additional units; and |
| the creation, reduction or increase of reserves in any quarter. |
In addition, borrowings by us and our affiliates do not constitute a breach of any duty owed by our general partner to our limited partners, including borrowings that have the purpose or effect of enabling our general partner or its affiliates to receive distributions on the incentive distribution rights.
For example, in the event we have not generated sufficient cash from our operations to pay the minimum quarterly distribution on our common units, our partnership agreement permits us to borrow funds, which would enable us to make this distribution on all outstanding units.
Our partnership agreement provides that we and our subsidiaries may borrow funds from our general partner and its affiliates. Our general partner and its affiliates may not borrow funds from us or our operating subsidiaries.
Neither our partnership agreement nor any other agreement requires Teekay Corporation or Brookfield to pursue a business strategy that favors us or utilizes our assets or dictates what markets to pursue or grow. Teekay Corporations and Brookfields directors and officers have a fiduciary duty to make these decisions in the best interests of the shareholders of Teekay Corporation and Brookfield, which may be contrary to our interests.
Because directors of our general partner are also directors, officers or employees of Teekay Corporation or Brookfield or their respective affiliates, such directors have fiduciary duties to Teekay Corporation and Brookfield that may cause them to pursue business strategies that disproportionately benefit Teekay Corporation or Brookfield or which otherwise are not in the best interests of us or our unitholders.
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Our general partner is allowed to take into account the interests of parties other than us, such as Teekay Corporation and Brookfield, in resolving conflicts of interest.
Our partnership agreement contains provisions that restrict the standards to which our general partner would otherwise be held by Republic of the Marshall Islands law. For example, our partnership agreement permits our general partner to make a number of decisions in its individual capacity, as opposed to in its capacity as our general partner. This entitles our general partner to consider only the interests and factors that it desires, and it has no duty or obligation to give any consideration to any interest of or factors affecting us, our affiliates or any limited partner. Decisions made by our general partner in its individual capacity are made by its owners, Teekay Corporation and Brookfield TOGP, and not by the board of directors of our general partner. Examples include the exercise of the general partners limited call right, its voting rights with respect to the units it owns, its registration rights and its determination whether to consent to any merger or consolidation involving us.
We reimburse our general partner and its affiliates for expenses.
We reimburse our general partner and its affiliates for costs incurred in managing and operating us, including costs incurred in rendering support services to us. Our partnership agreement provides that our general partner determine in good faith the expenses that are allocable to us.
Our general partner has limited its liability regarding our obligations.
Our general partner has limited its liability under contractual arrangements so that the other party has recourse only to our assets and not against our general partner or its assets or any affiliate of our general partner or its assets. Our partnership agreement provides that any action taken by our general partner to limit its or our liability is not a breach of our general partners fiduciary duties owed to common unitholders or a breach of our general partners contractual duty of good faith and fair dealing to holders of the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, even if we could have obtained terms that are more favorable without the limitation on liability.
Common unitholders and Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Unitholders have no right to enforce obligations of our general partner and its affiliates under agreements with us.
Any agreements between us, on the one hand, and our general partner and its affiliates, on the other, do not and will not grant to the holders of our common units, Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units, separate and apart from us, the right to enforce the obligations of our general partner and its affiliates in our favor.
Contracts between us, on the one hand, and our general partner and its affiliates, on the other, are not the result of arms-length negotiations.
Neither our partnership agreement nor any of the other agreements, contracts and arrangements between us and our general partner and its affiliates are or will be the result of arms-length negotiations. Our partnership agreement generally provides that any affiliated transaction, such as an agreement, contract or arrangement between us and our general partner and its affiliates, not involving a vote of common unitholders and that is not approved by the conflicts committee of the board of directors of our general partner must be:
| on terms no less favorable to us than those generally being provided to or available from unrelated third parties; or |
| fair and reasonable to us, taking into account the totality of the relationships between the parties involved (including other transactions that may be particularly favorable or advantageous to us). |
Our general partner may also enter into additional contractual arrangements with any of its affiliates on our behalf, and our general partner will determine, in good faith, the terms of any of these transactions.
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Except in limited circumstances, our general partner has the power and authority to conduct our business without limited partner approval.
Under our partnership agreement, our general partner has full power and authority to do all things (other than those items that require limited partner approval or with respect to which our general partner has sought conflicts committee approval) on such terms as it determines to be necessary or appropriate to conduct our business including, among others, the following:
| the making of any expenditures, the lending or borrowing of money, the assumption or guarantee of, or other contracting for, indebtedness and other liabilities, the issuance of evidences of indebtedness, including indebtedness that is convertible into securities of the partnership (subject to the limited approval rights of holders of Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units described above under Description of Equity SecuritiesPreferred UnitsVoting Rights), and the incurring of any other obligations; |
| the making of tax, regulatory and other filings, or rendering of periodic or other reports to governmental or other agencies having jurisdictions over our business or assets; |
| the negotiation, execution and performance of any contracts, conveyances or other instruments; |
| the distribution of partnership cash; |
| the selection and dismissal of employees and agents, outside attorneys, accountants, consultants and contractors and the determination of their compensation and other terms of employment or hiring; |
| the maintenance of insurance for our benefit and the benefit of our partners; |
| the formation of, or acquisition of an interest in, and the contribution of property and the making of loans to, any other limited or general partnerships, joint ventures, corporations, limited liability companies or other relationships; |
| the control of any matters affecting our rights and obligations, including the bringing and defending of actions at law or in equity and otherwise engaging in the conduct of litigation, arbitration or mediation and the incurring of legal expense and the settlement of claims and litigation; |
| the indemnification of any person against liabilities and contingencies to the extent permitted by law; |
| subject to the prior payment of all quarterly distributions on the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units through the most recent distribution payment date for the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units, the purchase, sale or other acquisition or disposition of our securities, or the issuance of additional options, rights, warrants and appreciation rights relating to our securities; and |
| the entering into of agreements with any of its affiliates to render services to us, our controlled affiliates or to itself in the discharge of its duties as our general partner. |
Please read Meetings; Voting above and Description of Equity SecuritiesPreferred UnitsVoting Rights above for information regarding the voting rights of unitholders.
Limited partner interests, except for the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units, are subject to our general partners call right.
Our general partner may exercise its right to call and purchase limited partner interests, except for the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units, as provided in our partnership agreement or assign this right to one of its affiliates or to us. Our general partner may use its own discretion, free of fiduciary duty restrictions, in determining whether to exercise this right. As a result, a limited partner may have limited partner interests purchased by the general partner at an undesirable time or price. Please read Call Right above.
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We may choose not to retain separate counsel for ourselves or for the holders of limited partner interests.
The attorneys, independent accountants and others who perform services for us have been retained by our general partner. Attorneys, independent accountants and others who perform services for us are selected by our general partner or the conflicts committee and may perform services for our general partner and its affiliates. We may retain separate counsel for ourselves or the holders of our common units, Series A Preferred Units or the Series B Preferred Units in the event of a conflict of interest between our general partner and its affiliates, on the one hand, and us or the holders of common units, Series A Preferred Units or the Series B Preferred Units, on the other, depending on the nature of the conflict. We do not intend to do so in most cases.
Our general partners affiliates, including Teekay Corporation and Brookfield, may compete with us.
Our partnership agreement provides that our general partner is restricted from engaging in any business activities other than acting as our general partner and those activities incidental to its ownership of interests in us. In addition, our partnership agreement provides that our general partner, for so long as it is general partner of our partnership, will cause its affiliates not to engage in, by acquisition or otherwise, certain businesses or activities described in an omnibus agreement to which we, Teekay Corporation and other affiliates are parties. Similarly, under the omnibus agreement, Teekay Corporation has agreed and has caused its affiliates to agree, for so long as Teekay Corporation controls our partnership, not to engage in certain business or activities relating to the marine transportation and storage services provided to the offshore oil industry. Except as provided in our partnership agreement and the omnibus agreement, affiliates of our general partner, including Teekay Corporation and Brookfield, are not prohibited from engaging in other businesses or activities, including those that might be in direct competition with us.
Fiduciary Duties
Our general partner is accountable to us and our common unitholders as a fiduciary. Our general partner owes no fiduciary duty to holders of the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units other than a contractual duty of good faith and fair dealing pursuant to our partnership agreement. Fiduciary duties owed to our unitholders by our general partner are prescribed by law and our partnership agreement. The Marshall Islands Act provides that Republic of the Marshall Islands partnerships may, in their partnership agreements, restrict or expand the fiduciary duties owed by the general partner to the limited partners and the partnership.
Our partnership agreement contains various provisions restricting the fiduciary duties that might otherwise be owed by our general partner. We have adopted these provisions to allow our general partner to take into account the interests of other parties in addition to our interests when resolving conflicts of interest. We believe this is appropriate and necessary because the board of directors of our general partner has fiduciary duties to manage our general partner in a manner beneficial both to its owners, Teekay Corporation and Brookfield TOGP, as well as to holders of our common units. These modifications disadvantage the limited partners because they restrict the rights and remedies that would otherwise be available to unitholders for actions that, without those limitations, might constitute breaches of fiduciary duty, as described below. The following is a summary of:
| the fiduciary duties imposed on our general partner by the Marshall Islands Act; |
| material modifications of these duties contained in our partnership agreement; and |
| certain rights and remedies of unitholders contained in the Marshall Islands Act. |
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Marshall Islands law fiduciary duty standards | Fiduciary duties are generally considered to include an obligation to act in good faith and with due care and loyalty. The duty of care, in the absence of a provision in a partnership agreement providing otherwise, would generally require a general partner to refrain from engaging in grossly negligent or reckless conduct, intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law. The duty of loyalty, in the absence of a provision in a partnership agreement providing otherwise, would generally require the general partner: (1) to account to the partnership and hold as trustee for it any property, profit or benefit derived by the partner in the conduct or winding up of the partnership business or affairs or derived from a use by the partner of partnership property, including the appropriation of a partnership opportunity; (2) to refrain from dealing with the partnership in the conduct or winding up of the partnership business or affairs as or on behalf of a party having an interest adverse to the partnership; and (3) to refrain from competing with the partnership in the conduct of the partnership business or affairs before the dissolution of the partnership. | |
Partnership agreement modified standards | Our partnership agreement contains provisions that waive or consent to conduct by our general partner and its affiliates that might otherwise raise issues as to compliance with fiduciary duties under the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. For example, Section 7.9 of our partnership agreement provides that when our general partner is acting in its capacity as our general partner, as opposed to in its individual capacity, it must act in good faith with respect to common unitholders and will not be subject to any other standard under the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. In addition, when our general partner is acting in its individual capacity, as opposed to in its capacity as our general partner, it may act without any fiduciary obligation to us or the unitholders whatsoever. Our partnership agreement provides that the general partner and its affiliates, including us and our general partners officers and directors, do not owe any fiduciary duties to holders of the Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units other than a contractual duty of good faith and fair dealing pursuant to the partnership agreement. These standards restrict the obligations to which our general partner would otherwise be held. | |
Our partnership agreement generally provides that affiliated transactions and resolutions of conflicts of interest not involving a vote of common unitholders and that are not approved by the conflicts committee of the board of directors of our general partner must be: | ||
on terms no less favorable to us than those generally being provided to or available from unrelated third parties; or | ||
fair and reasonable to us, taking into account the totality of the relationships between the parties involved (including other transactions that may be particularly favorable or advantageous to us). | ||
If our general partner does not seek approval from the conflicts committee, and the board of directors of our general partner determines that the resolution or course of action taken with respect to the conflict of interest satisfies either of the standards set forth in the bullet points above, then it will be presumed that, in making its decision, the board of directors acted in good faith, and in any proceeding brought by or on behalf of any limited partner or the partnership, the person bringing or prosecuting such proceeding will have the burden of overcoming such presumption. These standards restrict the obligations to which our general partner would otherwise be held. |
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In addition to the other more specific provisions limiting the obligations of our general partner, our partnership agreement further provides that our general partner and its officers and directors will not be liable for monetary damages to us or our limited partners for errors of judgment or for any acts or omissions unless there has been a final and non-appealable judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction determining that the general partner or its officers and directors acted in bad faith or engaged in fraud, willful misconduct or gross negligence. | ||
Rights and remedies of unitholders | The provisions of the Marshall Islands Act resemble the provisions of the limited partnership act of Delaware. For example, like Delaware, the Marshall Islands Act favors the principles of freedom of contract and enforceability of partnership agreements and allows the partnership agreement to contain terms governing the rights of the unitholders. The rights of our limited partners, including voting and approval rights and the ability of the partnership to issue additional units, are governed by the terms of our partnership agreement. | |
As to remedies of limited partners, the Marshall Islands Act permits a limited partner or an assignee of a partnership interest to bring an action in the right of the limited partnership to recover a judgment in its favor if general partners with authority to do so have refused to bring the action or if an effort to cause those general partners to bring the action is not likely to succeed. |
Under our partnership agreement, we must indemnify our general partner and its officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law, against liabilities, costs and expenses incurred by our general partner or these other persons. We must provide this indemnification unless there has been a final and non-appealable judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction determining that these persons acted in bad faith or engaged in fraud, willful misconduct or gross negligence. We also must provide this indemnification for criminal proceedings when our general partner or these other persons acted with no reasonable cause to believe that their conduct was unlawful.
Thus, our general partner could be indemnified for its negligent acts if it met the requirements set forth above. To the extent that these provisions purport to include indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act, in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is contrary to public policy and therefore unenforceable. Please read Indemnification above.
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Distribution of Available Cash
General
Within approximately 45 days after the end of each quarter, we distribute all of our available cash to common unitholders of record on the applicable record date.
Available Cash
Available cash generally means, for each fiscal quarter, all cash on hand at the end of the quarter (including our proportionate share of cash on hand of certain subsidiaries we do not wholly own):
| less the amount of cash reserves (including our proportionate share of cash reserves of certain subsidiaries we do not wholly own) established by our general partner to: |
| provide for the proper conduct of our business (including reserves for future capital expenditures and for our anticipated credit needs); |
| comply with applicable law, any debt instruments, or other agreements |
| provide funds to pay quarterly distributions on, and to make any redemption payments relating to, the Series A Preferred Units and the Series B Preferred Units; or |
| provide funds for distributions to our common unitholders and to our general partner for any one or more of the next four quarters; |
| plus all cash on hand (including our proportionate share of cash on hand of certain subsidiaries we do not wholly own) on the date of determination of available cash for the quarter resulting from working capital borrowings made after the end of the quarter. Working capital borrowings are generally borrowings that are made under our credit agreements and in all cases are used solely for working capital purposes or to pay distributions to partners. |
Series A Preferred Units
Our Series A Preferred Units rank senior to our common units as to the payment of distributions and amounts payable upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up and have a liquidation preference of $25.00 per unit, and rank pari passu with our existing Series B Preferred Units. Our Series A Preferred Units are entitled to cumulative distributions from the date of original issue, with distributions being calculated at an annual rate of 7.25% on the stated liquidation preference and payable quarterly in arrears on the 15th day of February, May, August and November of each year, when, as and if declared by the board of directors of our general partner. At any time on or after April 30, 2018, the Series A Preferred Units may be redeemed, in whole or in part, at a redemption price of $25.00 per unit plus an amount equal to all accumulated and unpaid distributions thereon to the date of redemption, whether or not declared. No distribution may be declared or paid or set apart for payment on any common units (other than a distribution payable solely in common units) unless full cumulative distributions have been or contemporaneously are being paid or provided for on all outstanding Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units through the most recent distribution payment date for the Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units. For additional information about our Series A Preferred Units, please read Description of Equity SecuritiesPreferred Units.
Series B Preferred Units
Our Series B Preferred Units rank senior to our common units as to the payment of distributions and amounts payable upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up and have a liquidation preference of $25.00 per unit, and rank pari passu with our existing Series A Preferred Units. Our Series B Preferred Units are entitled to
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cumulative distributions from the date of original issue, with distributions being calculated at an annual rate of 8.50% on the stated liquidation preference and payable quarterly in arrears on the 15th day of February, May, August and November of each year, when, as and if declared by the board of directors of our general partner. At any time on or after April 20, 2020, the Series B Preferred Units may be redeemed, in whole or in part, at a redemption price of $25.00 per unit plus an amount equal to all accumulated and unpaid distributions thereon to the date of redemption, whether or not declared. No distribution may be declared or paid or set apart for payment on any common units (other than a distribution payable solely in common units) unless full cumulative distributions have been or contemporaneously are being paid or provided for on all outstanding Series B Preferred Units and Series A Preferred Units through the most recent distribution payment date for the Series B Preferred Units and Series A Preferred Units. For additional information about our Series A Preferred Units, please read Description of Equity SecuritiesPreferred Units.
Minimum Quarterly Distribution
Our general partner has the authority to determine the amount of our available cash for any quarter. This determination, as well as all determinations made by our general partner, must be made in good faith. There is no guarantee that we will pay the minimum quarterly distribution of $0.35 per unit or any other amount on our common units in any quarter, and we will be prohibited from making any distributions to our common unitholders if it would cause an event of default, or an event of default is existing, under our credit facilities, or if full cumulative distributions have not been paid or are not contemporaneously being paid or provided for on all outstanding Series A and Series B Preferred Units through the most recent distribution payment date for the Series A and Series B Preferred Units.
Operating Surplus and Capital Surplus
General
All cash distributed to common unitholders is characterized as either operating surplus or capital surplus. We treat distributions of available cash from operating surplus differently than distributions of available cash from capital surplus.
Definition of Operating Surplus
Operating surplus, for any period, generally means:
| $15 million; plus |
| all of our cash receipts (including our proportionate share of cash receipts of certain subsidiaries we do not wholly own) after the closing of our initial public offering, excluding cash from (1) borrowings, other than working capital borrowings, (2) sales of equity and debt securities, (3) sales or other dispositions of assets outside the ordinary course of business, (4) termination of interest rate swap agreements, (5) capital contributions or (6) corporate reorganizations or restructurings (items (1) -(6) are referred to herein as interim capital transactions); plus |
| working capital borrowings (including our proportionate share of working capital borrowings for certain subsidiaries we do not wholly own) made after the end of a quarter but before the date of determination of operating surplus for the quarter; plus |
| interest paid on debt incurred (including periodic net payments under related interest rate swap agreements) and cash distributions paid on equity securities issued, in each case (and including our proportionate share of such interest and cash distributions paid by certain subsidiaries we do not wholly own), to finance all or any portion of the conversion or construction, replacement or improvement of a capital asset such as vessels during the period from such financing until the earlier to occur of the date the capital asset is put into service or the date that it is abandoned or disposed of; plus |
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| interest paid on debt incurred (including periodic net payments under related interest rate swap agreements) and cash distributions paid on equity securities issued, in each case (and including our proportionate share of such interest and cash distributions paid by certain subsidiaries we do not wholly own), to pay the conversion or construction period interest on debt incurred (including periodic net payments under related interest rate swap agreements), or to pay conversion or construction period distributions on equity issued, to finance the conversion or construction projects described in the immediately preceding bullet; less |
| all of our operating expenditures (including our proportionate share of operating expenditures of certain subsidiaries we do not wholly own) after the closing of our initial public offering and the repayment of working capital borrowings, but not (1) the repayment of other borrowings, (2) actual maintenance capital expenditures, or expansion capital expenditures or investment capital expenditures, (3) transaction expenses (including taxes) related to interim capital transactions, (4) any Series A Preferred Unit or Series B Preferred Unit redemption payments or any funds otherwise used by us to repurchase Series A Preferred Units or Series B Preferred Units or (5) distributions other than on our Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units; less |
| estimated maintenance capital expenditures and the amount of cash reserves (including our proportionate share of cash reserves of certain subsidiaries we do not wholly own) established by our general partner to provide funds for future operating expenditures. |
If a working capital borrowing, which increases operating surplus, is not repaid during the 12-month period following the borrowing, it is deemed repaid at the end of such period, thus decreasing operating surplus at such time. When such working capital borrowing is in fact repaid, it is not treated as a reduction in operating surplus because operating surplus has been previously reduced by the deemed repayment.
As described above, operating surplus includes a provision that enables us, if we choose, to distribute as operating surplus up to $15 million of cash we have received or will receive from non-operating sources since the time of our initial public offering, such as asset sales, issuances of securities and long-term borrowings, that would otherwise be distributed as capital surplus. In addition, the effect of including, as described above, certain cash distributions on equity securities or interest payments on debt in operating surplus is to increase operating surplus by the amount of any such cash distributions or interest payments. As a result, we may distribute as operating surplus up to the amount of any such cash distributions or interest payments of cash we receive from non-operating sources.
Capital Expenditures
For purposes of determining operating surplus, maintenance capital expenditures are those capital expenditures required to maintain over the long term the operating capacity of or the revenue generated by capital assets, and expansion capital expenditures are those capital expenditures that increase the operating capacity of or the revenue generated by capital assets. To the extent, however, that capital expenditures associated with acquiring or conversion of an existing or new vessel increase the revenues or the operating capacity of our fleet, those capital expenditures would be classified as expansion capital expenditures.
Investment capital expenditures are those capital expenditures that are neither maintenance capital expenditures nor expansion capital expenditures. Investment capital expenditures largely consist of capital expenditures made for investment purposes.
Examples of investment capital expenditures include traditional capital expenditures for investment purposes, such as purchases of securities, as well as other capital expenditures that might be made in lieu of such traditional investment capital expenditures, such as the acquisition of a capital asset for investment purposes.
Examples of maintenance capital expenditures include capital expenditures associated with drydocking a vessel or acquiring or converting an existing or a new vessel to the extent such expenditures are incurred to
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maintain the operating capacity of or the revenue generated by our fleet. Maintenance capital expenditures also include interest (and related fees) on debt incurred and distributions on equity issued to finance the conversion or construction of a replacement vessel and paid during the conversion or construction period, which we define as the period beginning on the date of entry into a binding conversion or construction contract and ending on the earlier of the date that the replacement vessel commences commercial service or the date that the replacement vessel is abandoned or disposed of. Debt incurred to pay or equity issued to fund conversion or construction period interest payments, and distributions on such equity, are also considered maintenance capital expenditures.
Because maintenance capital expenditures can be very large and vary significantly in timing, the amount of our actual maintenance capital expenditures may differ substantially from period to period, which could cause similar fluctuations in the amounts of operating surplus, adjusted operating surplus, and available cash for distribution to our common unitholders if we subtracted actual maintenance capital expenditures from operating surplus each quarter. Accordingly, to eliminate the effect on operating surplus of these fluctuations, our partnership agreement requires that an amount equal to an estimate of the average quarterly maintenance capital expenditures necessary to maintain the operating capacity of or the revenue generated by our capital assets over the long term be subtracted from operating surplus each quarter, as opposed to the actual amounts spent. The amount of estimated maintenance capital expenditures deducted from operating surplus is subject to review and change by the board of directors of our general partner at least once a year, provided that any change must be approved by the boards conflicts committee. The estimate is made at least annually and whenever an event occurs that is likely to result in a material adjustment to the amount of our maintenance capital expenditures, such as a major acquisition or the introduction of new governmental regulations that will affect our fleet. For purposes of calculating operating surplus, any adjustment to this estimate is prospective only.
The use of estimated maintenance capital expenditures in calculating operating surplus has the following effects:
| it reduces the risk that actual maintenance capital expenditures in any one quarter will be large enough to make operating surplus less than the minimum quarterly distribution to be paid on all the common units for that quarter and subsequent quarters; |
| it reduces the need for us to borrow under our working capital facility to pay distributions; and |
| it is more difficult for us to raise our distribution on our common units above the minimum quarterly distribution and pay incentive distributions to our general partner. |
Definition of Capital Surplus
Capital surplus generally is generated only by:
| borrowings other than working capital borrowings; |
| sales of debt and equity securities; and |
| sales or other dispositions of assets for cash, other than inventory, accounts receivable and other current assets sold in the ordinary course of business or non-current assets sold as part of normal retirements or replacements of assets. |
Characterization of Common Unit Cash Distributions
We treat all available cash distributed on our common units as coming from operating surplus until the sum of all available cash distributed since we began operations equals the operating surplus as of the most recent date of determination of available cash. We treat any amount distributed on our common units in excess of operating surplus, regardless of its source, as capital surplus. As described above, operating surplus does not reflect actual cash on hand that is available for distribution to our common unitholders. For example, it includes a provision that enables us, if we choose, to distribute as operating surplus up to $15 million of cash we have received or will
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receive from non-operating sources since the time of our initial public offering, such as asset sales, issuances of securities and long-term borrowings that would otherwise be distributed as capital surplus. We do not anticipate that we will make any distributions on our common units from capital surplus.
Distributions of Available Cash From Operating Surplus
We make distributions of available cash from operating surplus in the following manner:
| first, 99.24% to all common unitholders, pro rata, and 0.76% to our general partner, until we distribute for each outstanding common unit an amount equal to the minimum quarterly distribution for that quarter; and |
| thereafter, in the manner described in Percentage Allocations of Available Cash From Operating Surplus below. |
The percentage interests set forth above assume that our general partner maintains its 0.76% general partner interest and has not transferred the incentive distribution rights and that we do not issue additional classes of equity securities.
Incentive Distribution Rights
Incentive distribution rights represent the right to receive an increasing percentage of quarterly distributions of available cash from operating surplus after the minimum quarterly distribution for our common units and the target distribution levels have been achieved. Our general partner currently holds all of the outstanding incentive distribution rights, but may transfer these rights separately from its general partner interest without unitholder approval. Any transfer by our general partner of the incentive distribution rights would not change the percentage allocations of quarterly distributions with respect to such rights.
If for any quarter we have distributed available cash from operating surplus to the common unitholders in an amount equal to the minimum quarterly distribution, then we distribute any additional available cash from operating surplus for that quarter among the common unitholders and our general partner in the following manner:
| first, 99.24% to all common unitholders, pro rata, and 0.76% to our general partner, until each common unitholder receives a total of $0.4025 per unit for that quarter (the first target distribution); |
| second, 86.24% to all common unitholders, pro rata, and 13.76% to our general partner, until each common unitholder receives a total of $0.4375 per unit for that quarter (the second target distribution); |
| third, 76.24% to all common unitholders, pro rata, and 23.76% to our general partner, until each common unitholder receives a total of $0.525 per unit for that quarter (the third target distribution); and |
| thereafter, 51.24% to all common unitholders, pro rata, and 48.76% to our general partner. |
The percentage interests set forth above assume that our general partner maintains its 0.76% general partner interest and has not transferred the incentive distribution rights and that we do not issue additional classes of equity securities.
Percentage Allocations of Available Cash From Operating Surplus
The following table illustrates the percentage allocations of available cash from operating surplus between the common unitholders and our general partner up to the various target distribution levels. The amounts set forth under Marginal Percentage Interest in Distributions are the percentage interests of the common unitholders and
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our general partner in any available cash from operating surplus we distribute up to and including the corresponding amount in the column Total Quarterly Distribution Target Amount, until available cash from operating surplus we distribute reaches the next target distribution level, if any. The percentage interests shown for the common unitholders and our general partner for the minimum quarterly distribution are also applicable to quarterly distribution amounts that are less than the minimum quarterly distribution. The percentage interests shown for our general partner include its 0.76% general partner interest and assume our general partner has contributed any capital necessary to maintain its 0.76% general partner interest and has not transferred the incentive distribution rights.
Total Quarterly Distribution Target Amount |
Marginal Percentage Interest in Distributions |
|||||||||
Common Unitholders |
General Partner | |||||||||
Minimum Quarterly Distribution |
$0.35 | 99.24 | % | 0.76 | % | |||||
First Target Distribution |
up to $0.4025 | 99.24 | % | 0.76 | % | |||||
Second Target Distribution |
above $0.4025 up to $0.4375 | 86.24 | % | 13.76 | % | |||||
Third Target Distribution |
above $0.4375 up to $0.525 | 76.24 | % | 23.76 | % | |||||
Thereafter |
above $0.525 | 51.24 | % | 48.76 | % |
Distributions From Capital Surplus
How Distributions From Capital Surplus Are Made
We make distributions of available cash from capital surplus, if any, in the following manner:
| first, 99.24% to all common unitholders, pro rata, and 0.76% to our general partner, until we distribute for each common unit an amount of available cash from capital surplus equal to the initial public offering price of our common units; and |
| thereafter, we make all distributions of available cash from capital surplus as if they were from operating surplus. |
The preceding paragraph is based on the assumption that our general partner maintains its 0.76% general partner interest and that we do not issue additional classes of equity securities.
Effect of a Distribution From Capital Surplus
Our partnership agreement treats a distribution of capital surplus on our common units as the repayment of the initial unit price from our initial public offering on December 19, 2006, which is a return of capital. That initial public offering price less any distributions of capital surplus per unit is referred to as the unrecovered initial unit price. Each time a distribution of capital surplus on our common units is made, the minimum quarterly distribution for the common units and the target distribution levels will be reduced in the same proportion as the corresponding reduction in the unrecovered initial unit price. Because distributions of capital surplus will reduce the minimum quarterly distribution, after any of these distributions are made, it may be easier for our general partner to receive incentive distributions. However, any distribution of capital surplus on our common units before the unrecovered initial unit price is reduced to zero cannot be applied to the payment of the minimum quarterly distribution.
Once we distribute capital surplus on a common unit issued in our initial public offering in an amount equal to the initial unit price, we will reduce the minimum quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels for our common units to zero. We will then make all future distributions on our common units from operating surplus, with 51.24% being paid to the holders of common units and 48.76% to our general partner. The percentage interests shown for our general partner include its 0.76% general partner interest and assume the general partner maintains its 0.76% general partner interest and has not transferred the incentive distribution rights.
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Adjustment to the Minimum Quarterly Distribution and Target Distribution Levels
In addition to adjusting the minimum quarterly distribution and target distribution levels for our common units to reflect a distribution of capital surplus, if we combine our common units into fewer units or subdivide our common units into a greater number of units, we will proportionately adjust:
| the minimum quarterly distribution; |
| the target distribution levels; and |
| the initial unit price. |
For example, if a two-for-one split of the common units should occur, the minimum quarterly distribution, the target distribution levels and the unrecovered initial unit price would each be reduced to 50% of its initial level. We will not make any adjustment by reason of the issuance of additional common units for cash or property.
Distributions of Cash Upon Liquidation
If we dissolve in accordance with our partnership agreement, we will sell or otherwise dispose of our assets in a process called liquidation. Neither the sale of all or substantially all of our property or business, nor the consolidation or merger of us with or into any other entity, individually or in a series of transactions, will be deemed a liquidation. We will apply any proceeds of liquidation available for distribution to our general and limited partners in the manner set forth below.
First, holders of our Series A Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units will have the right to receive the liquidation preference of $25.00 per unit plus an amount equal to all accumulated and unpaid distributions to the date of payment, whether or not declared.
After such Series A Preferred Unit and Series B Preferred Unit distributions, if, as of the date three trading days prior to the announcement of the proposed liquidation, the average closing price of our common units for the preceding 20 trading days (or the current market price) is greater than the initial public offering common unit price (less any prior capital surplus distributions and any prior cash distributions made on our common units in connection with a partial liquidation), then the proceeds of the liquidation will be applied as follows:
| first, 99.24% to the common unitholders, pro rata, and 0.76% to our general partner, until we distribute for each outstanding common unit an amount equal to the current market price of our common units; and |
| thereafter, 51.24% to all common unitholders, pro rata, 48% to holders of incentive distribution rights and 0.76% to our general partner. |
If, as of the date three trading days prior to the announcement of the proposed liquidation, the current market price of our common units is equal to or less than the initial public offering common unit price (less any prior capital surplus distributions and any prior cash distributions made on our common units in connection with a partial liquidation), then the proceeds of the liquidation will be applied as follows:
| first, 99.24% to the common unitholders, pro rata, and 0.76% to our general partner, until we distribute for each outstanding common unit an amount equal to the initial public offering unit price (less any prior capital surplus distributions and any prior cash distributions made on our common units in connection with a partial liquidation); and |
| thereafter, 51.24% to all common unitholders, pro rata, 48% to holders of incentive distribution rights and 0.76% to our general partner. |
The immediately preceding two paragraphs are based on the assumption that our general partner maintains its 0.76% general partner interest and that we do not issue additional classes of equity securities.
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DESCRIPTION OF DEBT SECURITIES
We may issue debt securities (any of which may be senior or subordinated and convertible or not convertible) from time to time in one or more series, under an indenture to be dated as of a date on or prior to our initial issuance of the debt securities. The following description of debt securities sets forth the material terms and provisions of the debt securities to which any prospectus supplement may relate. Our senior debt securities would be issued under a senior indenture, and our subordinated debt securities would be issued under a subordinated indenture. The senior or subordinated indenture for debt securities and any convertible debt securities, forms of which are included as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, will be executed at the time we issue applicable debt securities. Any supplemental indentures will be filed with the SEC on a Form 6-K or by a post-effective amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.
All of the indentures are sometimes referred to in this prospectus collectively as the Indentures and each, individually, as an Indenture. The particular terms of the debt securities offered by any prospectus supplement, and the extent to which the general provisions described below may apply to the offered debt securities, will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement. The Indentures will be qualified under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended (or the Trust Indenture Act). The terms of the debt securities will include those stated in the Indentures and those made part of the Indentures by reference to the Trust Indenture Act.
Our statements below relating to the debt securities and the Indentures are summaries of their anticipated provisions, are not complete and are subject to, and are qualified in their entirety by reference to, all of the provisions of the applicable Indenture and any applicable United States federal income tax considerations as well as any applicable modifications of or additions to the general terms described below in the applicable prospectus supplement or supplemental indenture.
General
The provisions of the Indentures do not limit the aggregate principal amount of debt securities which may be issued thereunder. Unless otherwise provided in a prospectus supplement and an applicable supplemental indenture, any senior debt securities will be our direct, unsecured and unsubordinated general obligations and will have the same rank in liquidation as all of our other unsecured and unsubordinated debt, and the subordinated debt securities will be our unsecured obligations, subordinated in right of payment to the prior payment in full of all of our senior indebtedness with respect to such series, as described in the applicable prospectus supplement. Any debt securities may be convertible into common units.
We may issue the debt securities as original issue discount securities, which will be offered and sold at a substantial discount below their stated principal amount. The prospectus supplement relating to any original issue discount securities will describe United States federal income tax consequences and other special considerations applicable to them. The prospectus supplement relating to specific debt securities will also describe any special considerations and certain additional tax considerations applicable to such debt securities.
In addition, the specific financial, legal and other terms particular to a series of debt securities will be described in the prospectus supplement and any pricing supplement relating to the series. The prospectus supplement relating to a series of debt securities will describe the following terms of the series:
| the title of the series of the offered debt securities; |
| the price or prices at which the offered debt securities will be issued; |
| any limit on the aggregate principal amount of the offered debt securities; |
| the date or dates on which the principal of the offered debt securities will be payable; |
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| the rate or rates (which may be fixed or variable) per year at which the offered debt securities will bear interest, if any, or the method of determining the rate or rates and the date or dates from which interest, if any, will accrue; |
| if the amount of principal, premium or interest with respect to the offered debt securities of the series may be determined with reference to an index or pursuant to a formula, the manner in which these amounts will be determined; |
| the date or dates on which interest, if any, on the offered debt securities will be payable and the regular record dates for the payment thereof; |
| the place or places, if any, in addition to or instead of the corporate trust office of the trustee, where the principal, premium and interest with respect to the offered debt securities will be payable; |
| the period or periods, if any, within which, the price or prices of which, and the terms and conditions upon which the offered debt securities may be redeemed, in whole or in part, pursuant to optional redemption provisions; |
| the terms on which we would be required to redeem or purchase the offered debt securities pursuant to any sinking fund or similar provision, and the period or periods within which, the price or prices at which and the terms and conditions on which the offered debt securities will be so redeemed and purchased in whole or in part; |
| the denominations in which the offered debt securities will be issued; |
| the form of the offered debt securities and whether the offered debt securities are to be issued in whole or in part in the form of one or more global securities and, if so, the identity of the depositary for the global security or securities; |
| the portion of the principal amount of the offered debt securities that is payable on the declaration of acceleration of the maturity, if other than their principal amount; |
| if other than U.S. dollars, the currency or currencies in which the offered debt securities will be denominated and payable, and the holders rights, if any, to elect payment in a foreign currency or a foreign currency unit other than that in which the offered debt securities are otherwise payable; |
| any addition to, or modification or deletion of, any event of default or any covenant specified in the applicable Indenture; |
| the consequences of any failure to pay principal, interest, or, if applicable, any sinking or amortization installment; |
| whether the offered debt securities will be convertible or exchangeable into common units, and if so, the terms and conditions upon which the offered debt securities will be convertible or exchangeable; |
| whether the offered debt securities will be senior or subordinated debt securities, and if subordinated the aggregate amount of outstanding indebtedness that is senior to the subordinated debt and any limitations on the issuance of additional senior indebtedness, if any; |
| whether the applicable Indenture will include provisions restricting the declaration of distributions or requiring the creation or maintenance of any reserves or of any ratio of assets; |
| any trustees, authenticating or paying agents, transfer agents or registrars or other agents with respect to the offered debt securities; and |
| any other specific terms of the offered debt securities. |
Consolidation, Merger and Sale of Assets
The terms of the Indentures in the forms initially filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part provide that we may not consolidate with or merge with or into, any other person or sell,
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assign, convey, transfer, lease our properties and assets as an entirety or substantially as an entirety to any person, unless:
| the successor person is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the United States, any state of the United States or the District of Columbia and expressly assumes by supplemental indenture all of our obligations under the debt securities and the applicable Indenture; |
| immediately after giving effect to the transaction, no default or event of default shall have occurred and be continuing; and |
| other conditions specified in the applicable Indenture are met. |
Upon any consolidation, merger, sale, assignment, conveyance, transfer or lease of our properties and assets in accordance with the foregoing provisions, the successor person formed by such consolidation or into which we are merged or to which such sale, assignment, conveyance, transfer or lease is made shall succeed to, and be substituted for, and may exercise every right and power of, us under the applicable Indenture; and thereafter, except in the case of a lease, we shall be released from all obligations and covenants under the applicable Indenture and the debt securities.
Events of Default
The terms of the Indentures in the forms initially filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part provide that the debt securities are subject to the following events of default:
(1) | failure to pay principal of or any premium when due; |
(2) | failure to pay any interest when due, continued for 30 days; |
(3) | failure to perform any of our other covenants in the applicable Indenture, continued for 60 days after written notice has been given by the trustee, or the holders of at least 25% in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities, as provided in the applicable Indenture; |
(4) | failure to deposit any sinking fund payment when due; |
(5) | certain events of bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization affecting us. |
If an event of default, other than an event of default described in clause (5) above, occurs and is continuing, either the trustee under the applicable Indenture or the holders of at least 25% in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding debt securities may declare the principal amount of the debt securities to be due and payable immediately. If an event of default described in clause (5) above occurs, the principal amount of the debt securities and accrued and unpaid interest, if any, will automatically become immediately due and payable.
After any such acceleration, but before a judgment or decree based on acceleration, the holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of the debt securities may, under certain circumstances, rescind and annul such acceleration if all events of default, other than the non-payment of accelerated principal and any premium, interest or any additional amounts, or Additional Amounts, which are required under the applicable Indenture or the debt securities to be paid by us, in each case which have become due as a result of such acceleration, have been cured or waived.
The trustee will not be obligated to exercise any of its rights or powers at the request of the holders unless the holders have offered to the trustee indemnity or security reasonably satisfactory to it against any loss, liability or expense. Subject to the applicable Indenture, applicable law and the trustees indemnification, the holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding debt securities will have the right to direct the time, method and place of conducting any proceeding for any remedy available to the trustee or exercising any trust or power conferred on the trustee with respect to the debt securities. In the event an event of default has occurred
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and is continuing, the trustee will be required in the exercise of its powers to use the degree of care that a prudent person would use in the conduct of its own affairs. The trustee, however, may refuse to follow any direction that conflicts with law or the applicable Indenture or that the trustee determines is unduly prejudicial to the rights of any other holder.
No holder will have any right to institute any proceeding under the applicable Indenture, or for the appointment of a receiver or a trustee, or for any other remedy under the applicable Indenture unless:
| the holder has previously given the trustee written notice of a continuing event of default; |
| the holders of not less than 25% in aggregate principal amount of the debt securities then outstanding have made a written request and have offered indemnity reasonably satisfactory to the trustee to institute such proceeding as trustee; |
| such holder has offered to the trustee such indemnity as is reasonably satisfactory to it against the costs, expenses and liabilities to be incurred in compliance with such request; and |
| the trustee has failed to institute such proceeding within 60 days after such notice, request and offer and has not received from the holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of the debt securities then outstanding a direction inconsistent with such request within 60 days after such notice, request and offer. |
However, the above limitations do not apply to a suit instituted by a holder for the enforcement of payment of the principal of, interest on and any Additional Amounts with respect any debt security on or after the applicable due date in accordance with the applicable Indenture.
Generally, the holders of not less than a majority of the aggregate principal amount of outstanding debt securities may waive any default or event of default unless:
| we fail to pay the principal of, any interest on or any Additional Amounts with respect to any debt security when due; or |
| we fail to comply with any of the provisions of the applicable Indenture that would require the consent of the holder of each outstanding debt security affected. |
The Indentures provide that within 90 days after the trustee receives written notice of a default, the trustee shall transmit by mail to all holders, notice of such default hereunder, unless such default shall have been cured or waived. Except in the case of a default in the payment of principal of or interest on any note, the trustee may withhold notice if and so long as the trustee in good faith determines that withholding notice is in the best interest of the holders. In addition, we are required to deliver to the trustee (i) within 120 days after the end of each fiscal year, a certificate indicating whether the signers thereof know of any default that occurred during the previous year and whether we, to the officers knowledge, are in default in the performance or observance of any of the terms, provisions and conditions of the applicable Indenture and (ii) within 30 days after the occurrence thereof, written notice of any events that would constitute defaults, their status and what action we are taking or propose to take in respect thereof.
Each holder shall have the right to receive payment or delivery, as the case may be, of:
| the principal of; |
| any premium and accrued and unpaid interest, if any, on; and |
| Additional Amounts, if any, on |
its debt securities, on or after the respective due dates expressed or provided for in the applicable Indenture, or to institute suit for the enforcement of any such payment or delivery, as the case may be, and such right to receive such payment or delivery, as the case may be, on or after such respective dates shall not be impaired or affected without the consent of such holder.
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Modification and Waiver
We and the trustee may amend or supplement the Indentures with respect to the debt securities with the consent of the holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding debt securities. In addition, the holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding debt securities may waive our compliance in any instance with any provision of the applicable Indenture without notice to the other holders of debt securities. However, no amendment, supplement or waiver may be made without the consent of each holder of outstanding debt securities affected thereby if such amendment, supplement or waiver would:
| change the stated maturity of the principal of, or any premium or installment of interest on or any Additional Amounts with respect to the debt securities; |
| reduce the principal amount of or interest on the debt securities or any Additional Amounts with respect thereto; |
| change the currency of payment of principal of, any premium or interest on or any Additional Amounts with respect to the debt securities or change any debt securitys place of payment; |
| reduce the percentage in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of any series, the consent of whose holders is required for any such supplemental indenture or waiver, provided for in the applicable Indenture, or reduce the requirements for quorum or voting; |
| impair the right of any holder to receive payment of principal of and interest on such holders debt securities on or after the due dates therefor or to institute suit for the enforcement of any payment on, or with respect to, the debt securities; |
| impair the right to convert or exchange any debt security into or for securities of us or other securities, cash or property in accordance with the debt securitys terms; |
| change the ranking of the debt securities; |
| change our obligation to pay Additional Amounts on any debt security; or |
| modify provisions with respect to modification, amendment or waiver (including waiver of events of default), except to increase the percentage required for modification, amendment or waiver or to provide for consent of each affected holder of the debt securities. |
We and the trustee may amend or supplement the Indentures or the debt securities without notice to, or the consent of, the holders of the debt securities to, among other things:
| cure any ambiguity, omission, defect or inconsistency that does not adversely affect the rights of any holder of the debt securities in any material respect; |
| provide for the assumption by a successor corporation of our obligations under an Indenture; |
| secure the debt securities; |
| add to our covenants for the benefit of the holders or surrender any right or power conferred upon us; or |
| make any change that does not adversely affect the rights of any holder. |
The consent of the holders is not necessary under the Indentures to approve the particular form of any proposed amendment. It is sufficient if such consent approves the substance of the proposed amendment. After an amendment under an Indenture becomes effective, we are required to mail to the holders a notice briefly describing such amendment. However, the failure to give such notice to all the holders, or any defect in the notice, will not impair or affect the validity of the amendment.
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Satisfaction and Discharge
We may satisfy and discharge our obligations under the Indentures by delivering to the trustee for cancellation all outstanding debt securities or depositing with the trustee or delivering to the holders, as applicable, after all outstanding debt securities have become due and payable, or will become due and payable at their stated maturity within one year, cash sufficient to pay and discharge the entire indebtedness all of the outstanding debt securities and all other sums payable under the applicable Indenture by us. Such discharge is subject to terms contained in the applicable Indenture.
Defeasance
We may terminate at any time all our obligations with respect to the debt securities and the Indentures, which we refer to as legal defeasance, except for certain obligations, including those respecting the defeasance trust and obligations to register the transfer or exchange of the debt securities, to replace mutilated, destroyed, lost or stolen debt securities and to maintain a registrar and paying agent in respect of the debt securities. We may also terminate at any time certain of our covenants with respect to the debt securities, which we refer to as covenant defeasance. We may exercise the legal defeasance option notwithstanding our prior exercise of the covenant defeasance option.
If we exercise our legal defeasance option with respect to the debt securities, payment of the debt securities may not be accelerated because of an event of default with respect thereto. If we exercise the covenant defeasance option with respect to the debt securities, payment of the debt securities may not be accelerated because of an event of default specified in clause (3) in Events of Default above.
The legal defeasance option or the covenant defeasance option with respect to the debt securities may be exercised only if:
(1) | we irrevocably deposit in trust with the trustee cash or U.S. government obligations or a combination thereof for the payment of principal of (and premium, if any) and interest and Additional Amounts, if any, on the debt securities to maturity, |
(2) | such legal defeasance or covenant defeasance does not constitute a default under the applicable Indenture or any other material agreement or instrument binding us, |
(3) | no default or event of default has occurred and is continuing on the date of such deposit and, with respect to legal defeasance only, at any time during the period ending on the 123rd day after the date of such deposit (other than, if applicable, a default or event of default with respect to the debt securities resulting from the borrowing of funds to be applied to such deposits), |
(4) | in the case of the legal defeasance option, we deliver to the trustee an opinion of counsel stating that we have received from the IRS, a letter ruling, or there has been published by the IRS a Revenue Ruling, or since the date of the applicable Indenture, there has been a change in the applicable U.S. Federal income tax law, in either case to the effect that, and based thereon such opinion shall confirm that, the holders of the debt securities will not recognize income, gain or loss for U.S. Federal income tax purposes as a result of such legal defeasance and will be subject to U.S. Federal income tax on the same amounts, in the same manner and at the same times as would have been the case if such legal defeasance had not occurred, |
(5) | in the case of the covenant defeasance option, we deliver to the trustee an opinion of counsel to the effect that the holders of the debt securities will not recognize income, gain or loss for U.S. Federal income tax purposes as a result of such covenant defeasance and will be subject to U.S. Federal income tax on the same amounts, in the same manner and at the same times as would have been the case if such covenant defeasance had not occurred, |
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(6) | we deliver to the trustee an opinion of counsel to the effect that, after the 123rd day after the date of deposit, all money and U.S. government obligations (or other property as may be provided pursuant to the terms of the applicable Indenture) (including the proceeds thereof) deposited or caused to be deposited with the trustee (or other qualifying trustee) to be held in trust will not be subject to any case or proceeding (whether voluntary or involuntary) in respect of us under any U.S. federal or state bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization or other similar law, or any decree or order for relief in respect of us issued in connection therewith, and |
(7) | we deliver to the trustee an officers certificate and an opinion of counsel, each stating that all conditions precedent to the legal defeasance and covenant defeasance have been complied with as required by the applicable Indenture. |
Transfer and Exchange
We will maintain an office in New York City where the debt securities may be presented for registration of transfer or exchange. This office will initially be an office or agency of the trustee. No service charge will be imposed by us, the trustee or the registrar for any registration of transfer or exchange of debt securities, but any tax or similar governmental charge required by law or permitted by the applicable Indenture because a holder requests any shares to be issued in a name other than such holders name will be paid by such holder. We are not required to transfer or exchange any note surrendered for purchase except for any portion of that note not being purchased.
We reserve the right to:
| vary or terminate the appointment of the security registrar or paying agent; |
| appoint additional paying agents; or |
| approve any change in the office through which any security registrar or any paying agent acts. |
Payment and Paying Agents
Payments in respect of the principal and interest on global notes registered in the name of The Depository Trust Company (or DTC), or its nominee will be payable to DTC or its nominee, as the case may be, in its capacity as the registered holder under the applicable Indenture. In the case of certificated debt securities, payments will be made in U.S. dollars at the office of the trustee or, at our option, by check mailed to the holders registered address. We will make any required interest payments to the person in whose name each note is registered at the close of business on the record date for the interest payment.
We may at any time designate a paying agent or additional paying agents or rescind the designation of any paying agent or approve a change in the office through which any paying agent acts.
Subject to the requirements of any applicable abandoned property laws, the trustee and paying agent shall pay to us upon written request any money held by them for payments on the debt securities that remain unclaimed for two years after the date upon which that payment has become due. After payment to us, holders entitled to the money must look to us for payment. In that case, all liability of the trustee or paying agent with respect to that money will cease.
Governing Law
The Indentures and the debt securities will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York without regard to conflicts of laws.
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Concerning the Trustee
We will enter into the Indentures with a trustee identified in the relevant prospectus supplement that is also qualified to act under the Trust Indenture Act and with any other trustee chosen by us and appointed in a supplemental indenture for a particular series of debt securities. We may maintain a banking relationship in the ordinary course of business with our trustee and one or more of its affiliates.
The trustee, in its individual and any other capacity, may make loans to, accept deposits from, and perform services for us as if it were not the trustee; however, if it acquires any conflicting interest, it must eliminate such conflict within 90 days, apply to the SEC for permission to continue or resign.
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We may issue warrants for the purchase of debt securities, common units, preferred units or other securities. Warrants may be issued independently or together with debt securities, common units, preferred units or other securities offered by any prospectus supplement and may be attached to or separate from any such offered securities. Each series of warrants will be issued under a separate warrant agreement to be entered into between us and a bank or trust company, as warrant agent, all as will be set forth in the prospectus supplement relating to the particular issue of warrants. The warrant agent will act solely as our agent in connection with the warrants and will not assume any obligation or relationship of agency or trust for or with any holders of warrants or beneficial owners of warrants. The summary of the terms of the warrants contained in this prospectus is not complete and is subject to, and is qualified in its entirety to, all provisions of the applicable warrant agreement. Reference is made to the prospectus supplement relating to the particular issue of warrants offered pursuant to such prospectus supplement for the terms of and information relating to such warrants, including, where applicable:
| the specific designation and aggregate number of, and the offering price at which we will issue, the warrants; |
| the currency in which the offering price, if any, and the exercise price are payable; |
| the date on which the right to exercise the warrants will begin and the date on which that right will expire or, if the warrants may not be continuously exercised throughout that period, the specific date or dates on which the warrants may be exercised; |
| whether the warrants are to be sold separately or with other securities; |
| whether the warrants will be issued in definitive or global form or in any combination of these forms; |
| any applicable material Marshall Islands and U.S. federal income tax considerations; |
| the identity of the warrant agent for the warrants and of any other depositaries, execution or paying agents, transfer agents, registrars or other agents; |
| the proposed listing, if any, of the warrants or any securities purchasable upon exercise of the warrants on any securities exchange; |
| the designation and terms of any equity securities purchasable upon exercise of the warrants; |
| the designation, aggregate principal amount, currency and terms of any debt securities that may be purchased upon exercise of the warrants; |
| if applicable, the designation and terms of the debt securities, common units or preferred units with which the warrants are issued and the number of warrants issued with each security; |
| if applicable, the date from and after which any warrants issued with other securities and the related debt securities, common units or preferred units will be separately transferable; |
| the number of common units or preferred units purchasable upon exercise of a warrant and the price at which those units may be purchased; |
| if applicable, the nature and number of securities of third parties or other rights, if any, to receive payment in cash or securities based on the value, rate or price of one or more specified commodities, currencies, securities or indices, or any combination of the foregoing, purchasable upon exercise of the warrants; |
| if applicable, the minimum or maximum amount of the warrants that may be exercised at any one time; |
| information with respect to book-entry procedures, if any; |
| the anti-dilution provisions of, and other provisions for changes to or adjustment in the exercise price of or securities issuable upon exercise of, the warrants, if any; |
| any redemption or call provisions; and |
| any additional terms of the warrants, including terms, procedures and limitations relating to the exchange or exercise of the warrants. |
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MATERIAL UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS
The following is a discussion of certain material U.S. federal income tax considerations that may be relevant to prospective unitholders and, unless otherwise noted in the following discussion, is the opinion of Perkins Coie LLP, our U.S. counsel, insofar as it relates to matters of U.S. federal income tax law and legal conclusions with respect to those matters. The opinion of our counsel is dependent on the accuracy of representations made by us to them, including descriptions of our operations contained herein. This discussion is based upon the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (or the Code), legislative history, applicable U.S. Treasury Regulations (or Treasury Regulations), judicial authority and administrative interpretations, all as in effect on the date of this prospectus, and which are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect, or are subject to different interpretations. Changes in these authorities may cause the tax consequences to vary substantially from the consequences described below.
This discussion is limited to unitholders who hold their units as capital assets for tax purposes. This discussion does not address all tax considerations that may be important to a particular unitholder in light of the unitholders circumstances, or to certain categories of unitholders that may be subject to special tax rules, such as:
| dealers in securities or currencies; |
| traders in securities that have elected the mark-to-market method of accounting for their securities; |
| persons whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar; |
| persons holding our units as part of a hedge, straddle, conversion or other synthetic security or integrated transaction; |
| certain U.S. expatriates; |
| financial institutions; |
| insurance companies; |
| persons subject to the alternative minimum tax; |
| persons that actually or under applicable constructive ownership rules own 10% or more of our units; and |
| entities that are tax-exempt for U.S. federal income tax purposes. |
If a partnership (including any entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) holds our units, the tax treatment of a partner generally will depend upon the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. Partners in partnerships holding our units should consult their tax advisors to determine the appropriate tax treatment of the partnerships ownership of our units.
No ruling has been or will be requested from the Internal Revenue Service (or IRS) regarding any matter affecting us or our unitholders. Instead, we will rely on the opinion of Perkins Coie LLP. Unlike a ruling, an opinion of counsel represents only that counsels legal judgment and does not bind the IRS or the courts. Accordingly, the opinions and statements made herein may not be sustained by a court if contested by the IRS.
This discussion does not address any U.S. estate tax considerations or tax considerations arising under the laws of any state, local or non-U.S. jurisdiction. Each unitholder is urged to consult its tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal, state, local, non-U.S. and other tax consequences of the ownership or disposition of our units.
Any material tax considerations relevant to an investment decision by a U.S. Holder or NonU.S. Holder, each as defined below, with respect to securities registered under this registration statement other than units, will be described in a prospectus supplement issued in connection with the offering of such securities.
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Election to be Taxed as a Corporation
We have elected to be taxed as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As such, unitholders are not directly subject to U.S. federal income tax on our income, but rather are subject to U.S. federal income tax on distributions received from us and dispositions of units as described below.
United States Federal Income Taxation of U.S. Holders
As used herein, the term U.S. Holder means a beneficial owner of our units that is, for U.S. federal income tax purposes: (a) a U.S. citizen or U.S. resident alien (or a U.S. Individual Holder), (b) a corporation or other entity taxable as a corporation that was created or organized under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia, (c) an estate whose income is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source, or (d) a trust that either is subject to the supervision of a court within the United States and has one or more U.S. persons with authority to control all of its substantial decisions or has a valid election in effect under applicable Treasury Regulations to be treated as a U.S. person.
Distributions
We have elected to be taxed as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Subject to the discussion of passive foreign investment companies (or PFICs) below, any distributions made by us with respect to our units to a U.S. Holder generally will constitute dividends, which may be taxable as ordinary income or qualified dividend income as described in more detail below, to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits allocated to the U.S. Holders units, as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles. Distributions in excess of our current and accumulated earnings and profits will be treated first as a nontaxable return of capital to the extent of the U.S. Holders tax basis in our units and thereafter as capital gain, which will be either long-term or short-term capital gain depending upon whether the U.S. Holder has held the units for more than one year. U.S. Holders that are corporations for U.S. federal income tax purposes generally will not be entitled to claim a dividends received deduction with respect to any distributions they receive from us. For purposes of computing allowable foreign tax credits for U.S. federal income tax purposes, dividends received with respect to our units will be treated as foreign source income and generally will be treated as passive category income.
Subject to holding period requirements and certain other limitations, dividends received with respect to our units by a U.S. Holder who is an individual, trust or estate (or a Non- Corporate U.S. Holder) will be treated as qualified dividend income that is taxable to such Non-Corporate U.S. Holder at preferential capital gain tax rates provided that we are not classified as a PFIC for the taxable year during which the dividend is paid or the immediately preceding taxable year (we intend to take the position that we are not now and have never been classified as a PFIC, as discussed below). Any dividends received with respect to our units not eligible for these preferential rates will be taxed as ordinary income to a Non-Corporate U.S. Holder.
Special rules may apply to any extraordinary dividend paid by us. Generally, an extraordinary dividend is a dividend with respect to a share of stock if the amount of the dividend is equal to or in excess of 10% of a common stockholders, or 5% of a preferred stockholders, adjusted tax basis (or fair market value in certain circumstances) in such stock. In addition, extraordinary dividends include dividends received within a one year period that, in the aggregate, equal or exceed 20% of a stockholders adjusted tax basis (or fair market value in certain circumstances). If we pay an extraordinary dividend on our units that is treated as qualified dividend income, then any loss recognized by a Non-Corporate U.S. Holder from the sale or exchange of such units will be treated as longterm capital loss to the extent of the amount of such dividend.
Certain Non-Corporate U.S. Holders are subject to a 3.8% tax on certain investment income, including dividends. Non-Corporate U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the effect, if any, of this tax on their ownership of our units.
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Sale, Exchange or Other Disposition of Units
Subject to the discussion of PFICs below, a U.S. Holder generally will recognize capital gain or loss upon a sale, exchange or other disposition of our units in an amount equal to the difference between the amount realized by the U.S. Holder from such sale, exchange or other disposition and the U.S. Holders tax basis in such units. Subject to the discussion of extraordinary dividends above, such gain or loss generally will be treated as (a) longterm capital gain or loss if the U.S. Holders holding period is greater than one year at the time of the sale, exchange or other disposition, or short-term capital gain or loss otherwise and (b) U.S. source gain or loss, as applicable, for foreign tax credit purposes. Non-Corporate U.S. Holders may be eligible for preferential rates of U.S. federal income tax in respect of long-term capital gains. A U.S. Holders ability to deduct capital losses is subject to certain limitations.
Certain Non-Corporate U.S. Holders are subject to a 3.8% tax on certain investment income, including capital gains from the sale or other disposition of units. Non-Corporate U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the effect, if any, of this tax on their disposition of our units.
Consequences of Possible PFIC Classification
A nonU.S. entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes will be treated as a PFIC in any taxable year in which, after taking into account the income and assets of the corporation and certain subsidiaries pursuant to a look through rule, either: (a) at least 75% of its gross income is passive income; or (b) at least 50% of the average value of its assets is attributable to assets that produce or are held for the production of passive income. For purposes of these tests, passive income includes dividends, interest, gains from the sale or exchange of investment property and rents and royalties (other than rents and royalties that are received from unrelated parties in connection with the active conduct of a trade or business). By contrast, income derived from the performance of services does not constitute passive income.
There are legal uncertainties involved in determining whether the income derived from our time-chartering activities constitutes rental income or income derived from the performance of services, including legal uncertainties arising from the decision in Tidewater Inc. v. United States, 565 F.3d 299 (5th Cir. 2009), which held that income derived from certain time-chartering activities should be treated as rental income rather than services income for purposes of a foreign sales corporation provision of the Code. However, the IRS stated in an Action on Decision (AOD 2010-01) that it disagrees with, and will not acquiesce to, the way that the rental versus services framework was applied to the facts in the Tidewater decision, and in its discussion stated that the time charters at issue in Tidewater would be treated as producing services income for PFIC purposes. The IRSs statement with respect to Tidewater cannot be relied upon or otherwise cited as precedent by taxpayers. Consequently, in the absence of any binding legal authority specifically relating to the statutory provisions governing PFICs, there can be no assurance that the IRS or a court would not follow the Tidewater decision in interpreting the PFIC provisions of the Code. Moreover, the market value of our units may be treated as reflecting the value of our assets at any given time. Therefore, a decline in the market value of our units, which is not within our control, may impact the determination of whether we are a PFIC. Nevertheless, based on our and our subsidiaries current assets and operations, we intend to take the position that we are not now and have never been a PFIC, and our counsel, Perkins Coie LLP, is of the opinion that it is more likely than not that we are not a PFIC based on applicable law, including the Code, legislative history, published revenue rulings and court decisions, and representations we have made to them regarding the composition of our assets, the source of our income and the nature of our activities and other operations, including:
| the total payments due to us under each of our time charters and certain of our FPSO contracts are substantially in excess of the current bareboat charter rate for comparable vessels; |
| the income derived from our contracts of affreightment, time chartering activities and certain of our FPSO contracts will be greater than 25% of our total gross income at all relevant times; and |
| the gross value of our vessels servicing our contracts of affreightment, time charters and certain of our FPSO contracts will exceed the gross value of all other assets we own at all relevant times. |
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An opinion of counsel represents only that counsels best legal judgment and does not bind the IRS or the courts. Accordingly, the opinion of Perkins Coie LLP may not be sustained by a court if contested by the IRS. Further, no assurance can be given that we would not constitute a PFIC for any future taxable year if there were to be changes in our or our subsidiaries assets, income or operations.
As discussed more fully below, if we were to be treated as a PFIC for any taxable year, a U.S. Holder generally would be subject to different taxation rules depending on whether the U.S. Holder makes a timely and effective election to treat us as a Qualified Electing Fund (or a QEF election). As an alternative to making a QEF election, a U.S. Holder should be able to make a marktomarket election with respect to our units, as discussed below.
Taxation of U.S. Holders Making a Timely QEF Election
A U.S. Holder who makes a timely QEF election (or an Electing Holder) must report the Electing Holders pro rata share of our ordinary earnings and net capital gain, if any, for each taxable year for which we are a PFIC that ends with or within the Electing Holders taxable year, regardless of whether or not the Electing Holder received distributions from us in that year. Such income inclusions would not be eligible for the preferential tax rates applicable to qualified dividend income. The Electing Holders adjusted tax basis in our units will be increased to reflect taxed but undistributed earnings and profits. Distributions of earnings and profits that were previously taxed will result in a corresponding reduction in the Electing Holders adjusted tax basis in our units and will not be taxed again once distributed. An Electing Holder generally will recognize capital gain or loss on the sale, exchange or other disposition of our units. A U.S. Holder makes a QEF election with respect to any year that we are a PFIC by filing IRS Form 8621 with the U.S. Holders timely filed U.S. federal income tax return (including extensions).
If a U.S. Holder has not made a timely QEF election with respect to the first year in the U.S. Holders holding period of our units during which we qualified as a PFIC, the U.S. Holder may be treated as having made a timely QEF election by filing a QEF election with the U.S. Holders timely filed U.S. federal income tax return (including extensions) and, under the rules of Section 1291 of the Code, a deemed sale election to include in income as an excess distribution (described below) the amount of any gain that the U.S. Holder would otherwise recognize if the U.S. Holder sold the U.S. Holders units on the qualification date. The qualification date is the first day of our taxable year in which we qualified as a qualified electing fund with respect to such U.S. Holder. In addition to the above rules, under very limited circumstances, a U.S. Holder may make a retroactive QEF election if the U.S. Holder failed to file the QEF election documents in a timely manner. If a U.S. Holder makes a timely QEF election for one of our taxable years, but did not make such election with respect to the first year in the U.S. Holders holding period of our units during which we qualified as a PFIC and the U.S. Holder did not make the deemed sale election described above, the U.S. Holder also will be subject to the more adverse rules described below.
A U.S. Holders QEF election will not be effective unless we annually provide the U.S. Holder with certain information concerning our income and gain, calculated in accordance with the Code, to be included with the U.S. Holders U.S. federal income tax return. We have not provided our U.S. Holders with such information in prior taxable years and do not intend to provide such information in the current taxable year. Accordingly, U.S. Holders will not be able to make an effective QEF election at this time. If, contrary to our expectations, we determine that we are or will be a PFIC for any taxable year, we will provide U.S. Holders with the information necessary to make an effective QEF election with respect to our units.
Taxation of U.S. Holders Making a Mark-to-Market Election
If we were to be treated as a PFIC for any taxable year and, as we anticipate, our units were treated as marketable stock, then, as an alternative to making a QEF election, a U.S. Holder would be allowed to make a marktomarket election with respect to our units, provided the U.S. Holder completes and files IRS Form
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8621 in accordance with the relevant instructions and related Treasury Regulations. If that election is made for the first year a U.S. Holder holds or is deemed to hold our units and for which we are a PFIC, the U.S. Holder generally would include as ordinary income in each taxable year that we are a PFIC the excess, if any, of the fair market value of the U.S. Holders units at the end of the taxable year over the U.S. Holders adjusted tax basis in the units. The U.S. Holder also would be permitted an ordinary loss in respect of the excess, if any, of the U.S. Holders adjusted tax basis in the units over the fair market value thereof at the end of the taxable year that we are a PFIC, but only to the extent of the net amount previously included in income as a result of the marktomarket election. A U.S. Holders tax basis in our units would be adjusted to reflect any such income or loss recognized. Gain recognized on the sale, exchange or other disposition of our units in taxable years that we are a PFIC would be treated as ordinary income, and any loss recognized on the sale, exchange or other disposition of our units in taxable years that we are a PFIC would be treated as ordinary loss to the extent that such loss does not exceed the net marktomarket gains previously included in income by the U.S. Holder. Because the marktomarket election only applies to marketable stock, however, it would not apply to a U.S. Holders indirect interest in any of our subsidiaries that were also determined to be PFICs.
If a U.S. Holder makes a mark-to-market election for one of our taxable years and we were a PFIC for a prior taxable year during which such U.S. Holder held our units and for which (a) we were not a QEF with respect to such U.S. Holder and (b) such U.S. Holder did not make a timely mark-to-market election, such U.S. Holder would also be subject to the more adverse rules described below in the first taxable year for which the mark-to-market election is in effect and also to the extent the fair market value of the U.S. Holders units exceeds the U.S. Holders adjusted tax basis in the units at the end of the first taxable year for which the mark-to-market election is in effect.
Taxation of U.S. Holders Not Making a Timely QEF or Mark-to-Market Election
If we were to be treated as a PFIC for any taxable year, a U.S. Holder who does not make either a QEF election or a marktomarket election for that year (a NonElecting Holder ) would be subject to special rules resulting in increased tax liability with respect to (a) any excess distribution (i.e., the portion of any distributions received by the Non Electing Holder on our units in a taxable year in excess of 125% of the average annual distributions received by the NonElecting Holder in the three preceding taxable years, or, if shorter, the NonElecting Holders holding period for our units), and (b) any gain realized on the sale, exchange or other disposition of our units. Under these special rules:
| the excess distribution or gain would be allocated ratably over the Non-Electing Holders aggregate holding period for our units; |
| the amount allocated to the current taxable year and any taxable year prior to the taxable year we were first treated as a PFIC with respect to the Non-Electing Holder would be taxed as ordinary income in the current taxable year; |
| the amount allocated to each of the other taxable years would be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the highest rate of tax in effect for the applicable class of taxpayer for that year; and |
| an interest charge for the deemed deferral benefit would be imposed with respect to the resulting tax attributable to each such other taxable year. |
Additionally, for each year during which a U.S. Holder holds our units, we are a PFIC, and the total value of all PFIC units that such U.S. Holder directly or indirectly holds exceeds certain thresholds, such U.S. Holder will be required to file IRS Form 8621 with its annual U.S. federal income tax return to report its ownership of our units. In addition, if a NonElecting Holder who is an individual dies while owning our units, such Non-Electing Holders successor generally would not receive a stepup in tax basis with respect to such units.
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U.S. Holders are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the PFIC rules, including the PFIC annual reporting requirements, as well as the applicability, availability and advisability of, and procedure for, making QEF, Mark-to-Market and other available elections with respect to us, and the U.S. federal income tax consequences of making such elections.
U.S. Return Disclosure Requirements for U.S. Individual Holders
U.S. Individual Holders who hold certain specified foreign financial assets, including units in a foreign corporation that is not held in an account maintained by a financial institution, with an aggregate value in excess of $50,000 on the last day of a taxable year, or $75,000 at any time during that taxable year, may be required to report such assets on IRS Form 8938 with their U.S. federal income tax return for that taxable year. This reporting requirement does not apply to U.S. Individual Holders who report their ownership of our units under the PFIC annual reporting rules described above. Penalties apply for failure to properly complete and file IRS Form 8938. Investors are encouraged to consult with their tax advisors regarding the possible application of this disclosure requirement to their investment in our units.
United States Federal Income Taxation of Non-U.S. Holders
A beneficial owner of our units (other than a partnership, including any entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) that is not a U.S. Holder is a NonU.S. Holder.
Distributions
In general, a NonU.S. Holder will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on distributions received from us with respect to our units unless the distributions are effectively connected with the Non-U.S. Holders conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, are attributable to a permanent establishment that the Non-U.S. Holder maintains in the United States). If a NonU.S. Holder is engaged in a trade or business within the United States and the distributions are deemed to be effectively connected to that trade or business, the Non-U.S. Holder generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on those distributions in the same manner as if it were a U.S. Holder.
Sale, Exchange or Other Disposition of Units
In general, a Non-U.S. Holder is not subject to U.S. federal income tax on any gain resulting from the disposition of our units unless (a) such gain is effectively connected with the Non-U.S. Holders conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, is attributable to a permanent establishment that the Non-U.S. Holder maintains in the United States) or (b) the Non-U.S. Holder is an individual who is present in the United States for 183 days or more during the taxable year in which such disposition occurs and meets certain other requirements. If a Non-U.S. Holder is engaged in a trade or business within the United States and the disposition of our units is deemed to be effectively connected to that trade or business, the Non-U.S. Holder generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the resulting gain in the same manner as if it were a U.S. Holder.
Information Reporting and Backup Withholding
In general, payments of distributions with respect to, or the proceeds of a disposition of, our units to a NonCorporate U.S. Holder will be subject to information reporting requirements. These payments to a NonCorporate U.S. Holder also may be subject to backup withholding if the NonCorporate U.S. Holder:
| fails to timely provide an accurate taxpayer identification number; |
| is notified by the IRS that it has failed to report all interest or distributions required to be shown on its U.S. federal income tax returns; or |
| in certain circumstances, fails to comply with applicable certification requirements. |
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NonU.S. Holders may be required to establish their exemption from information reporting and backup withholding on payments made to them within the United States, or through a U.S. payor, by certifying their status on IRS Form W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E, W-8ECI, W-8EXP or W-8IMY, as applicable.
Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Rather, a unitholder generally may obtain a credit for any amount withheld against its liability for U.S. federal income tax (and obtain a refund of any amounts withheld in excess of such liability) by accurately completing and timely filing a U.S. federal income tax return with the IRS.
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NON-UNITED STATES TAX CONSIDERATIONS
Republic of the Marshall Islands Tax Considerations
The following discussion is based upon the opinion of Watson Farley & Williams LLP, our counsel as to matters of the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the current laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and is applicable only to persons who are not citizens of, and do not reside in, maintain offices in or engage in business, transactions or operations in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Because we and our subsidiaries do not, and we do not expect that we or any of our subsidiaries will, conduct business, transactions or operations in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and because all documentation related to this offering will be executed outside of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, under current Republic of the Marshall Islands law holders of our units will not be subject to Republic of the Marshall Islands taxation or withholding on distributions, including upon a return of capital, we make to our unitholders, and holders of our debt securities will not be subject to Republic of the Marshall Islands taxation or withholding on interest paid and return of capital with respect to such debt securities. In addition, our unitholders will not be subject to Republic of the Marshall Islands stamp, capital gains or other taxes on the purchase, ownership or disposition of units, and they will not be required by the Republic of the Marshall Islands to file a tax return relating to the units.
It is the responsibility of each unitholder to investigate the legal and tax consequences, under the laws of pertinent jurisdictions, including the Republic of the Marshall Islands, of such unitholders investment in us. Accordingly, each prospective unitholder is urged to consult its tax counsel or other advisor with regard to those matters. Further, it is the responsibility of each unitholder to file all state, local and non-U.S., as well as U.S. federal tax returns that may be required of such unitholder.
Canadian Federal Income Tax Considerations
The following discussion is a summary of the material Canadian federal income tax considerations under the Income Tax Act (Canada) (or the Canada Tax Act) that we believe are relevant to holders of units who, for the purposes of the Canada Tax Act and the Canada-United States Tax Convention 1980 (or the Canada-U.S. Treaty), are at all relevant times resident in the United States and entitled to all of the benefits of the Canada-U.S. Treaty and who deal at arms length with us and Teekay Corporation (or U.S. Resident Holders). This discussion takes into account all proposed amendments to the Canada Tax Act and the regulations thereunder that have been publicly announced by or on behalf of the Minister of Finance (Canada) prior to the date hereof and assumes that such proposed amendments will be enacted substantially as proposed. However, no assurance can be given that such proposed amendments will be enacted in the form proposed or at all.
Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. is considered to be a partnership under Canadian federal income tax law and therefore not a taxable entity for Canadian income tax purposes. A U.S. Resident Holder will not be liable to tax under the Canada Tax Act on any income or gains allocated by Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. to the U.S. Resident Holder in respect of such U.S. Resident Holders units, provided that (a) Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. does not carry on business in Canada for purposes of the Canada Tax Act and (b) such U.S. Resident Holder does not hold such units in connection with a business carried on by such U.S. Resident Holder through a permanent establishment in Canada for purposes of the Canada-U.S. Treaty.
A U.S. Resident Holder will not be liable to tax under the Canada Tax Act on any income or gain from the sale, redemption or other disposition of such U.S. Resident Holders units, provided that, for purposes of the Canada-U.S. Treaty, such units do not, and did not at any time in the twelve-month period preceding the date of disposition, form part of the business property of a permanent establishment in Canada of such U.S. Resident Holder.
We believe that the activities and affairs of Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. are conducted in such a manner that Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. is not carrying on business in Canada and that U.S. Resident Holders should
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not be considered to be carrying on business in Canada for purposes of the Canada Tax Act or the Canada-U.S. Treaty solely by reason of the acquisition, holding, disposition or redemption of our units. We intend that this is and continues to be the case, notwithstanding that Teekay Shipping Limited (a subsidiary of Teekay Corporation that is a non-resident of Canada) and Teekay Offshore Group Ltd. (an indirect subsidiary of Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. that is a non-resident of Canada) provide certain services to Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. and obtain some or all such services under subcontracts with Canadian service providers. If the arrangements we have entered into result in Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. being considered to carry on business in Canada for purposes of the Canada Tax Act, U.S. Resident Holders would be considered to be carrying on business in Canada and may be required to file Canadian tax returns and, subject to any relief provided under the Canada-U.S. Treaty, would be subject to taxation in Canada on any income that is considered to be attributable to the business carried on by Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. in Canada. The Canada-U.S. Treaty contains a treaty benefit denial rule which may have the effect of denying relief thereunder from Canadian taxation to U.S. Resident Holders in respect of any income attributable to a business carried on by us in Canada.
Although we do not intend to do so, there can be no assurance that the manner in which we carry on our activities will not change from time to time as circumstances dictate or warrant in a manner that may cause U.S. Resident Holders to be carrying on business in Canada for purposes of the Canada Tax Act. Further, the relevant Canadian federal income tax law may change by legislation or judicial interpretation and the Canadian taxing authorities may take a different view than we have of the current law.
It is the responsibility of each unitholder to investigate the legal and tax consequences, under the laws of pertinent jurisdictions, including Canada, of such unitholders investment in us. Accordingly, each prospective unitholder is urged to consult its tax counsel or other advisor with regard to those matters. Further, it is the responsibility of each unitholder to file all state, local and non-U.S., as well as U.S. federal tax returns that may be required of such unitholder.
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We may sell our common units, preferred units, convertible preferred units, debt securities, convertible debt securities, warrants and any combination of the foregoing from time to time on a continuous or delayed basis (a) to or through underwriters or dealers, (b) through agents, (c) directly to one or more purchasers or other persons or entities, (d) through a combination of these methods or (e) through other means.
We may enter into hedging transactions with respect to our securities. For example, we may:
| enter into transactions involving short sales of securities by underwriters, brokers or dealers; |
| sell securities short and deliver the securities to close out short positions; |
| enter into option or other types of transactions that require us to deliver securities to an underwriter, broker or dealer, who will then resell or transfer the securities under this prospectus; or |
| loan or pledge securities to an underwriter, broker or dealer, who may sell the securities or, in the event of default, sell the pledged securities. |
If underwriters are used to sell securities, we will enter into an underwriting agreement or similar agreement with them at the time of the sale to them. In that connection, underwriters may receive compensation from us in the form of underwriting discounts or commissions and may also receive commissions from purchasers of securities for whom they may act as agent. Any such underwriter, dealer or agent may be deemed to be an underwriter within the meaning of the Securities Act.
The applicable prospectus supplement relating to securities will set forth, among other things:
| the offering terms, including the name or names of any underwriters, dealers or agents; |
| the purchase price of the securities and the proceeds to us from such sale; |
| any underwriting discounts, concessions, commissions and other items constituting compensation to underwriters, dealers or agents; |
| any initial public offering price; |
| any discounts or concessions allowed or reallowed or paid by underwriters or dealers to other dealers; and |
| any securities exchanges on which the securities may be listed. |
If underwriters or dealers are used in the sale, securities will be acquired by the underwriters or dealers for their own account and may be resold from time to time in one or more transactions in accordance with the rules of the New York Stock Exchange:
| at a fixed price or prices that may be changed; |
| at market prices prevailing at the time of sale; |
| at prices related to such prevailing market prices; or |
| at negotiated prices. |
Securities may be offered to the public either through underwriting syndicates represented by one or more managing underwriters or directly by one or more of such firms. Unless otherwise set forth in an applicable prospectus supplement, the obligations of underwriters or dealers to purchase the securities will be subject to certain conditions precedent and the underwriters or dealers will be obligated to purchase all the securities if any are purchased. Any public offering price and any discounts or concessions allowed or reallowed or paid by underwriters or dealers to other dealers may be changed from time to time.
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Securities may be sold directly by us from time to time, at prevailing market prices or otherwise. Securities may also be sold through agents designated by us from time to time, at prevailing market prices or otherwise. Any agent involved in the offer or sale of securities in respect of which this prospectus and a prospectus supplement is delivered will be named, and any commissions payable by us to such agent will be set forth, in the prospectus supplement. Unless otherwise indicated in the prospectus supplement, any such agent will be acting on a best efforts basis for the period of its appointment.
If so indicated in the prospectus supplement, we will authorize underwriters, dealers or agents to solicit offers from certain specified institutions to purchase securities from us at the public offering price set forth in the prospectus supplement pursuant to delayed delivery contracts providing for payment and delivery on a specified date in the future. Such contracts will be subject to any conditions set forth in the prospectus supplement and the prospectus supplement will set forth the commissions payable for solicitation of such contracts. The underwriters and other persons soliciting such contracts will have no responsibility for the validity or performance of any such contracts.
Underwriters, dealers and agents may be entitled under agreements entered into with us to be indemnified by us against certain civil liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, or to contribution by us to payments which they may be required to make. The terms and conditions of such indemnification will be described in an applicable prospectus supplement.
Underwriters, dealers and agents may be customers of, engage in transactions with, or perform services for us in the ordinary course of business.
Any underwriters to whom securities are sold by us for public offering and sale may make a market in such securities, but such underwriters will not be obligated to do so and may discontinue any market making at any time without notice. No assurance can be given as to the liquidity of the trading market for any of the securities.
Certain persons participating in any offering of securities may engage in transactions that stabilize, maintain or otherwise affect the price of the securities offered. In connection with any such offering, the underwriters or agents, as the case may be, may purchase and sell the securities in the open market. These transactions may include over-allotment and stabilizing transactions and purchases to cover syndicate short positions created in connection with the offering. Stabilizing transactions consist of certain bids or purchases for the purpose of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the securities and syndicate short positions involve the sale by the underwriters or agents, as the case may be, of a greater number of the securities than they are required to purchase from us in the offering. The underwriters may also impose a penalty bid, whereby selling concessions allowed to syndicate members or other broker-dealers for the securities sold for their account may be reclaimed by the syndicate if such securities are repurchased by the syndicate in stabilizing or covering transactions. These activities may stabilize, maintain or otherwise affect the market price of the securities, which may be higher than the price that might otherwise prevail in the open market, and if commenced, may be discontinued at any time. These transactions may be effected on the New York Stock Exchange, in the over-the-counter market or otherwise. These activities will be described in more detail in the applicable prospectus supplement.
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SERVICE OF PROCESS AND ENFORCEMENT OF CIVIL LIABILITIES
Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. is formed under the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands as a limited partnership. Our general partner is also formed under the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands as a limited liability company. The Republic of the Marshall Islands has a less developed body of securities laws as compared to the United States and provides protections for investors to a significantly lesser extent.
Most of the directors and officers of our general partner and those of our subsidiaries are residents of countries other than the United States. Substantially all of our and our subsidiaries assets and a substantial portion of the assets of the directors and officers of our general partner are located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for United States investors to effect service of process within the United States upon us, our general partner, our subsidiaries or the directors and officers of our general partner or to realize against us or them judgments obtained in United States courts, including judgments predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States.
Watson Farley & Williams LLP, our counsel as to Republic of the Marshall Islands law, has advised us that there is uncertainty as to whether the courts of the Republic of the Marshall Islands would (a) recognize or enforce against us, our general partner or our general partners directors or officers judgments of courts of the United States based on civil liability provisions of applicable U.S. federal and state securities laws or (b) impose liabilities against us, our general partner or our general partners directors and officers in original actions brought in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, based on these laws.
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Unless otherwise stated in any applicable prospectus supplement, certain legal matters will be passed upon for us by Perkins Coie LLP. Unless otherwise stated in any applicable prospectus supplement, the validity of the securities and certain other legal matters with respect to the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands will be passed upon for us by Watson Farley & Williams LLP. As appropriate, legal counsel representing any underwriters, dealers or agents will be named in the applicable prospectus supplement and may opine as to certain legal matters.
The consolidated financial statements of Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. as of December 31, 2016 and 2015 and for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2016, managements assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting of Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. as of December 31, 2016 and the consolidated financial statements of OOG TKP FPSO GmbH & Co KG as of December 31, 2016 and 2015 and for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2016, each of which is included in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2016, have been incorporated by reference herein in reliance upon the reports of KPMG LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, also incorporated by reference herein, and upon the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION
We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form F-3 regarding the securities covered by this prospectus. This prospectus does not contain all of the information found in the registration statement. For further information regarding us and the securities offered in this prospectus, you may wish to review the full registration statement, including its exhibits. In addition, we file annual, quarterly and other reports with and furnish information to the SEC. You may inspect and copy any document we file with or furnish to the SEC at the public reference facilities maintained by the SEC at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549. Copies of this material can also be obtained upon written request from the Public Reference Section of the SEC at that address, at prescribed rates, or from the SECs website on the internet at www.sec.gov free of charge. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on public reference rooms. You can also obtain information about us at the offices of the New York Stock Exchange, Inc., 11 Wall Street, New York, New York 10005.
As a foreign private issuer, we are exempt under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (or the Exchange Act), from, among other things, certain rules prescribing the furnishing and content of proxy statements, and our executive officers, directors and principal unitholders are exempt from the reporting and short-swing profit recovery provisions contained in Section 16 of the Exchange Act. In addition, we are not required under the Exchange Act to file periodic reports and financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as U.S. companies whose securities are registered under the Exchange Act, including the filing of quarterly reports or current reports on Form 8-K. However, we intend to make available quarterly reports containing our unaudited interim financial information for the first three fiscal quarters of each fiscal year.
INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE
The SEC allows us to incorporate by reference into this prospectus information that we file with the SEC. This means that we can disclose important information to you without actually including the specific information in this prospectus by referring you to other documents filed separately with the SEC. The information incorporated by reference is an important part of this prospectus. Information that we later provide to the SEC, and which is deemed to be filed with the SEC, automatically will update information previously filed with the SEC, and may replace information in this prospectus.
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We incorporate by reference into this prospectus the documents listed below:
| our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016; |
| all subsequent Annual Reports on Form 20-F (including any amendments to previously filed Annual Reports on Form 20-F) filed with the SEC prior to the termination of this offering; |
| our Reports on Form 6-K furnished to the SEC on May 30, 2017, August 1, 2017, August 28, 2017, September 25, 2017 (Item 1 information only) and November 24, 2017 and our Report on Form 6-K/A furnished to the SEC on December 21, 2017; |
| all subsequent Reports on Form 6-K filed with the SEC prior to the termination of this offering that we identify in such Reports as being incorporated by reference into the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part; and |
| the description of our common units contained in our Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed on December 8, 2006, including any subsequent amendments or reports filed for the purpose of updating such description; |
| the description of our Series A Preferred Units contained in our Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed on April 25, 2013, including any subsequent amendments or reports filed for the purpose of updating such description; and |
| the description of our Series B Preferred Units contained in our Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed on April 17, 2015, including any subsequent amendments or reports filed for the purpose of updating such description. |
These reports contain important information about us, our financial condition and our results of operations.
You may obtain any of the documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus from the SEC through its public reference facilities or its website at the addresses provided above. You also may request a copy of any document incorporated by reference in this prospectus (excluding any exhibits to those documents, unless the exhibit is specifically incorporated by reference in this document), at no cost, by visiting our internet website at www.teekayoffshore.com, or by writing or calling us at the following address:
Teekay Offshore Partners L.P.
4th Floor, Belvedere Building,
69 Pitts Bay Road
Hamilton HM 08, Bermuda
Attn: Corporate Secretary
(441) 298-2530
You should rely only on the information incorporated by reference or provided in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement. We have not authorized anyone else to provide you with any information. You should not assume that the information incorporated by reference or provided in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of each document. The information contained in our website is not part of this prospectus.
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The following table sets forth costs and expenses, other than any underwriting discounts and commissions, we expect to incur in connection with the issuance and distribution of the securities covered by this prospectus. All amounts are estimated except the SEC registration fee.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission registration fee |
$ | 24,900 | | |
Legal fees and expenses |
* | |||
Accounting fees and expenses |
* | |||
Printing costs |
* | |||
Trustee fees |
* | |||
Transfer agent fees |
* | |||
New York Stock Exchange listing fee |
* | |||
FINRA filing fee |
* | |||
Miscellaneous |
* | |||
|
|
|||
Total |
$ | * | ||
|
|
| Previously paid. |
* | To be provided in a prospectus supplement or in a Report on Form 6-K subsequently incorporated by reference into this prospectus. |
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PART II
INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS
ITEM 8. | Indemnification of Directors and Officers |
Under its partnership agreement, in most circumstances, Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. will indemnify the following persons, to the fullest extent permitted by law, from and against all losses, claims, damages or similar events:
(1) | its general partner; |
(2) | any departing general partner; |
(3) | any person who is or was an affiliate of the general partner or any departing general partner; |
(4) | any person who is or was an officer, director, member, fiduciary, trustee or partner of any entity described in (1), (2) or (3) above; |
(5) | any person who is or was serving as a director, officer, member, partner, fiduciary or trustee of another person at the request of the general partner or any departing general partner or any affiliate of the general partner or any departing general partner; provided that such person will not be indemnified by reason of providing, on a fee-for-services basis, trustee fiduciary or custodial services; or |
(6) | any person designated by the general partner. |
Any indemnification under these provisions will only be out of the assets of Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. Unless it otherwise agrees, Teekay Offshore Partners L.P.s general partner will not be personally liable for, or have any obligation to contribute or lend funds or assets to Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. to enable it to effectuate, indemnification. Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. may purchase insurance against liabilities asserted against and expenses incurred by persons for its activities, regardless of whether Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. would have the power to indemnify the person against liabilities under the partnership agreement.
Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. is authorized to purchase (or to reimburse its general partners for the costs of) insurance against liabilities asserted against and expenses incurred by its general partner, its affiliates and such other persons as the general partner may determine and described in the paragraph above, whether or not it would have the power to indemnify such person against such liabilities under the provisions described in the paragraphs above. The general partner has purchased insurance covering its officers and directors against liabilities asserted and expenses incurred in connection with their activities as officers and directors of the general partner or any of its direct or indirect subsidiaries.
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ITEM 9. | Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules |
(a) Exhibits
* | To be filed by amendment or as an exhibit to a Report on Form 6-K of the Registrant that is subsequently incorporated by reference into this registration statement. |
** | To be filed in accordance with the requirements of Section 305(b)(2) of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 and Rule 5b-3 thereunder. |
*** | Previously filed. |
| Subordinated debt securities may be issued pursuant to Exhibit 4.2 or 4.3. |
(b) Financial Statement Schedules
All supplemental schedules are omitted because of the absence of conditions under which they are required or because the information is shown in the financial statements or notes thereto.
(c) Reports, Opinions and Appraisals
The following reports, opinions, and appraisals are included herein: None.
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ITEM 10. | Undertakings |
The Registrant hereby undertakes:
1. | To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement: |
a. | to include any prospectus required by section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act); |
b. | to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the Calculation of Registration Fee table in the effective registration statement; |
c. | to include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such information in the registration statement; |
provided, however, that paragraphs 1(a), 1(b) and 1(c) of this section do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in the registration statement, or is contained in a form of prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) that is part of the registration statement.
2. | That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. |
3. | To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering. |
4. | To file a post-effective amendment to the registration statement to include any financial statements required by Item 8.A. of Form 20-F at the start of any delayed offering or throughout a continuous offering. |
5. | That, for the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act to any purchaser: |
a. | each prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3) shall be deemed to be part of the registration statement as of the date the filed prospectus was deemed part of and included in the registration statement; and |
b. | each prospectus required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2), (b)(5), or (b)(7) as part of a registration statement in reliance on Rule 430B relating to an offering made pursuant to Rule 415(a)(1)(i), (vii), or (x) for the purpose of providing the information required by Section 10(a) of the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the earlier of the date such form of prospectus is first used after effectiveness or the date of the first contract of sale of securities in the offering described in the prospectus. As provided in Rule 430B, for liability purposes of the issuer and any person that is at that date an underwriter, such date shall be deemed to be a new effective date of the registration statement |
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relating to the securities in the registration statement to which that prospectus relates, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such effective date, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such effective date. |
6. | That, for the purpose of determining liability of the registrant under the Securities Act to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, the undersigned registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of the undersigned registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser: |
a. | any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the Registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424; |
b. | any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the Registrant or used or referred to by the Registrant; |
c. | the portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the Registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the Registrant; and |
d. | any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the Registrant to the purchaser. |
The Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrants annual report pursuant to section 13(a) or section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to file an application for the purpose of determining the eligibility of the trustee to act under subsection (a) of section 310 of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended (Act), in accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed by the Commission under section 305(b)(2) of the Act.
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Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the undersigned Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form F-3 and has duly caused this Amendment No. 1 to Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in Bermuda on December 27, 2017.
TEEKAY OFFSHORE PARTNERS L.P. Teekay Offshore GP L.L.C., its General Partner | ||
By: |
/s/ Edith Robinson |
Name: |
Edith Robinson | |
Title: |
Corporate Secretary |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Amendment No. 1 to Registration Statement has been signed on December 27, 2017 by the following persons in the following capacities:
Signature |
Title | |
* Ingvild Sæther |
Chief Executive Officer of Teekay Offshore Group Ltd. (Principal Executive Officer) | |
* David Wong |
Chief Financial Officer of Teekay Offshore Group Ltd. (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) | |
* Bill Utt |
Chair of Teekay Offshore GP L.L.C. | |
* Ian Craig |
Director of Teekay Offshore GP L.L.C. | |
* Kenneth Hvid |
Director of Teekay Offshore GP L.L.C. | |
* David L. Lemmon |
Director of Teekay Offshore GP L.L.C. | |
* John L. Peacock |
Director of Teekay Offshore GP L.L.C. | |
* David Levenson |
Director of Teekay Offshore GP L.L.C. | |
* Jim Reid |
Director of Teekay Offshore GP L.L.C. | |
* Walter Weathers |
Director of Teekay Offshore GP L.L.C. | |
* Bradley Weismiller |
Director of Teekay Offshore GP L.L.C. |
*By: | /s/ Edith Robinson | |
Edith Robinson | ||
Attorney-in-Fact |
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SIGNATURE OF AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE REGISTRANT
Pursuant to the requirement of the Securities Act of 1933, the undersigned, the duly undersigned representative in the United States of Teekay Offshore Partners L.P., has signed this Amendment No. 1 to Registration Statement in Delaware, on December 27, 2017.
PUGLISI & ASSOCIATES | ||
By: |
/s/ Donald J. Puglisi |
Name: | Donald J. Puglisi | |
Title: | Managing Director |
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