Sunoco LP S-3ASR, filed Oct 24, 2024
Sunoco LP (SUN)
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As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on October 24, 2024
Registration No. 333-
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form S-3
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
SUNOCO LP
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware | 30-0740483 | |
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
8111 Westchester Drive, Suite 400
Dallas, Texas 75225
(214) 981-0700
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)
Dylan A. Bramhall
Sunoco GP LLC
8111 Westchester Drive, Suite 400
Dallas, Texas 75225
(214) 981-0700
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
Copies to:
E. Ramey Layne
Jackson A. O’Maley
Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.
845 Texas Ave, Suite 4700
Houston, Texas 77002
(713) 758-2222
APPROXIMATE DATE OF COMMENCEMENT OF PROPOSED SALE TO THE PUBLIC: From time to time after the effective date of this registration statement.
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, other than securities offered only in connection with dividend or interest reinvestment plans, check the following box. ☒
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a registration statement pursuant to General Instruction I.D. or a post-effective amendment thereto that shall become effective upon filing with the Commission pursuant to Rule 462(e) under the Securities Act, check the following box. ☒
If this Form is a post-effective amendment to a registration statement filed pursuant to General Instruction I.D. filed to register additional securities or additional classes of securities pursuant to Rule 413(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large accelerated filer | ☒ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | |||
| Non-accelerated filer | ☐ | Smaller reporting company | ☐ | |||
| Emerging growth company | ☐ | |||||
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of Securities Act. ☐
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PROSPECTUS
Common Units Representing Limited Partner Interests
Preferred Units Representing Limited Partner Interests
Sunoco LP (the “Partnership,” “we,” “our” or “us”) may from time to time, in one or more offerings, offer and sell common units and preferred units representing limited partner interests in the Partnership. We refer to the common units and the preferred units collectively as the “securities.” This prospectus provides you with a general description of the securities.
Each time we offer and sell securities, we will provide a supplement to this prospectus that contains specific information about the offering and the amounts, prices and terms of the securities. The supplement may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus with respect to that offering. You should carefully read this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement before you invest in any of our securities.
We may offer and sell the securities described in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement to or through one or more underwriters, dealers and agents, or directly to purchasers, or through a combination of these methods. If any underwriters, dealers or agents are involved in the sale of any of the securities, their names and any applicable purchase price, fee, commission or discount arrangement between or among them will be set forth, or will be calculable from the information set forth, in the applicable prospectus supplement. See the sections of this prospectus entitled “About this Prospectus” and “Plan of Distribution” for more information. No securities may be sold without delivery of this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement describing the method and terms of the offering of such securities.
INVESTING IN OUR SECURITIES INVOLVES RISKS. SEE THE SECTION ENTITLED “RISK FACTORS” ON PAGE 7 OF THIS PROSPECTUS AND ANY SIMILAR SECTION CONTAINED IN THE APPLICABLE PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT CONCERNING FACTORS YOU SHOULD CONSIDER BEFORE INVESTING IN OUR SECURITIES.
Our common units are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SUN.” On October 23, 2024, the last reported sale price of our common units on the New York Stock Exchange was $51.71.
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
The date of this prospectus is October 24, 2024
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This prospectus is part of a registration statement that we filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) as a “well-known seasoned issuer” as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act of 1933 (as amended, the “Securities Act”), using a “shelf” registration process. By using a shelf registration statement, we may sell securities from time to time and in one or more offerings as described in this prospectus. Each time that we offer and sell securities, we will provide a prospectus supplement to this prospectus that contains specific information about the securities being offered and sold and the specific terms of that offering. We may also authorize one or more free writing prospectuses to be provided to you that may contain material information relating to these offerings. The prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus with respect to that offering. If there is any inconsistency between the information in this prospectus and the prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus relating to an offering, you should rely on the prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus, as applicable. Before purchasing any securities, you should carefully read both this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement (and any applicable free writing prospectuses), together with the additional information described under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information; Incorporation by Reference.”
We have not authorized anyone to provide you with any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement or any free writing prospectuses prepared by or on behalf of us or to which we have referred you. We take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. We will not make an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement to this prospectus is accurate only as of the date on its cover, that the information appearing in any applicable free writing prospectus is accurate only as of the date of that free writing prospectus, and that any information incorporated by reference is accurate only as of the date of the document incorporated by reference, unless we indicate otherwise. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates. This prospectus incorporates by reference, and any prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus may contain and incorporate by reference, market data and industry statistics and forecasts that are based on independent industry publications and other publicly available information. Although we believe these sources are reliable, we do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this information and we have not independently verified this information. In addition, the market and industry data and forecasts that may be included or incorporated by reference in this prospectus, any prospectus supplement or any applicable free writing prospectus may involve estimates, assumptions and other risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on various factors, including those discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” contained in this prospectus, the applicable prospectus supplement and any applicable free writing prospectus, and under similar headings in other documents that are or may be incorporated by reference into this prospectus and any applicable prospectus supplement and free writing prospectus. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on this information.
When we refer to “SUN,” “we,” “our,” “us,” “Sunoco” and the “Partnership” in this prospectus, we mean Sunoco LP and its consolidated subsidiaries, unless otherwise specified. References in this prospectus to: (i) our “general partner” refer to Sunoco GP LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and the general partner of the Partnership; and (ii) “ET” refer to Energy Transfer LP, a publicly traded Delaware limited partnership that owns and controls our general partner. When we refer to “you,” we mean the potential holders of the applicable series of securities.
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WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION; INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE
Available Information
We file reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. Information filed with the SEC by us is available to the public from commercial document retrieval services and through the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. Our website address is http://www.sunocolp.com. The information on our website or any other website, however, is not, and should not be deemed to be, a part of this prospectus.
Our common units are listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SUN.” Our reports and other information filed with the SEC can also be inspected at the offices of the New York Stock Exchange at 11 Wall Street, New York, New York 10005.
This prospectus and any prospectus supplement are part of a registration statement that we filed with the SEC relating to the securities to be offered and do not contain all of the information in the registration statement. The full registration statement may be obtained from the SEC or us, as provided below. Forms of the indenture and other documents establishing the terms of the offered securities are or may be filed as exhibits to the registration statement or documents incorporated by reference in the registration statement. Statements in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement about these documents are summaries and each statement is qualified in all respects by reference to the document to which it refers. You should refer to the actual documents for a more complete description of the relevant matters. The registration statement, exhibits and schedules are available through the SEC’s website.
Incorporation by Reference
The SEC’s rules allow us to “incorporate by reference” information we file with it, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to another document filed separately with the SEC containing that information. The information incorporated by reference is deemed to be part of this prospectus, and subsequent information that we file with the SEC will automatically update and supersede that information.
Any statement contained in this prospectus or a previously filed document incorporated by reference will be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this prospectus to the extent that a statement contained in this prospectus or a subsequently filed document incorporated by reference modifies or replaces that statement. This prospectus incorporates by reference the documents set forth below that have previously been filed with the SEC (excluding information deemed to be furnished and not filed with the SEC):
| • | Our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed on February 16, 2024; |
| • | Our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the periods ended March 31, 2024, filed on May 9, 2024, and June 30, 2024, filed on August 8, 2024; |
| • | Our Current Reports on Form 8-K filed on January 22, 2024, January 26, 2024, March 22, 2024, April 9, 2024, April 16, 2024, April 30, 2024, May 3, 2024, June 5, 2024, July 3, 2024, July 18, 2024, July 18, 2024, July 25, 2024, July 26, 2024 and October 24, 2024; and |
| • | The description of our common units contained in the Registration Statement on Form 8-A, filed September 17, 2012, and any subsequently filed amendments and reports updating such description. |
All reports and other documents we subsequently file pursuant to Section 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (as amended, the “Exchange Act”), prior to the termination of this offering but excluding any information furnished to, rather than filed with, the SEC, will also be incorporated by reference into this prospectus and deemed to be part of this prospectus from the date of the filing of such reports and documents.
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You may request a free copy of any of the documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus by writing or telephoning us at the following address:
Sunoco LP
Attn: Investor Relations
8111 Westchester Drive, Suite 400
Dallas, Texas 75225
(214) 981-0700
IR@sunocolp.com
Exhibits to the filings will not be sent, however, unless those exhibits have specifically been incorporated by reference in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement. You may also obtain copies of these filings, at no cost, by accessing our website at www.sunocolp.com; however, the information found on our website is not considered part of this prospectus.
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Some of the information included in this prospectus and the documents we incorporate by reference may contain forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included in this prospectus, regarding our strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. Statements using words such as “believe,” “plan,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “forecast,” “assume,” “estimate,” “continue,” “position,” “predict,” “project,” “goal,” “strategy,” “budget,” “potential,” “will” and other similar words or phrases are used to help identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. Descriptions of our objectives, goals, targets, plans, strategies, costs, anticipated capital expenditures, expected cost savings and benefits are also forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current plans and expectations and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to vary materially from the results and events anticipated or implied by such forward-looking statements, including:
| • | our ability to make, complete and integrate acquisitions from affiliates or third-parties; |
| • | business strategy and operations of ET and its conflicts of interest with us; |
| • | changes in the price of and demand for the motor fuel that we distribute and our ability to appropriately hedge any motor fuel we hold in inventory; |
| • | our dependence on limited principal suppliers; |
| • | competition in the wholesale motor fuel distribution and retail store industry; |
| • | changing customer preferences for alternate fuel sources or improvement in fuel efficiency; |
| • | volatility of fuel prices or a prolonged period of low fuel prices and the effects of actions by, or disputes among or between, oil producing countries with respect to matters related to the price or production of oil; |
| • | any acceleration of the domestic and/or international transition to a low carbon economy as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 or otherwise; |
| • | the possibility of cyber and malware attacks; |
| • | changes in our credit rating, as assigned by rating agencies; |
| • | a deterioration in the credit and/or capital markets, including as a result of recent increases in cost of capital resulting from Federal Reserve policies and changes in financial institutions’ policies or practices concerning businesses linked to fossil fuels; |
| • | general economic conditions, including sustained periods of inflation, supply chain disruptions and associated central bank monetary policies; |
| • | environmental, tax and other federal, state and local laws and regulations; |
| • | the fact that we are not fully insured against all risks incident to our business; |
| • | dangers inherent in the storage and transportation of motor fuel; |
| • | our ability to manage growth and/or control costs; |
| • | our reliance on senior management, supplier trade credit and information technology; and |
| • | our partnership structure, which may create conflicts of interest between us and our general partner, and its affiliates, and limits the fiduciary duties of our general partner and its affiliates. |
All forward-looking statements, express or implied, are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements.
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Many of the foregoing risks and uncertainties are, and will be, heightened by any further worsening of the global business and economic environment. New factors that could impact forward-looking statements emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all such factors. When considering these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in this prospectus or documents incorporated by reference herein, including those described in the “Risk Factors” section of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and, to the extent applicable, our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and subsequent Current Reports on Form 8-K, other subsequent filings with the SEC and any prospectus supplement. Should one or more of the risks or uncertainties described or referenced in this prospectus or our most recently filed periodic reports occur, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and plans could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements.
The list of factors that could affect future performance and the accuracy of forward-looking statements is illustrative but by no means exhaustive. Accordingly, all forward-looking statements should be evaluated with the understanding of their inherent uncertainty. The forward-looking statements included in this prospectus are based on, and include, our estimates as of the date hereof. We anticipate that subsequent events and market developments will cause our estimates to change. However, while we may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so except as required by law, even if new information becomes available in the future.
In addition to risks and uncertainties in the ordinary course of business that are common to all businesses, important factors that are specific to our structure as a limited partnership, our industry and our company could materially impact our future performance and results of operations.
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Business Overview
We are a Delaware master limited partnership with operations in over 40 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, Europe and Mexico. We are the largest independent distributor of motor fuel in North America and a leading operator of critical midstream energy infrastructure. Our midstream operations include an extensive network of approximately 14,000 miles of pipeline and over 100 terminals. This critical infrastructure complements our fuel distribution operations, which serve approximately 7,400 Sunoco and partner branded locations and additional independent dealers and commercial customers.
We are managed by our general partner, which is owned by ET. As of September 30, 2024, ET owned 100% of the limited liability company interests in our general partner, 28,463,967 of our common units and all of our incentive distribution rights (“IDRs”).
Principal Executive Offices
Our principal executive offices are located at 8111 Westchester Drive, Suite 400, Dallas, Texas 75225, and our telephone phone number is (214) 981-0700. Our website address is http://www.sunocolp.com. The information on our website or any other website, however, is not, and should not be deemed to be, a part of this prospectus.
Our periodic reports and other information filed with or furnished to the SEC are available free of charge through our website as soon as reasonably practicable after those reports and other information are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. Information on, or accessible through, our website or any other website is not incorporated by reference into, and does not constitute a part of, this prospectus. For additional information as to our business, properties and financial condition, please read “Where You Can Find More Information; Incorporation by Reference.”
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Investment in any securities offered pursuant to this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement involves risks. You should carefully consider the risk factors incorporated by reference to our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K we file after the date of this prospectus, and all other information contained or incorporated by reference into this prospectus, as updated by our subsequent filings under the Exchange Act, and the risk factors and other information contained in the applicable prospectus supplement and any applicable free writing prospectus before acquiring any of such securities. The occurrence of any of these risks might cause you to lose all or part of your investment in the offered securities. Please read “FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS.”
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Except as otherwise provided in any applicable prospectus supplement, we intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of the securities for general partnership purposes, which may include repayment or repurchase of outstanding indebtedness, the acquisition of businesses, other capital expenditures and additions to working capital. Any specific allocation of the net proceeds of an offering of securities to a specific purpose will be determined at the time of the offering and will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement.
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The Common Units
The common units represent limited partner interests in the Partnership. The holders of common 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 relative rights and preferences of holders of common units in and to partnership distributions, please read this section and “Our Cash Distribution Policy.” For a description of the rights and privileges of limited partners under our partnership agreement, including voting rights, please read “Our Partnership Agreement.”
Our common units are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SUN.”
Voting Rights
The holders of the outstanding common units are entitled to one vote per unit on all matters voted on by unitholders.
Liquidation Rights
Subject to the preferential rights holder of Class C units, in the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Partnership, the holders of common units are entitled to receive distributions of the assets remaining after satisfaction of all discharge liabilities in accordance with, and to the extent of, the positive balances in their respective capital accounts.
Transfer Agent and Registrar
Duties
Computershare Trust Company, N.A. serves as registrar and transfer agent for our common units. We pay all fees charged by the transfer agent for transfers of common units except the following that must be paid by our unitholders:
| • | surety bond premiums to replace lost or stolen certificates or to cover taxes and other governmental charges; |
| • | special charges for services requested by a common unitholder; and |
| • | other similar fees or charges. |
There is no charge to our unitholders for disbursements of our cash distributions. We indemnify the transfer agent, its agents and each of their respective stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for their activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence or intentional misconduct of the indemnified person or entity.
Resignation or Removal
The transfer agent may resign by notice to us or be removed by us. The resignation or removal of the transfer agent will become effective upon our appointment of a successor transfer agent and registrar and its acceptance of the appointment. If no successor has been appointed and has accepted the appointment within 30 days after notice of the resignation or removal, our general partner may act as the transfer agent and registrar until a successor is appointed.
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Transfer of Common Units
Common units are securities and are transferable according to the laws governing transfers of securities. In addition to other rights acquired upon transfer, the transferor gives the transferee the right to become a substituted limited partner in our partnership for the transferred common units.
Upon a transfer of common units in accordance with our partnership agreement, each transferee of common units will be admitted as a limited partner with respect to the common units transferred when such transfer and admission is reflected in our books and records. Until a common unit has been transferred on our books, we and the transfer agent may treat the record holder of the common unit as the absolute owner for all purposes, except as otherwise required by law or stock exchange regulations. Our general partner will cause any transfers to be recorded on our books and records no less frequently than quarterly. Each transferee:
| • | represents that the transferee has the capacity, power and authority to become bound by our partnership agreement; |
| • | automatically agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions of, and is deemed to have executed, our partnership agreement; and |
| • | gives the consents, waivers and approvals contained in our partnership agreement. |
We may, at our discretion, treat the nominee holder of a common unit as the absolute owner. In that case, the beneficial holder’s rights are limited solely to those that it has against the nominee holder as a result of any agreement between the beneficial owner and the nominee holder.
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DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED UNITS
Our partnership agreement authorizes us to issue an unlimited number of additional limited partner interests and other equity securities on the terms and conditions established by our general partner without the approval of any of our limited partners. In accordance with Delaware law and the provisions of our partnership agreement, we may issue additional partnership interests that have special voting rights to which our common units are not entitled.
If we offer preferred units under this prospectus, a prospectus supplement relating to the particular series of preferred units offered will include the specific terms of those preferred units, including, among other things, the following:
| • | the designation, stated value, and liquidation preference of the preferred units and the number of preferred units offered; |
| • | the public offering price at which the preferred units will be issued; |
| • | any conversion or exchange provisions of the preferred units; |
| • | any redemption or sinking fund provisions of the preferred units; |
| • | the distribution rights of the preferred units, if any; |
| • | a discussion of any additional material U.S. federal income tax considerations regarding the preferred units; and |
| • | any additional rights, preferences, privileges, limitations, and restrictions of the preferred units. |
The transfer agent and registrar for any preferred units will be designated in the applicable prospectus supplement.
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Our partnership agreement requires that, within 60 days after the end of each quarter, we will distribute all of our available cash to unitholders of record on the applicable record date.
Definition of Available Cash
Available cash, for any quarter, generally consists of all cash and cash equivalents on hand at the end of that quarter:
| • | less, the amount of cash reserves that our general partner establishes to: |
| • | provide for the proper conduct of our business; |
| • | comply with applicable law, any of our debt instruments or other agreements or any other obligation; or |
| • | provide funds for distributions to our unitholders for any one or more of the next four quarters; |
| • | plus, if our general partner so determines on the date of determination, all or any portion of the cash on hand immediately prior to the date of distribution of available cash for the quarter, including cash on hand resulting from working capital borrowings made after the end of the quarter. |
The purpose and effect of the last bullet point above is to allow our general partner, if it so decides, to use cash received by us after the end of the quarter but on or before the date of distribution of available cash for that quarter, including cash on hand resulting from working capital borrowings made after the end of the quarter, to pay distributions to unitholders. Under our partnership agreement, working capital borrowings are borrowings that are made under a credit agreement, commercial paper facility or similar financing arrangement with the intent to repay such borrowings within twelve months from sources other than additional working capital borrowings, and that are used solely for working capital purposes or to pay distributions to partners.
Operating Surplus and Capital Surplus
All cash distributed to our unitholders is characterized as being paid from either “operating surplus” or “capital surplus.” We distribute available cash from operating surplus differently than available cash from capital surplus. Operating surplus distributions will be made to our unitholders and, if we make quarterly distributions above the first target distribution level described below, to the holder of our IDRs. We do not anticipate that we will make any distributions from capital surplus. In such an event, however, any capital surplus distribution would generally be made first to the holders of Class C units, pro rata, of the amount of accrued and unpaid distributions, and then pro rata to all unitholders.
Definition of Operating Surplus
Operating surplus for any period generally means:
| • | $25.0 million (as described below); plus |
| • | all of our cash receipts, excluding cash from interim capital transactions (as defined below), provided that cash receipts from the termination of any hedge contract prior to its stipulated settlement or termination date will be included in equal quarterly installments over the remaining scheduled life of such hedge contract had it not been terminated; plus |
| • | working capital borrowings made after the end of a period but on or before the date of distribution of operating surplus for that period; plus |
| • | cash distributions paid on equity issued (including incremental distributions on IDRs), to finance all or a portion of expansion capital expenditures in respect of the period from the date that we enter into a |
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| binding obligation to commence the construction, acquisition or improvement of a capital asset until the earlier to occur of the date the capital asset commences commercial service and the date that it is abandoned or disposed of; plus |
| • | cash distributions paid on equity issued (including incremental distributions on IDRs), to pay the construction period interest on debt incurred, or to pay construction period distributions on equity issued, to finance the expansion capital expenditures referred to above, in each case, in respect of the period from the date that we enter into a binding obligation to commence the construction, acquisition or improvement of a capital asset until the earlier to occur of the date the capital asset is placed in service and the date that it is abandoned or disposed of; less |
| • | all of our operating expenditures (as defined below); less |
| • | the amount of cash reserves established by our general partner to provide funds for future operating expenditures; less |
| • | all working capital borrowings not repaid within twelve months after having been incurred, or repaid within such twelve-month period with the proceeds of additional working capital borrowings; less |
| • | any cash loss realized on the disposition of an investment capital expenditure. |
As described above, operating surplus does not reflect actual cash on hand that is available for distribution to our unitholders and is not limited to cash generated by our operations. For example, it includes a basket of $25.0 million that enables us, if we choose, to distribute as operating surplus up to that amount of cash we receive from non-operating sources 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 certain cash distributions on equity interests in operating surplus, as described above, will be to increase operating surplus by the amount of any such cash distributions. As a result, we may also distribute as operating surplus up to that amount of cash that we receive from non-operating sources.
The proceeds of working capital borrowings increase operating surplus and repayments of working capital borrowings are generally operating expenditures, as described below, and thus reduce operating surplus when made. However, if a working capital borrowing is not repaid during the twelve-month period following the borrowing, it will be 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 will be excluded from operating expenditures because operating surplus will have been previously reduced by the deemed repayment.
We define operating expenditures as all of its cash expenditures, including, but not limited to, taxes, reimbursement of expenses to our general partner or its affiliates, payments made in the ordinary course of business under interest rate hedge agreements or commodity hedge agreements (provided that (1) payments made in connection with the initial purchase of an interest rate hedge contract or a commodity hedge contract will be amortized over the life of the applicable interest rate hedge contract or commodity hedge contract and (2) payments made in connection with the termination of any interest rate hedge contract or commodity hedge contract prior to its stipulated settlement or termination date will be included in operating expenditures in equal quarterly installments over the remaining scheduled life of such contract), compensation of officers, directors and employees of our general partner, repayment of working capital borrowings, debt service payments and maintenance capital expenditures (as discussed in further detail below), provided that operating expenditures do not include:
| • | repayment of working capital borrowings deducted from operating surplus pursuant to the penultimate bullet point of the definition of operating surplus above when such repayment actually occurs; |
| • | payments (including prepayments and prepayment penalties) of principal of and premium on indebtedness other than working capital borrowings; |
| • | expansion capital expenditures; |
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| • | investment capital expenditures; |
| • | payment of transaction expenses relating to interim capital transactions; |
| • | distributions to our partners (including distributions in respect of our IDRs); or |
| • | repurchases of equity interests (other than repurchases to satisfy obligations under employee benefit plans) or reimbursements of our general partner for such purchases. |
Interim Capital Transactions
We define cash from interim capital transactions to include proceeds from:
| • | borrowings other than working capital borrowings; |
| • | sales of equity and debt securities; and |
| • | sales or other dispositions of assets, other than inventory, accounts receivable and other assets sold in the ordinary course of business or assets sold or disposed of as part of normal retirement or replacement of assets. |
Capital Surplus
Capital surplus is defined as any distribution of available cash in excess of operating surplus. Although the cash proceeds from interim capital transactions do not increase operating surplus, all distributions of available cash from whatever source are deemed to be from operating surplus until cumulative distributions of available cash exceed cumulative operating surplus. Thereafter, all distributions of available cash are deemed to be from capital surplus to the extent they continue to exceed cumulative operating surplus.
Characterization of Cash Distributions
We will treat all available cash distributed as coming from operating surplus until the sum of all available cash distributed since the closing of our initial public offering equals the operating surplus as of the most recent date of determination of available cash. We will treat any amount distributed in excess of operating surplus, regardless of its source, as capital surplus. As reflected above, operating surplus includes $25.0 million in addition to our cash balance on the closing date of our initial public offering, cash receipts from our operations and cash from working capital borrowings. This amount does not reflect actual cash on hand that is available for distribution to our unitholders. Rather, it is a provision that will enable us, if we choose, to distribute as operating surplus up to $25.0 million of cash we receive in the future from interim capital transactions that would otherwise be distributed as capital surplus. We do not anticipate that we will make any distributions from capital surplus.
Capital Expenditures
Maintenance capital expenditures reduce operating surplus, but expansion capital expenditures and investment capital expenditures do not. Under our partnership agreement, maintenance capital expenditures are capital expenditures made to maintain our long-term operating income or operating capacity, while expansion capital expenditures are capital expenditures that we expect will increase our operating income or operating capacity over the long term. Examples of maintenance capital expenditures include those expenditures we make to maintain existing contract volumes or renew existing distribution contracts, maintain its real estate leased to third-party dealers in leasable condition or maintain its company operated convenience stores. Maintenance capital expenditures also include interest (and related fees) on debt incurred and distributions in respect of equity issued (including incremental distributions on IDRs), other than equity issued in any offering, to finance all or any portion of the construction or development of a replacement asset that are paid in respect of the period that begins when we enter into a binding obligation to commence construction or development of a replacement asset
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and ending on the earlier to occur of the date that such replacement asset commences commercial service and the date that it is disposed of or abandoned. Capital expenditures made solely for investment purposes are not considered maintenance capital expenditures.
Expansion capital expenditures are capital expenditures made to increase our operating capacity over the long term. Examples of expansion capital expenditures include the acquisition of new properties or equipment, to the extent such capital expenditures are expected to expand our long-term operating capacity. Expansion capital expenditures also include interest (and related fees) on debt incurred and distributions in respect of equity issued (including incremental distributions on IDRs) to finance all or any portion of the construction of a capital improvement paid in respect of the period that commences when we enter into a binding obligation to commence construction of a capital improvement and ending on the earlier to occur of the date such capital improvement commences commercial service and the date that it is disposed of or abandoned. Capital expenditures made solely for investment purposes are not be considered 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 or the development of assets that are in excess of those needed for the maintenance of our existing operating capacity, but which are not expected to expand, for more than the short term, its operating capacity.
As described above, neither investment capital expenditures nor expansion capital expenditures are included in operating expenditures, and thus do not reduce operating surplus. Because expansion capital expenditures include interest payments (and related fees) on debt incurred to finance all or a portion of the construction, acquisition or development of a capital improvement during the period that begins when we enter into a binding obligation to commence construction, acquisition or development of a capital improvement and ending on the earlier to occur of the date such capital improvement commences commercial service and the date that it is disposed of or abandoned, such interest payments also do not reduce operating surplus. Losses on the disposition of an investment capital expenditure will reduce operating surplus when realized and cash receipts from an investment capital expenditure will be treated as a cash receipt for purposes of calculating operating surplus only to the extent the cash receipt is a return on principal.
Capital expenditures that are made in part for maintenance capital purposes, investment capital purposes and/or expansion capital purposes are allocated as maintenance capital expenditures, investment capital expenditures or expansion capital expenditure by our general partner.
Distributions of Available Cash from Operating Surplus
We will make distributions of available cash from operating surplus for any quarter in the following manner:
| • | first, to the holders of our Class C units to the extent of the distribution preference on the Class C units; |
| • | second, to all of our unitholders holding common units, pro rata, until we distribute for each outstanding common unit an amount equal to the minimum quarterly distribution for that quarter; and |
| • | thereafter, in the manner as described in the section of this prospectus entitled “—Incentive Distribution Rights” below. |
The preceding discussion is based on the assumption that we do not issue additional classes of equity interests.
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Incentive Distribution Rights
IDRs represent the right to receive an increasing percentage (15.0%, 25.0% and 50.0%) of quarterly distributions of available cash from operating surplus after the minimum quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels have been achieved. ET currently holds all of our IDRs, but may transfer these rights, subject to restrictions in our partnership agreement.
The following discussion assumes that ET continues to own our IDRs.
If for any quarter we have distributed available cash from operating surplus to the holders of our Class C units to the extent of their distribution preference and to our common unitholders in an amount equal to the minimum quarterly distribution then we will make distributions of available cash from operating surplus for that quarter in the following manner:
| • | first, to all unitholders holding common units, pro rata, until each unitholder receives a total of $0.503125 per common unit for that quarter (the “first target distribution”); |
| • | second, 85.0% to all unitholders holding common units, pro rata, and 15.0% to ET (in its capacity as the holder of our IDRs), until each unitholder receives a total of $0.546875 per common unit for that quarter (the “second target distribution”); |
| • | third, 75.0% to all unitholders holding common units, pro rata, and 25.0% to ET (in its capacity as the holder of our IDRs), until each unitholder receives a total of $0.65625 per common unit for that quarter (the “third target distribution”); and |
| • | thereafter, 50.0% to all unitholders holding common units, pro rata, and 50.0% to ET (in its capacity as the holder of our IDRs). |
Distributions from Capital Surplus
We will make distributions of available cash from capital surplus, if any, in the following manner once the required distributions of available cash are made to the Class C unitholders:
| • | first, to all unitholders holding common units, pro rata, until the minimum quarterly distribution level has been reduced to zero as described below; and |
| • | thereafter, we will make all distributions of available cash from capital surplus as if they were from operating surplus. |
The preceding paragraph assumes that we do not issue additional classes of equity interests.
Our partnership agreement treats a distribution of capital surplus as the repayment of the initial unit price from our initial public offering, which is a return of capital. The 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 is made, the minimum quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels will be reduced in the same proportion that the distribution had to the fair market value of our common units immediately prior to the announcement of the distribution (or the average of the closing prices for the 20 consecutive trading days immediately prior to the ex-dividend date). Because distributions of capital surplus will reduce our minimum quarterly distribution and target distribution levels after any of these distributions are made, it may be easier for ET (in its capacity as the holder of our IDRs) to receive incentive distributions.
Once we distribute capital surplus on a unit in an amount equal to the initial unit price, we will reduce the minimum quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels to zero. We will then make all future distributions from operating surplus, first, to the holders of Class C units to the extent required, and then, 50% being paid to the holders of our common units and 50% to ET (in its capacity as the holder of Sunoco’s IDRs), assuming that ET has not transferred the IDRs.
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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 to reflect a distribution of capital surplus, if we combine our units into fewer units or subdivide units into a greater number of units, we will proportionately adjust:
| • | the minimum quarterly distribution; |
| • | the target distribution levels; and |
| • | the unrecovered initial unit price. |
For example, if a two-for-one split of 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 units for cash or property.
In addition, if legislation is enacted or if existing law is modified or interpreted by a governmental taxing authority, so that we become taxable as a corporation or otherwise subject to taxation as an entity for federal, state or local income tax purposes, it will reduce the minimum quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels for each quarter may, in the sole discretion of our general partner, be reduced by multiplying each distribution level by a fraction, the numerator of which is available cash for that quarter (reduced by the amount of the estimated tax liability for such quarter) and the denominator of which is the sum of available cash for that quarter before any adjustment for estimated taxes. To the extent that the actual tax liability differs from the estimated tax liability for any quarter, the difference will be accounted for in subsequent quarters.
Distributions of Cash Upon Liquidation
General. If we dissolve in accordance with our partnership agreement, we will sell or otherwise dispose of our assets in a process called liquidation. We will first apply the proceeds of liquidation to the payment of its creditors. We will distribute any remaining proceeds to the unitholders and the holder of our IDRs, in accordance with their capital account balances, as adjusted to reflect any gain or loss upon the sale or other disposition of its assets in liquidation.
The allocations of gain and loss upon liquidation are intended, to the extent possible, to permit holders of our common units to receive their unrecovered initial unit price plus the minimum quarterly distribution for the quarter during which liquidation occurs. However, there may not be sufficient gain upon our liquidation to enable our common unitholders to fully recover all of these amounts. Any further net gain recognized upon liquidation will be allocated in a manner that takes into account the IDRs.
Manner of Adjustments for Gain. The manner of the adjustment for gain is set forth in our partnership agreement. We will generally allocate any gain to its partners in the following manner:
| • | first, to the holders of our Class C units, pro rata, until the capital account for each Class C unit is equal to the sum of: (1) the unrecovered initial unit price for that Class C unit; and (2) the unpaid amount of all accrued but unpaid distributions on that Class C unit; |
| • | second, to all our common unitholders, pro rata, until the capital account for each common unit is equal to the sum of: |
| • | the unrecovered initial unit price; and |
| • | the unpaid amount of the minimum quarterly distribution for the quarter during which the liquidation occurs; |
| • | third, to all our common unitholders, pro rata, until we allocate under this paragraph an amount per unit equal to: |
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| • | the excess of the first target distribution per unit over the minimum quarterly distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence; less |
| • | the cumulative amount per unit of any distributions of available cash from operating surplus in excess of the minimum quarterly distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence that we distributed to the unitholders, pro rata; |
| • | fourth, 85.0% to all our common unitholders, pro rata, and 15.0% to ET (in its capacity as the holder of our IDRs), until we allocate under this paragraph an amount per unit equal to: |
| • | the excess of the second target distribution per unit over the first target distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence; less |
| • | the cumulative amount per unit of any distributions of available cash from operating surplus in excess of the first target distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence that we distributed 85.0% to the unitholders, pro rata, and 15.0% to ET (in its capacity as the holder of our IDRs); |
| • | fifth, 75.0% to all our common unitholders, pro rata, and 25.0% to ET (in its capacity as the holder of our IDRs), until we allocate under this paragraph an amount per unit equal to: |
| • | the excess of the third target distribution per unit over the second target distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence; less |
| • | the cumulative amount per unit of any distributions of available cash from operating surplus in excess of the second target distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence that we distributed 75.0% to the unitholders, pro rata, and 25.0% to ET (in its capacity as the holder of our IDRs); and |
| • | thereafter, 50.0% to all our common unitholders, pro rata, and 50.0% to ET (in its capacity as the holder of our IDRs). |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if immediately prior to making allocations pursuant to the fourth, fifth and sixth clauses above, the capital account of each common unit equals or exceeds the issue price of our Class C units ($38.5856), then we will allocate 1.0% of the remaining items of gain (other than gain attributable to SUN Retail) to the holders of Class C units, pro rata.
Manner of Adjustments for Losses
We will generally allocate any loss to its unitholders in the following manner:
| • | first, to our common unitholders, pro rata, until the capital accounts of our common unitholders have been reduced to zero; and |
| • | thereafter, to the holders of our Class C units, pro rata, until the capital accounts of the Class C units have been reduced to zero. |
Adjustments to Capital Accounts
We will make adjustments to capital accounts upon the issuance of additional units. In doing so, we generally will allocate any unrealized and, for tax purposes, unrecognized gain resulting from the adjustments to the unitholders and the holders of our IDRs in the same manner as we allocate gain upon liquidation. By contrast to the allocations of gain, and except as provided above, we generally will allocate any unrealized and unrecognized loss resulting from the adjustments to capital accounts upon the issuance of additional units to our common unitholders based on their percentage ownership in the Partnership. In the event we make negative adjustments to the capital accounts as a result of such loss, future positive adjustments resulting from the issuance of additional units will be allocated in a manner designed to reverse the prior negative adjustments, and special allocations will be made upon liquidation in a manner that results, to the extent possible, in our common unitholders’ capital account balances equaling the amounts they would have been if no earlier adjustments for loss had been made.
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The following is a summary of the material provisions of our partnership agreement. We will provide prospective investors with a copy of our partnership agreement upon request at no charge.
We summarize the following provisions of our partnership agreement elsewhere in this prospectus:
| • | with regard to distributions of available cash, please read “Our Cash Distribution Policy;” |
| • | with regard to transfer of common units, please read “Description of Common Units—Transfer of Common Units;” and |
| • | with regard to allocations of taxable income and taxable loss, please read “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences.” |
Organization and Duration
Our partnership was organized in June 2012 and will have a perpetual existence unless terminated pursuant to the terms of our partnership agreement.
Purpose
Our purpose, as set forth in our partnership agreement, is limited to any business activity that is approved by our general partner and that lawfully may be conducted by a limited partnership organized under Delaware law.
Although our general partner has the ability to cause us and our subsidiaries to engage in activities other than the business of the wholesale distribution of motor fuels and other petroleum products and the retail sale of motor fuel and the operation of convenience stores, our general partner has no 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 is generally authorized to perform all acts it determines to be necessary or appropriate to carry out our purposes and to conduct our business.
Capital Contributions
Unitholders are not obligated to make additional capital contributions, except as described below under “—Limited Liability.”
Voting Rights
The following is a summary of the unitholder vote required for approval of the matters specified below. Matters that require the approval of a “unit majority” require the approval of a majority of the common units, voting as a single class.
In voting their common units, ET and its affiliates have no 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.
| Issuance of additional units | No approval right. Please read “—Issuance of Additional Partnership Interests.” | |
| Amendment of our partnership agreement | Certain amendments may be made by our general partner without the approval of our unitholders. Other amendments generally require the approval of a unit majority. Please read “—Amendment of the Partnership Agreement.” | |
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| Merger of our partnership or the sale of all or substantially all of our assets | Unit majority in certain circumstances. Please read “—Merger, Consolidation, Conversion, Sale or Other Disposition of Assets.” | |
| Dissolution of our partnership | Unit majority in certain circumstances. Please read “—Dissolution.” | |
| Continuation of our business upon dissolution | Unit majority. Please read “—Dissolution.” | |
| Withdrawal of our general partner | No approval right. Please read “—Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner.” | |
| Removal of our general partner | Not less than 662/3% of the 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.” | |
| Transfer of our general partner interest | No approval right. Please read “—Transfer of General Partner Interest.” | |
| Transfer of ownership interests in our general partner | No approval right. Please read “—Transfer of Ownership Interests in Our General Partner.” | |
| Transfer of incentive distribution rights | No approval right. Please read “—Transfer of Incentive Distribution Rights.” | |
If any person or group other than our general partner and its affiliates acquires beneficial ownership of 20% or more of any class of units then outstanding, that person or group loses voting rights on all of its units. This loss of voting rights does not apply to any person or group that acquires the units from our general partner or its affiliates and any transferees of that person or group approved by our general partner or to any person or group who acquires the units with the specific approval of our general partner.
Applicable Law; Forum, Venue and Jurisdiction
Our partnership agreement is governed by Delaware law. Our partnership agreement requires that any claims, suits, actions or proceedings:
| • | arising out of or relating in any way to our partnership agreement (including any claims, suits or actions to interpret, apply or enforce the provisions of our partnership agreement or the duties, obligations or liabilities among our limited partners or of our limited partners to us, or the rights or powers of, or restrictions on, our limited partners or us); |
| • | brought in a derivative manner on our behalf; |
| • | asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee of us or our general partner, or owed by our general partner, to us or the limited partners; |
| • | asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware Act; or |
| • | asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine, |
will be exclusively brought in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if such court does not have subject matter jurisdiction thereof, any other court located in the State of Delaware with subject matter jurisdiction). By purchasing a common unit, a limited partner is irrevocably consenting to these limitations and provisions regarding claims, suits, actions or proceedings and submitting to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware in connection with any such claims, suits, actions or proceedings.
Although we believe these provisions will benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law for the specified types of actions and proceedings, the provisions may have the effect of
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discouraging lawsuits against our directors, officers, employees and agents. The enforceability of similar forum selection provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation or similar governing documents have been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that, in connection with one or more actions or proceedings described above, a court could find that the forum selection provision contained in our partnership agreement is inapplicable or unenforceable in such action or actions, including with respect to claims arising under the federal securities laws. Limited partners will not be deemed, by operation of the forum selection provision alone, to have waived claims arising under the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
The forum selection provision is intended to apply “to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law” to the above-specified types of actions and proceedings, including, to the extent permitted by the federal securities laws, to lawsuits asserting both the above-specified claims and federal securities claims. However, application of the forum selection provision may in some instances be limited by applicable law. Section 27 of the Exchange Act provides: “The district courts of the United States ... shall have exclusive jurisdiction of violations of [the Exchange Act] or the rules and regulations thereunder, and of all suits in equity and actions at law brought to enforce any liability or duty created by [the Exchange Act] or the rules and regulations thereunder.” As a result, the forum selection provision will not apply to actions arising under the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. However, Section 22 of the Securities Act provides for concurrent federal and state court jurisdiction over actions under the Securities Act and the rules and regulations thereunder, subject to a limited exception for certain “covered class actions” as defined in Section 16 of the Securities Act and interpreted by the courts. Accordingly, we believe that the forum selection provision would apply to actions arising under the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder, except to the extent a particular action fell within the exception for covered class actions.
Limited Liability
Assuming that a limited partner does not participate in the control of our business within the meaning of the Delaware Act and that the limited partner otherwise acts in conformity with the provisions of the partnership agreement, the limited partner’s liability under the Delaware Act will be limited, subject to possible exceptions, to the amount of capital the limited partner is obligated to contribute to us for its common units plus the limited partner’s share of any undistributed profits and assets. If it were determined, however, that the right, or exercise of the right, by the limited partners as a group:
| • | to remove or replace our general partner; |
| • | to approve some amendments to our partnership agreement; or |
| • | to take other action under our partnership agreement; |
constituted “participation in the control” of our business for the purposes of the Delaware Act, then the limited partners could be held personally liable for our obligations under the laws of Delaware, to the same extent as the general partner. This liability would extend to persons who transact business with us who reasonably believe that the limited partner is a general partner. Neither our partnership agreement nor the Delaware Act specifically provides for legal recourse against our general partner if a limited partner were to lose limited liability through any fault of our general partner. While this does not mean that a limited partner could not seek legal recourse, we know of no precedent for this type of a claim in Delaware case law.
Under the Delaware Act, a limited partnership may not make a distribution to a partner if, after the distribution, all liabilities of the limited partnership, other than liabilities to partners on account of their partnership interests and liabilities for which the recourse of creditors is limited to specific property of the Partnership, would exceed the fair value of the assets of the limited partnership. For the purpose of determining the fair value of the assets of a limited partnership, the Delaware Act provides that the fair value of property subject to liability for which recourse of creditors is limited shall be included in the assets of the limited partnership only to the extent that the fair value of that property exceeds the nonrecourse liability. The Delaware
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Act provides that a limited partner who receives a distribution and knew at the time of the distribution that the distribution was in violation of the Delaware Act shall be liable to the limited partnership for the amount of the distribution for three years. Under the Delaware Act, a substituted limited partner of a limited partnership is liable for the obligations of its assignor to make contributions to the Partnership, except that such person is not obligated for liabilities unknown to such person at the time such person became a limited partner and that could not be ascertained from our partnership agreement.
Our subsidiaries currently conduct business in several states and we may have subsidiaries that conduct business in other states in the future. Maintenance of our limited liability as owner of our operating subsidiaries may require compliance with legal requirements in the jurisdictions in which the operating subsidiaries conduct business, including qualifying our subsidiaries to do business there.
Limitations on the liability of members or limited partners for the obligations of a limited liability company or limited partnership have not been clearly established in many jurisdictions. If, by virtue of our ownership interest in our subsidiaries or otherwise, it were to be 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 the limited partners as a group to remove or replace our general partner, to approve some amendments to our partnership agreement, or to take other action under our partnership agreement constituted “participation in the control” of our business for purposes of the statutes of any relevant jurisdiction, then 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 will 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 Partnership Interests
Our partnership agreement authorizes us to issue an unlimited number of additional partnership interests for the consideration and on the terms and conditions determined by our general partner without the approval of our unitholders.
It is possible that we will fund acquisitions through the issuance of additional common units or other partnership interests. Holders of any additional common units we issue will be entitled to share equally with the then-existing common unitholders in our distributions of available cash. In addition, the issuance of additional common units or other partnership interests may dilute the value of the interests of the then-existing common unitholders in our net assets.
In accordance with Delaware law and the provisions of our partnership agreement, we may also issue additional partnership interests that, as determined by our general partner, may have special voting rights to which the common units are not entitled or be senior in right of distribution to the common units. In addition, our partnership agreement does not prohibit our subsidiaries from issuing equity interests which effectively rank senior to the common units.
Our general partner has the right, which it may from time to time assign in whole or in part to any of its affiliates, to purchase common units or other partnership interests whenever, and on the same terms that, we issue partnership interests to persons other than our general partner and its affiliates, to the extent necessary to maintain the percentage interest of itself and its affiliates, including such interest represented by common units, that existed immediately prior to each issuance. The common unitholders will not have preemptive rights under our partnership agreement to acquire additional common units or other partnership interests.
On January 1, 2016, we issued an aggregate of 16,410,780 Class C units consisting of (i) 5,242,113 Class C units that were issued to Aloha Petroleum, Ltd. (“Aloha”) as consideration for the contribution by Aloha to an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Partnership of all of Aloha’s assets relating to the wholesale supply of
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fuel and lubricants; and (ii) 11,168,667 Class C units that were issued to indirect wholly owned subsidiaries of the Partnership in exchange for all of the outstanding Class A units held by such subsidiaries. For a complete description of our Class C units, please read our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on January 5, 2016. As of September 30, 2024, there were 16,410,780 Class C units outstanding.
Amendment of the Partnership Agreement
General
Amendments to our partnership agreement may be proposed only by or with the consent of our general partner. Our general partner, however, will have 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 under “—No Unitholder Approval” below, our general partner is required to seek written approval of the holders of the number of units required to approve the amendment or to call a meeting of the limited partners to consider and vote upon the proposed amendment. Except as described below, an amendment must be approved by a unit majority.
Prohibited Amendments
No amendment may be made that would:
| • | enlarge the obligations of any limited partner without its consent, unless approved by at least a majority of the type or class of limited partner interests so affected; or |
| • | enlarge the obligations of, restrict, change or modify 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 consent may be given or withheld at its option. |
The provisions of our partnership agreement preventing the amendments having the effects described in any of the clauses above can only 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 or assignee to reflect:
| • | a change in our name, the location of the principal place of our business, our registered agent or our registered office; |
| • | the admission, substitution, withdrawal or removal of partners in accordance with our partnership agreement; |
| • | a change that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate to qualify or continue our qualification as a limited partnership or a partnership in which the limited partners have limited liability under the laws of any state or to ensure that neither we nor any of our subsidiaries will be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxed as an entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes (to the extent not already treated as such); |
| • | a change in our fiscal year or taxable year and related changes; |
| • | an amendment that is necessary, in the opinion 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 Investment Company Act of 1940, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, or “plan asset” regulations adopted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), whether or not substantially similar to plan asset regulations currently applied or proposed; |
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| • | an amendment that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate in connection with the creation, authorization or issuance of any class or series of partnership interests or rights to acquire partnership interests; |
| • | any amendment expressly permitted in our partnership agreement to be made by our general partner acting alone; |
| • | an amendment effected, necessitated or contemplated by a merger agreement that has been approved under the terms of our partnership agreement; |
| • | any amendment that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate to reflect and account for the formation by us of, or our investment in, any corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company or other entity, as otherwise permitted by our partnership agreement; |
| • | an amendment that is necessary to require the limited partners to provide a statement, certification or other proof to us regarding whether such limited partner is subject to U.S. federal income taxation on the income generated by us; |
| • | conversions into, mergers with or conveyances to another limited liability entity that is newly formed and has no assets, liabilities or operations at the time of the conversion, merger or conveyance other than those it receives by way of the conversion, merger or conveyance; or |
| • | any other amendments substantially similar to any of the matters described in the clauses above. |
In addition, our general partner may make amendments to our partnership agreement without the approval of any limited partner or transferee in connection with a merger or consolidation approved in connection with our partnership agreement, or if our general partner determines that those amendments:
| • | do not adversely affect the limited partners (or any particular class of limited partners) in any material respect; |
| • | are necessary or appropriate to satisfy any requirements, conditions or guidelines contained in any opinion, directive, order, ruling or regulation of any federal or state agency or judicial authority or contained in any federal or state statute; |
| • | are necessary or appropriate to facilitate the trading of limited partner interests or to comply with any rule, regulation, guideline or requirement of any securities exchange on which the limited partner interests are or will be listed for trading; |
| • | are necessary or appropriate for any action taken by our general partner relating to splits or combinations of units under the provisions of our partnership agreement; or |
| • | are required to effect the intent expressed in the prospectus used in our initial public offering or the intent of the provisions of our partnership agreement or are otherwise contemplated by our partnership agreement. |
Opinion of Counsel and Unitholder Approval
Any amendment that would have a material adverse effect on the rights or preferences of any type or class of outstanding units in relation to other classes of units will require the approval of at least a majority of the type or class of units so affected. Any amendment that would reduce or increase the voting percentage required to take any action other than to remove our general partner or call a meeting of unitholders is required to be approved by the affirmative vote of limited partners whose aggregate outstanding units constitute not less than the voting requirement sought to be reduced or increased.
For amendments of the type not requiring unitholder approval, our general partner will not be required to obtain an opinion of counsel that an amendment will neither result in a loss of limited liability to the limited
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partners nor result in our being treated as a taxable entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes in connection with any of the amendments. No other amendments to our partnership agreement will become effective without the approval of holders of at least 90% of the outstanding units, voting as a single class, unless we first 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.
Merger, Consolidation, Conversion, Sale or Other Disposition of Assets
A merger or consolidation of us requires the prior consent of our general partner. However, our general partner has 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 our limited partners, including any duty to act in good faith or in the best interest of us or our limited partners. Our general partner may, however, consummate any merger without the prior approval of our unitholders if we are the surviving entity in the transaction, our general partner has received an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters, the transaction would not result in an amendment to our partnership agreement (other than an amendment that our general partner could adopt without the consent of other partners), each of our partnership interests will be an identical partnership interest following the transaction and the partnership interests to be issued do not exceed 20% of our outstanding partnership interests (other than IDRs) immediately prior to the transaction.
In addition, our partnership agreement generally prohibits our general partner, without the prior approval of the holders of a unit majority, from causing us to sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets in a single transaction or a series of related transactions, including by way of merger, consolidation or other combination. Our general partner may, however, mortgage, pledge, hypothecate or grant a security interest in all or substantially all of our assets without such approval. Our general partner may also sell all or substantially all of our assets under a foreclosure or other realization upon those encumbrances without such approval. If the conditions specified in our partnership agreement are satisfied, our general partner may also convert us or any of our subsidiaries into a new limited liability entity or merge us or any of our subsidiaries into, or convey all of our assets to, a newly formed limited liability entity that has no assets, liabilities or operations, if the sole purpose of that conversion, merger or conveyance is to effect a mere change in our legal form into another limited liability entity, our general partner has received an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters and the governing instruments of the new entity provide the limited partners and our general partner with substantially the same rights and obligations as those contained in our partnership agreement. Our unitholders are not entitled to dissenters’ rights of appraisal under our partnership agreement or applicable Delaware law in the event of a conversion, merger or consolidation, a sale of substantially all of our assets or any other similar transaction or event.
Dissolution
We will continue as a limited partnership until dissolved under our partnership agreement. We will dissolve upon:
| • | the election of our general partner to dissolve us, if approved by the holders of a unit majority; |
| • | there being no limited partners, unless we are continued without dissolution in accordance with applicable Delaware law; |
| • | the entry of a decree of judicial dissolution of our partnership pursuant to the provisions of the Delaware Act; or |
| • | 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 non-economic general partner interest in accordance with our partnership agreement or withdrawal or removal following approval and admission of a successor. |
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Upon a dissolution under the last clause above, the holders of a unit majority, may also elect, within specific time limitations, to reconstitute us and continue our business on the same terms and conditions described in our partnership agreement by appointing as successor general partner an entity approved by the holders of units representing a unit majority, subject to our receipt of an opinion of counsel to the effect that:
| • | the action would not result in the loss of limited liability under the Delaware Act of any limited partner; and |
| • | neither our partnership, the reconstituted limited partnership, our operating company nor any of our other subsidiaries would be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise be taxable as an entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes (to the extent not already so treated or taxed) upon the exercise of that right to continue. |
Liquidation and Distribution of Proceeds
Upon our dissolution, unless our business is continued, the liquidator authorized to wind up our affairs will, acting with all of the powers of our general partner that are necessary or appropriate to liquidate our assets and apply the proceeds of the liquidation as described in “Our Cash Distribution Policy—Distributions of Cash Upon Liquidation.” The liquidator may defer liquidation or distribution of our assets for a reasonable period of time or distribute assets to partners in kind if it determines that a sale would be impractical or would cause undue loss to our partners.
Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner
Our general partner may withdraw as general partner without first obtaining approval of any unitholder by giving 90 days’ advance 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 non-economic general partner interest in us without the approval of the 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 non-economic general partner interest in us, the holders of a unit majority may select a successor to that withdrawing general partner. If a successor is not elected, or is elected but an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters cannot be obtained, we will be dissolved, wound up and liquidated, unless within a specified period after that withdrawal, the holders of a unit majority agree in writing to continue our business and to appoint a successor general partner. Please read “—Dissolution.”
Our general partner may not be removed unless that removal is approved by the vote of the holders of not less than 66 2/3% of the outstanding units, voting together as a single class, including units held by our general partner and its affiliates, and we receive an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters. Any removal of our general partner is also subject to the approval of a successor general partner by the vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding common units, voting as separate classes. The ownership of more than 33 1/3% of the outstanding units by our general partner and its affiliates would give them the practical ability to prevent our general partner’s removal.
In the event of the removal of our general partner under circumstances where cause exists or withdrawal of our general partner where that withdrawal violates our partnership agreement, a successor general partner will have the option to purchase the general partner interest of the departing general partner and the IDRs of its affiliates for a cash payment equal to the fair market value of those interests. Under all other circumstances where our general partner withdraws or is removed by the limited partners, the departing general partner will have the option to require the successor general partner to purchase the general partner interest of the departing general partner and the IDRs of its affiliates for fair market value. In each case, this fair market value will be determined by agreement between the departing general partner and the successor general partner. If no
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agreement is reached within 30 days after the effective date of the departing general partner’s withdrawal or removal, an independent investment banking firm or other independent expert selected by the departing general partner and the successor general partner will determine the fair market value. If the departing general partner and the successor general partner cannot agree upon an expert within 45 days after the withdrawal or removal, then an expert chosen by agreement of the experts selected by each of them will determine the fair market value.
If the option described above is not exercised by either the departing general partner or the successor general partner, the departing general partner’s general partner interest and its IDRs will automatically convert into common units with a value 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, all employee-related liabilities, including severance liabilities, incurred for the termination of any employees employed by the departing general partner or its affiliates for our benefit.
Transfer of General Partner Interest
Our general partner may at its option transfer all or any part of its general partner interest without approval from the unitholders, so long as:
| • | the transferee agrees to assume the rights and duties of our general partner under our partnership agreement and agrees to be bound by the provisions of our partnership agreement; |
| • | we receive an opinion of counsel that such transfer would not result in the loss of limited liability under the Delaware Act of any unitholders or cause us to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise to be taxed as an entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes (to the extent not already so treated or taxed); and |
| • | such transferee also agrees to purchase all (or the appropriate portion thereof, if applicable) of the partnership or membership interest held by our general partner as the general partner or managing member, if any, of any of our subsidiaries. |
In the case of a transfer of the general partner interest, the transferee or successor will be subject to compliance with the terms of our partnership agreement and will be admitted as our general partner effective immediately prior to the transfer of the general partner interest.
Our general partner and its affiliates, including ET, may, at any time, transfer common units or IDRs to one or more persons, without unitholder approval.
Transfer of Ownership Interests in Our General Partner
At any time, the owner of our general partner, may sell or transfer all or part of its ownership interest in our general partner to an affiliate or third party without the approval of our unitholders.
Change of Management Provisions
Our partnership agreement contains specific provisions that are intended to discourage a person or group from attempting to remove Sunoco GP LLC as our general partner or from otherwise changing our management. Please read “—Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner” for a discussion of certain consequences of the removal of our general partner. If any person or group, other than our general partner and its affiliates, acquires beneficial ownership of 20% or more of any class of partnership interests, that person or group loses voting rights on all of such person’s or group’s partnership interests. This loss of voting rights does not apply in certain circumstances. Please read “—Meetings; Voting.”
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Limited Call Right
If at any time our general partner and its affiliates own more than 80% of the then-issued and outstanding limited partner interests of any class, our general partner will have the right, which it may assign in whole or in part to any of its affiliates or to us, to acquire all, but not less than all, of the limited partner interests of such class held by unaffiliated persons as of a record date to be selected by our general partner, on at least 10 but not more than 60 days’ notice. The purchase price in the event of such a purchase is the greater of:
| • | the highest cash price paid by either of our general partner or any of its affiliates for any limited partner interests of such class purchased within the 90 days preceding the date on which our general partner first mails notice of its election to purchase those limited partner interests; and |
| • | the average of the daily closing prices per limited partner interest of such class for the 20 consecutive trading days immediately preceding the date three days before the date the notice is mailed. |
As a result of our general partner’s right to purchase outstanding limited partner interests, a holder of limited partner interests may have his limited partner interests purchased at an undesirable time or price. The tax consequences to a unitholder of the exercise of this call right are the same as a sale by that unitholder of his common units in the market. Please read “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences—Disposition of Common Units.”
Non-Taxpaying Holders; Redemption
To avoid any adverse effect on the maximum applicable rates chargeable to customers by us or any of our future subsidiaries, or in order to reverse an adverse determination that has occurred regarding such maximum rate, our partnership agreement provides our general partner the power to amend the agreement. If our general partner, with the advice of counsel, determines that our not being treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxable as an entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes, coupled with the tax status (or lack of proof thereof) of one or more of our limited partners, has, or is reasonably likely to have, a material adverse effect on the maximum applicable rates chargeable to customers by our subsidiaries, then our general partner may adopt such amendments to our partnership agreement as it determines necessary or advisable to:
| • | obtain proof of the U.S. federal income tax status of our limited partners (and their owners, to the extent relevant); and |
| • | permit us to redeem the units held by any person whose tax status has or is reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the maximum applicable rates or who fails to comply with the procedures instituted by our general partner to obtain proof of the U.S. federal income tax status. The redemption price in the case of such a redemption will be the average of the daily closing prices per unit for the 20 consecutive trading days immediately prior to the date set for redemption. |
Non-Citizen Assignees; Redemption
If our general partner, with the advice of counsel, determines we are subject to U.S. federal, state or local laws or regulations that, in the reasonable determination of our general partner, create a substantial risk of cancellation or forfeiture of any property that we have an interest in because of the nationality, citizenship or other related status of any limited partner, then our general partner may adopt such amendments to our partnership agreement as it determines necessary or advisable to:
| • | obtain proof of the nationality, citizenship or other related status of our limited partners (and their owners, to the extent relevant); and |
| • | permit us to redeem the units held by any person whose nationality, citizenship or other related status creates substantial risk of cancellation or forfeiture of any property or who fails to comply with the procedures instituted by our general partner to obtain proof of the nationality, citizenship or other |
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| related status. The redemption price in the case of such a redemption will be the average of the daily closing prices per unit for the 20 consecutive trading days immediately prior to the date set for redemption. |
Meetings; Voting
Except as described below regarding certain persons or groups owning 20% or more of any class of partnership interests then outstanding and, except for Class C units, record holders of limited partner interests on the record date are entitled to notice of, and to vote at, meetings of our limited partners and to act upon matters for which approvals may be solicited.
Our general partner does not anticipate that any meeting of our unitholders will be called in the foreseeable future. Any action that is required or permitted to be taken by the unitholders may be taken either at a meeting of the 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 the unitholders may be called by our general partner or by unitholders owning at least 20% of the outstanding units of the class for which a meeting is proposed. Unitholders may vote either in person or by proxy at meetings. The holders of a majority of the outstanding units of the class or classes for which a meeting has been called, represented in person or by proxy, will constitute a quorum, unless any action by the unitholders requires approval by holders of a greater percentage of the units, in which case the quorum will be the greater percentage.
Each record holder of a unit has a vote according to his percentage interest in us (excluding Class C unitholders), although additional limited partner interests having special voting rights could be issued. Please read “—Issuance of Additional Partnership Interests.” However, if at any time any person or group, other than our general partner and its affiliates, a direct transferee of our general partner or its affiliates or a purchaser specifically approved by our general partner, acquires, in the aggregate, beneficial ownership of 20% or more of any class of partnership interests then outstanding, that person or group will lose voting rights on all of its partnership interests and the 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 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.
Any notice, demand, request, report or proxy material required or permitted to be given or made to record common unitholders under our partnership agreement will be delivered to the record holder by us or by the transfer agent.
Status as Limited Partner
By the transfer of common units in accordance with our partnership agreement, each transferee of common units shall be admitted as a limited partner with respect to the common units transferred when such transfer and admission is reflected in our books and records. Except as described under “— Limited Liability,” the common units will be fully paid, and unitholders will not be required to make additional contributions.
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 liabilities:
| • | our general partner; |
| • | any departing general partner; |
| • | any person who is or was an affiliate of our general partner or any departing general partner; |
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| • | any person who is or was a manager, managing member, general partner, director, officer, employee, agent, fiduciary or trustee of our partnership, our subsidiaries, our general partner, any departing general partner or any of their affiliates; |
| • | any person who is or was serving at the request of our general partner, any departing general partner or any of their affiliates as an officer, director, manager, managing member, general partner, employee, agent, fiduciary or trustee of another person owing a fiduciary duty to us or our subsidiaries; |
| • | any person who controls our general partner or any departing general partner; and |
| • | any person designated by our general partner. |
Any indemnification under these provisions will only be out of our assets. Unless our general partner otherwise agrees, it 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 may purchase insurance against liabilities asserted against and expenses incurred by persons for our activities, regardless of whether we would have the power to indemnify the person against such liabilities under our partnership agreement.
Reimbursement of Expenses
Our partnership agreement requires us to reimburse our general partner for all direct and indirect expenses it incurs or payments it makes on our behalf and all other expenses allocable to us or otherwise incurred by our general partner in connection with operating our business. These expenses will 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. Our partnership agreement does not limit the amount of expenses for which our general partner and its affiliates may be reimbursed.
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 financial reporting purposes, our fiscal year is the calendar year.
We furnish or make available to record holders of our units or other partnership interests, within 60 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 registered public accounting firm. Except for our fourth quarter, we also furnish or make available unaudited financial information within 40 days after the close of each quarter. We are deemed to have made any such report available if we file such report with the SEC on EDGAR or make the report available on a publicly available website which we maintain.
We furnish each record holder of a unit with information reasonably required for U.S. federal, state and local tax reporting purposes within 90 days after the close of each calendar year. This information is expected to be furnished in summary form so that some complex calculations normally required of partners can be avoided. Our ability to furnish this summary information to our unitholders depends on their cooperation in supplying us with specific information. Every unitholder will receive information to assist him in determining his U.S. federal and state tax liability and in filing his U.S. federal and state income tax returns, regardless of whether he supplies us with the necessary information.
Right to Inspect Our Books and Records
Our partnership agreement provides that a limited partner can, for a purpose reasonably related to his interest as a limited partner, upon reasonable written demand stating the purpose of such demand and at his own expense, have furnished to him:
| • | true and full information regarding the status of our business and financial condition (provided that obligation shall be satisfied to the extent the limited partner is furnished our most recent annual report |
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| and any subsequent quarterly or periodic reports required to be filed (or which would be required to be filed) with the SEC pursuant to Section 13 of the Exchange Act); |
| • | a current list of the name and last known address of each record holder; and |
| • | a copy of our partnership agreement, our certificate of limited partnership and all amendments thereto, together with copies of the executed copies of all powers of attorney under which they have been executed. |
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 is not in our best interests, could damage us or our business 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 Securities Act and applicable state securities laws any common units or other limited partner interests proposed to be sold by our general partner or any of its affiliates, including ET or its assignees, if an exemption from the registration requirements is not otherwise available. These registration rights continue for two years following any withdrawal or removal of our general partner. We are obligated to pay all expenses incidental to the registration, excluding underwriting discounts.
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INVESTMENT IN SUNOCO LP BY EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS
An investment in us by an employee benefit plan is subject to additional considerations because the investments of these plans are subject to the fiduciary responsibility and prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA, and restrictions imposed by Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Code”) if such plans are subject to Title I of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code or provisions under any state, local, non-U.S. or other laws or regulations similar to such provisions of ERISA or the Code (“Similar Laws”). As used herein, the term “employee benefit plan” or “plan” includes, but is not limited to, tax-qualified pension, profit-sharing and stock bonus plans, Keogh plans, simplified employee pension plans and tax deferred annuities or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”) established or maintained by an employer or employee organization, and entities whose underlying assets are considered to include “plan assets” of such plans, accounts and arrangements.
This summary is based on the provisions of ERISA and the Code (and related regulations and administrative and judicial interpretations) as of the date of this prospectus. This summary does not purport to be complete, and future legislation, court decisions, administrative regulations, rulings or pronouncements could significantly modify the requirements summarized below. Any of these changes may be retroactive and, therefore, may apply to transactions entered into prior to the date of their enactment or release.
General Fiduciary Matters
In considering an investment in our securities with any portion of the assets of an employee benefit plan, a fiduciary of the employee benefit plan should consider, among other things, whether the investment is in accordance with the applicable provisions of ERISA, the Code or any applicable Similar Law relating to the fiduciary’s duties to the employee benefit plan, including, without limitation:
| • | whether the investment is prudent under Section 404(a)(1)(B) of ERISA or applicable Similar Laws; |
| • | whether in making the investment, that plan will satisfy the diversification requirements of Section 404(a)(1)(C) of ERISA or applicable Similar Laws; |
| • | whether the investment is permitted under the terms of the applicable documents governing the plan; |
| • | whether making such investment will comply with the prohibited transaction provisions under Section 406 of ERISA, Section 4975 of the Code and applicable Similar Laws; |
| • | whether the plan will be considered to hold, as plan assets, (i) only the securities or (ii) an undivided interest in our underlying assets; and |
| • | whether the investment will result in recognition of unrelated business taxable income by the plan and, if so, the potential after-tax investment return. Please read “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences—Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Investors.” |
Prohibited Transaction Issues
Section 406 of ERISA and Section 4975 of the Code prohibit employee benefit plans from engaging in specified transactions involving plan assets with persons or entities who are “parties in interest,” within the meaning of ERISA, or “disqualified persons,” within the meaning of Section 4975 of the Code, unless an exemption is available. A party in interest or disqualified person who engages in a non-exempt prohibited transaction may be subject to excise taxes and other penalties and liabilities under ERISA and the Code. In addition, the fiduciary of the employee benefit plan that engages in such a non-exempt prohibited transaction may be subject to penalties and liabilities under ERISA and the Code. The acquisition and/or holding of the securities by an employee benefit plan with respect to which we or the initial purchasers are considered a party in interest or a disqualified person, may constitute or result in a direct or indirect prohibited transaction under Section 406 of ERISA and/or Section 4975 of the Code, unless the securities are acquired and held in accordance with an applicable statutory, class or individual prohibited transaction exemption.
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In this regard, the U.S. Department of Labor has issued prohibited transaction class exemptions, or PTCEs, that may apply to the acquisition and holding of common units. These class exemptions include, without limitation, PTCE 84-14 respecting transactions determined by independent qualified professional asset managers, PTCE 90-1 respecting insurance company pooled separate accounts, PTCE 91-38 respecting bank collective investment funds, PTCE 95-60 respecting life insurance company general accounts and PTCE 96-23 respecting transactions determined by in-house asset managers. In addition, the statutory service provider exemption provided by Section 408(b)(17) of ERISA and Section 4975(d)(20) of the Code, which exempts certain transactions between employee benefit plans and parties in interest or disqualified persons that are not fiduciaries with respect to the transaction, could apply. There can be no assurance that all of the conditions of any such exemptions will be satisfied.
Because of the foregoing, our securities should not be purchased or held by any person investing “plan assets” of any employee benefit plan, unless such purchase and holding (or conversion, if any) will not constitute a non-exempt prohibited transaction under ERISA or the Code or similar violation of any applicable Similar Laws.
Plan Assets
In addition to considering whether the purchase of securities is a prohibited transaction, a fiduciary of an employee benefit plan should consider whether the plan will, by investing in us, be deemed to own an undivided interest in our assets, with the result that our operations would be subject to the regulatory restrictions of ERISA, including its prohibited transaction rules, as well as the prohibited transaction rules of Section 4975 of the Code.
The U.S. Department of Labor final plan asset regulations, as subsequently modified by Section 3(42) of ERISA, provide guidance with respect to whether the assets of an entity in which employee benefit plans acquire equity interests would be deemed “plan assets” under some circumstances. Under these regulations, an entity’s assets would not be considered to be “plan assets” if, among other things:
(1) the equity interests acquired by employee benefit plans or other “benefit plan investors” (as defined in Section 3(42) of ERISA) are publicly offered securities—i.e., the equity interests are widely held by 100 or more investors independent of the issuer and each other, freely transferable and either registered under the federal securities laws or sold to the plan as part of a public offering under certain conditions;
(2) the entity is an “operating company”—i.e., it is primarily engaged in the production or sale of a product or service other than the investment of capital either directly or through a majority-owned subsidiary or subsidiaries; or
(3) there is no significant investment by benefit plan investors, which is defined to mean that less than 25% of the value of each class of equity interest is held by the employee benefit plans referred to above, and IRAs that are subject to ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code, and any entities whose underlying assets include “plan assets” by reason of a plan’s investments in the entity.
With respect to investment in the securities, while we believe our assets should not be considered “plan assets” under these regulations because it is expected that the investment will satisfy the requirements in (1) and (2) above, we cannot provide assurances regarding this issue to any investor.
Governmental plans (as defined in Section 3(32) of ERISA), non-U.S. plans (as defined in Section 4(b)(4) of ERISA) and certain church plans (as defined in Section 3(33) of ERISA), while not subject to the fiduciary responsibility provisions of ERISA or the provisions of Section 4975 of the Code, may nevertheless be subject to a Similar Law.
Due to the complexity of these rules and the excise taxes, penalties and liabilities that may be imposed upon persons involved in non-exempt prohibited transactions, it is particularly important that fiduciaries, or other
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persons considering acquiring and/or holding of our securities on behalf of, or with the assets of, any plan, consult with their counsel regarding the potential applicability of ERISA, Section 4975 of the Code and any Similar Laws to such investment and whether an exemption would be applicable to the acquisition and holding of such securities. Purchasers of our securities have the exclusive responsibility for ensuring that their acquisition and holding of such securities complies with the fiduciary responsibility rules of ERISA and does not violate the prohibited transaction rules of ERISA, the Code or applicable Similar Laws. The sale of our securities to a plan is in no respect a representation by us or any of our affiliates or representatives that such an investment meets all relevant legal requirements with respect to investments by any such plan or that such investment is appropriate for any such plan.
Representation
By purchase or acceptance of the securities, each purchaser and subsequent transferee of the securities will be deemed to have represented and warranted that either (i) no portion of the assets used by such purchaser or transferee to acquire and hold the securities constitutes assets of any employee benefit plan or (ii) the purchase and holding (and any conversion, if applicable) of the securities by such purchaser or transferee will not constitute a non-exempt prohibited transaction under Section 406 of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code or similar violation under any applicable Similar Laws.
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MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES
This section summarizes the material U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be relevant to prospective common unitholders and is based upon current provisions of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), existing and proposed U.S. Treasury regulations thereunder (the “Treasury Regulations”), and current administrative rulings and court decisions, all of which are subject to change. Changes in these authorities may cause the U.S. federal income tax consequences to a prospective common unitholder to vary substantially from those described below, possibly on a retroactive basis. A description of the material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the acquisition, ownership and disposition of the preferred units and the debt securities will be set forth in a prospectus supplement relating to the offering of such units or securities. Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this section to “we,” “us” or “the Partnership” are references to Sunoco LP and its subsidiaries.
Legal conclusions contained in this section, unless otherwise noted, are the opinion of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. insofar as they relate to matters of U.S. federal income tax law and are based on the accuracy of representations made by us to them for this purpose. However, this section does not address all U.S. federal income tax matters that may affect us or our unitholders, such as the application of the alternative minimum tax that may be applicable to certain unitholders. This section also does not address local taxes, state taxes, non-U.S. taxes, or other taxes that may be applicable, except to the limited extent that such tax considerations are addressed below under “—State, Local and Other Tax Considerations.” Furthermore, this section focuses on common unitholders who (i) are individual citizens or residents of the United States (for U.S. federal income tax purposes), (ii) have the U.S. dollar as their functional currency, (iii) use the calendar year as their taxable year, (iv) purchase common units in this offering, (v) do not materially participate in the conduct of our business activities and (vi) hold such common units as capital assets (typically, property that is held for investment). This section has limited applicability to corporations (including other entities treated as corporations for U.S. federal income tax purposes), partnerships (including other entities treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes), estates, trusts, non-resident aliens or other unitholders subject to specialized tax treatment, such as tax-exempt entities, non-U.S. persons, individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”), employee benefit plans, real estate investment trusts or mutual funds.
Accordingly, we encourage each prospective common unitholder to consult the unitholder’s own tax advisor in analyzing the federal, state, local and non-U.S. tax consequences that are particular to that unitholder resulting from ownership or disposition of our common units and potential changes in applicable tax laws.
We are relying on the opinions and advice of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. with respect to the matters described herein. An opinion of counsel represents only that counsel’s best legal judgment and does not bind the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) or a court. Accordingly, the opinions and statements made herein may not be sustained by a court if contested by the IRS. Any such contest of the matters described herein may materially and adversely impact the market for our common units and the prices at which our common units trade. In addition, our costs of any contest with the IRS will be borne indirectly by our common unitholders and ET because the costs will reduce our cash available for distribution. Furthermore, the tax consequences of an investment in us may be significantly modified by future legislative or administrative changes or court decisions, which may be retroactively applied.
For the reasons described below, Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. has not rendered an opinion with respect to the following U.S. federal income tax issues:
| • | the treatment of a unitholder whose common units are the subject of a securities loan (e.g., a loan to a short seller to cover a short sale of common units) (please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Treatment of Securities Loans”); |
| • | whether our monthly convention for allocating taxable income and losses is permitted by existing Treasury Regulations (please read “—Disposition of Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees”); |
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| • | whether our method for taking into account Section 743 adjustments is sustainable in certain cases (please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election” and “—Uniformity of Units”); |
| • | whether our use of simplifying conventions for making adjustments to “book” basis and relevant allocations is permitted by existing Treasury Regulations (please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction” and “—Uniformity of Units”); and |
| • | whether our allocations of income, gain, loss and deduction will be given effect for U.S. federal income tax purposes (please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction”). |
Taxation of the Partnership
Partnership Status
We expect to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, therefore, subject to the discussion below under ”—Administrative Matters—Information Returns and Audit Procedures,” generally will not be liable for entity-level U.S. federal income taxes. Instead, as described below, each of our common unitholders will take into account its respective share of our items of income, gain, loss and deduction in computing its U.S. federal income tax liability as if the common unitholder had earned such income directly, even if we make no cash distributions to the common unitholder. Distributions we make to a common unitholder will not give rise to income or gain taxable to such unitholder, unless the amount of cash or marketable securities treated as cash distributed exceeds the unitholder’s adjusted tax basis in its common units. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Treatment of Distributions” and “—Disposition of Units”).
Section 7704 of the Code generally provides that publicly-traded partnerships will be treated as corporations for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, if 90% or more of a partnership’s gross income for every taxable year it is publicly-traded consists of “qualifying income,” the partnership may continue to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes (the “Qualifying Income Exception”). Qualifying income includes (i) interest, (ii) dividends, (iii) real property rents within the meaning of Section 856(d) of the Code, as modified by Section 7704(d)(3) of the Code, (iv) gains from the sale or other disposition of real property, (v) income and gains derived from the exploration, development, mining, or production, processing, refining, transportation (including pipelines transporting gas, oil, or products thereof) or the marketing of any “mineral or natural resource” and (vi) gains from the sale or other disposition of capital assets (or property described in Section 1231(b) of the Code) held for the production of income that otherwise constitutes qualifying income. We estimate that less than 5% of our current gross income is not qualifying income; however, this estimate could change from time to time.
No ruling has been or will be sought from the IRS with respect to our classification as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes or as to the classification of our partnership and limited liability company operating subsidiaries. Instead we have relied on the opinion of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. that, based upon the Code, existing Treasury Regulations, published revenue rulings and court decisions and representations described below, the Partnership and each of our partnership and limited liability company operating subsidiaries, other than those that have been identified as corporations to Vinson & Elkins L.L.P., will be classified as a partnerships or disregarded as an entity separate from us for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
In rendering its opinion, Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. has relied on the factual representations made by us and our general partner, including, without limitation:
(a) Neither we nor any of our partnership or limited liability company operating subsidiaries, other than those that have been identified as corporations to Vinson & Elkins L.L.P., has elected or will elect to be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes;
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(b) For each taxable year since and including the year of our initial public offering, more than 90% of our gross income has been and will be income of a character that Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. has opined is “qualifying income” within the meaning of Section 7704(d) of the Code; and
(c) Each hedging transaction that we treat as resulting in qualifying income has been and will be appropriately identified as a hedging transaction pursuant to applicable Treasury Regulations, and has been and will be associated with oil, natural gas or products thereof that are held or to be held by us in activities that Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. has opined or will opine result in qualifying income.
We believe that these representations are true and will be true in the future.
If we fail to meet the Qualifying Income Exception, other than a failure that is determined by the IRS to be inadvertent and that is cured within a reasonable time after discovery (in which case the IRS may also require us to make adjustments with respect to our common unitholders or pay other amounts), we will be treated as transferring all of our assets, subject to all of our liabilities, to a newly formed corporation, on the first day of the year in which we fail to meet the Qualifying Income Exception in return for stock in that corporation and then as distributing that stock to our unitholders in liquidation of their interests in us. This deemed contribution and liquidation should not result in the recognition of taxable income (i) to us (which would be allocated to our unitholders) so long as the aggregate amount of our liabilities does not exceed the adjusted tax basis of our assets or (ii) by our unitholders so long as their respective shares of our liabilities do not exceed their adjusted tax basis in their units. Thereafter, we would be treated as an association taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
The present U.S. federal income tax treatment of publicly traded partnerships, including us, or an investment in our common units may be modified by administrative or legislative action or judicial interpretation at any time. From time to time, members of the U.S. Congress and certain presidential administrations have proposed and considered substantive changes to the existing U.S. federal income tax laws that would affect publicly-traded partnerships. Recent proposals have provided for the expansion of the Qualifying Income Exception in certain circumstances and other proposals have provided for the total elimination of the Qualifying Income Exception upon which we rely for our treatment as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
It is possible that a change in law could affect us and may be applied retroactively. Any such changes could negatively impact the value of an investment in our common units. If for any reason we are taxable as a corporation in any taxable year, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction would be taken into account by us in determining the amount of our liability for U.S. federal income tax, rather than being passed through to our common unitholders.
At the state level, several states have been evaluating ways to subject partnerships to entity-level taxation through the imposition of state income, franchise, or other forms of taxation. Imposition of a similar tax on us in the jurisdictions in which we operate or in other jurisdictions to which we may expand could substantially reduce our cash available for distribution to our unitholders.
If for any reason we are taxable as a corporation in any taxable year, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction would be taken into account by us in determining the amount of our liability for U.S. federal income tax, rather than being passed through to our unitholders. Our taxation as a corporation would materially reduce the cash available for distribution to unitholders and thus would likely substantially reduce the value of our common units. Any distribution made to a unitholder at a time when we are treated as a corporation would be (i) a taxable dividend to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits, then (ii) a nontaxable return of capital to the extent of the unitholder’s adjusted tax basis in its units (determined separately for each unit), and thereafter (iii) taxable capital gain.
The remainder of this discussion is based on the opinion of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. that we will be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
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Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership
Limited Partner Status
Common unitholders who are admitted as limited partners of Sunoco LP will be treated as partners of Sunoco LP for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In addition, unitholders whose common units are held in street name or by a nominee and who have the right to direct the nominee in the exercise of all substantive rights attendant to the ownership of their common units will be treated as partners of Sunoco LP for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
For a discussion related to the risks of losing partner status as a result of securities loans, please read “—Treatment of Securities Loans.”
Common unitholders who are not treated as partners in us as described above are urged to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the tax consequences applicable to them under their particular circumstances.
Flow-Through of Taxable Income
Subject to the discussion below under “—Entity-Level Collections of Unitholder Taxes” and “—Administrative Matters—Information Returns and Audit Procedures,” and assuming our general partner does not make an election for us to be taxed as a corporation as a result of a change in tax law, with respect to payments we may be required to make on behalf of our unitholders, we will not pay any U.S. federal income tax. Rather, each common unitholder will be required to report on its U.S. federal income tax return each year its share of our income, gains, losses and deductions for our taxable year or years ending with or within its taxable year. Consequently, we may allocate income to a common unitholder even if that common unitholder has not received a cash distribution.
Basis of Units
A unitholder’s tax basis in its common units initially will be the amount paid or treated as paid for those units increased by the common unitholder’s initial allocable share of our liabilities. That basis generally will be (i) increased by the common unitholder’s share of our income and any increases in such unitholder’s share of our liabilities, and (ii) decreased, but not below zero, by the amount of all distributions to the common unitholder, the common unitholder’s share of our losses, any decreases in its share of our liabilities, and the amount of any excess business interest allocated to the common unitholder. The IRS has ruled that a partner who acquires interests in a partnership in separate transactions must combine those interests and maintain a single adjusted tax basis for all of those interests.
Treatment of Distributions
Distributions made by us to a common unitholder generally will not be taxable to the common unitholder, unless such distributions are of cash or marketable securities that are treated as cash and exceed the common unitholder’s tax basis in its common units, in which case the common unitholder generally will recognize gain taxable in the manner described below under “—Disposition of Units.”
Any reduction in a common unitholder’s share of our “nonrecourse liabilities” (liabilities for which no partner bears the economic risk of loss) will be treated as a distribution by us of cash to that common unitholder. A decrease in a common unitholder’s percentage interest in us because of our issuance of additional common units may decrease such common unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities. For purposes of the foregoing, a common unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities generally will be based upon such unitholder’s share of the unrealized appreciation (or depreciation) in our assets, to the extent thereof, with any excess nonrecourse liabilities allocated based on the common unitholder’s share of our profits. Please read “—Disposition of Units.”
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A non-pro rata distribution of money or property (including a deemed distribution as a result of the reallocation of our nonrecourse liabilities described above) may cause a common unitholder to recognize ordinary income if the distribution reduces the common unitholder’s share of our “unrealized receivables,” including depreciation recapture and substantially appreciated “inventory items,” both as defined in Section 751 of the Code (“Section 751 Assets”). To the extent of such reduction, the common unitholder would be deemed to receive its proportionate share of the Section 751 Assets and exchange such assets with us in return for a portion of the non-pro rata distribution. This deemed exchange will generally result in the common unitholder’s recognition of ordinary income in an amount equal to the excess of (1) the non-pro rata portion of that distribution over (2) the common unitholder’s tax basis (typically zero) in the Section 751 Assets deemed to be relinquished in the exchange.
Limitations on Deductibility of Losses
A common unitholder may not be entitled to deduct the full amount of loss we allocate to it because its share of our losses will be limited to the lesser of (i) the common unitholder’s adjusted tax basis in its common units, and (ii) in the case of a common unitholder that is an individual, estate, trust or certain types of closely-held corporations, the amount for which the common unitholder is considered to be “at risk” with respect to our activities. A common unitholder will be at risk to the extent of its adjusted tax basis in its common units, reduced by (1) any portion of that basis attributable to the common unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities, (2) any portion of that basis representing amounts otherwise protected against loss because of a guarantee, stop loss agreement or similar arrangement, and (3) any amount of money the common unitholder borrows to acquire or hold its common units, if the lender of those borrowed funds owns an interest in us, is related to another common unitholder or can look only to the common units for repayment. A common unitholder subject to the at risk limitation must recapture losses deducted in previous years to the extent that distributions (including distributions deemed to result from a reduction in a common unitholder’s share of nonrecourse liabilities) cause the common unitholder’s at risk amount to be less than zero at the end of any taxable year.
Losses disallowed to a common unitholder or recaptured as a result of the basis or at risk limitations will carry forward and will be allowable as a deduction in a later year to the extent that the common unitholder’s adjusted tax basis or at risk amount, whichever is the limiting factor, is subsequently increased. Upon a taxable disposition of our common units, any gain recognized by a common unitholder can be offset by losses that were previously suspended by the at risk limitation but not losses suspended by the basis limitation. Any loss previously suspended by the at risk limitation in excess of that gain can no longer be used, and will not be available to offset a common unitholder’s salary or active business income.
In addition to the basis and at risk limitations, passive activity loss limitations limit the deductibility of losses incurred by individuals, estates, trusts, some closely-held corporations and personal service corporations from “passive activities” (generally, trade or business activities in which the taxpayer does not materially participate). The passive loss limitations are applied separately with respect to each publicly-traded partnership. Consequently, any passive losses we generate will be available to offset only passive income generated by us in the future and will not be available to offset income from other passive activities or investments, including any dividend or interest income a unitholder derives from its other investments (including investments in other publicly traded partnerships), or salary or active business income. Passive losses that exceed a common unitholder’s share of the passive income we generate may be deducted in full when a common unitholder disposes of all of its common units in a fully taxable transaction with an unrelated party. The passive activity loss rules are applied after other applicable limitations on deductions, including the at risk and basis limitations.
For taxpayers other than corporations in taxable years beginning before January 1, 2029, an “excess business loss” limitation further limits the deductibility of losses by such taxpayers. An excess business loss is the excess (if any) of a taxpayer’s aggregate deductions for the taxable year that are attributable to the trades or businesses of such taxpayer (determined without regard to the excess business loss limitation) over the aggregate gross income or gain of such taxpayer for the taxable year that is attributable to such trades or businesses plus a
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threshold amount. The threshold amount for 2024 is equal to $305,000 or $610,000 (increased annually by the applicable inflation adjustment) for taxpayers filing a joint return. Disallowed excess business losses are treated as a net operating loss carryover to the following tax year. Any losses we generate that are allocated to a common unitholder and not otherwise limited by the basis, at risk, or passive loss limitations will be included in the determination of such common unitholder’s aggregate trade or business deductions. Consequently, any losses we generate that are not otherwise limited will only be available to offset a common unitholder’s other trade or business income plus an amount of non-trade or business income equal to the applicable threshold amount. Thus, except to the extent of the threshold amount, our losses that are not otherwise limited may not offset a common unitholder’s non-trade or business income (such as salaries, fees, interest, dividends and capital gains). This excess business loss limitation will be applied after the passive activity loss limitation.
Limitations on Interest Deductions
In general, we are entitled to a deduction for interest paid or accrued on indebtedness properly allocable to our trade or business during our taxable year. However, our deduction for this “business interest” is limited to the sum of our business interest income and 30% of our “adjusted taxable income.” For the purposes of this limitation, our adjusted taxable income is computed without regard to any business interest or business interest income. This limitation is first applied at the partnership level and any deduction for business interest is taken into account in determining our non-separately stated taxable income or loss. Then, in applying this business interest limitation at the partner level, the adjusted taxable income of each of our common unitholders is determined without regard to such unitholder’s distributive share of any of our items of income, gain, deduction, or loss and is increased by such unitholder’s distributive share of our excess taxable income, which is generally equal to the excess of 30% of our adjusted taxable income over the amount of our deduction for business interest for a taxable year.
To the extent our deduction for business interest is not limited, we will allocate the full amount of our deduction for business interest among our common unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us. To the extent our deduction for business interest is limited, the amount of any disallowed deduction for business interest will also be allocated to each common unitholder in accordance with their percentage interest in us, but such amount of “excess business interest” will not be currently deductible. Subject to certain limitations and adjustments to a common unitholder’s basis in its common units, this excess business interest may be carried forward and deducted by a common unitholder in a future taxable year. Further, a common unitholder’s basis in his or her common units will generally be increased by the amount of any excess business interest upon a disposition of such common units.
In addition to this limitation on the deductibility of a partnership’s business interest, the deductibility of a non-corporate taxpayer’s “investment interest expense” is generally limited to the amount of that taxpayer’s “net investment income.” Investment interest expense includes:
| • | interest on indebtedness allocable to property held for investment; |
| • | interest expense allocated against portfolio income; and |
| • | the portion of interest expense incurred to purchase or carry an interest in a passive activity to the extent allocable against portfolio income. |
The computation of a common unitholder’s investment interest expense will take into account interest on any margin account borrowing or other loan incurred to purchase or carry a common unit. Net investment income includes gross income from property held for investment and amounts treated as portfolio income under the passive loss rules, less deductible expenses, other than interest, directly connected with the production of investment income. Net investment income does not include qualified dividend income (if applicable) or gains attributable to the disposition of property held for investment. A common unitholder’s share of a publicly-traded partnership’s portfolio income and, according to the IRS, net passive income will be treated as investment income for purposes of the investment interest expense limitation.
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Entity-Level Collections of Unitholder Taxes
If we are required or elect under applicable law to pay any federal, state, local or non-U.S. tax on behalf of any current or former unitholder or our ET, our partnership agreement authorizes us to treat the payment as a distribution of cash to the relevant unitholder or ET. Where the tax is payable on behalf of all common unitholders or we cannot determine the specific common unitholder on whose behalf the tax is payable, our partnership agreement authorizes us to treat the payment as a distribution to all current common unitholders. Payments by us as described above could give rise to an overpayment of tax on behalf of a common unitholder, in which event the common unitholder may be entitled to claim a refund of the overpayment amount. Please read “—Administrative Matters—Information Returns and Audit Procedures.” Each common unitholder is urged to consult its tax advisor to determine the consequences to them of any tax payment we make on its behalf.
Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction
Except as described below, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction will be allocated among our common unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us. At any time that incentive distributions are made to our ET, gross income will be allocated to ET to the extent of these distributions.
Specified items of our income, gain, loss and deduction will be allocated under Section 704(c) of the Code (or the principles of Section 704(c) of the Code) to account for any difference between the adjusted tax basis and fair market value of our assets at the time such assets are contributed to us and at the time of any subsequent offering of our common units (a ”Book-Tax Disparity”). As a result, the U.S. federal income tax burden associated with any Book-Tax Disparity immediately prior to an offering will be borne by our partners holding interests in us prior to such offering. In addition, items of recapture income will be specially allocated to the extent possible (subject to the limitations described above) to the common unitholder who was allocated the deduction giving rise to that recapture income in order to minimize the recognition of ordinary income by other common unitholders.
It may not be administratively feasible to make the relevant adjustment to “book” basis and the relevant Section 704(c) allocations separately each time we issue units, particularly in the case of small or frequent unit issuances. If that is the case, we may use simplifying conventions to make those adjustments and allocations, which may include the aggregation of certain issuances of units. Our counsel, Vinson & Elkins L.L.P., is unable to opine as to the validity of such conventions.
An allocation of items of our income, gain, loss or deduction, other than an allocation required by the Code to eliminate a Book-Tax Disparity, will be given effect for U.S. federal income tax purposes in determining a common unitholder’s share of an item of income, gain, loss or deduction only if the allocation has “substantial economic effect.” In any other case, a common unitholder’s share of an item will be determined on the basis of the common unitholder’s interest in us, which will be determined by taking into account all the facts and circumstances, including (i) the common unitholder’s relative contributions to us, (ii) the interests of all the partners in profits and losses, (iii) the interest of all the partners in cash flow and (iv) the rights of all the partners to distributions of capital upon liquidation. Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. is of the opinion that, with the exception of the issues described in “—Section 754 Election” and “—Disposition of Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees,” allocations of income, gain, loss or deduction under our partnership agreement will be given effect for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Treatment of Securities Loans
A unitholder whose common units are the subject of a securities loan (for example, a loan to a “short seller” to cover a short sale of common units) may be treated as having disposed of those common units. If so, such unitholder would no longer be treated for tax purposes as a partner with respect to those common units during the period of the loan and may recognize gain or loss as a result of such deemed disposition. As a result, during this
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period (i) any of our income, gain, loss or deduction allocated to those common units would not be reportable by the lending common unitholder, and (ii) any cash distributions received by the lending common unitholder as to those common units may be treated as ordinary taxable income.
Due to a lack of controlling authority, Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. has not rendered an opinion regarding the tax treatment of a unitholder that enters into a securities loan with respect to its common units. A unitholder desiring to assure its status as a partner and avoid the risk of income recognition from a loan of its common units is urged to modify any applicable brokerage account agreements to prohibit its brokers from borrowing and lending its common units. The IRS has announced that it is studying issues relating to the tax treatment of short sales of partnership interests. Please read “—Disposition of Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss.”
Tax Rates
Under current law, the highest marginal U.S. federal income tax rates for individuals applicable to ordinary income and long-term capital gains (generally, gains from the sale or exchange of certain investment assets held for more than one year) are 37% and 20%, respectively. These rates are subject to change by new legislation at any time.
In addition, a 3.8% net investment income tax applies to certain net investment income earned by individuals, estates, and trusts. For these purposes, net investment income generally includes a common unitholder’s allocable share of our income and gain realized by a such unitholder from a sale of such units (without taking into account the 20% deduction discussed below). In the case of an individual, the tax will be imposed on the lesser of (i) the unitholder’s net investment income from all investments, or (ii) the amount by which the unitholder’s modified adjusted gross income exceeds $250,000 (if the unitholder is married and filing jointly or a surviving spouse), $125,000 (if the unitholder is married and filing separately) or $200,000 (if the unitholder is unmarried or in any other case). In the case of an estate or trust, the tax will be imposed on the lesser of (i) undistributed net investment income, or (ii) the excess adjusted gross income over the dollar amount at which the highest income tax bracket applicable to an estate or trust begins.
For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and ending on or before December 31, 2025, subject to certain limitations, an individual common unitholder is entitled to a deduction equal to 20% of his or her allocable share of our “qualified business income.” For purposes of this deduction, our “qualified business income” is equal to the sum of:
| • | the net amount of our U.S. items of income, gain, deduction, and loss to the extent such items are included or allowed in the determination of taxable income for the year, excluding, however, certain specified types of passive investment income (such as capital gains and dividends) and certain payments made to the unitholder for services rendered to the Partnership; and |
| • | any gain recognized upon a disposition of our common units to the extent such gain is attributable to Section 751 Assets, such as depreciation recapture and our “inventory items,” and is thus treated as ordinary income under Section 751 of the Code. |
Section 754 Election
We have made the election permitted by Section 754 of the Code that permits us to adjust the tax basis in each of our assets as to specific purchasers of our common units under Section 743(b) of the Code to reflect the common unit purchase price upon subsequent purchases of units. That election is irrevocable without the consent of the IRS. The Section 743(b) adjustment separately applies to a common unitholder who purchases common units from or exchanges common units with another common unitholder based upon the values and adjusted tax basis of each of our assets at the time of the relevant common unit purchase, and the adjustment will reflect the purchase price paid. The Section 743(b) adjustment does not apply to a person who purchases common units directly from us. For purposes of this discussion, a common unitholder’s basis in our assets will be considered to
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have two components: (1) its share of the tax basis in our assets as to all common unitholders and (2) its Section 743(b) adjustment to that tax basis (which may be positive or negative).
Under our partnership agreement, we are authorized to take a position to preserve the uniformity of common units even if that position is not consistent with applicable Treasury Regulations. A literal application of Treasury Regulations governing a Section 743(b) adjustment attributable to properties depreciable under Section 167 of the Code may give rise to differences in the taxation of common unitholders purchasing common units from us and common unitholders purchasing from other common unitholders. If we have any such properties, we intend to adopt methods employed by other publicly traded partnerships to preserve the uniformity of common units, even if inconsistent with existing Treasury Regulations, and Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. has not opined on the validity of this approach. Please read “—Uniformity of Units.”
The IRS may challenge the positions we adopt with respect to depreciating or amortizing the Section 743(b) adjustment to preserve the uniformity of common units due to the lack of controlling authority. Because a common unitholder’s adjusted tax basis for its common units is reduced by its share of our items of deduction or loss, any position we take that understates deductions will overstate a unitholder’s tax basis in its common units, and may cause the common unitholder to understate gain or overstate loss on any sale of such common units. Please read “—Disposition of Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss.” If a challenge to such treatment were sustained, the gain from the sale of common units may be increased without the benefit of additional deductions.
The calculations involved in the Section 754 election are complex and are made on the basis of assumptions as to the value of our assets and other matters. The IRS could seek to reallocate some or all of any Section 743(b) adjustment we allocated to our assets subject to depreciation to goodwill or non-depreciable assets. Goodwill, as an intangible asset, is generally amortizable over a longer period of time or under a less accelerated method than our tangible assets. We cannot assure any common unitholder that the determinations we make will not be successfully challenged by the IRS or that the resulting deductions will not be reduced or disallowed altogether. Should the IRS require a different tax basis adjustment to be made, and should, in our opinion, the expense of compliance exceed the benefit of the election, we may seek permission from the IRS to revoke our Section 754 election. If permission is granted, a subsequent purchaser of common units may be allocated more income than it would have been allocated had the election not been revoked.
Tax Treatment of Operations
Accounting Method and Taxable Year
We use the year ending December 31 as our taxable year and the accrual method of accounting for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Each common unitholder will be required to include in its tax return its share of our income, gain, loss and deduction for each taxable year ending within or with its taxable year. In addition, a common unitholder who has a taxable year ending on a date other than December 31 and who disposes of all of its common units following the close of our taxable year but before the close of its taxable year must include its share of our income, gain, loss and deduction in income for its taxable year, with the result that it will be required to include in income for its taxable year its share of more than twelve months of our income, gain, loss and deduction. Please read “—Disposition of Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees.”
Tax Basis, Depreciation and Amortization
The tax basis of each of our assets will be used for purposes of computing depreciation and cost recovery deductions and, ultimately, gain or loss on the disposition of these assets. If we dispose of depreciable property by sale, foreclosure or otherwise, all or a portion of any gain, determined by reference to the amount of depreciation deductions previously taken, may be subject to the recapture rules and taxed as ordinary income rather than capital gain. Similarly, a unitholder who has taken cost recovery or depreciation deductions with respect to property we own will likely be required to recapture some or all of those deductions as ordinary income upon a sale of its interest in us. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction” and “—Disposition of Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss.”
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The costs we incur in offering and selling our units (collectively, “syndication expenses”) must be capitalized and cannot be deducted currently, ratably or upon our termination. While there are uncertainties regarding the classification of certain costs as organization expenses, which may be amortized by us, and as syndication expenses, which may not be amortized by us, the underwriting discounts and commissions we incur will be treated as syndication expenses. Please read “Disposition of Units – Recognition of Gain or Loss.”
We are allowed a first-year bonus depreciation deduction equal to 60% of the adjusted basis of certain depreciable property acquired and placed in service in 2024. For property placed in service during subsequent years, the deduction is phased down by 20% per year until December 31, 2026. This depreciation deduction applies to both new and used property. However, use of the deduction with respect to used property is subject to certain anti-abuse restrictions, including the requirement that the property be acquired from an unrelated party. We can elect to forgo the depreciation bonus and use the alternative depreciation system for any class of property for a taxable year.
Valuation and Tax Basis of Each of Our Properties
The U.S. federal income tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of common units will depend in part on our estimates of the relative fair market values and the tax basis of each of our assets. Although we may from time to time consult with professional appraisers regarding valuation matters, we will make many of the relative fair market value estimates ourselves. These estimates and determinations of tax basis are subject to challenge and will not be binding on the IRS or the courts. If the estimates of fair market value or tax basis are later found to be incorrect, the character and amount of items of income, gain, loss or deduction previously reported by a common unitholder could change, and such common unitholder could be required to adjust its tax liability for prior years and incur interest and penalties with respect to those adjustments.
Disposition of Units
Recognition of Gain or Loss
A unitholder will be required to recognize gain or loss on a sale or exchange of a common unit equal to the difference, if any, between the unitholder’s amount realized and the adjusted tax basis in the common unit sold (taking into account any basis adjustments attributable to previously disallowed interest deductions). A unitholder’s amount realized generally will equal the sum of the cash and the fair market value of other property it receives plus its share of our nonrecourse liabilities with respect to the common unit sold or exchanged. Because the amount realized includes a common unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities, the gain recognized on the sale or exchange of a common unit could result in a tax liability in excess of any cash received from such sale or exchange.
Except as noted below, gain or loss recognized by a unitholder on the sale or exchange of a common unit held for more than one year generally will be taxable as long-term capital gain or loss. However, gain or loss recognized on the disposition of common units will be separately computed and taxed as ordinary income or loss under Section 751 of the Code to the extent attributable to Section 751 Assets, such as depreciation recapture and our “inventory items,” regardless of whether such inventory item has substantially appreciated in value. Ordinary income attributable to Section 751 Assets may exceed net taxable gain realized on the sale or exchange of a common unit and may be recognized even if there is a net taxable loss realized on the sale or exchange of a common unit. Thus, a common unitholder may recognize both ordinary income and capital gain or loss upon a sale or exchange of a common unit. Net capital loss may offset capital gains and, in the case of individuals, up to $3,000 of ordinary income per year.
For purposes of calculating gain or loss on the sale or exchange of a common unit, the common unitholder’s adjusted tax basis will be adjusted by its allocable share of our income or loss in respect of its common unit for the year of the sale. Furthermore, as described above, the IRS has ruled that a partner who acquires interests in a
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partnership in separate transactions must combine those interests and maintain a single adjusted tax basis for all those interests. Upon a sale or other disposition of less than all of those interests, a portion of that tax basis must be allocated to the interests sold using an “equitable apportionment” method, which generally means that the tax basis allocated to the interest sold equals an amount that bears the same relation to the partner’s tax basis in its entire interest in the partnership as the value of the interest sold bears to the value of the partner’s entire interest in the partnership.
Treasury Regulations under Section 1223 of the Code allow a selling unitholder who can identify common units transferred with an ascertainable holding period to elect to use the actual holding period of such units transferred. Thus, according to the ruling discussed in the paragraph above, a unitholder will be unable to select high or low basis common units to sell or exchange as would be the case with corporate stock, but, according to the Treasury Regulations, such unitholder may designate specific common units sold for purposes of determining the holding period of the common units transferred. A unitholder electing to use the actual holding period of any common unit transferred must consistently use that identification method for all subsequent sales or exchanges of our common units. A unitholder considering the purchase of additional common units or a sale or exchange of units purchased in separate transactions is urged to consult its tax advisor as to the possible consequences of this ruling and application of the Treasury Regulations.
Specific provisions of the Code affect the taxation of some financial products and securities, including partnership interests, by treating a taxpayer as having sold an “appreciated” financial position, including a partnership interest with respect to which gain would be recognized if it were sold, assigned or terminated at its fair market value, in the event the taxpayer or a related person enters into:
| • | a short sale; |
| • | an offsetting notional principal contract; or |
| • | a futures or forward contract with respect to the partnership interest or substantially identical property. |
Moreover, if a taxpayer has previously entered into a short sale, an offsetting notional principal contract or a futures or forward contract with respect to the partnership interest, the taxpayer will be treated as having sold that position if the taxpayer or a related person then acquires the partnership interest or substantially identical property. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to issue Treasury Regulations that treat a taxpayer that enters into transactions or positions that have substantially the same effect as the preceding transactions as having constructively sold the financial position. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Treatment of Securities Loans.”
Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees
In general, our taxable income or loss will be determined annually, will be prorated on a monthly basis and will be subsequently apportioned among the common unitholders in proportion to the number of common units owned by each of them as of the opening of the applicable exchange on the first business day of the month (the “Allocation Date”). Nevertheless, we allocate certain deductions for depreciation of capital additions based upon the date the underlying property is placed in service, and gain or loss realized on a sale or other disposition of our assets or, in the discretion of the general partner, any other extraordinary item of income, gain, loss or deduction will be allocated among the common unitholders on the Allocation Date in the month in which such income, gain, loss or deduction is recognized. As a result, a unitholder transferring common units may be allocated income, gain, loss and deduction realized after the date of transfer.
Although simplifying conventions are contemplated by the Code and most publicly traded partnerships use similar simplifying conventions, existing Treasury Regulations do not specifically authorize the use of the proration method we have adopted. Accordingly, Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. is unable to opine on the validity of this method of allocating income and deductions between transferee and transferor unitholders. If the IRS determines
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that this method is not allowed under the Treasury Regulations our taxable income or losses could be reallocated among our unitholders. Under our partnership agreement, we are authorized to revise our method of allocation between transferee and transferor unitholders, as well as among unitholders whose interests vary during a taxable year, to conform to a method permitted under the Treasury Regulations.
A unitholder who disposes of common units prior to the record date set for a cash distribution for that quarter will be allocated items of our income, gain, loss and deduction attributable to the month of disposition (and any other month during the quarter to which such cash distribution relates and the holder held common units on the first day of such month) but will not be entitled to receive a cash distribution for that period.
Notification Requirements
A unitholder who sells or exchanges any of its common units is generally required to notify us in writing of that transaction within 30 days after the transaction (or, if earlier, January 15 of the year following the transaction in the case of a seller). Upon receiving such notifications, we are required to notify the IRS of the transaction and to furnish specified information to the transferor and transferee. Failure to notify us of a transfer of common units may, in some cases, lead to the imposition of penalties. However, these reporting requirements do not apply to a sale by an individual who is a citizen of the United States and who effects the sale or exchange through a broker who will satisfy such requirements.
Uniformity of Units
Because we cannot match transferors and transferees of common units and for other reasons, we must maintain uniformity of the economic and tax characteristics of the common units to a purchaser of these common units. As a result of the need to preserve uniformity, we may be unable to completely comply with a number of U.S. federal income tax requirements. Any non-uniformity could have a negative impact on the value of our common units. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election.”
Our partnership agreement permits our general partner to take positions in filing our tax returns that preserve the uniformity of our common units. These positions may include reducing the depreciation, amortization or loss deductions to which a common unitholder would otherwise be entitled or reporting a slower amortization of Section 743(b) adjustments for some common unitholders than that to which they would otherwise be entitled. Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. is unable to opine as to the validity of such filing positions.
A unitholder’s adjusted tax basis in common units is reduced by its share of our deductions (whether or not such deductions were claimed on an individual income tax return) so that any position that we take that understates deductions will overstate the unitholder’s basis in its common units, and may cause the unitholder to understate gain or overstate loss on any sale of such common units. Please read “— Disposition of Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss” and “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election” above. The IRS may challenge one or more of any positions we take to preserve the uniformity of our common units. If such a challenge were sustained, the uniformity of common units might be affected, and, under some circumstances, the gain from the sale of our common units might be increased without the benefit of additional deductions.
In addition, as described above at “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction,” if we aggregate multiple issuances of units for purposes of making adjustments to “book” basis and related tax allocations, to ensure the uniformity of our units, we will treat each of our units as having the same capital account balances, regardless of the price actually paid by each purchaser of units in the aggregated offerings. Although our counsel, Vinson & Elkins L.L.P., is unable to opine on the validity of such an approach, we do not expect the number of affected units, or the differences between the purchase price of a unit and the initial capital account balance assigned to the unit, to be material.
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Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Investors
Ownership of our common units by employee benefit plans and other tax-exempt organizations, as well as by non-resident alien individuals, non-U.S. corporations and other non-U.S. persons (collectively, ”Non-U.S. Unitholders”) raises issues unique to those investors and, as described below, may have substantial adverse tax consequences to them.
Employee benefit plans and most other tax-exempt organizations, including IRAs and other retirement plans, are subject to U.S. federal income tax on unrelated business taxable income. Virtually all of our income allocated to tax-exempt organizations will be unrelated business taxable income and will be taxable to a tax-exempt common unitholder. Additionally, all or part of any gain recognized by a tax-exempt organization upon a sale or other disposition of our units may be unrelated business taxable income and may be taxable to them. Each prospective common unitholder that is a tax-exempt entity or a Non-U.S. Unitholder should consult its tax advisors before investing in our common units.
Non-U.S. Unitholders are taxed by the United States on income effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business (“effectively connected income”) and on certain types of U.S.-source non-effectively connected income (such as dividends), unless exempted or further limited by an income tax treaty. Each Non-U.S. Unitholder will be considered to be engaged in business in the United States because of its ownership of our common units. Furthermore, Non-U.S. Unitholders will be deemed to conduct such activities through a permanent establishment in the United States within the meaning of an applicable tax treaty. Consequently, each Non-U.S. Unitholder will be required to file federal tax returns to report its share of our income, gain, loss or deduction and pay U.S. federal income tax on its share of our net income or gain. Moreover, under rules applicable to publicly-traded partnerships, distributions to Non-U.S. Unitholders are subject to withholding at the highest applicable effective tax rate. In addition, distributions to non-U.S. persons will also be subject to a 10% withholding tax on the amount of any distribution in excess of our cumulative net income. As we do not compute our cumulative net income for such purposes due to the complexity of the calculation and lack of clarity in how it would apply to us, we intend to treat all of our distributions as being in excess of our cumulative net income for such purposes and subject to such 10% withholding tax. Accordingly, distributions to non-U.S. persons will be subject to a combined withholding tax rate equal to the sum of the highest applicable effective tax rate and 10%. Each Non-U.S. Unitholder must obtain a taxpayer identification number from the IRS and submit that number to our transfer agent on a Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E (or other applicable or successor form) in order to obtain credit for these withholding taxes.
In addition, if a Non-U.S. Unitholder is classified as a non-U.S. corporation, it will be treated as engaged in a United States trade or business and may be subject to the U.S. branch profits tax at a rate of 30%, in addition to regular U.S. federal income tax, on its share of our income and gain as adjusted for changes in the foreign corporation’s “U.S. net equity” to the extent reflected in the corporation’s earnings and profits. That tax may be reduced or eliminated by an income tax treaty between the United States and the country in which the foreign corporate common unitholder is a “qualified resident.” In addition, this type of common unitholder is subject to special information reporting requirements under Section 6038C of the Code.
A Non-U.S. Unitholder who sells or otherwise disposes of a common unit will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on gain realized from the sale or disposition of that common unit to the extent the gain is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business of the Non-U.S. Unitholder. Gain realized by a Non-U.S. Unitholder from the sale of its interest in a partnership that is engaged in a trade or business in the United States will be considered to be “effectively connected” with a U.S. trade or business to the extent that gain that would be recognized upon a sale by the partnership of all of its assets would be “effectively connected” with a U.S. trade or business. Thus, all of a Non-U.S. Unitholder’s gain from the sale or other disposition of our common units would be treated as effectively connected with a common unitholder’s indirect U.S. trade or business constituted by its investment in us and would be subject to U.S. federal income tax. As a result of the effectively connected income rules described above, the exclusion from U.S. taxation under the Foreign Investment in Real Property
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Tax Act for gain from the sale of partnership common units regularly traded on an established securities market will not prevent a Non-U.S. Unitholder from being subject to U.S. federal income tax on gain from the sale or disposition of its common units to the extent such gain is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. We expect substantially all of the gain from the sale or disposition of our common units to be treated as effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business.
Moreover, the transferee of an interest in a partnership that is engaged in a U.S. trade or business is generally required to withhold 10% of the amount realized by the transferor unless the transferor certifies that it is not a foreign person. While the determination of a partner’s “amount realized” generally includes any decrease of a partner’s share of the partnership’s liabilities, recently issued Treasury regulations provide that the “amount realized” on a transfer of an interest in a publicly traded partnership, such as our common units, will generally be the amount of gross proceeds paid to the broker effecting the applicable transfer on behalf of the transferor, and thus will be determined without regard to any decrease in that partner’s share of a publicly traded partnership’s liabilities. For a transfer of interests in a publicly traded partnership that is effected through a broker, the obligation to withhold is imposed on the transferor’s broker. Current and prospective Non-U.S. Unitholders should consult their tax advisors regarding the impact of these rules on an investment in our common units.
Administrative Matters
Information Returns and Audit Procedures
We intend to furnish to each common unitholder, within 90 days after the close of each taxable year, specific tax information, including a Schedule K-1, which describes its share of our income, gain, loss and deduction for our preceding taxable year. In preparing this information, which will not be reviewed by counsel, we will take various accounting and reporting positions, some of which have been mentioned earlier, to determine each common unitholder’s share of income, gain, loss and deduction. We cannot assure our common unitholders that those positions will yield a result that conforms to all of the requirements of the Code, Treasury Regulations or administrative interpretations of the IRS.
The IRS may audit our U.S. federal income tax information returns. Neither we nor Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. can assure prospective common unitholders that the IRS will not successfully challenge the positions we adopt, and such a challenge could adversely affect the value of our common units. Adjustments resulting from an IRS audit may require each common unitholder to adjust a prior year’s tax liability, and may result in an audit of the common unitholder’s own return. Any audit of a common unitholder’s return could result in adjustments unrelated to our returns.
Publicly traded partnerships are treated as entities separate from their owners for purposes of U.S. federal income tax audits, judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS and tax settlement proceedings. The tax treatment of partnership items of income, gain, loss and deduction are determined in a partnership proceeding rather than in separate proceedings for each of the partners. If the IRS makes audit adjustments to our income tax returns, it may assess and collect any taxes (including any applicable penalties and interest) resulting from such audit adjustment directly from us, unless we elect to have our current and former unitholders take any audit adjustment into account in accordance with their interests in us during the taxable year under audit. Similarly, for such taxable years, if the IRS makes audit adjustments to income tax returns filed by an entity in which we are a member or partner, it may assess and collect any taxes (including penalties and interest) resulting from such audit adjustment directly from such entity.
Generally, we expect to elect to have our general partner, current and former unitholders take any such audit adjustment into account in accordance with their interests in us during the taxable year under audit, but there can be no assurance that such election will be effective in all circumstances. If we are unable or if it is not economical to have our current and former unitholders take such audit adjustment into account in accordance with their interests in us during the taxable year under audit, our then current unitholders may bear some or all of
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the tax liability resulting from such audit adjustment, even if such unitholders did not own our units during the taxable year under audit. If, as a result of any such audit adjustment, we are required to make payments of taxes, penalties or interest, or, if we bear such payment directly, our cash available for distribution to our unitholders might be substantially reduced. Congress has proposed changes to the rules regarding audits of tax partnerships, and we anticipate that amendments may be made. Accordingly, the manner in which these rules may apply to us in the future is uncertain.
The Code requires us to designate a partner, or other person, with a substantial presence in the United States as the partnership representative (“Partnership Representative”). The Partnership Representative will have the sole authority to act on our behalf for purposes of, among other things, U.S. federal income tax audits and judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS. If we do not make such a designation, the IRS can select any person as the Partnership Representative. We have designated our general partner as the Partnership Representative. Further, any actions taken by us or by the Partnership Representative on our behalf with respect to, among other things, U.S. federal income tax audits and judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS, will be binding on us and all of our common unitholders.
Additional Withholding Requirements
Withholding taxes may apply to certain types of payments made to “foreign financial institutions” (as specially defined in the Code) and certain other non-U.S. entities. Specifically, a 30% withholding tax may be imposed on withholdable payments, including interest, dividends and other fixed or determinable annual or periodic gains, profits and income from sources within the United States (“FDAP Income”) paid to a foreign financial institution or to a ”non-financial foreign entity” (as specially defined in the Code), unless (i) the foreign financial institution undertakes certain diligence and reporting, (ii) the non-financial foreign entity either certifies it does not have any substantial U.S. owners or furnishes identifying information regarding each substantial U.S. owner or (iii) the foreign financial institution or non-financial foreign entity otherwise qualifies for an exemption from these rules. While withholdable payments would have originally included payments of gross proceeds from the sale or other disposition of any property of a type which could produce interest or dividends from sources within the United States on or after January 1, 2019, proposed Treasury Regulations provide that such payments of gross proceeds do not constitute withholdable payments. Taxpayers may rely generally on these proposed Treasury Regulations until they are revoked or final Treasury Regulations are issued.
If the payee is a foreign financial institution and is subject to the diligence and reporting requirements in clause (i) above, it must enter into an agreement with the U.S. Department of the Treasury requiring, among other things, that it undertake to identify accounts held by certain U.S. persons or U.S.-owned foreign entities, annually report certain information about such accounts, and withhold 30% on payments to noncompliant foreign financial institutions and certain other account holders. Foreign financial institutions located in jurisdictions that have an intergovernmental agreement with the United States governing these requirements may be subject to different rules.
To the extent we have FDAP Income that is not treated as effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business (please read ”—Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Investors”), a common unitholder that is a foreign financial institution or certain other non-U.S. entity, or a person that holds its common units through such foreign entities, may be subject to withholding on distributions they receive from us, or its distributive share of our income, pursuant to the rules described above. Each prospective common unitholder should consult its own tax advisors regarding the potential application of these withholding provisions to its investment in our common units.
Nominee Reporting
Persons who hold an interest in us as a nominee for another person are required to furnish to us:
| • | the name, address and taxpayer identification number of the beneficial owner and the nominee; |
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| • | a statement regarding whether the beneficial owner is: |
| • | a non-U.S. person; |
| • | a non-U.S. government, an international organization or any wholly-owned agency or instrumentality of either of the foregoing; or |
| • | a tax-exempt entity; |
| • | the amount and description of units held, acquired or transferred for the beneficial owner; and |
| • | specific information including the dates of acquisitions and transfers, means of acquisitions and transfers, and acquisition cost for purchases, as well as the amount of net proceeds from sales. |
Each broker and financial institution is required to furnish additional information, including whether such broker or financial institution is a U.S. person and specific information on any units such broker or financial institution acquires, holds or transfers for its own account. A penalty per failure, with a significant maximum penalty per calendar year, is imposed by the Code for failure to report that information to us. The nominee is required to supply the beneficial owner of our units with the information furnished to us.
Accuracy-Related Penalties
Certain penalties may be imposed as a result of an underpayment of tax that is attributable to one or more specified causes, including negligence or disregard of rules or regulations, substantial understatements of income tax and substantial valuation misstatements. No penalty will be imposed, however, for any portion of an underpayment if it is shown that there was a reasonable cause for the underpayment of that portion and that the taxpayer acted in good faith regarding the underpayment of that portion. We do not anticipate that any accuracy-related penalties will be assessed against us.
State, Local and Other Tax Considerations
In addition to U.S. federal income taxes, common unitholders may be subject to other taxes, including state and local income taxes, unincorporated business taxes and estate, inheritance or intangibles taxes that may be imposed by the various jurisdictions in which we conduct business or own property now or in the future or in which the common unitholder is a resident. We conduct business or own property in many states in the United States. Some of these states may impose an income tax on individuals, corporations and other entities. As we make acquisitions or expand our business, we may own property or conduct business in additional states that impose a personal income tax. Although an analysis of those various taxes is not presented here, each prospective common unitholder should consider the potential impact of such taxes on its investment in us.
A common unitholder may be required to file income tax returns and pay income taxes in some or all of the jurisdictions in which we do business or own property, though such common unitholder may not be required to file a return and pay taxes in certain jurisdictions because its income from such jurisdictions falls below the jurisdiction’s filing and payment requirement. Further, a common unitholder may be subject to penalties for a failure to comply with any filing or payment requirement applicable to such common unitholder. Some of the jurisdictions may require us, or we may elect, to withhold a percentage of income from amounts to be distributed to a common unitholder who is not a resident of the jurisdiction. Withholding, the amount of which may be greater or less than a particular common unitholder’s income tax liability to the jurisdiction, generally does not relieve a nonresident common unitholder from the obligation to file an income tax return.
IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EACH UNITHOLDER TO INVESTIGATE THE LEGAL AND TAX CONSEQUENCES, UNDER THE LAWS OF PERTINENT JURISDICTIONS, OF ITS INVESTMENT IN US. WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT EACH PROSPECTIVE UNITHOLDER CONSULT, AND DEPEND UPON, ITS OWN TAX COUNSEL OR OTHER ADVISOR WITH REGARD
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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 IT. VINSON & ELKINS, L.L.P. HAS NOT RENDERED AN OPINION ON THE STATE, LOCAL, ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX OR NON-U.S. TAX CONSEQUENCES OF AN INVESTMENT IN US.
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We will sell the securities being offered hereby through underwriters on a firm commitment basis.
The prospectus supplement with respect to any offering of securities will set forth the terms of the offering, including: (i) the name or names of any underwriters; (ii) the purchase price of the securities and the proceeds to us; (iii) any underwriting discounts and commissions and other items constituting underwriters’ compensation; and (iv) any delayed delivery arrangements.
We will enter into an underwriting agreement with the underwriters at the time of sale to them. Such underwriting agreement will set forth the names of these underwriters and the terms of the transaction in the prospectus supplement, which will be used by the underwriters to make resales of the securities in respect of which this prospectus is delivered to the public. We may indemnify the underwriters under the relevant underwriting agreements against specific liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. The underwriters may also be our customers or may engage in transactions with or perform services for us in the ordinary course of business.
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Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. of Houston, Texas will pass upon certain legal matters relating to the issuance and sale of the securities offered hereby on behalf of the Partnership. Additional legal matters may be passed upon for us or any underwriters, dealers or agents, by counsel that we will name in the applicable prospectus supplement.
The audited consolidated financial statements of the Partnership and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 and for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2023, and management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting incorporated by reference in this prospectus and elsewhere in the registration statement have been so incorporated by reference in reliance upon the reports of Grant Thornton LLP, independent registered public accountants, upon the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
The consolidated financial statements of NuStar Energy L.P. as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, and for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2023, and management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023 have been incorporated by reference herein in reliance upon the reports of KPMG LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, incorporated by reference herein, and upon the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
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PART II
INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS
| Item 14. | Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution |
The following is an estimate of the expenses (all of which are to be paid by the registrant) that we may incur in connection with the securities being registered hereby.
| SEC registration fee |
$ | (1)(2) | ||
| FINRA filing fee |
$ | (2) | ||
| Printing expenses |
$ | (2) | ||
| Legal fees and expenses |
$ | (2) | ||
| Accounting fees and expenses |
$ | (2) | ||
| Blue Sky, qualification fees and expenses |
$ | (2) | ||
| Transfer agent fees and expenses |
$ | (2) | ||
| Trustee fees and expenses |
$ | (2) | ||
| Miscellaneous |
$ | (2) | ||
|
|
|
|||
| Total |
$ | (1)(2) | ||
|
|
|
| (1) | Pursuant to Rules 456(b) and 457(r) under the Securities Act, as amended, the SEC registration fee will be paid at the time of any particular offering of securities under the registration statement, and is therefore not currently determinable. |
| (2) | These fees are calculated based on the securities offered and the number of issuances and accordingly cannot be estimated at this time. |
| Item 15. | Indemnification of Directors and Officers |
The section of the prospectus entitled “Our Partnership Agreement—Indemnification” is incorporated herein by reference. Subject to any terms, conditions or restrictions set forth in our partnership agreement, Section 17-108 of the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act empowers a Delaware limited partnership to indemnify and hold harmless any partner or other person from and against all claims and demands whatsoever.
| Item 16. | Exhibits |
(a) Exhibits
A list of exhibits filed with this registration statement on Form S-3 is set forth on the Exhibit Index and is incorporated herein by reference.
| Item 17. | Undertakings |
(a) The undersigned 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:
(i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;
(ii) 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
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the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Filing Fee Tables” in the effective registration statement; and
(iii) 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 (a)(1)(i), (a)(1)(ii), and (a)(1)(iii) above do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the SEC by the registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the registration statement, or is contained in a form of prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act that is a 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) 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) under the Securities Act 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) under the Securities Act as part of a registration statement in reliance on Rule 430B under the Securities Act relating to an offering made pursuant to Rule 415(a)(1)(i), (vii), or (x) under the Securities Act 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 under the Securities Act, for liability purposes of the issuer and any person that is at that date an underwriter, such date shall be deemed to be a new effective date of the registration statement relating to the securities in the registration statement to which that prospectus relates, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such effective date, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such effective date.
(5) 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:
(i) Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424 under the Securities Act;
(ii) Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by the undersigned registrant;
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(iii) The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and
(iv) Any other communications that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser.
(b) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
(c) 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 described under Item 15, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the SEC 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 the registrant is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
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EXHIBIT INDEX
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| Exhibit No. | Description | |
| 23.4+ | Consent of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. (included in Exhibit 8.1) | |
| 24.1 | Powers of Attorney (incorporated by reference to the signature pages hereto) | |
| 107+ | Filing Fee Table | |
| * | To be filed by amendment or incorporated by reference in connection with the offering of the securities. |
| + | Filed herewith |
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Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-3 and has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Dallas, Texas, on October 24, 2024.
| SUNOCO LP | ||
| By: | Sunoco GP LLC, its general partner | |
| By: | /s/ Dylan A. Bramhall | |
| Dylan A. Bramhall | ||
| Chief Financial Officer | ||
POWER OF ATTORNEY
KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Dylan A. Bramhall and Edward Pak, or either of them, as his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to file and sign any and all amendments, including post-effective amendments and any registration statement for the same offering that is to be effective under Rule 462(b) of the Securities Act of 1933, to this registration statement, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or their substitute or substitutes may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof. This power of attorney shall be governed by and construed with the laws of the State of Delaware and applicable federal securities laws.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this registration statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities indicated, which are with Sunoco GP LLC, the general partner of Sunoco LP, and on the dates indicated.
| SIGNATURE |
TITLE |
DATE | ||
| /s/ Joseph Kim Joseph Kim |
President & Chief Executive Officer and Director (Principal Executive Officer) |
October 24, 2024 | ||
| /s/ Dylan A. Bramhall Dylan A. Bramhall |
Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer) |
October 24, 2024 | ||
| /s/ Rick J. Raymer Rick J. Raymer |
Vice President, Controller and Principal Accounting Officer (Principal Accounting Officer) |
October 24, 2024 | ||
| /s/ Ray W. Washburne Ray W. Washburne |
Chairman of the Board | October 24, 2024 | ||
| /s/ David K. Skidmore David K. Skidmore |
Director | October 24, 2024 | ||
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| SIGNATURE |
TITLE |
DATE | ||
| /s/ Christopher R. Curia Christopher R. Curia |
Director | October 24, 2024 | ||
| /s/ Oscar A. Alvarez Oscar A. Alvarez |
Director | October 24, 2024 | ||
| /s/ Bradley Barron Bradley Barron |
Director | October 24, 2024 | ||
| /s/ W. Brett Smith W. Brett Smith |
Director | October 24, 2024 | ||
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Exhibit 5.1
October 24, 2024
Sunoco LP
8111 Westchester Drive, Suite 400
Dallas, Texas 75225
| Re: | Registration Statement on Form S-3 |
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We have acted as counsel to Sunoco LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the “Partnership”), in connection with its filing on the date hereof with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) of a registration statement on Form S-3 (the “Registration Statement”), including a base prospectus (the “Base Prospectus”), which provides that it will be supplemented by one or more prospectus supplements (each such prospectus supplement, together with the Base Prospectus, a “Prospectus”), under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), relating to the registration for issue and sale by the Partnership of its common units representing limited partner interests of the Partnership (“Common Units”) and its preferred units representing limited partner interests of the Partnership (“Preferred Units” and, together with Common Units, the “Securities”).
This opinion is being furnished in connection with the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K under the Act, and no opinion is expressed herein as to any matter pertaining to the contents of the Registration Statement or related applicable Prospectus, other than as expressly stated herein with respect to the issue of the Securities.
As such counsel, we have examined such matters of fact and questions of law as we have considered appropriate for purposes of this letter. With the Partnership’s consent, we have relied upon certificates and other assurances of officers of the general partner of the Partnership and others as to factual matters without having independently verified such factual matters. We are opining herein as to the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act (the “DRULPA”), and we express no opinion with respect to the applicability thereto, or the effect thereon, of the laws of any other jurisdiction, domestic or foreign, or, in the case of Delaware, any other laws, or as to any matters of municipal law or the laws of any local agencies within any state.
| Vinson & Elkins LLP Attorneys at Law Austin Dallas Dubai Dublin Houston London Los Angeles New York Richmond San Francisco Tokyo Washington |
845 Texas Avenue, Suite 4700 Houston, TX 77002 Tel +1.713.758.2222 Fax +1.713.758.2346 velaw.com |
October 24, 2024 Page 2
Subject to the foregoing, and subject to the assumptions, qualifications, limitations and exceptions set forth herein, it is our opinion that, as of the date hereof:
1. When an issuance of Common Units has been duly authorized by all necessary limited partnership action of the Partnership, upon issuance, delivery and payment therefor in the manner contemplated by the applicable Prospectus and by such limited partnership action, such Common Units will be validly issued and, under the DRULPA, purchasers of Common Units will have no obligation to make further payments for their purchase of Common Units or contributions to the Partnership solely by reason of their ownership of Common Units or their status as limited partners of the Partnership, and no personal liability for the debts, obligations and liabilities of the Partnership, whether arising in contract, tort or otherwise, solely by reason of being limited partners of the Partnership.
2. When an issuance of Preferred Units has been duly authorized by all necessary limited partnership action of the Partnership, upon issuance, delivery and payment therefor in the manner contemplated by the applicable Prospectus and by such limited partnership action, such Preferred Units will be validly issued and, under the DRULPA, purchasers of Preferred Units will have no obligation to make further payments for their purchase of Preferred Units or contributions to the Partnership solely by reason of their ownership of Preferred Units or their status as limited partners of the Partnership, and no personal liability for the debts, obligations and liabilities of the Partnership, whether arising in contract, tort or otherwise, solely by reason of being limited partners of the Partnership.
Our opinions are subject to: (i) the effect of bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, preference, fraudulent transfer, moratorium or other similar laws relating to or affecting the rights and remedies of creditors; (ii) the effect of general principles of equity, whether considered in a proceeding in equity or at law (including the possible unavailability of specific performance or injunctive relief), concepts of materiality, reasonableness, good faith and fair dealing, and the discretion of the court before which a proceeding is brought; (iii) the invalidity under certain circumstances under law or court decisions of provisions providing for the indemnification of or contribution to a party with respect to a liability where such indemnification or contribution is contrary to public policy; and (iv) we express no opinion as to (a) any provision for liquidated damages, default interest, late charges, monetary penalties, make-whole premiums or other economic remedies to the extent such provisions are deemed to constitute a penalty, (b) consents to, or restrictions upon, governing law, jurisdiction, venue, arbitration, remedies, or judicial relief, (c) waivers of rights or defenses, (d) any provision requiring the payment of attorneys’ fees, where such payment is contrary to law or public policy, (e) any provision permitting, upon acceleration of any indebtedness, collection of that portion of the stated principal amount thereof which might be determined to constitute unearned interest thereon, (f) the creation, validity, attachment, perfection, or priority of any lien or security interest, (g) advance waivers of claims, defenses, rights granted by law, or notice, opportunity for hearing, evidentiary requirements, statutes of limitation, trial by jury or at law, or other procedural rights, (h) waivers of broadly or vaguely stated rights, (i) provisions for exclusivity, election or cumulation of rights or remedies, (j) provisions authorizing or validating conclusive or discretionary determinations, (k) grants of setoff rights, (l) proxies, powers and trusts, (m) provisions prohibiting, restricting, or requiring consent to assignment or transfer of any right or property, (n) provisions purporting to make a guarantor primarily liable rather than as a surety, (o) provisions purporting to waive
October 24, 2024 Page 3
modifications of any guaranteed obligation to the extent such modification constitutes a novation, (p) any provision to the extent it requires that a claim with respect to a security denominated in other than U.S. dollars (or a judgment in respect of such a claim) be converted into U.S. dollars at a rate of exchange at a particular date, to the extent applicable law otherwise provides, and (q) the severability, if invalid, of provisions to the foregoing effect.
This opinion is for the Partnership’s benefit in connection with the Registration Statement and may be relied upon by the Partnership and by persons entitled to rely upon it pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Act. We consent to the Partnership’s filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and to the reference to our firm contained in the Prospectus under the heading “Legal Matters.” We further consent to the incorporation by reference of this letter and consent into any registration statement or post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Act with respect to the Securities. In giving such consent, we do not thereby admit that we are in the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Act or the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder.
| Very truly yours,
/s/ Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. |
Exhibit 8.1
October 24, 2024
Sunoco LP
8111 Westchester Drive, Suite 400
Dallas, Texas 75225
| Re: | Sunoco LP Registration Statement on Form S-3 |
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We have acted as counsel for Sunoco LP (the “Partnership”), a Delaware limited partnership, with respect to certain legal matters in connection with the preparation of the Prospectus dated October 24, 2024 (the “Prospectus”) forming part of the Registration Statement on Form S-3 (the “Registration Statement”). The Registration Statement relates to the registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the “Securities Act”) of common units representing limited partner interests in the Partnership.
This opinion is based on various facts and assumptions, and is conditioned upon certain representations made by the Partnership as to factual matters through a certificate of an officer of the Partnership (the “Officer’s Certificate”). In addition, this opinion is based upon the factual representations of the Partnership concerning its business, properties and governing documents as set forth in the Registration Statement.
In our capacity as counsel to the Partnership, we have made such legal and factual examinations and inquiries, including an examination of originals or copies certified or otherwise identified to our satisfaction of such documents, corporate records and other instruments, as we have deemed necessary or appropriate for purposes of this opinion. In our examination, we have assumed the authenticity of all documents submitted to us as originals, the genuineness of all signatures thereon, the legal capacity of natural persons executing such documents and the conformity to authentic original documents of all documents submitted to us as copies. For the purpose of our opinion, we have not made an independent investigation or audit of the facts set forth in the above-referenced documents or in the Officer’s Certificate. In addition, in rendering this opinion we have assumed the truth and accuracy of all representations and statements made to us which are qualified as to knowledge or belief, without regard to such qualification.
We hereby confirm that all statements of legal conclusions contained in the discussion in the Prospectus under the caption “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences” constitute the opinion of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. with respect to the matters set forth therein as of the effective date of the Registration Statement, subject to the assumptions, qualifications, and limitations set forth therein. This opinion is based on various statutory provisions, regulations promulgated thereunder and interpretations thereof by the Internal Revenue
| Vinson & Elkins LLP Attorneys at Law Austin Dallas Dubai Dublin Houston London Los Angeles New York Richmond San Francisco Tokyo Washington |
845 Texas Avenue, Suite 4700 Houston, TX 77002 Tel +1.713.758.2222 Fax +1.713.758.2346 www.velaw.com |
Service and the courts having jurisdiction over such matters, all of which are subject to change either prospectively or retroactively. Also, any variation or difference in the facts from those set forth in the representations described above, including in the Registration Statement and the Officer’s Certificate, may affect the conclusions stated herein.
No opinion is expressed as to any matter not discussed in the Prospectus under the caption “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences.” We are opining herein only as to the federal income tax matters described above, and we express no opinion with respect to the applicability to, or the effect on, any transaction or other federal laws, foreign laws, the laws of any state or any other jurisdiction or as to any matters of municipal law or the laws of any other local agencies within any state.
This opinion is rendered to you as of the effective date of the Registration Statement, and we undertake no obligation to update this opinion subsequent to the date hereof. This opinion is furnished to you and may be relied on by you in connection with the transactions set forth in the Registration Statement. In addition, this opinion may be relied on by persons entitled to rely on it pursuant to applicable provisions of federal securities law, including persons purchasing common units pursuant to the Registration Statement. However, this opinion may not be relied upon for any other purpose or furnished to, assigned to, quoted to or relied upon by any other person, firm or other entity, for any purpose, without our prior written consent.
We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion of counsel as Exhibit 8.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of the Partnership dated on or about the date hereof and to the incorporation by reference of this opinion of counsel into the Registration Statement. In giving such consent, we do not admit that we are within the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act.
| Very truly yours, |
| /s/ VINSON & ELKINS L.L.P. |
| Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. |
Exhibit 23.1
CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
We have issued our report dated February 16, 2024, except for Notes 7, 12, and 19 as to which the date is October 24, 2024, with respect to the consolidated financial statements of Sunoco LP included in the Current Report on Form 8-K dated October 24, 2024. We have also issued our report dated February 16, 2024 with respect to the internal control over financial reporting of Sunoco LP included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. Such reports are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement. We consent to the incorporation by reference of the aforementioned reports in this Registration Statement, and to the use of our name as it appears under the caption “Experts.”
| /s/ GRANT THORNTON LLP |
Dallas, Texas
October 24, 2024
Exhibit 23.2
|
KPMG LLP 17802 IH-10, Suite 101 Promenade Two San Antonio, TX 78257-2508 |
Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
We consent to the use of our reports dated February 22, 2024, with respect to the consolidated financial statements of NuStar Energy L.P. and subsidiaries, and the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, incorporated herein by reference, and to the reference to our firm under the heading “Experts” in the registration statement.
| /s/ KPMG LLP |
San Antonio, Texas
October 24, 2024