e424b3
Prospectus
ATLAS PIPELINE PARTNERS, L.P.
ATLAS PIPELINE FINANCE CORPORATION
Offer to Exchange
Registered 8-1/8% Series B Senior Notes due 2015
for
All outstanding 8-1/8% Senior Notes due 2015 issued April 18, 2007
($8,524,000 in principal amount outstanding)
We are offering to exchange, upon the terms of and subject to the conditions set forth in
this prospectus and the accompanying letter of transmittal, all of our outstanding 8-1/8% Senior
Notes due 2015 issued on April 18, 2007 for our registered
8-1/8% Series B Senior Notes due 2015. In this
prospectus, we will call the original notes the outstanding notes and the registered notes the
exchange notes. The outstanding notes and exchange notes are collectively referred to in this
prospectus as the notes.
The Exchange Offer
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The exchange offer expires at 5:00 p.m., New York City
time, on August 16, 2007, unless extended. |
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The exchange offer is not conditioned upon a minimum aggregate
principal amount of outstanding notes being tendered. |
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All outstanding notes validly tendered and not withdrawn will be exchanged. |
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The exchange offer is not subject to any condition other than that the
exchange offer not violate applicable law or any applicable
interpretation of the staff of the Securities and Exchange
Commission. |
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We will not receive any cash proceeds from the exchange offer. |
The Exchange Notes
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The terms of the exchange notes offer are substantially
identical to the outstanding notes, except that we have
registered the exchange notes with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. In addition, the exchange notes will not
be subject to certain transfer restrictions. |
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Interest on the exchange notes will be paid at the rate of 8-1/8%
per annum, semi-annually in arrears on each June 15 and December 15,
beginning December 15, 2007. |
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The exchange notes will not be listed on any securities exchange
or the Nasdaq Stock Market. |
Please
read Risk Factors beginning on page 12 for a discussion of factors you should
consider before participating in the exchange offer.
These securities have not been approved or disapproved by the Securities and Exchange
Commission or any state securities commission nor has the Securities and Exchange Commission passed
upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal
offense.
Each broker-dealer that receives the notes for its own account pursuant to this exchange offer
must acknowledge by way of the letter of transmittal that it will deliver a prospectus in
connection with any resale of the notes. This prospectus, as it may be amended or supplemented from
time to time, may be used by a broker-dealer in connection with resales of the notes received in
exchange for outstanding notes where such outstanding notes were acquired by such broker-dealer as
a result of market-making activities or other trading activities. We have agreed to make this
prospectus available for a period of one year from the expiration date of this exchange offer to
any broker-dealer for use in connection with any such resale. See Plan of Distribution.
The
date of this prospectus is August 10, 2007.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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This prospectus is part of a registration statement we filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. In making your investment decision, you should rely only on the information
contained in or incorporated by reference into this prospectus and in the letter of transmittal
accompanying this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with any other
information. If you receive any unauthorized information, you must not rely on it. We are not
making an offer to sell these securities in any state where the offer is not permitted. You should
not assume that the information contained in this prospectus or in the documents incorporated by
reference into this prospectus are accurate as of any date other than the date on the front cover
of this prospectus or the date of such incorporated documents, as the case may be.
This prospectus incorporates by reference business and financial information about us that is
not included in or delivered with this prospectus. This information is available without charge
upon written or oral request directed to: Investor Relations, Atlas
Pipeline Partners, L.P., West Pointe Corporate Center I, 1550
Coraopolis Heights Rd., 2nd Floor, Moon Township, PA 15108; telephone number: (412) 262-2830. To obtain timely delivery,
you must request the information no later than August 13, 2007.
2
SUMMARY
This summary highlights information included or incorporated by reference in this prospectus.
It may not contain all of the information that is important to you. This prospectus includes
information about the exchange offers and includes or incorporates by reference information about
our business and our financial and operating data. Before deciding to participate in the exchange
offers, you should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the financial data and related
notes incorporated by reference in this prospectus and the Risk Factors section beginning on page
10 of this prospectus.
Except as otherwise indicated, references to the we, our, us, or like terms refer to
Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. and its subsidiaries, including Atlas Pipeline Finance Corporation.
Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P.
We are a publicly-traded midstream energy services provider engaged in the transmission,
gathering and processing of natural gas. We are a leading provider of natural gas gathering
services in the Anadarko Basin and Golden Trend area of the mid-continent United States and the
Appalachian Basin in the eastern United States. In addition, we are a leading provider of natural
gas processing services in Oklahoma. We also provide interstate gas transmission services in
southeast Oklahoma, Arkansas and southeast Missouri. We conduct our business through two operating
segments: our Mid-Continent operations and our Appalachian operations.
We own and operate through our Mid-Continent operations:
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a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, -regulated, 565-mile interstate pipeline system, which we refer to as
Ozark Gas Transmission, that extends from southeastern Oklahoma through Arkansas
and into southeastern Missouri; |
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three natural gas processing plants and one treating facility, each located in Oklahoma; and |
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1,900 miles of active natural gas gathering systems located in Oklahoma,
Arkansas, northern Texas and the Texas panhandle, which transport gas from
wells and central delivery points in the Mid-Continent region to our natural gas
processing plants or Ozark Gas Transmission. |
We
own and operate through our Appalachian operations 1,600 miles of intrastate natural gas
gathering systems in eastern Ohio, western New York and western Pennsylvania.
Our
principal executive offices are located at Atlas Pipeline Partners,
L.P., West Pointe Corporate Center I, 1550
Coraopolis Heights Rd., 2nd Floor, Moon Township, PA 15108 and
our telephone number is (412) 262-2830. Our website is
www.atlaspipelinepartners.com. The information found on, or otherwise
accessible through, our website is not incorporated into, and does
not form a part of, this prospectus or any other report or document
we file with or furnish to the SEC.
Recent Developments
Anadarko Acquisition. On July 27, 2007, we completed an acquisition of control of the
100% interest in natural gas gathering systems and processing plants known as the Chaney Dell
System and the approximate 73% interest in natural gas gathering systems and processing plants
known as the Midkiff/Benedum System from Western Gas Resources, Inc. and Western Gas
ResourcesWestana, Inc., subsidiaries of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, which we refer to as
Anadarko.
The Chaney Dell System is located in northwest Oklahoma and southern Kansas, near the center
of the Anadarko Basin. This system consists of two active processing facilities:
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the Waynoka plant, a 200 Mmcf/d cryogenic unit in Woods County, OK; |
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the Chester plant, a 30 Mmcf/d cryogenic expander unit in Woodward County, OK; and |
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approximately 3,470 miles of gathering pipeline covering six counties in the
Anadarko Basin across northwestern Oklahoma and southern Kansas. |
The Midkiff/Benedum System is located in the Spraberry Trend of the Permian Basin, near
Midland, Texas. This system consists of the following:
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the Midkiff plant, a 130 Mmcf/d cryogenic facility in Reagan County, TX; |
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the Benedum plant, a 43 Mmcf/d cryogenic facility in Upton County, TX; and |
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approximately 2,500 miles of gathering pipeline located across four counties in
the Permian Basin of west Texas. |
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The acquisition was effected by the formation of two limited liability companies, Atlas
Pipeline Mid-Continent WestOk, LLC, which we refer to as WestOk, and Atlas Pipeline Mid-Continent
WestTex, LLC, which we refer to as WestTex. We contributed approximately $1,118.3 million to
WestOk and Anadarko contributed the Chaney Dell System; we contributed approximately $760.3 million
to WestTex and Anadarko contributed the Midkiff/Benedum System. Our contribution to WestOk
includes approximately $30.2 million for a potential Oklahoma sales taxes liability. We intend to
request a ruling from the Oklahoma Tax Commission that the transfer of assets to WestOk is exempt
from such sales tax; if the tax is not payable or is otherwise refunded, it will be returned to us.
Our contributions are subject to adjustment after closing based on the final determination of the
contributed asset value.
In connection with the formation of WestOk and WestTex, subsidiaries of both us and Anadarko
entered into operating agreements, each of which provide:
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Our subsidiary is the managing member, with all powers to control and manage the
business and affairs of the company except that the consent of both members is
required for specified extraordinary transactions, such as admission of new members, engaging in transactions with our affiliates, incurring debt outside the
ordinary course of business and disposing of company assets above specified
thresholds. |
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In general, cash available for distribution is distributed 95% to us and 5% to
Anadarko. |
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Upon contribution of the assets to the company, Anadarko received a loan from the
company in an amount equal to our cash contribution and gave the company a note which
matures in 2042. Anadarkos member interest in the company is required to be
redeemed not later than the 30th anniversary of the closing date, and
Anadarko may demand redemption at any time after the 15th anniversary of
the closing date, and unless the members otherwise agree, the Anadarko note will be
distributed to it in redemption of Anadarkos interest. |
Anadarkos interest in the Midkiff/Benedum system was subject to a third partys preferential
right to purchase. As part of an agreement for waiver of the preferential right in order to permit
completion of the acquisition, WestTex entered into a purchase option agreement with Pioneer
Natural Resources USA, Inc., which we refer to as Pioneer, an existing owner of an approximate 27%
undivided interest in the Midkiff/Benedum system, pursuant to which Pioneer was granted an option
to purchase up to an additional 22% undivided interest in the system for $230 million, subject to
adjustment. The option is exerciseable in part commencing June 15, 2008 and June 15, 2009, with
closings to occur no earlier than 45 days after any such exercise. Exercise of the option is
subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt by the parties of all required
regulatory approvals.
Private Placement. In connection with the Anadarko acquisition described above, on July 27,
2007, we completed a private placement of 25,568,175 of our common units, at an aggregate offering
price of $1,125 million. Atlas Pipeline Holdings, L.P., the parent of our general partner,
purchased 3,835,227 of the common units. We used the net cash proceeds of the private placement to
fund a portion of our contributions to WestOk and WestTex.
In connection with the private offering, we amended our limited partnership agreement in order
to:
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effect a technical amendment to the definition of Available Cash so that
distributions made by WestOk and WestTex to Anadarko do not constitute restricted
payments under our senior notes indenture; and |
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provide for the subordination of incentive distributions to our general partner in
the following manner: |
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up to $5 million per quarter for the first 8 quarters beginning with the
current quarter; and |
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up to $3.75 million per quarter after the initial 8 quarter period. |
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Credit Facility. On July 27, 2007, we entered into a credit facility with Wachovia Bank,
National Association, as administrative agent, and Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC, as
sole lead arranger, comprised of (i) an $830.0 million senior secured term loan which matures
in 2014 and (ii) a $300.0 million senior secured revolving credit facility that matures in
2013. Wachovia Bank and Wachovia Capital Markets have agreed to syndicate the facility to other
lenders. Borrowings under the facility are secured by a lien on and security interest in all of
our property and that of our subsidiaries and by the guaranty of each of our subsidiaries, other
than WestOk and WestTex.
We borrowed $830.0 million under the term loan and $15.0 million under the revolving loan on
July 27, 2007 to finance a portion of the Anadarko acquisition described above and to repay
indebtedness under our prior revolving facility administered by Wachovia Bank.
Borrowings bear interest at a rate per annum equal to (i) (a) the higher of the rate of
interest publicly announced by the administrative agent as its prime rate in effect and (b) the
federal funds effective rate from time to time plus 0.5% or (ii) the rate at which eurodollar
deposits in the London interbank market for one, two, three or six months or, if agreed by all the
lenders, the nine or twelve months, are quoted on the Telerate screen, as adjusted for actual
statutory reserve requirements for Eurocurrency liabilities, each plus the applicable margin based
on our leverage ratio (defined as the ratio of our consolidated funded debt to EBITDA).
Amounts under the credit facility may be repaid and re-borrowed until June 29, 2012.
Mandatory prepayments of the facility are required from the net cash proceeds of debt or equity
issuances and of dispositions of assets that exceed $50.0 million in the aggregate in any fiscal
year that are not reinvested in replacement assets within 360 days.
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Summary of Terms of the Exchange Offer
On April 18, 2007, we completed a private offering of the outstanding notes. As part of this
private offering, we entered into a registration rights agreement with you in which we agreed,
among other things, to deliver this prospectus to you and to use our reasonable best efforts to
complete the exchange offer by August 16, 2007. The following is a summary of the
exchange offer.
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Outstanding notes
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$8,524,000 aggregate
principal amount of 8-1/8% Senior Notes
due 2015. |
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Exchange notes
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8-1/8% Series B Senior Notes due
2015. The terms of the exchange notes are
substantially identical to those terms of
the outstanding notes, except that the
transfer restrictions, registration rights
and provisions for additional interest
relating to the outstanding notes do not
apply to the exchange notes. |
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Exchange offer
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We are offering to exchange up to
$8,524,000
principal amount of
our 8-1/8% Series B
Senior Notes due
2015 that have been
registered under
the Securities Act
of 1933 for an
equal amount of our
outstanding 8-1/8%
Senior Notes due
2015 to satisfy our
obligations under
the registration
rights agreement
that we entered
into when we issued
the outstanding
notes in a transaction exempt
from registration
under the
Securities Act. |
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Expiration date
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The exchange offer will expire at
5:00 p.m., New York City time, on August 16,
2007, unless we decide to extend it. |
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Conditions to the exchange offer
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The registration rights agreement
does not require us to accept outstanding
notes for exchange if the exchange offer
or the making of any exchange by a holder
of the outstanding notes would violate any
applicable law or interpretation of the
staff of the SEC or if any legal action
has been instituted or threatened that
would impair our ability to proceed with
the exchange offer. A minimum aggregate
principal amount of outstanding notes
being tendered is not a condition to the
exchange offer. Please read Exchange
OfferConditions to the Exchange Offer
for more information about the conditions
to the exchange offer. |
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Procedures for tendering outstanding
notes
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To participate in
the exchange offer,
you must submit your note, in physical form, and a
letter of transmittal
to the exchange agent. For more details,
please read Exchange
OfferTerms of the
Exchange Offer and
Exchange
OfferProcedures for
Tendering. |
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Guaranteed delivery procedures
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None. |
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Withdrawal of tenders
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You may withdraw
your tender of
outstanding notes at
any time before the
expiration date. To
withdraw, you must
submit a notice of
withdrawal to the
exchange agent before
5:00 p.m., New York
City time, on the
expiration date of the
exchange offer. Please
read Exchange
OfferWithdrawal of
Tenders. |
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Acceptance of outstanding notes
and
delivery of exchange notes
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If you fulfill
all conditions
required for proper
acceptance of
outstanding notes, we
will accept any and
all outstanding notes
that you properly
tender in the exchange
offer before 5:00
p.m., New York City
time, on the
expiration date. We
will return any
outstanding note that
we do not accept for
exchange to you
without expense
promptly after the
expiration date. We
will deliver the
exchange notes
promptly after the
expiration date and
acceptance of the
outstanding notes for
exchange. Please read
Exchange OfferTerms
of the Exchange
Offer. |
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Fees and expenses
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We will bear all
expenses related to
the exchange offer.
Please read Exchange
OfferFees and
Expenses. |
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Use of proceeds
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The issuance of the
exchange notes will not
provide us with any new
proceeds. We are making this
exchange offer solely to
satisfy our obligations under
our registration rights
agreement. |
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Consequences of failure
to exchange outstanding notes
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If you do not exchange
your outstanding notes in the
exchange offer, you will no
longer be able to require us
to register the outstanding
notes under the Securities
Act, except in the limited
circumstances provided under
our registration rights
agreement. In addition, you
will not be able to resell,
offer to resell or otherwise
transfer the outstanding notes
unless we have registered the
outstanding notes under the
Securities Act, or unless you
resell, offer to resell or
otherwise transfer them under
an exemption from the
registration requirements of,
or in a transaction not
subject to, the Securities
Act. |
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U.S. federal
income tax
consequences
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The exchange of exchange notes
for outstanding notes in the exchange
offer should not be a taxable event
for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Please read Material Federal Income
Tax Consequences. |
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Exchange agent
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We have appointed Ledgewood, P.C. as the exchange
agent for the exchange offer. You
should direct questions and requests
for assistance and requests for
additional copies of this prospectus
(including the letter of transmittal)
to the exchange agent addressed as
follows: |
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Ledgewood, P.C. |
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1900 Market Street |
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Suite 750 |
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Philadelphia, PA 19103 |
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Attention: Mark E. Rosenstein |
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Phone: 215-731-9450 |
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Facsimile: 215-735-2513 |
Summary of Terms of the Exchange Notes
The exchange notes will be identical to the outstanding notes, except that the exchange notes
are registered under the Securities Act and will not have restrictions on transfer, registration
rights or provisions for additional interest. The exchange notes will evidence the same debt as the
outstanding notes, and the same indenture will govern the exchange notes and the outstanding notes.
The following summary contains basic information about the exchange notes and is not intended
to be complete. It does not contain all the information that is important to you. For a more
complete understanding of the exchange notes, please read Description of Exchange Notes.
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Issuers
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Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. and Atlas Pipeline
Finance Corporation.
Atlas Pipeline Finance is our wholly-owned direct
subsidiary that was incorporated in Delaware for the
purpose of serving as a co-issuer of the notes. Atlas
Pipeline Finance has only nominal assets and does not
conduct any operations. As a result, you should not
expect Atlas Pipeline Finance to participate in
servicing the interest and principal obligations on
the notes. |
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Notes offered
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$8,524,000 aggregate principal amount of
8-1/8% Series B Senior Notes due 2015. |
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Maturity date
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December 15, 2015. |
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Interest payment dates
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June 15 and December 15 of
each year, beginning December 15,
2007. |
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Guarantees
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The notes will be unconditionally guaranteed
by all of our current and future domestic
restricted subsidiaries, other than Atlas Pipeline
Finance, a co-issuer, on an unsecured senior basis. |
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Ranking
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The notes and the related
guarantees will be the unsecured
senior obligations of us, Atlas
Pipeline Finance and the
guarantors. Accordingly, they will
rank: |
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effectively
subordinated to all
of our and, with
respect
to the
guarantors, the
respective
guarantors
existing
and future
secured debt,
including debt
under our
revolving
credit facility, to
the extent of the
value of the
assets
securing such debt; |
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structurally
subordinated to all
liabilities of any
of our
present and
future subsidiaries
that do not
guarantee the
notes; |
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equal in right
of payment with our
and, with respect
to the
guarantors, the
respective
guarantors
existing and
future
unsecured senior
debt; and |
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senior to all
our and, with
respect to the
guarantors,
the
respective
guarantors
existing and future
debt that
expressly
provides that it is
subordinated to the
notes or
the respective
guarantees. |
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Optional redemption
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We may redeem the notes, in
whole or in part, at any time on or
after December 15, 2010, at
redemption prices described in the
section Description of Notes
Optional Redemption plus accrued
and unpaid interest, if any, to the
date of redemption. Before December
15, 2010, we may redeem the notes,
in whole or in part, at par value
plus a make-whole premium described
in Description of NotesOptional
Redemption. In addition, before
December 15, 2008, we may redeem up
to 35% of the notes with the net
cash proceeds from specified equity
offerings at a redemption price
equal to 108.125% of the principal
amount of the notes to be redeemed,
plus accrued and unpaid interest,
if any, to the date of redemption.
However, we may only make such a
redemption if at least 65% of the
aggregate principal amount of notes
issued under the indenture remains
outstanding immediately after the
redemption. |
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Change of control offer
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If we undergo a change of
control, we must offer to
repurchase the notes at a price
equal to 101% of the principal
amount, plus accrued and unpaid
interest, if any, to the date of
repurchase. See Description of
Notes Repurchase upon a Change
in Control. |
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Basic covenants of the indenture
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The notes will be issued under an
indenture that restricts our
ability and the ability of our restricted subsidiaries to, among other
things: |
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pay distributions, redeem stock, prepay
subordinated indebtedness or make other
restricted payments; |
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incur indebtedness; |
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make specified investments; |
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create liens on our assets to secure debt; |
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restrict dividends, distributions or other
payments from subsidiaries to us; |
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consolidate or merge; |
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sell or otherwise transfer or dispose of
assets, including equity interests of
restricted subsidiaries; |
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enter into transactions with affiliates; |
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designate subsidiaries as unrestricted subsidiaries; |
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use the proceeds of permitted sales of assets; and |
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change our line of business. |
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These covenants will be subject to a number of important
exceptions. For more details, see Description of Notes Certain
Covenants. |
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Covenant suspension
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At any time when the notes are rated investment grade by Moodys or
S&P and no default or event of default has occurred and is continuing
under the indenture, we and our subsidiaries will not be subject to many
of the foregoing covenants. See Description of Notes Suspended
Covenants. |
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Transfer restrictions;
absence of a public market for
the notes
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The exchange notes generally will
be freely transferable. However, we do not intend to make a trading market in the exchange notes after
the exchange offer. Therefore, we cannot assure you as to the
development of an active market for the exchange notes or as to the
liquidity of any such market. |
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Form of exchange notes
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The exchange notes will be represented initially by one or more
definitive notes. |
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Trading
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We do not expect to list the
exchange notes for trading on any
securities exchange. |
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Registrar and paying agent
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Wachovia Bank, National Association |
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Governing law
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The exchange notes will be and the
indenture relating to the exchange
notes is governed by, and
construed in accordance with, the laws
of the State of New York. |
11
RISK FACTORS
In addition to the other information set forth elsewhere in this prospectus. You should
consider carefully the risks described below before deciding whether to participate in the exchange
offer.
Risks Related to Continuing Ownership of the Outstanding Notes
If you fail to exchange outstanding notes, existing transfer restrictions will remain in
effect and the notes may be more difficult to sell.
If you fail to exchange outstanding notes for exchange notes under the exchange offer,
then you will continue to be subject to the existing transfer restrictions on the outstanding
notes. In general, the outstanding notes may not be offered or sold unless they are registered or
exempt from registration under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. Except in
connection with this exchange offer or as required by the registration rights agreement, we do not
intend to register resales of the outstanding notes.
The tender of outstanding notes under the exchange offer will reduce the principal amount
of the currently outstanding notes. Due to the corresponding reduction in liquidity, this may
decrease, and increase the volatility of, the market price of any currently outstanding notes that
you continue to hold following completion of the exchange offer.
Risks Relating to Our Business
The amount of cash we generate depends in part on factors beyond our control.
The actual amounts of cash we generate will depend upon numerous factors relating to our
business which may be beyond our control, including:
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the demand for and price of natural gas and NGLs; |
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the volume of natural gas we transport; |
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expiration of significant contracts; |
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continued development of wells for connection to our gathering systems; |
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the availability of local, intrastate and interstate transportation systems; |
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the expenses we incur in providing our gathering services; |
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the cost of acquisitions and capital improvements; |
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our issuance of equity securities; |
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required principal and interest payments on our debt; |
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fluctuations in working capital; |
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prevailing economic conditions; |
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fuel conservation measures; |
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alternate fuel requirements; |
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government regulation and taxation; and |
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technical advances in fuel economy and energy generation devices. |
Our ability to make payments on and to refinance our indebtedness, including the notes, will
depend on our financial and operating performance, which may fluctuate significantly from quarter
to quarter. We may be unable to continue to generate cash flow or borrow funds in amounts
sufficient to service our indebtedness or to meet our working capital and capital expenditure
requirements. If we are unable to do so, we may be required to sell assets or equity, reduce
capital expenditures, refinance all or a portion of our existing indebtedness or obtain additional
financing. We may be unable to do so on acceptable terms, or at all.
Our profitability is affected by the volatility of prices for natural gas and NGL products.
We derive a majority of our revenues from percentage of proceeds contracts. As a result,
our income depends to a significant extent upon the prices at which the natural gas we transport,
treat or process and the natural gas liquids, or NGLs, we produce are sold. A 10% change in the
average price of NGLs, natural gas and condensate we process and sell would result in a change to
our consolidated net income for the twelve month period ending
March 31, 2008, excluding the effect
of minority interests in our net income, of approximately $7.7 million. Additionally, changes in
natural gas prices may indirectly impact our profitability since prices can influence drilling
activity and well operations and thus the volume of gas we gather and process. Historically, the
price of both natural gas and NGLs has been subject to significant volatility in response to
relatively minor changes in the supply and demand for natural gas and NGL products, market
uncertainty and a variety of additional factors beyond our control, including those we describe in
The amount of cash we generate depends in part on factors beyond our control, above. We expect
this volatility to continue. This volatility may cause our gross margin and cash flows to vary
widely from period to period. Our hedging strategies may not be sufficient to offset price
volatility risk and, in any event, do not cover all of the throughput volumes subject to percentage
of proceeds contracts. Moreover, hedges are subject to inherent risks, which we describe in Our
hedging strategies may fail to protect us and could reduce our gross margin and cash flow.
The amount of natural gas we transport will decline over time unless we are able to
attract new wells to connect to our gathering systems.
Production of natural gas from a well generally declines over time until the well can no
longer economically produce natural gas and is plugged and abandoned. Failure to connect new wells
to our gathering systems could, therefore, result in the amount of natural gas we transport
reducing substantially over time and could, upon exhaustion of the current wells, cause us to
abandon one or more of our gathering systems and, possibly, cease operations. The primary factors
affecting our ability to connect new supplies of natural gas to our gathering systems include our
success in contracting for existing wells that are not committed to other systems, the level of
drilling activity near our gathering systems and, in the Mid-Continent region, our ability to
attract natural gas producers away from our competitors gathering systems. Fluctuations in energy
prices can greatly affect production rates and investments by third parties in the development of
new oil and natural gas reserves. Drilling activity generally decreases as oil and natural gas
prices decrease. We have no control over the level of drilling activity in our service areas, the
amount of reserves underlying wells that connect to our systems and the rate at which production
from a well will decline. In addition, we have no control over producers or their production
decisions, which are affected by, among other things, prevailing and projected energy prices,
demand for hydrocarbons, the level of reserves, geological considerations, governmental regulation
and the availability and cost of capital. Because our operating costs are fixed to a significant
degree, a reduction in the natural gas volumes we transport or process would result in a reduction
in our gross margin and cash flows and, as a result, in our ability to service the notes.
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The success of our Mid-Continent operations depends upon our ability to continually find and
contract for new sources of natural gas supply from unrelated third parties.
Unlike our Appalachian operations, none of the drillers or operators in our Mid-Continent
service area is an affiliate of ours. Moreover, our agreements with most of the drillers and
operators with which our Mid-Continent operations do business do not require them to dedicate
significant amounts of undeveloped acreage to our systems. As a result, we do not have assured
sources to provide us with new wells to connect to our Mid Continent gathering systems. Failure to
connect new wells to our Mid-Continent operations will, as described in The amount of natural
gas we transport will decline over time unless we are able to attract new wells to connect to our
gathering systems, above, reduce our gross margin and cash flows and, as a result, our ability to
service the notes.
Our Mid-Continent operations currently depend on key producers for their supply of natural gas; the
loss of any of these key producers could reduce our revenues.
During
2006, Chesapeake Energy Corporation, Kaiser-Francis Oil Company, Burlington Resources
Inc., St. Mary Land and Exploration Company and Samson Resources Co. supplied our Mid-Continent
systems with a majority of their natural gas supply. If these producers reduce the volumes of
natural gas that they supply to us, our gross margin and cash flows would be reduced unless we
obtain comparable supplies of natural gas from other producers.
The curtailment of operations at, or closure of, either of our processing plants could harm
our business.
We currently have one processing plant for our Elk City operation and one active processing
plant for our Velma operation. If operations at either plant were to be curtailed, or closed,
whether due to accident, natural catastrophe, environmental regulation or for any other reason, our
ability to process natural gas from the relevant gathering system and, as a result, our ability to
extract and sell NGLs, would be harmed. If this curtailment or stoppage were to extend for more
than a short period, our gross margin, cash flows and our ability to service the notes would be
materially reduced.
We may face increased competition in the future in our Mid-Continent service areas.
Our Mid-Continent operations may face competition for well connections. Duke Energy Field
Services, LLC, ONEOK, Inc., Carrera Gas Company, Cimmarron Transportation, LLC and Enogex, Inc.
operate competing gathering systems and processing plants in our Velma service area. In our Elk
City service area, ONEOK Field Services, Eagle Rock Midstream Resources, L.P., Enbridge Energy
Partners, L.P., CenterPoint Energy, Inc. and Enogex operate competing gathering systems and
processing plants. CenterPoint Energys interstate system is the nearest direct competitor to the
Ozark Gas Transmission system. CenterPoint and Enogex operate competing gathering systems in Ozark
Gas Gatherings service area. Some of our competitors have greater financial and other resources
than we do. If these companies become more active in our Mid-Continent service areas, we may not be
able to compete successfully with them in securing new well connections or retaining current well
connections. If we do not compete successfully, the amount of natural gas we transport, process and
treat will decrease, reducing our gross margin, cash flows and, as a result, our ability to service
the notes.
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The amount of natural gas we transport may be reduced if the public utility and interstate
pipelines to which we deliver gas cannot or will not accept the gas.
Our gathering systems principally serve as intermediate transportation facilities between
sales lines from wells connected to our systems and the public utility or interstate pipelines to
which we deliver natural gas. If one or more of these pipelines has service interruptions, capacity
limitations or otherwise does not accept the natural gas we transport, and we cannot arrange for
delivery to other pipelines, local distribution companies or end users, the amount of natural gas
we transport may be reduced. Since our revenues depend upon the volumes of natural gas we
transport, this could result in a material reduction in our gross margin, cash flows and, as a
result, our ability to service the notes.
We may be unsuccessful in integrating the operations from our recent acquisitions or any future
acquisitions with our operations and in realizing all of the anticipated benefits of these
acquisitions.
We acquired Elk City in April 2005 and completed the NOARK acquisition in October 2005
and May 2006 and are currently in the process of integrating their operations with ours. We also
have an active, on-going program to identify other potential acquisitions. The integration of
previously independent operations with ours can be a complex, costly and time-consuming process.
The difficulties of combining Elk City and NOARK, as well as any operations we may acquire in the
future, with our existing operations include, among other things:
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operating a significantly larger combined entity; |
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the necessity of coordinating geographically disparate organizations, systems and facilities; |
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integrating personnel with diverse business backgrounds and organizational cultures; |
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consolidating operational and administrative functions; |
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integrating internal controls, compliance under Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and other
corporate governance matters; |
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the diversion of managements attention from other business concerns; |
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customer or key employee loss from the acquired businesses; |
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a significant increase in our indebtedness; and |
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potential environmental or regulatory liabilities and title problems. |
The process of combining companies or the failure to integrate them successfully could harm our
business or future prospects, and result in significant decreases in our gross margin and cash
flows.
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The acquisitions of our Velma, Elk City and NOARK operations have substantially changed our
business, making it difficult to evaluate our business based upon our historical financial
information.
The acquisitions of our Velma, Elk City and NOARK operations have significantly increased our
size and substantially redefined our business plan, expanded our geographic market and resulted in
large changes to our revenues and expenses. As a result of these acquisitions, and our continued
plan to acquire and integrate additional companies that we believe present attractive
opportunities, our financial results for any period or changes in our results across periods may
continue to dramatically change. Our historical financial results, therefore, should not be relied
upon to accurately predict our future operating results, thereby making the evaluation of our
business more difficult.
Before acquiring our Velma and Elk City operations, we had no previous experience either in our
Mid-Continent service area or in operating natural gas processing plants.
Our Mid-Continent gathering systems are located in Oklahoma and northern Texas, areas in which
we have been involve only since July 2004 as a result of the Velma acquisition and, in April 2005,
the Elk City acquisition. In addition, as a result of these acquisitions, we began to operate
natural gas processing plants, a business in which we had no prior operating experience. We depend
upon the experience, knowledge and business relationships that have been developed by the senior
management of our Mid-Continent operations to operate successfully in the region. The loss of the
services of one or more members of our Mid-Continent senior management, in particular Robert R.
Firth, President, and David D. Hall, Chief Financial Officer, could limit our growth or ability to
maintain our current level of operations in the Mid-Continent region.
Due to our lack of asset diversification, negative developments in our operations would reduce our
ability to service the notes.
We rely exclusively on the revenues generated from our transportation, gathering and
processing operations, and as a result, our financial condition depends upon prices of, and
continued demand for, natural gas and NGLs. Due to our lack of diversification in asset type, a
negative development in one of these businesses would have a significantly greater impact on our
financial condition and results of operations than if we maintained more diverse assets.
Our construction of new assets may not result in revenue increases and is subject to regulatory,
environmental, political, legal and economic risks, which could impair our results of operations
and financial condition.
One of the ways we may grow our business is through the construction of new assets. The
construction of additions or modifications to our existing systems and facilities, and the
construction of new assets, involve numerous regulatory, environmental, political and legal
uncertainties beyond our control and require the expenditure of significant amounts of capital. Any
projects we undertake may not be completed on schedule at the budgeted cost, or at all. Moreover,
our revenues may not increase immediately upon the expenditure of funds on a particular project.
For instance, if we expand a gathering system, the construction may occur over an extended period
of time, and we will not receive any material increases in revenues until the project is completed.
Moreover, we may construct facilities to capture anticipated future growth in production in a
region in which growth does not materialize. Since we are not engaged in the exploration for and
development of natural gas reserves, we often do not have access to estimates of potential reserves
in an area before constructing facilities in the area. To the extent we rely on estimates of future
production in our decision to construct additions to our systems, the estimates may prove to be
inaccurate because there are numerous uncertainties inherent in estimating quantities of future
production. As a result, new facilities may not be able to attract enough throughput to achieve our
expected investment return, which could impair our results of operations and financial condition.
In addition, our actual revenues from a project could materially differ from expectations as a
result of the price of natural gas, the NGL content of the natural gas processed and other economic
factors described in this section.
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We recently completed construction of our Sweetwater natural gas processing plant, from which
we expect to generate additional incremental cash flow. We also continue to expand the natural gas
gathering system surrounding Sweetwater in order to maximize its plant operating capacity. In
addition to the risks discussed above, expected incremental revenue from the Sweetwater natural gas
processing plant could be reduced or delayed due to the following reasons:
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difficulties in obtaining equity or debt financing for construction and operating costs; |
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difficulties in obtaining permits or other regulatory or third party consents; |
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construction and operating costs exceeding budget estimates; |
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revenue being less than expected due to lower commodity prices or lower demand; |
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difficulties in obtaining consistent supplies of natural gas; and |
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terms in operating agreements that are not favorable to us. |
If we are unable to obtain new rights-of-way or the cost of renewing existing rights-of-way
increases, then we may be unable to fully execute our growth strategy and our cash flows could be
reduced.
The construction of additions to our existing gathering assets may require us to obtain new
rights-of-way before constructing new pipelines. We may be unable to obtain rights-of-way to
connect new natural gas supplies to our existing gathering lines or capitalize on other attractive
expansion opportunities. Additionally, it may become more expensive for us to obtain new
rights-of-way or to renew existing rights-of-way. If the cost of obtaining new rights-of-way or renewing existing rights-of-way
increases, then our cash flows could be reduced.
Regulation of our gathering operations could increase our operating costs, decrease our revenues,
or both.
Currently our gathering of natural gas from wells is exempt from regulation under the Natural
Gas Act of 1938. However, the implementation of new laws or policies, or interpretations of
existing laws, could subject us to regulation by FERC under the Natural Gas Act. We expect that any
such regulation would increase our costs, decrease our gross margin and cash flows, or both.
FERC regulation will still affect our business and the market for our products. FERCs
policies and practices affect a range of our natural gas pipeline activities, including, for
example, its policies on open access transportation, ratemaking, capacity release, and market
center promotion, which indirectly affect intrastate markets. In recent years, FERC has pursued
pro-competitive policies in its regulation of interstate natural gas pipelines. However, we cannot
assure you that FERC will continue this approach as it considers matters such as pipeline rates and
rules and policies that may affect rights of access to natural gas transportation capacity.
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Other state and local regulations will also affect our business. Matters subject to regulation
include rates, service and safety. Our gathering lines are subject to ratable take and common
purchaser statutes in Texas and Oklahoma. Ratable take statutes generally require gatherers to
take, without undue discrimination, natural gas production that may be tendered to the gatherer for
handling. Similarly, common purchaser statutes generally require gatherers to purchase without
undue discrimination as to source of supply or producer. These statutes restrict our right as an
owner of gathering facilities to decide with whom we contract to purchase or transport natural gas.
Federal law leaves any economic regulation of natural gas gathering to the states. Texas and
Oklahoma have adopted complaint-based regulation of natural gas gathering activities, which allows
natural gas producers and shippers to file complaints with state regulators in an effort to resolve
grievances relating to natural gas gathering access and, in Texas and Oklahoma, with respect to
rate discrimination. Should a complaint be filed or regulation by the Texas Railroad Commission or
Oklahoma Corporation Commission become more active, our revenues could decrease.
Increased regulatory requirements relating to the integrity of the Ozark Transmission pipeline
will require it to spend additional money to comply with these requirements. Ozark Gas Transmission
is subject to extensive laws and regulations related to pipeline integrity. For example, federal
legislation signed into law in December 2002 includes guidelines for the U.S. Department of
Transportation and pipeline companies in the areas of testing, education, training and
communication. Compliance with existing and recently enacted regulations requires significant
expenditures. Additional laws and regulations that may be enacted in the future, such as U.S.
Department of Transportation implementation of additional hydrostatic testing requirements, could
significantly increase the amount of these expenditures.
Ozark Gas Transmission is subject to FERC rate-making policies that could have an adverse impact on
our ability to establish rates that would allow us to recover the full cost of operating the
pipeline.
Rate-making policies by FERC could affect Ozark Gas Transmissions ability to establish rates,
or to charge rates that would cover future increases in its costs, or even to continue to collect
rates that cover current costs. Natural gas companies may not charge rates that have been
determined not to be just and reasonable by FERC. The rates, terms and conditions of service
provided by natural gas companies are required to be on file with FERC in FERC-approved tariffs.
Pursuant to FERCs jurisdiction over rates, existing rates may be challenged by complaint and
proposed rate increases may be challenged by protest. We cannot assure you that FERC will continue
to pursue its approach of pro-competitive policies as it considers matters such as pipeline rates
and rules and policies that may affect rights of access to natural gas capacity and transportation
facilities. Any successful complaint or protest against Ozark Gas Transmissions rates could reduce
our revenues associated with providing transmission services. We cannot assure you that we will be
able to recover all of Ozark Gas Transmissions costs through existing or future rates.
Ozark Gas Transmission is subject to regulation by FERC in addition to FERC rules and regulations
related to the rates it can charge for its services.
FERCs regulatory authority also extends to
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operating terms and conditions of service; |
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the types of services Ozark Gas Transmissions may offer to its customers; |
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construction of new facilities; |
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acquisition, extension or abandonment of services or facilities; |
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accounts and records; and |
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relationships with affiliated companies involved in all aspects of the
natural gas and energy businesses. |
FERC action in any of these areas or modifications of its current regulations can impair Ozark
Gas Transmissions ability to compete for business, the costs it incurs in its operations, the
construction of new facilities or its ability to recover the full cost of operating its pipeline.
For example, the development of uniform interstate gas quality standards by FERC could create two
distinct markets for natural gasan interstate market subject to uniform minimum quality standards
and an intrastate market with no uniform minimum quality standards. Such a bifurcation of markets
could make it difficult for our pipelines to compete in both markets or to attract gas supplies
away from the intrastate market. The time FERC takes to approve the construction of new facilities
could raise the costs of our projects to the point where they are no longer economic.
FERC has authority to review pipeline contracts. If FERC determines that a term of any such
contract deviates in a material manner from a pipelines tariff, FERC typically will order the
pipeline to remove the term from the contract and execute and refile a new contract with FERC or,
alternatively, to amend its tariff to include the deviating term, thereby offering it to all
shippers. If FERC audits a pipelines contracts and
finds deviations that appear to be unduly discriminatory, FERC could conduct a formal
enforcement investigation, resulting in serious penalties and/or onerous ongoing compliance
obligations.
Should Ozark Gas Transmissions fail to comply with all applicable FERC administered statutes,
rules, regulations and orders, it could be subject to substantial penalties and fines. Under the
recently enacted Energy Policy Act of 2005, FERC has civil penalty authority under the Natural Gas
Act to impose penalties for current violations of up to $1,000,000 per day for each violation.
Finally, we cannot give any assurance regarding the likely future regulations under which we
will operate Ozark Gas Transmission or the effect such regulation could have on our business,
financial condition, results of operations and ability to service the notes.
Compliance with pipeline integrity regulations issued by the United States Department of
Transportation and state agencies could result in substantial expenditures for testing, repairs and
replacement.
United States Department of Transportation and state agency regulations require pipeline
operators to develop integrity management programs for transportation pipelines located in high
consequence areas. The regulations require operators to:
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perform ongoing assessments of pipeline integrity; |
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identify and characterize applicable threats to
pipeline segments that could impact a high
consequence area; |
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improve data collection, integration and analysis; |
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repair and remediate the pipeline as necessary; and |
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implement preventative and mitigating actions. |
We do not believe that the cost of implementing integrity management program testing along
segments of our pipeline will have a material effect on our results of operation. This does not
include the costs, if any, of any repair, remediation, preventative or mitigating actions that may
be determined to be necessary as a result of the testing program, which costs could be substantial.
Our midstream natural gas operations may incur significant costs and liabilities resulting from a
failure to comply with new or existing environmental regulations or a release of hazardous
substances into the environment.
The operations of our gathering systems, plant and other facilities are subject to stringent
and complex federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations. These laws and regulations
can restrict or impact our business activities in many ways, including restricting the manner in
which we dispose of substances, requiring remedial action to remove or mitigate contamination, and
requiring capital expenditures to comply with control requirements. Failure to comply with these
laws and regulations may trigger a variety of administrative, civil and criminal enforcement
measures, including the assessment of monetary penalties, the imposition of remedial requirements,
and the issuance of orders enjoining future operations. Some environmental statutes impose strict,
joint and several liability for costs required to clean up and restore sites where substances and
wastes have been disposed or otherwise released. Moreover, it is
not uncommon for neighboring landowners and other third parties to file claims for personal
injury and property damage allegedly caused by the release of substances or wastes into the
environment.
There is inherent risk of the incurrence of environmental costs and liabilities in our
business due to our handling of natural gas and other petroleum products, air emissions related to
our operations, historical industry operations including releases of substances into the
environment, and waste disposal practices. For example, an accidental release from one of our
pipelines or processing facilities could subject us to substantial liabilities arising from
environmental cleanup, restoration costs and natural resource damages, claims made by neighboring
landowners and other third parties for personal injury and property damage, and fines or penalties
for related violations of environmental laws or regulations. Moreover, the possibility exists that
stricter laws, regulations or enforcement policies could significantly increase our compliance
costs and the cost of any remediation that may become necessary. We may not be able to recover some
or any of these costs from insurance.
We may not be able to execute our growth strategy successfully.
Our strategy contemplates substantial growth through both the acquisition of other gathering
systems and processing assets and the expansion of our existing gathering systems and processing
assets. Our growth strategy involves numerous risks, including:
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we may not be able to identify suitable acquisition candidates; |
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we may not be able to make acquisitions on economically acceptable
terms for various reasons, including limitations on access to
capital and increased competition for a limited pool of suitable
assets; |
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our costs in seeking to make acquisitions may be material, even if we
cannot complete any acquisition we have pursued; |
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irrespective of estimates at the time we make an acquisition, the
acquisition may prove to be dilutive to earnings and operating
surplus; |
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we may encounter difficulties in integrating operations and systems; and |
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any additional debt we incur to finance an acquisition may impair our
ability to service our existing debt. |
Limitations on our access to capital or on the market for our common units will impair our ability
to execute our growth strategy.
Our ability to raise capital for acquisitions and other capital expenditures depends upon
ready access to the capital markets. Historically, we have financed our acquisitions, and to a much
lesser extent, expansions of our gathering systems by bank credit facilities and the proceeds of
public and private equity offerings of our common units and preferred units of our operating
partnership. If we are unable to access the capital markets, we may be unable to execute our
strategy of growth through acquisitions.
Our hedging strategies may fail to protect us and could reduce our gross margin and cash flow.
We pursue various hedging strategies to seek to reduce our exposure to losses from adverse
changes in the prices for natural gas and NGLs. Our hedging activities will vary in scope based
upon the level and volatility of natural gas and NGL prices and other changing market conditions.
Our hedging activity may fail to protect or could harm us because, among other things:
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hedging can be expensive, particularly during periods of volatile prices; |
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available hedges may not correspond directly with the risks against which we seek protection; |
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the duration of the hedge may not match the duration of the risk against which we seek
protection; and
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the party owing money in the hedging transaction may default on its obligation to pay.
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Litigation or governmental regulation relating to environmental protection and operational safety
may result in substantial costs and liabilities.
Our operations are subject to federal and state environmental laws under which owners of
natural gas pipelines can be liable for clean-up costs and fines in connection with any pollution
caused by their pipelines. We may also be held liable for clean-up costs resulting from pollution
which occurred before our acquisition of the gathering systems. In addition, we are subject to
federal and state safety laws that dictate the type of pipeline, quality of pipe protection, depth,
methods of welding and other construction-related standards. Any violation of environmental,
construction or safety laws could impose substantial liabilities and costs on us.
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We are also subject to the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, or OSHA,
and comparable state statutes. Any violation of OSHA could impose substantial costs on us.
We cannot predict whether or in what form any new legislation or regulatory requirements might
be enacted or adopted, nor can we predict our costs of compliance. In general, we expect that new
regulations would increase our operating costs and, possibly, require us to obtain additional
capital to pay for improvements or other compliance action necessitated by those regulations.
We are subject to operating and litigation risks that may not be covered by insurance.
Our operations are subject to all operating hazards and risks incidental to transporting and
processing natural gas and NGLs. These hazards include:
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damage to pipelines, plants, related equipment and
surrounding properties caused by floods and other
natural disasters; |
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inadvertent damage from construction and farm equipment; |
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leakage of natural gas, NGLs and other hydrocarbons; |
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fires and explosions; |
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other hazards, including those associated with
high-sulfur content, or sour gas, that could also
result in personal injury and loss of life, pollution and
suspension of operations; and |
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acts of terrorism directed at our pipeline
infrastructure, production facilities,
transmission and distribution facilities and
surrounding properties. |
As a result, we may be a defendant in various legal proceedings and litigation arising from
our operations. We may not be able to maintain or obtain insurance of the type and amount we desire
at reasonable rates. As a result of market conditions, premiums and deductibles for some of our
insurance policies have increased substantially, and could escalate further. In some instances,
insurance could become unavailable or available only for reduced amounts of coverage. For example,
insurance carriers are now requiring broad exclusions for losses due to war risk and terrorist
acts. If we were to incur a significant liability for which we were not fully insured, our gross
margin and cash flows and, as a result, our ability to service the notes, would be materially
reduced.
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The IRS could treat us as a corporation for tax purposes, which would substantially reduce the cash
available to us for payment of principal and, in some instances, interest on the notes.
If we were treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes for any taxable year
for which the statute of limitations remains open or any future year, we would pay federal income
tax on our taxable income for such year at the corporate tax rates, currently at a maximum rate of
35%, and would likely pay state income tax at varying rates. Because a tax would be imposed on us
as a corporation, our cash available for payment of principal and, with respect to payments on
account of taxes for completed years, interest on the notes would be substantially reduced.
Risks Related to Our Ownership Structure
Atlas America and its affiliates have conflicts of interest and limited fiduciary responsibilities,
which may permit them to favor their own interests to the detriment of our noteholders.
Atlas America and its affiliates own and control our general partner, which also owns an
11% limited partner interest in us. We do not have any employees and rely solely on employees of
Atlas America and its affiliates who serve as our agents, including all of the senior managers who
operate our business. A number of officers and employees of Atlas America also own interests in us.
Conflicts of interest may arise between Atlas America, our general partner and their affiliates, on
the one hand, and us, on the other hand. As a result of these conflicts, our general partner may
favor its own interests and the interests of its affiliates over our interests and the interests of
our noteholders. These conflicts include, among others, the following situations:
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Employees of Atlas America who provide services to us also devote significant time to the
businesses of Atlas America in which we have no economic interest. If these separate activities are
significantly greater than our activities, there could be material competition for the time and
effort of the employees who provide services to our general partner, which could result in
insufficient attention to the management and operation of our business. |
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Neither our partnership agreement nor any other agreement requires Atlas America to pursue a
future business strategy that favors us or, apart from our agreements with Atlas America relating
to our Appalachian region operations, use our assets for transportation or processing services we
provide. Atlas America directors and officers have a fiduciary duty to make these decisions in the
best interests of the stockholders of Atlas America. |
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Our general partner is allowed to take into account the interests of parties other than us,
such as Atlas America, in resolving conflicts of interest, which has the effect of limiting its
fiduciary duty to us. |
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Our general partner controls the enforcement of obligations owed to us by our general partner
and its affiliates, including our agreements with Atlas America. |
Conflicts of interest with Atlas America and its affiliates, including the foregoing factors,
could exacerbate periods of lower or declining performance, or otherwise reduce our gross margin
and cash flows.
Cost reimbursements due our general partner may be substantial and will reduce the cash available
for principal and interest on the notes.
We reimburse Atlas America, our general partner and their affiliates, including officers and
directors of Atlas America, for all expenses they incur on our behalf. Our general partner has sole
discretion to determine the amount of these expenses. In addition, Atlas America and its affiliates
provide us with services for which we are charged reasonable fees as determined by Atlas America in
its sole discretion. The reimbursement of expenses or payment of fees could impair our ability to
make payments of principal and interest on the notes.
23
Risks Related to the Notes
We distribute all of our available cash to our unitholders and are not required to accumulate cash
for the purpose of meeting our future obligations to our noteholders, which may limit the cash
available to service the notes.
Subject to the limitations on restricted payments contained in the indenture governing the
notes and in our credit facility and other indebtedness, we distribute all of our available cash
each quarter to our limited partners and our general partner. Available cash is defined in our
partnership agreement, and it generally means, for each fiscal quarter:
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all cash on hand at the end of the quarter; |
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less the amount of cash that our general partner determines in its reasonable discretion is necessary or appropriate
to: |
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provide for the proper conduct of our business; |
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comply with applicable law, any of our debt instruments, or other agreements; or |
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provide funds for distributions to our unitholders and to our general partner for
any one or more of the next four quarters; |
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plus all cash on hand on the date of determination of available cash for the quarter resulting from working capital
borrowings made after the end of the quarter. Working capital borrowings are generally borrowings that are made under our
credit facility and in all cases are used solely for working capital purposes or to pay distributions to partners. |
As a result, we do not expect to accumulate significant amounts of cash. Depending on the
timing and amount of our cash distributions, these distributions could significantly reduce the
cash available to us in subsequent periods to make payments on the notes.
We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service our debt obligations, including our
obligations under the notes.
Our ability to make payments on and to refinance our indebtedness, including the notes, will
depend on our financial and operating performance, which may fluctuate significantly from quarter
to quarter, and is subject to prevailing economic conditions and financial, business and other
factors, many of which are beyond our control. We cannot assure you that we will continue to
generate sufficient cash flow or that we will be able to borrow funds in amounts sufficient to
enable us to service our indebtedness, or to meet our
working capital and capital expenditure requirements. If we are not able to generate
sufficient cash flow from operations or to borrow sufficient funds to service our indebtedness, we
may be required to sell assets or equity, reduce capital expenditures, refinance all or a portion
of our existing indebtedness or obtain additional financing. We cannot assure you that we will be
able to refinance our indebtedness, sell assets or equity, or borrow more funds on terms acceptable
to us, if at all.
24
We have a holding company structure in which our subsidiaries conduct our operations and own our
operating assets.
We are a holding company, and our operating partnership and its operating subsidiaries conduct
all of our operations and own all of our operating assets. We have no significant assets other than
our interest in our operating partnership. As a result, our ability to make required payments on
the notes depends on the performance of our operating partnership and its subsidiaries and their
ability to distribute funds to us. The ability of our subsidiaries to make distributions to us may
be restricted by, among other things, our existing credit facility and applicable state partnership
laws and other laws and regulations. If we are unable to obtain the funds necessary to pay the
principal amount at maturity of the notes, or to repurchase the notes upon the occurrence of a
change of control, we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, such as a refinancing of
the notes or a sale of assets. We may not be able to refinance the notes or sell assets on
acceptable terms, or at all.
The notes and the guarantees will be unsecured and effectively subordinated to our and the
guarantors existing and future secured indebtedness.
The notes and the guarantees are general unsecured obligations ranking effectively junior in
right of payment to all of our existing and future secured indebtedness and that of each guarantor.
Additionally, the indenture governing the notes permits us and the guarantors to incur additional
secured indebtedness in the future.
In the event that we or a guarantor is declared bankrupt, becomes insolvent or is liquidated
or reorganized, any indebtedness that ranks ahead of the notes and the guarantees will be entitled
to be paid in full from our assets or the assets of the guarantor, as applicable, before any
payment may be made with respect to the notes or the affected guarantees. Holders of the notes will
participate ratably with all holders of our unsecured indebtedness that is deemed to be of the same
class as the notes, and potentially with all of our other general creditors, based upon the
respective amounts owed to each holder or creditor, in our remaining assets. Although all of our
subsidiaries, other than Atlas Pipeline Finance, the co-issuer of the notes, currently guarantee
the notes, the guarantees are subject to release in the future and we may have subsidiaries that
are not guarantors. In the event of the liquidation, dissolution, reorganization, bankruptcy or
similar proceeding of the business of a subsidiary that is not a guarantor, creditors of that
subsidiary would generally have the right to be paid in full before any distribution is made to us
or the holders of the notes. In any of the foregoing events, we cannot assure you that there will
be sufficient assets to pay amounts due on the notes. As a result, holders of the notes may receive
less, ratably, than holders of secured indebtedness.
Claims of noteholders will be structurally subordinate to claims of creditors of some of our
subsidiaries because they will not guarantee the notes.
The notes will not be guaranteed by our less than wholly-owned subsidiaries or other
future subsidiaries that may be designated as unrestricted. Accordingly, claims of holders of the
notes will be structurally subordinate to the claims of creditors of these non-guarantor
subsidiaries, including trade creditors. All obligations of our non-guarantor subsidiaries will
have to be satisfied before any of the assets of such subsidiaries would be available for
distribution, upon a liquidation or otherwise, to us or a guarantor of the notes.
25
The covenants in the indenture governing the notes impose, and covenants contained in agreements
governing indebtedness we incur in the future may impose, restrictions that may limit our operating
and financial flexibility.
The indenture governing the notes contains a number of significant restrictions and covenants
that limit our ability and the ability of our restricted subsidiaries to:
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incur liens and indebtedness or provide guarantees in respect of obligations of any other person; |
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issue redeemable preferred units, common units, membership interests or stock of our subsidiaries; |
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pay dividends or make distributions; |
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make redemptions and repurchases of specified equity interests; |
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make loans and investments; |
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prepay, redeem or repurchase subordinated indebtedness; |
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engage in mergers, consolidations and asset dispositions; |
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engage in affiliate transactions; and |
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restrict distributions from specified subsidiaries |
Additionally, our future indebtedness may contain covenants more restrictive than the
restrictions contained in the indenture governing the notes. Operating results below current levels
or other adverse factors, including a significant increase in interest rates, could result in our
being unable to comply with financial covenants that may be contained in any future indebtedness.
If our indebtedness is in default for any reason, our business, financial condition and results of
operations could be impaired. In addition, complying with these covenants may also cause us to take
actions that are not favorable to holders of the notes and may make it more difficult for us to
successfully execute our business strategy and compete against companies who are not subject to
such restrictions.
Covenants contained in the indenture restricting our ability to pay dividends, incur indebtedness
and enter into specified transactions will not be applicable during any period in which the notes
are rated investment grade by both Moodys and Standard & Poors.
The indenture governing the notes provides that covenants restricting our ability to pay
dividends, incur indebtedness and enter into specified transactions will not apply to us during any
period in which the notes are rated investment grade by Standard & Poors or Moodys. The covenants
restrict, among other things, our ability to pay dividends, incur indebtedness and enter into
certain other transactions. We cannot assure you that the notes will ever be rated investment
grade, or that if they are rated investment grade, the notes will maintain such ratings. However,
suspension of these covenants would allow us to engage in transactions that would not be permitted
while these covenants were in force and any such actions that we take while these covenants are not
in force will be permitted even if the notes are subsequently downgraded below investment grade.
See Description of the Notes Suspended Covenants.
26
We may be unable to purchase the notes upon a change of control.
Upon a change of control, we may be required to offer to purchase all of the notes then
outstanding for cash at 101% of the principal amount thereof plus accrued and unpaid interest. If a
change of control were to occur, we may not have sufficient funds to pay the change of control
purchase price and we may be required to secure third-party financing to do so. However, we may not
be able to obtain such financing on commercially reasonable terms, on terms acceptable to us or at
all. Our future indebtedness may also contain restrictions on our ability to repurchase the notes
upon certain events, including transactions that could constitute a change of control under the
indenture. Our failure to repurchase the notes upon a change of control would constitute an event
of default under the indenture and would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition.
The change of control provision in the indenture may not protect you in the event we
consummate a highly leveraged transaction, reorganization, restructuring, merger or other similar
transaction, unless such transaction constitutes a change of control under the indenture. Such a
transaction may not involve a change in voting power or beneficial ownership or, even if it does,
may not involve a change of the magnitude required under the definition of change of control
triggering event in the indenture to trigger our obligation to repurchase the notes. Except as
described above, the indenture does not contain provisions that permit the holders of the notes to
require us to repurchase or redeem the notes in an event of a takeover, recapitalization or similar
transaction.
If the subsidiary guarantees were deemed fraudulent conveyances, a court might subordinate or void
them.
Under federal bankruptcy law and comparable provisions of state fraudulent transfer laws, the
guarantees of the notes by our subsidiaries could be voided, or claims in respect of the guarantees
could be subordinated to all other indebtedness of any guarantor, if, among other things, any
guarantor received less than reasonably equivalent value or fair consideration for issuing its
guarantee, and, at the time thereof:
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was insolvent or rendered insolvent by reason of issuing its guarantee; |
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was engaged or about to engage in a business or a transaction for
which its remaining assets available to carry on its business
constituted unreasonably small capital; or |
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intended to incur, or believed that it would incur, debts beyond its
ability to pay the debts as they mature; |
In addition, any payment by us or any guarantor could be voided and required to be returned to
us or such guarantor, or to a fund for the benefit of its creditors or the notes or the applicable
guarantee could be subordinated to our other indebtedness or such other indebtedness of any
guarantor.
The measures of insolvency for the purposes of fraudulent transfer laws vary depending upon
the law applied in any proceeding to determine whether a fraudulent transfer has occurred.
Generally, however, an entity would be considered insolvent if, at the time it incurred the
indebtedness:
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the sum of its debts, including contingent
liabilities, was greater than the fair
saleable value of its assets; |
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the present fair saleable value of its assets was
less than the amount that would be required
to pay its probable liability on its existing debts,
including contingent liabilities, as they
become absolute and mature; or |
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it could not pay its debts as they become due. |
We cannot be sure as to what standard a court would apply in making these determinations or
that a court would reach the same conclusions with regard to these issues. Regardless of the
standard that the court uses, we cannot be sure that the issuance of any of the guarantees would
not be voided or that the any guarantee would not be subordinated to other indebtedness of the
guarantors.
Your ability to transfer the notes may be limited by the absence of an active trading market.
We
have not applied, and do not intend to apply for listing or quotation of the exchange notes on any securities
exchange or stock market. The liquidity of any market
for the notes will depend on a number of factors, including:
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the number of holders of notes; |
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our operating performance and financial condition; |
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our ability to complete the offer to exchange the notes for the exchange notes; |
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the market for similar securities; |
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the interest of securities dealers in making a market in the notes; and |
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prevailing interest rates. |
Historically, the market for non-investment grade debt has been subject to disruptions that
have caused substantial volatility in the prices of these securities. We cannot assure you that the
market for the notes will be free from similar disruptions.
Our general partner will not have any liability for the notes.
The indenture governing the notes provides that our general partner will have no liability for
our obligations under the notes. Accordingly, if we and the subsidiary guarantors are unable to
make payments on the notes, you will not be able to recover against our general partner.
28
USE OF PROCEEDS
The exchange offer is intended to satisfy our obligations under the registration rights
agreement. We will not receive any cash proceeds from the issuance of the exchange notes in the
exchange offer. In consideration for issuing the exchange notes as contemplated by this prospectus,
we will receive outstanding notes in a like principal amount. The form and terms of the exchange
notes are identical in all respects to the form and terms of the outstanding notes, except the
exchange notes do not include certain transfer restrictions, registration rights or provisions for
additional interest. Outstanding notes surrendered in exchange for the exchange notes will be
retired and cancelled and will not be reissued. Accordingly, the issuance of the exchange notes
will not result in any change in our outstanding indebtedness.
RATIO OF EARNINGS TO FIXED CHARGES
The table below sets forth the ratios of earnings to fixed charges for us for the periods
indicated.
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Six months ended |
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Year ended December 31, |
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June 30, |
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Ratio of earnings to fixed charges |
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18.0 |
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29.3 |
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8.1 |
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2.7 |
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2.2 |
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2.4 |
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(1) |
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Due to our loss for the six months ended June 30, 2007,
our earnings were insufficient to cover our fixed charges by
$19.3 million. |
For purposes of computing the ratio of earnings to fixed charges, earnings is the
aggregate of the following items:
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pre-tax income or loss from continuing operations
before adjustment for minority interests in
consolidated subsidiaries or income or loss from equity
investees; |
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plus fixed charges. |
The term fixed charges means the sum of the following:
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interest expense and capitalized, including
amortization of premiums, discounts and
capitalized expenses related to indebtedness (excluding
write-off of capitalized expenses related to
indebtedness); and |
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an estimate of the interest within rental expense. |
29
EXCHANGE OFFER
We sold the outstanding notes on April 18, 2007 pursuant to the purchase agreement dated
as of April 18, 2007, by and among us, Atlas Pipeline Finance and the purchaser named therein.
Purpose of the Exchange Offer
We sold the outstanding notes in a transaction that was exempt from or not subject to the
registration requirements under the Securities Act. Accordingly, the outstanding notes are subject
to transfer restrictions. In general, you may not offer or sell the outstanding notes unless either
they are registered under the Securities Act or the offer or sale is exempt from or not subject to
registration under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws.
In connection with the sale of the outstanding notes, we entered into a registration
rights agreement with the purchaser of the outstanding notes. We are offering the exchange notes
under this prospectus in an exchange offer for the outstanding notes to satisfy our obligations
under the registration rights agreement. During the exchange offer period, we will exchange the
exchange notes for all outstanding notes properly surrendered and not withdrawn before the
expiration date. We have registered the exchange notes; the transfer restrictions, registration
rights and provisions for additional interest relating to the outstanding notes will not apply to
the exchange notes.
Resale of Exchange Notes
Based on no-action letters of the SEC staff issued to third parties, we believe that exchange
notes may be offered for resale, resold and otherwise transferred by you without further compliance
with the registration and prospectus delivery provisions of the Securities Act if:
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you are not an affiliate of us or Atlas Pipeline Finance within the
meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act; |
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such exchange notes are acquired in the ordinary course of your business; and |
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you do not intend to participate in a distribution of the exchange notes. |
The SEC, however, has not considered the exchange offer for the exchange notes in the context
of a no-action letter, and the SEC may not make a similar determination as in the no-action letters
issued to these third parties.
If you tender in the exchange offer with the intention of participating in any manner in a
distribution of the exchange notes, you
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cannot rely on such interpretations by the SEC staff; and |
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must comply with the registration and prospectus
delivery requirements of the Securities Act in
connection with a secondary resale transaction. |
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Unless an exemption from registration is otherwise available, any securityholder intending to
distribute exchange notes should be covered by an effective registration statement under the
Securities Act. The registration statement should contain the selling securityholders information
required by Item 507 of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act.
This prospectus may be used for an offer to resell, resale or other transfer of exchange notes
only as specifically described in this prospectus. If you are a broker-dealer, you may participate
in the exchange offer only if you acquired the outstanding notes as a result of market-making
activities or other trading activities. Each broker-dealer that receives exchange notes for its own
account in exchange for outstanding notes, where such outstanding notes were acquired by such
broker-dealer as a result of market-making activities or other trading activities, must acknowledge
by way of the letter of transmittal that it will deliver this prospectus in connection with any
resale of the exchange notes. Please read the section captioned Plan of Distribution for more
details regarding the transfer of exchange notes.
Terms of the Exchange Offer
Subject to the terms and conditions described in this prospectus and in the letter of
transmittal, we will accept for exchange any outstanding notes properly tendered and not withdrawn
before 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the expiration date of the exchange offer. We will issue
exchange notes in principal amount equal to the principal amount of outstanding notes surrendered
in the exchange offer. Outstanding notes may be tendered only for exchange notes and only in
denominations of $1,000 and integral multiples of $1,000.
The exchange offer is not conditioned upon any minimum aggregate principal amount of
outstanding notes being tendered in the exchange offer.
As of the date of this prospectus, $293,524,000 in aggregate principal amount of 8-1/8%
Senior Notes due 2015 are outstanding. This prospectus is being sent to the sole registered holder
of the outstanding unregistered notes.
We intend to conduct the exchange offer in accordance with the provisions of the registration
rights agreement, the applicable requirements of the Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934 and the rules and regulations of the SEC. Outstanding notes not tendered for exchange in
the exchange offer will remain outstanding and continue to accrue interest. These outstanding notes
will be entitled to the rights and benefits such holder has under the indenture relating to the
outstanding notes and the registration rights agreement.
We will be deemed to have accepted for exchange properly tendered outstanding notes when we
have given oral or written notice of the acceptance to the exchange agent and complied with the
applicable provisions of the registration rights agreement. The exchange agent will act as agent
for the tendering holder for the purposes of receiving the exchange notes from us.
If you tender outstanding notes in the exchange offer, you will not be required to pay
brokerage commissions or fees or, subject to the letter of transmittal, transfer taxes with respect
to the exchange of outstanding notes. We will pay all charges and expenses, other than certain
applicable taxes described below, in connection with the exchange offer. Please read Fees and
Expenses for more details regarding fees and expenses incurred in connection with the exchange
offer.
We will return any outstanding notes that we do not accept for exchange for any reason without
expense to their tendering holder promptly after the expiration or termination of the exchange
offer.
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Expiration Date
The
exchange offer will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on
August 16, 2007, unless, in
our sole discretion, we extend it.
Extensions, Delays in Acceptance, Termination or Amendment
We expressly reserve the right, at any time or various times, to extend the period of time
during which the exchange offer is open. We may delay acceptance of any outstanding notes by giving
oral or written notice of such extension to their holders at any time until the exchange offer
expires or terminates. During any such extensions, all outstanding notes previously tendered will
remain subject to the exchange offer, and we may accept them for exchange.
To extend the exchange offer, we will notify the exchange agent orally or in writing of any
extension. We will notify the registered holder of outstanding notes of the extension no later than
9:00 a.m. New York City time on the business day after the previously scheduled expiration date.
If any of the conditions described below under Conditions to the Exchange Offer have not
been satisfied, we reserve the right, in our sole discretion
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to delay accepting for exchange any outstanding notes, |
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to extend the exchange offer, or |
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to terminate the exchange offer, |
by giving oral or written notice of such delay, extension or termination to the exchange agent,
subject to the terms of the registration rights agreement. We also reserve the right to amend the
terms of the exchange offer in any manner.
Any such delay in acceptance, extension, termination or amendment will be followed as promptly
as practicable by oral or written notice to holders of the outstanding notes. If we amend the
exchange offer in a manner that we consider a material change, we will promptly disclose the
amendment by means of a prospectus supplement. The prospectus supplement will be distributed to
holders of the outstanding notes. If an amendment constitutes a material change to the exchange
offer, including the waiver of a material condition, we will extend the exchange offer, if
necessary, to remain open for at least five business days after the date of the amendment. In the
event of any increase or decrease in the price of the outstanding notes or in the percentage of
outstanding notes being sought by us, we will extend the exchange offer to remain open for at least
10 business days after the date we provide notice of such increase or decrease to the registered
holder of outstanding notes.
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Conditions to the Exchange Offer
We will not be required to accept for exchange, or exchange any exchange notes for, any
outstanding notes if the exchange offer, or the making of any exchange by the holder of outstanding
notes, would violate applicable law or any applicable interpretation of the staff of the SEC.
Similarly, we may terminate the exchange offer as provided in this prospectus before accepting
outstanding notes for exchange in the event of such a potential violation.
We will not be obligated to accept for exchange the outstanding notes of the holder if it has
not made to us the representations described under Procedures for Tendering and Plan of
Distribution and such other representations as may be reasonably necessary under applicable SEC
rules, regulations or interpretations to allow us to use an appropriate form to register the
exchange notes under the Securities Act.
Additionally, we will not accept for exchange any outstanding notes tendered, and will not
issue exchange notes in exchange for any such outstanding notes, if at such time any stop order has
been threatened or is in effect with respect to the exchange offer registration statement of which
this prospectus constitutes a part or the qualification of the indenture under the Trust Indenture
Act of 1939.
We expressly reserve the right to amend or terminate the exchange offer, and to reject for
exchange any outstanding notes not previously accepted for exchange, upon the occurrence of any of
the conditions to the exchange offer specified above. We will give oral or written notice of any
extension, amendment, non-acceptance or termination to the holder of the outstanding notes as
promptly as practicable.
These conditions are for our sole benefit, and we may assert them or waive them in whole or in
part at any time or at various times before the expiration of the exchange offer in our sole
discretion. If we fail at any time to exercise any of these rights, this failure will not mean that
we have waived our rights. Each such right will be deemed an ongoing right that we may assert at
any time or at various times before the expiration of the exchange offer.
Procedures for Tendering
To participate in the exchange offer, you must properly tender your outstanding notes to the
exchange agent as described below. We will only issue exchange notes in exchange for outstanding
notes that you timely and properly tender. Therefore, you should allow sufficient time to ensure
timely delivery of the outstanding notes, and you should follow carefully the instructions on how
to tender your outstanding notes. It is your responsibility to properly tender your outstanding
notes. We have the right to waive any defects. However, we are not required to waive defects, and
neither we, nor the exchange agent is required to notify you of defects in your tender.
If you have any questions or need help in exchanging your outstanding notes, please call the
exchange agent whose address and phone number are described in the letter of transmittal included
as Annex A to this prospectus.
We issued the outstanding notes in definitive form and they will be tendered by returning the
definitive notes to the exchange agent along with a letter of transmittal, a copy of which is
attached hereto as Annex A.
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There is no procedure for guaranteed late delivery of the outstanding notes.
Determinations under the exchange offer. We will determine in our sole discretion all
questions as to the validity, form, eligibility, time of receipt, acceptance of tendered
outstanding notes and withdrawal of tendered outstanding notes. Our determination will be final and
binding. We reserve the absolute right to reject any outstanding notes not properly tendered or any
outstanding notes our acceptance of which would, in the opinion of our counsel, be unlawful. We
also reserve the right to waive any defect, irregularities or conditions of tender as to particular
outstanding notes. Our interpretation of the terms and conditions of the exchange offer, including
the instructions in the letter of transmittal, will be final and binding on all parties. Unless
waived, all defects or irregularities in connection with tenders of outstanding notes must be cured
within such time as we shall determine. Although we intend to notify holders of defects or
irregularities with respect to tenders of outstanding notes, neither we, the exchange agent nor any
other person will incur any liability for failure to give such notification. Tenders of outstanding
notes will not be deemed made until such defects or irregularities have been cured or waived. Any
outstanding notes received by the exchange agent that are not properly tendered and as to which the
defects or irregularities have not been cured or waived will be returned to the tendering holder as
soon as practicable following the expiration date of the exchange.
When we will issue exchange notes. In all cases, we will issue exchange notes for outstanding
notes that we have accepted for exchange under the exchange offer only after the exchange agent
receives, before 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the expiration date,
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the definitive note; and |
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a letter of transmittal. |
Return of outstanding notes not accepted or exchanged. If we do not accept any tendered
outstanding notes for exchange or if outstanding notes are submitted for a greater principal amount
than the holder desires to exchange, we will return the unaccepted or non-exchanged outstanding
notes without charge to their tendering holder. These actions will occur as promptly as practicable
after the expiration or termination of the exchange offer.
Your representations to us. By agreeing to be bound by the letter of transmittal, you will
represent to us that, among other things:
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any exchange notes that you receive will be acquired in the ordinary course of your business; |
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you have no arrangement or understanding with any person or entity to participate in the
distribution of the exchange notes;
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you are not engaged in and do not intend to engage in the distribution of the exchange notes; |
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if you are a broker-dealer that will receive exchange notes for your own account in exchange
for outstanding notes, you acquired those outstanding notes as a result of market-making
activities or other trading activities and you will deliver this prospectus, as required by law,
in connection with any resale of the exchange notes; and |
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you are not an affiliate, as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act, of us or Atlas
Pipeline Finance. |
Withdrawal of Tenders
Except as otherwise provided in this prospectus, you may withdraw your tender at any time
before 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the expiration date of the exchange offer. For a
withdrawal to be effective you must notify the exchange agent at:
Ledgewood, P.C., 1900 Market Street, Suite 750, Philadelphia, PA
19103, Attention: Mark E. Rosenstein, Phone: 215-731-9450, Facsimile:
215-735-2513.
We will determine all questions as to the validity, form, eligibility and time of receipt of a
notice of withdrawal. Our determination shall be final and binding on all parties. We will deem any
outstanding notes so withdrawn not to have been validly tendered for exchange for purposes of the
exchange offer.
Any outstanding notes that have been tendered for exchange but that are not exchanged for any
reason will be recertificated in definitive note form and returned to the noteholder. This return
will take place as soon as practicable after withdrawal, rejection of tender, expiration or
termination of the exchange offer. You may retender properly withdrawn outstanding notes by
following the procedures described under Procedures for Tendering above at any time on or
before the expiration date of the exchange offer.
Fees and Expenses
We will bear the expenses of soliciting tenders. The principal solicitation is being made by
mail; however, we may make additional solicitation by telephone or in person by our officers and
regular employees and those of our affiliates.
We have not retained any dealer-manager in connection with the exchange offer and will not
make any payments to broker-dealers or others soliciting acceptances of the exchange offer. We
will, however, pay the exchange agent reasonable and customary fees for its services and reimburse
it for its related reasonable out-of-pocket expenses.
We will pay the cash expenses to be incurred in connection with the exchange offer. They
include:
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fees and expenses of the exchange agent and trustee; |
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accounting and legal fees and printing costs; and |
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related fees and expenses. |
Transfer Taxes
We will pay all transfer taxes, if any, applicable to the exchange of outstanding notes under
the exchange offer. The tendering holder, however, will be required to pay any transfer taxes,
whether imposed on the registered holder or any other person, if a transfer tax is imposed for any
reason other than the exchange of outstanding notes under the exchange offer.
Consequences of Failure to Exchange
If you do not exchange your outstanding notes for exchange notes under the exchange offer, the
outstanding notes you hold will continue to be subject to the existing restrictions on transfer. In
general, you may not offer or sell the outstanding notes except under an exemption from, or in a
transaction not subject to, the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. We do not
intend to register outstanding notes under the Securities Act unless the registration rights
agreement require us to do so.
Accounting Treatment
We will record the exchange notes in our accounting records at the same carrying value as the
outstanding notes. This carrying value is the aggregate principal amount of the outstanding notes,
as reflected in our accounting records on the date of exchange. Accordingly, we will not recognize
any gain or loss for accounting purposes in connection with the exchange offer.
Other
Participation in the exchange offer is voluntary, and you should consider carefully whether to
accept. You are urged to consult your financial and tax advisors in making your own decision on
what action to take.
We may in the future seek to acquire untendered outstanding notes in open market or privately
negotiated transactions, through subsequent exchange offers or otherwise. We have no present plans
to acquire any outstanding notes that are not tendered in the exchange offer or to file a
registration statement to permit resales of any untendered outstanding notes.
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CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
General
Conflicts of interest exist and may arise in the future as a result of the relationships
between our general partner and Atlas America and its affiliates, on the one hand, and us, on the
other hand. The managing board members and officers of our general partner have fiduciary duties to
manage our general partner in a manner beneficial to Atlas America and its affiliates as members.
At the same time, our general partner has a fiduciary duty to manage us in a manner beneficial to
us.
Our partnership agreement contains provisions that allow our general partner to take into
account the interests of parties in addition to ours in resolving conflicts of interest. In effect,
these provisions limit our general partners fiduciary duty to the unitholders. The partnership
agreement also restricts the remedies available to unitholders for actions taken that might,
without those limitations, constitute breaches of fiduciary duty.
Whenever a conflict arises between our general partner or its affiliates, on the one hand, and
us or any partner, on the other, our general partner has the responsibility to resolve that
conflict. A conflicts committee of our general partners managing board will, at the request of our
general partner, review conflicts of interest. The conflicts committee consists of the independent
managing board members, currently Messrs. Bradley, Clifford and Rudolph and Ms. Jackson. Our
general partner will not be in breach of its obligations under the partnership agreement or its
duties to us or our unitholders if the resolution of the conflict is considered to be fair and
reasonable to us. Any resolution is considered to be fair and reasonable to us if that resolution
is:
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approved by the conflicts committee, although no
party is obligated to seek approval and our general
partner may adopt a resolution or course of action that
has not received approval; |
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on terms no less favorable to us than those
generally being provided to or available from unrelated
third parties; or |
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fair to us, taking into account the totality of
the relationships between the parties involved,
including other transactions that may be particularly
favorable or advantageous to us. |
In resolving a conflict, our general partner may, unless the resolution is specifically
provided for in the partnership agreement, consider:
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the relative interest of the parties involved in the conflict or affected by the action; |
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any customary or accepted industry practices or historical dealings with a particular
person or entity; and |
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generally accepted accounting practices or principles and other factors as it considers
relevant, if applicable. |
Conflicts of interest could arise in the situations described below, among others:
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We do not have any employees and rely on the employees of our general partner and its affiliates.
We do not have any officers or employees and rely solely on officers and employees of our
general partner and its affiliates. Affiliates of our general partner conduct business and
activities of their own in which we have no economic interest. If these separate activities are
significantly greater than our activities, there could be material competition between us, our
general partner and affiliates of our general partner for the time and effort of the officers and
employees who provide services to our general partner. The officers of our general partner who
provide services to us are not required to work full time on our affairs. These officers may devote
significant time to the affairs of our general partners affiliates and be compensated by these
affiliates for the services rendered to them. There may be significant conflicts between us and
affiliates of our general partner regarding the availability of these officers to manage us.
We must reimburse our general partner and its affiliates for expenses.
We must reimburse our general partner and its affiliates for costs incurred in managing and
operating us, including costs incurred in rendering corporate staff and support services properly
allocable to us.
Our general partner intends to limit its liability regarding our obligations.
Our general partner intends to limit its liability under contractual arrangements so that the
other party has recourse only as to all or particular assets of ours and not against our general
partner or its assets. Our partnership agreement provides that any action taken by our general
partner to limit our or its liability is not a breach of our general partners fiduciary duties,
even if we could have obtained more favorable terms without the limitation on liability.
Determinations by our general partner may affect its obligations and the obligations of Atlas
America.
We have agreements with Atlas America regarding, among other things, transporting natural gas
from wells controlled by it and its affiliates, construction of expansions to our gathering
systems, financing that construction and identification of other gathering systems for acquisition.
Determinations made by our general partner will significantly affect the obligations of Atlas
America under these agreements. For example, a determination not to acquire a gathering system
identified by Atlas America could result in the acquisition of that system by Atlas America.
Contracts between us, on the one hand, and our general partner and Atlas America and its
affiliates, on the other, will not be the result of arms-length negotiations.
Our partnership agreement allows our general partner to pay itself or its affiliates for any
services rendered, provided these services are on terms fair and reasonable to us. Our general
partner may also enter into additional contractual arrangements with any of its affiliates on our
behalf. Neither our partnership agreement nor any of the other agreements, contracts and
arrangements between us, on the one hand, and our general partner and its affiliates on the other,
are or will be the result of arms length negotiations.
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We may not retain separate counsel or other professionals.
Attorneys, independent public accountants and others who perform services for us are selected
by our general partner or the conflicts committee and may also perform services for our general
partner and Atlas America and its affiliates. We may retain separate counsel in the event of a
conflict of interest arising between our general partner and its affiliates, on the one hand, and
us or the holders of common units, on the other, depending on the nature of that conflict. We do
not intend to do so in most cases.
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DESCRIPTION OF OTHER INDEBTEDNESS
Credit Facility
We
have a $300.0 million revolving loan and $830.0 million term loan
credit facility with a syndicate of banks. The revolving loan matures
in 2014 and the term loan matures in 2013. The credit facility bears interest, at our option, at either (i) adjusted LIBOR plus the
applicable margin, as defined, or (ii) the higher of the federal funds rate plus 0.5% or the
Wachovia Bank prime rate (each plus the applicable margin). As of
July 30, 2007, we had $830.0 million outstanding under the term
loan and $10.0 million outstanding under the revolving loan with a weighted average
interest rate of 8.09%. Up to
$50.0 million of the credit facility may be utilized for letters
of credit, of which $7.1 million
was outstanding at July 30, 2007. These outstanding letter of
credit amounts are not reflected as
borrowings on our consolidated balance sheet. Borrowings under the credit facility are secured by a
lien on and security interest in all of our property and that of our
subsidiaries other than WestTex and WestOk, and by the
guaranty of each of our wholly-owned subsidiaries.
The credit facility defines EBITDA to include pro forma adjustments, acceptable to Wachovia
Bank as administrator of the facility, following material acquisitions. The credit facility
requires us to maintain a ratio of a funded debt to credit facility
EBITDA ratio of not more than 5.25 to 1.0, or 5.75 to 1.0 for up to
three quarters following a material acquisition; and an
interest coverage ratio of not less than 2.5 to 1.0 until June 30,
2008 and 2.75 to 1.0 after that.
The credit agreement contains covenants customary for loans of this size, including
restrictions on incurring additional debt and making material acquisitions, and a prohibition on
paying distributions to our unitholders if an event of default occurs. We were in compliance with
these covenants as of July 30, 2007. The events which constitute an event of default are also
customary for loans of this size, including payment defaults, breaches of our representations or
covenants contained in the credit agreement, adverse judgments against us in excess of a specified
amount, and a change of control of our general partner.
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DESCRIPTION OF EXCHANGE NOTES
You can find the definitions of certain terms in this description under the subheading
Definitions. In this description, the word Issuers refers to Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. and
Atlas Pipeline Finance Corporation and not to any of their subsidiaries, any reference to the
Company refers only to Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. and not to any of its subsidiaries and any
reference to Finance Co. refers to Atlas Pipeline Finance Corporation.
The Issuers will issue the exchange notes under the Indenture dated December 20, 2005 (the
Indenture) among the Issuers, the Subsidiary Guarantors and Wachovia Bank, National Association,
as trustee (the Trustee). The terms of the notes include those stated in the Indenture and those
made part of the Indenture by reference to the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 (the Trust Indenture
Act).
The following description is a summary of the material provisions of the Indenture. We urge
you to read the Indenture because it, and not this description, defines your rights as a holder of
the exchange notes. Copies of the Indenture are available upon request from the Company and are also filed
as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.
If the exchange offer is consummated, holders who do not exchange their outstanding notes for
exchange notes will vote together with the holders of the exchange notes for all relevant purposes
under the Indenture. In that regard, the Indenture requires that certain actions by the holders
under the Indenture (including acceleration after an Event of Default) must be taken, and certain
rights must be exercised, by specified minimum percentages of the aggregate principal amount of all
outstanding notes issued under the Indenture. In determining whether holders of the requisite
percentage in principal amount have given any notice, consent or waiver or taken any other action
permitted under the Indenture, any notes that remain outstanding after the exchange offer will be
aggregated with the exchange notes, and the holders of these notes and exchange notes will vote
together as a single series for all such purposes. Accordingly, all references in this section to
specified percentages in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding notes mean, at any time
after the exchange offer for the notes is consummated, such percentage in aggregate principal
amount of such notes and the exchange notes then outstanding.
Brief Description of the Notes and the Guarantees
The notes
The notes:
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are general unsecured, senior obligations of the Issuers; |
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rank equally in right of payment to any existing and
future unsecured senior obligations of either of
the Issuers, but are effectively subordinated to all present
and future secured obligations of either of the
Issuers to the extent of the value of the collateral securing
such obligations; |
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rank senior in right of payment to any existing and
future obligations of either Issuer that are, by
their terms, subordinated to the notes; |
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are effectively subordinated to all existing and future
obligations of the Companys Subsidiaries that do
not guarantee the notes; and |
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are unconditionally guaranteed on a senior, unsecured basis by the Subsidiary Guarantors. |
The guarantees
Initially, the notes are guaranteed by our operating company, Atlas Pipeline Operating
Partnership, L.P., which we refer to as the Operating Company in this description, and by all of
our other existing subsidiaries (except Finance Co.).
Each Guarantee of a Subsidiary Guarantor of these notes:
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is a general unsecured, senior obligation of that Subsidiary Guarantor; |
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ranks equally in right of payment to any future unsecured senior
obligations of the Subsidiary Guarantor, but is effectively
subordinated to all present and future secured obligations of the
Subsidiary Guarantor to the extent of the value of the collateral
securing such obligations; and |
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ranks senior in right of payment to any existing and future
obligations of that Subsidiary Guarantor that are, by their
terms, subordinated to its Guarantee. |
As a result of the effective subordination described above, in the event of a bankruptcy,
liquidation or reorganization of either Issuer, holders of these notes may recover less ratably
than secured creditors of the Issuers and the Subsidiary Guarantors and all creditors of the
Companys Subsidiaries that are not Subsidiary Guarantors.
Initially, all of our Subsidiaries will be Subsidiary Guarantors and Restricted
Subsidiaries. Certain Subsidiaries in the future may not be Subsidiary Guarantors. In the event of
a bankruptcy, liquidation or reorganization of any of these non-guarantor subsidiaries, the
non-guarantor subsidiaries will pay the holders of their debt and their trade creditors before they
will be able to distribute any of their assets to us. Also, under the circumstances described below
under the subheading Covenants Designation of restricted and unrestricted subsidiaries, we
will be permitted to designate certain of our Subsidiaries as Unrestricted Subsidiaries.
Unrestricted Subsidiaries will not be subject to many of the restrictive covenants in the
Indenture. Unrestricted Subsidiaries will not guarantee the notes.
Principal, Maturity and Interest
The Issuers issued notes in an initial aggregate principal amount of $250.0 million on
December 20, 2005, an additional $35.0 million on May 12, 2006 and an additional $8,524,000 on April
18, 2007, totalling $293,524,000. The notes will mature on December 15, 2015. Subject to compliance
with the covenant described below under Incurrence of indebtedness and issuance of disqualified
equity, we may issue additional notes from time to time under the Indenture. The notes and any
additional notes subsequently issued under the Indenture, together with any exchange notes, will be
treated as a single class for all purposes under the Indenture, including, without limitation,
waivers, amendments, redemptions and offers to purchase. The Issuers will issue notes in
denominations of $1,000 and integral multiples of $1,000.
Interest
on the exchange notes accrues at the rate of 8-1/8% per annum and is payable
semi-annually in arrears on June 15 and December 15, in each
year.
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Interest will be computed on the basis of a
360-day year comprised of twelve 30-day months.
Methods of Receiving Payments on the Notes
If a holder has given wire transfer instructions to the Issuers, the Issuers will make all
payments of principal of, premium, if any, and interest on the notes in accordance with those
instructions. All other payments on these notes will be made at the office or agency of the Paying
Agent within the City and State of New York, unless the Issuers elect to make interest payments by
check mailed to the holders at their address set forth in the register of holders.
Paying Agent and Registrar for the Notes
The Trustee will initially act as paying agent (the Paying Agent) and registrar (the
Registrar). The Issuers may change the Paying Agent or Registrar without prior notice to the
holders of the notes, and the Issuers or any of their Subsidiaries may act as Paying Agent or
Registrar other than in connection with the discharge or defeasance provisions of the Indenture.
Transfer and Exchange
A holder may transfer or exchange notes in accordance with the Indenture. The Registrar and
the Trustee may require a holder, among other things, to furnish appropriate endorsements and
transfer documents and the Issuers may require a holder to pay any taxes and fees required by law
or permitted by the Indenture. The Issuers are not required to transfer or exchange any note
selected for redemption or repurchase (except in the case of a note to be redeemed or repurchased
in part, the portion not to be redeemed or repurchased). Also, the Issuers are not required to
transfer or exchange any note for a period of 15 days before a selection of notes to be redeemed or
between a record date and the next succeeding interest payment date.
The registered holder of a note will be treated as the owner of it for all purposes, and all
references in this description to holders are to holders of record.
The Guarantees
Initially, all of our Restricted Subsidiaries will guarantee our Obligations under the notes
and the Indenture. In the future, our Restricted Subsidiaries will be required to guarantee our
Obligations under the notes and the Indenture in the circumstances described below under Covenants
Additional Subsidiary Guarantees.
The Subsidiary Guarantors will jointly and severally guarantee on a senior basis the Issuers
Obligations under the notes. The obligations of each Subsidiary Guarantor under its Guarantee will
rank equally in right of payment with other obligations of such Subsidiary Guarantor, except to the
extent such other obligations are expressly subordinate to the obligations arising under the
Guarantee. However, the notes will be structurally subordinated to the secured obligations of our
Subsidiary Guarantors to the extent of the value of the collateral securing such obligations. The
obligations of each Subsidiary Guarantor under its Guarantee will be limited as necessary to
prevent that Guarantee from constituting a fraudulent conveyance under applicable law.
Not
all of the Companys Subsidiaries will guarantee the notes. In the event of a bankruptcy,
liquidation or reorganization of any of these non-guarantor Subsidiaries, the non-guarantor
Subsidiaries will pay the holders of their debt and their trade creditors before they will be able
to distribute any of their assets to the Issuer.
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A Subsidiary Guarantor may not consolidate with or merge with or into (whether or not such
Subsidiary Guarantor is the surviving Person), another Person, except the Company or another
Subsidiary Guarantor unless:
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immediately after giving effect to that transaction, no Default or Event of Default exists; and |
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the Person formed by or surviving any such consolidation or merger assumes all the Obligations
of that Subsidiary Guarantor pursuant to a supplemental indenture satisfactory to the Trustee,
except as provided in the next paragraph. |
The Guarantee of a Subsidiary Guarantor will be released:
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in connection with any sale or other disposition
of all or substantially all of the assets of
that Subsidiary Guarantor (including by way of merger
or consolidation) to a Person that is not
(either before or after giving effect to such
transaction) the Company or a Restricted
Subsidiary, if the Company applies the Net
Proceeds of that sale or other disposition in
accordance with the applicable provisions of
the Indenture applicable to Asset Sales; or |
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in connection with any sale or other disposition
of all of the Equity Interests of a
Subsidiary Guarantor to a Person that is not
(either before or after giving effect to such
transaction) the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary, if
the Company applies the Net Proceeds of that
sale in accordance with the applicable provisions
of the Indenture applicable to Asset Sales; or |
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if the Company designates any Restricted
Subsidiary that is a Subsidiary Guarantor as
an Unrestricted Subsidiary in accordance with the
Indenture; or |
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upon Legal Defeasance as described below under the
caption Legal defeasance and covenant
defeasance or upon satisfaction and discharge of
the Indenture as described below under the
caption Satisfaction and discharge. |
Optional Redemption
Schedule of redemption prices
Except as described below, the notes are not redeemable until December 15, 2010. On and after
such date, the Issuers may redeem all or, from time to time, a part of the notes upon not less than
30 nor more than 60 days notice, at the following redemption prices (expressed as a percentage of
principal amount), plus accrued and unpaid interest on the notes, if any, to the applicable
redemption date (subject to the right of holders of record on the relevant record date to receive
interest due on the relevant interest payment date), if redeemed during the 12-month period
beginning on December 15 of the years indicated below:
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Percentage |
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2010 |
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104.0625 |
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2011 |
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102.7083 |
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2012 |
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101.3542 |
% |
2013 and thereafter |
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100.0000 |
% |
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Make whole
In addition, before December 15, 2010, the Issuers may redeem all or, from time to time, a
part of the notes upon not less than 30 nor more than 60 days notice, at a redemption price equal
to:
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100% of the aggregate principal amount of the
notes to be redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid
interest, if any, to the applicable redemption date
(subject to the right of holders of record on
the relevant record date to receive interest due
on an interest payment date that is on or before
the redemption date), plus |
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the Make Whole Amount. |
Make whole amount means, with respect to any note at any redemption date, the greater of (A)
1.0% and (B) the excess, if any, of (1) an amount equal to the present value of (a) the redemption
price of such note at December 15, 2010 plus (b) the remaining scheduled interest payments on the
notes to be redeemed (subject to the right of holders on the relevant record date to receive
interest due on the relevant interest payment date) to December 15, 2010 (other than interest
accrued to the redemption date), computed using a discount rate equal to the Treasury Rate plus 50
basis points, over (2) the aggregate principal amount of the notes to be redeemed.
Treasury Rate means, at the time of computation, the yield to maturity of United States
Treasury Securities with a constant maturity (as compiled and published in the most recent Federal
Reserve Statistical Release H.15(519) which has become publicly available at least two business
days before the redemption date or, if such Statistical Release is no longer published, any
publicly available source of similar market data) most nearly equal to the period from the
redemption date to December 15, 2010; provided, however, that if such period is not equal to the
constant maturity of a United States Treasury Security for which a weekly average yield is given,
the Treasury Rate shall be obtained by linear interpolation (calculated to the nearest one-twelfth
of a year) from the weekly average yields of United States Treasury Securities for which such
yields are given, except that if the period from the redemption date to December 15, 2010 is less
than one year, the weekly average yield on actually traded United States Treasury Securities
adjusted to a constant maturity of one year shall be used.
The Treasury Rate shall be calculated on the third business day preceding the redemption date.
Any weekly average yields calculated by interpolation will be rounded to the nearest 1/100th of 1%,
with any figure of 1/200th of 1% or above being rounded upward.
Equity offerings
Before December 15, 2008, the Issuers may on any one or more occasions redeem in the aggregate
up to 35% of the aggregate principal amount of notes issued under the indenture with the net cash
proceeds of one or more Equity Offerings at a redemption price equal to 108.125% of the principal
amount of the notes to be redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the redemption
date (subject to the right of holders of record on a record date to receive interest due on the
relevant interest payment date); provided that
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at least 65% of the aggregate principal amount of
notes issued under the indenture remains
outstanding after each such redemption; and |
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any redemption occurs within 90 days after the closing
of such Equity Offering (without regard to any
over-allotment option). |
Selection and notice
If less than all of the notes are to be redeemed at any time, the Trustee will select notes
for redemption as follows:
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if the notes are listed, in compliance with the
requirements of the principal national
securities exchange on which the notes are listed;
or |
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if the notes are not so listed or there are no
such requirements, on a pro rata basis, by lot
or by such method as the Trustee shall deem fair
and appropriate. |
No notes of $1,000 or less shall be redeemed in part. Notices of redemption shall be mailed by
first class mail at least 30 but not more than 60 days before the redemption date to each holder of
notes to be redeemed at its registered address. Notice of any redemption may not be conditional.
If any note is to be redeemed in part only, the notice of redemption that relates to that note
shall state the portion of the principal amount thereof to be redeemed. A new note in principal
amount equal to the unredeemed portion of the original note will be issued in the name of the
holder thereof upon cancellation of the original note. Notes called for redemption become due on
the date fixed for redemption. On and after the redemption date, interest ceases to accrue on notes
or portions of them called for redemption unless the Issuers default in making such redemption
payment.
Repurchase at the Option of Holders
Change of control
If a Change of Control occurs, each holder of notes will have the right to require the Issuers
to repurchase all or any part (equal to $1,000 or an integral multiple thereof) of that holders
notes pursuant to the Change of Control Offer. In the Change of Control Offer, the Issuers will
offer a change of control payment (the Change of Control Payment) in cash equal to 101% of the
aggregate principal amount of notes repurchased plus accrued and unpaid interest thereon, if any,
to the date of purchase (the Change of Control Payment Date), subject to the rights of any holder
in whose name a note is registered on a record date occurring before the Change of Control Payment
Date to receive interest on an interest payment date that is on or before such Change of Control
Payment Date. Within 30 days following any Change of Control, the Issuers will mail a notice to
each holder describing the transaction or transactions that constitute the Change of Control and
offering (the Change of Control Offer) to repurchase notes on the Change of Control Payment Date
specified in such notice, pursuant to the procedures required by the Indenture and described in
such notice. The Issuers will comply with the requirements of Rule 14e-1 under the Exchange Act and
any other securities laws and regulations thereunder to the extent such laws and regulations are
applicable in connection with the repurchase of the notes as a result of a Change of Control. To
the extent that the provisions of any securities laws or regulations conflict with the Change of
Control provisions of the Indenture, the Issuers will comply with the applicable securities laws
and regulations and will not be deemed to have breached their obligations under the Change of Control provisions
of the Indenture by virtue of such conflict.
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On the Change of Control Payment Date, the Issuers will, to the extent lawful:
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accept for payment all notes or portions thereof
properly tendered pursuant to the Change of
Control Offer; |
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deposit with the Paying Agent an amount equal to
the Change of Control Payment in respect of
all notes or portions thereof so tendered; and |
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deliver or cause to be delivered to the Trustee
the notes so accepted together with an
officers certificate stating the aggregate principal
amount of notes or portions thereof being
purchased by the Issuers. |
The Paying Agent will promptly mail to each holder of notes so tendered the Change of Control
Payment for such notes, and the Trustee will promptly authenticate and mail (or cause to be transferred
by book entry) to each holder a new note equal in principal amount to any unpurchased portion of
the notes surrendered, if any; provided that each such new note will be in a principal amount of
$1,000 or an integral multiple thereof. The Issuers will publicly announce the results of the
Change of Control Offer on or as soon as practicable after the Change of Control Payment Date.
The provisions described above that require the Issuers to make a Change of Control Offer
following a Change of Control will be applicable regardless of whether or not any other provisions
of the Indenture are applicable. Except as described above with respect to a Change of Control, the
Indenture does not contain provisions that permit the holder of the notes to require that the
Issuers repurchase or redeem the notes in the event of a takeover, recapitalization or similar
transaction.
The Credit Agreement provides that certain change of control events with respect to the
Company would constitute a default under the agreements governing such Indebtedness. Any future
credit agreements or other agreements relating to Indebtedness to which the Company becomes a party
may contain similar restrictions and provisions. Moreover, the exercise by the holders of their
right to require the Issuers to repurchase the notes could cause a default under such Indebtedness,
even if the Change of Control does not, due to the financial effect of such a repurchase on the
Company. If a Change of Control occurs at a time when the Company is prohibited from purchasing
notes, the Company could seek the consent of the lenders of the borrowings containing such
prohibition to the purchase of notes or could attempt to refinance such borrowings. If the Company
does not obtain such a consent or repay such borrowings, the Company will remain prohibited from
purchasing notes. In such case, the Companys failure to purchase tendered notes would constitute
an Event of Default under the Indenture which would, in turn, in all likelihood constitute a
default under such borrowings. Finally, the Issuers ability to pay cash to the holders upon a
repurchase may be limited by the Companys then existing financial resources. We cannot assure you
that sufficient funds will be available when necessary to make any required repurchases.
47
Notwithstanding the preceding paragraphs of this covenant, the Issuers will not be required to
make a Change of Control Offer upon a Change of Control and a holder will not have the right to
require the Issuers to repurchase any notes pursuant to a Change of Control Offer if (i) a third
party makes an offer to purchase the notes in the manner, at the times and otherwise in substantial
compliance with the requirements set forth in the Indenture applicable to a Change of Control Offer
and purchases all notes validly tendered and not withdrawn under such purchase offer or (ii) an
irrevocable notice of redemption to purchase all outstanding notes at a purchase price equal to at
least 101% of the aggregate principal amount of such notes has been given pursuant to Optional
Redemption above, unless and until the Issuers have defaulted in the payment of the applicable
redemption price.
A Change of Control Offer may be made in advance of a Change of Control, and conditioned upon
the occurrence of such Change of Control, if a definitive agreement is in place for the Change of
Control at the time of making the Change of Control Offer. Notes repurchased by the Issuers
pursuant to a Change of Control Offer will have the status of notes issued but not outstanding or
will be retired and cancelled, at either of the Issuers option. Notes purchased by a third party
pursuant to the preceding paragraph will have the status of notes issued and outstanding.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Issuers shall not be required to make a Change of Control
Offer, as provided above, if, in connection with or in contemplation of any Change of Control, they
have made an offer to purchase (an Alternate Offer) any and all Notes validly tendered at a cash
price equal to or higher than the Change of Control Payment and have purchased all Notes properly
tendered in accordance with the terms of such Alternate Offer.
The definition of Change of Control includes a phrase relating to the sale, transfer, lease,
conveyance or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company and its
Restricted Subsidiaries taken as a whole. Although there is a limited body of case law interpreting
the phrase substantially all, there is no precise established definition of the phrase under
applicable law. Accordingly, the ability of a holder of notes to require the Company to repurchase
such notes as a result of a sale, transfer, lease, conveyance or other disposition of less than all
of the assets of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries taken as a whole to another Person or
group may be uncertain.
Asset sales
The Company will not, and will not permit any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to, consummate an
Asset Sale unless:
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the Company (or the Restricted Subsidiary, as the
case may be) receives consideration at the
time of such Asset Sale at least equal to the fair
market value of the assets or Equity
Interests issued or sold or otherwise disposed of; |
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such fair market value is determined in good faith
by (a) an executive officer of the General
Partner if the value is less than $20.0 million, as
evidenced by an officers certificate
delivered to the Trustee or (b) the Board of Directors
of the General Partner if the value is $20.0
million or more, as evidenced by a resolution of such
Board of Directors of the General Partner;
and |
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except in the case of a Permitted Asset Swap, at
least 75% of the consideration therefor
received by the Company or such Restricted
Subsidiary is in the form of cash or Cash
Equivalents. For purposes of this provision, each
of the following shall be deemed to be cash: |
48
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any liabilities (as shown on the Companys or such
Restricted Subsidiarys most recent balance
sheet) of the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary (other
than contingent liabilities and liabilities that
are by their terms subordinated to the notes or
any Guarantee) that are assumed by the transferee of any
such assets pursuant to a customary novation
agreement that releases the Company or such
Restricted Subsidiary from further liability;
and |
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any securities, notes or other Obligations received
by the Company or any such Restricted Subsidiary
from such transferee that are within 180 days after the
Asset Sale converted by such Issuer or such
Restricted Subsidiary into cash (to the extent
of the cash received in that conversion). |
Within 360 days after the receipt of any Net Proceeds from an Asset Sale (or within 90 days
after such 360-day period in the event the Company enters into a binding commitment with respect to
such application), the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary may apply such Net Proceeds at its
option:
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to repay secured Indebtedness of the Company and/or its Restricted Subsidiaries
and/or to satisfy all mandatory repayment obligations under the Credit
Facilities arising by reason of such Asset Sale; |
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to make a capital expenditure in a Permitted Business; |
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to acquire other tangible assets that are used or useful in a Permitted Business; or |
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to acquire all or substantially all of the assets of a Person engaged in a
Permitted Business or Equity Interests of a Person engaged in a Permitted
Business so long as such Person or the Person to which such assets are
transferred is a Restricted Subsidiary. |
Pending the final application of any such Net Proceeds, the Company may temporarily reduce
revolving credit borrowings or otherwise invest such Net Proceeds in any manner that is not
prohibited by the Indenture.
Any Net Proceeds from Asset Sales that are not applied or invested as provided in the
preceding paragraph will constitute Excess Proceeds. When the aggregate amount of Excess Proceeds
exceeds $25.0 million, the Issuers will make a pro rata offer (an Asset Sale Offer) to all
holders of notes and, at the option of the issuers, all holders of other Indebtedness that is pari
passu with the notes to purchase the maximum principal amount of notes and such other pari passu
Indebtedness that may be purchased out of the Excess Proceeds; provided that notes tendered shall
be given priority over any such other Indebtedness unless such other Indebtedness contains
provisions similar to those set forth in the Indenture with respect to offers to purchase or redeem
with the proceeds of sales of assets in which case the notes and such other Indebtedness will be
purchased on a pro rata basis. The offer price in any Asset Sale Offer will be equal to 100% of
principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the date of purchase, and will be
payable in cash. If any Excess Proceeds remain after consummation of an Asset Sale Offer, the
Company may use such Excess Proceeds for any purpose not otherwise prohibited by the Indenture,
including, without limitation, the repurchase or redemption of Indebtedness of the Issuers or any
Subsidiary Guarantor that is subordinated to the notes or, in the case of any Subsidiary Guarantor,
the Guarantee of such Subsidiary Guarantor. If the aggregate principal amount of notes tendered
into such Asset Sale Offer exceeds the amount of Excess Proceeds allocated for repurchases of notes
pursuant to the Asset Sale Offer for notes, the Trustee shall select the notes to be purchased on a
pro rata basis. Upon completion of each Asset Sale Offer, the amount of Excess Proceeds shall be
reset at zero.
49
The Company will comply with the requirements of Rule 14e-1 under the Exchange Act and
any other securities laws and regulations thereunder to the extent those laws and regulations are
applicable in connection with each repurchase of notes pursuant to an Asset Sale Offer. To the
extent that the provisions of any securities laws or regulations conflict with the Asset Sale
provisions of the Indenture, the Company will comply with the applicable securities laws and
regulations and will not be deemed to have breached its obligations under the Asset Sale provisions
of the Indenture by virtue of such conflict.
Covenants
Restricted payments
The Company will not, and will not permit any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to, directly or
indirectly:
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declare or pay any dividend or make any other
payment or distribution on account of the
Companys or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries Equity
Interests (including, without limitation, any
payment in connection with any merger or
consolidation involving the Company or any of its
Restricted Subsidiaries) or to the direct or
indirect holders of the Companys or any of its
Restricted Subsidiaries Equity Interests in
their capacity as such (other than distributions or
dividends payable in Equity Interests of the Company
(other than Disqualified Equity) and other than
distributions or dividends payable to the Company or
a Restricted Subsidiary); |
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purchase, redeem or otherwise acquire or retire for
value (including, without limitation, in
connection with any merger or consolidation involving an
Issuer) any Equity Interests of the Company,
any of its Restricted Subsidiaries or the
General Partner or any other equity holder of the
Issuer (other than any such Equity Interests
owned by the Company or any of its Restricted
Subsidiaries); |
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make any principal payment on or with respect to, or
purchase, redeem, defease or otherwise acquire
or retire for value any Subordinated Obligation or
Guarantor Subordinated Obligation, except a
scheduled payment of principal at the Stated
Maturity thereof; or |
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make any Investment other than a Permitted Investment |
(all such payments and other actions set forth above being collectively referred to as
Restricted Payments), unless, at the time of and after giving effect to such Restricted Payment,
no Default or Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing or would occur as a
consequence thereof and either:
50
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(1) |
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if the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio for the Companys
four most recent fiscal quarters for which internal
financial statements are available is equal to or
greater than 1.75 to 1.0, such Restricted Payment,
together with the aggregate amount of all other
Restricted Payments made by the Company and its
Restricted Subsidiaries during the quarter in which such
Restricted Payment is made, is less than the sum,
without duplication, of: |
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(a) |
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Available Cash from Operating Surplus as
of the end of the immediately preceding
quarter for which internal financial
statements are available at the time of
such Restricted Payment, plus |
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(b) |
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the aggregate net cash proceeds of any
(x) substantially concurrent capital
contribution to the Company from any
Person (other than a Restricted
Subsidiary of the Company) made after
the Issue Date or (y) substantially
concurrent issuance and sale (other than
to a Restricted Subsidiary of the
Company) made after the Issue Date of
Equity Interests (other than
Disqualified Equity) of the Company or
from the issuance or sale (other than to
a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company)
made after the Issue Date of convertible
or exchangeable Disqualified Equity or
convertible or exchangeable debt
securities of the Company that have been
converted into or exchanged for such
Equity Interests (other than
Disqualified Equity), plus |
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(c) |
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to the extent that any Restricted
Investment that was made after the Issue
Date is sold for cash or Cash
Equivalents or otherwise liquidated or
repaid for cash or Cash Equivalents, the
lesser of the refund of capital or
similar payment made in cash or Cash
Equivalents with respect to such
Restricted Investment (less the cost of
such disposition, if any) and the
initial amount of such Restricted
Investment (other than to a Restricted
Subsidiary of the Company), plus |
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(d) |
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the net reduction in Restricted
Investments resulting from dividends,
repayments of loans or advances, or
other transfers of assets in each case
to the Company or any of its Restricted
Subsidiaries from any Person (including,
without limitation, Unrestricted
Subsidiaries) or from redesignations of
Unrestricted Subsidiaries as Restricted
Subsidiaries, to the extent such amounts
have not been included in Available Cash
from Operating Surplus for any period
commencing on or after the Issue Date
(items (b), (c) and (d) being referred
to as Incremental Funds), minus
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(e) |
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the aggregate amount of Incremental
Funds previously expended pursuant to
this clause (1) or clause (2) below or
to make a Permitted Business Investment;
or |
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(2) |
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if the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio for the Companys
four most recent fiscal quarters for which internal
financial statements are available is less than 1.75 to
1.0, such Restricted Payment (it being understood that
the only Restricted Payments permitted to be made
pursuant to this clause (2) are distributions on common
units of the Company, plus the related distribution on
the general partner interest), together with the
aggregate amount of all other Restricted Payments made
by the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries during
the quarter in which such Restricted Payment is made is
less than the sum, without duplication, of: |
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(a) |
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$50.0 million less the aggregate amount of
all Restricted Payments made by the Company
and its Restricted Subsidiaries pursuant to
this clause (2)(a) during the period
beginning on the Issue Date and ending on
the last day of the fiscal quarter of the
Company immediately preceding the date of
such Restricted Payment, plus |
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(b) |
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Incremental Funds to the extent not
previously expended pursuant to this clause
(2) or clause (1) above. |
So long as no Default has occurred and is continuing or would be caused thereby (except
with respect to clause (1) below under which the payment of a distribution or dividend is
permitted), the preceding provisions will not prohibit:
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(1) |
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the payment by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of any
distribution or dividend or the consummation of any redemption of
a Subordinated Obligation pursuant to an irrevocable notice of
redemption within 60 days after the date of declaration of such
dividend or distribution, or the giving of such irrevocable
notice of redemption, if at said date of declaration or the date
of such notice of redemption, as applicable, such payment would
have complied with the provisions of the Indenture; |
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(2) |
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the redemption, repurchase, retirement, defeasance or other
acquisition of subordinated Indebtedness of the Company or any
Subsidiary Guarantor or of any Equity Interests of the Company in
exchange for, or out of the net cash proceeds of, a substantially
concurrent (a) capital contribution to the Company from any
Person (other than a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company) or (b)
sale (other than to a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company) of
Equity Interests (other than Disqualified Equity) of the Company;
provided that the amount of any such net cash proceeds that are
utilized for any such redemption, repurchase, retirement,
defeasance or other acquisition will be excluded or deducted from
the calculation of Available Cash from Operating Surplus and
Incremental Funds and from clause 1(b) of the preceding
paragraph; |
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(3) |
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the defeasance, redemption, repurchase or other acquisition of
any Subordinated Obligation or Guarantor Subordinated Obligation
with the net cash proceeds from an incurrence of, or in exchange
for, Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness; |
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(4) |
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the payment of any distribution or dividend by a Restricted
Subsidiary to the Company or to the holders of its Equity
Interests (other than Disqualified Equity) on a pro rata basis
and Permitted NOARK Distributions; |
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(5) |
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the repurchase, redemption or other acquisition or retirement for
value of any Equity Interests of the Company or any Restricted
Subsidiary of the Company pursuant to any management equity
subscription agreement or equity option agreement or other
employee benefit plan or to satisfy obligations under any Equity
Interests appreciation rights or option plan or similar
arrangement; provided that the aggregate price paid for all such
repurchased, redeemed, acquired or retired Equity Interests shall
not exceed $1.0 million in any calendar year; |
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(6) |
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repurchases of Equity Interests deemed to occur upon exercise of
stock options, warrants or other convertible securities if such
Equity Interests represent a portion of the exercise price of
such options, warrants or other convertible securities; |
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(7) |
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cash payments in lieu of the issuance of fractional shares in
connection with the exercise of warrants, options or other
securities convertible or exchangeable for Equity Interests that
are not derivative securities; |
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(8) |
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in connection with an acquisition by the Company or any of its
Restricted Subsidiaries, the return to the Company or any of its
Restricted Subsidiaries of Equity Interests of the Company or its
Restricted Subsidiaries constituting a portion of the purchase
consideration in settlement of indemnification claims; and |
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(9) |
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the repurchase, redemption or other acquisition or retirement for
value of any Subordinated Obligations pursuant to provisions in
the documents governing such Subordinated Obligations similar to
those described under the captions Repurchase at the Option of
Holders Change of control and Repurchase at the Option of
Holders Asset sales; provided that all notes tendered in
connection with a Change of Control Offer or Asset Sale Offer, as
applicable, have been repurchased, redeemed or acquired for
value. |
In computing the amount of Restricted Payments previously made for purposes of the first
paragraph of this section, Restricted Payments made under clauses (1) (but only if the declaration
of such dividend or other distribution has not been counted in a prior period) and (4) of this
paragraph shall be included, and Restricted Payments made under clauses (2), (3), (5), (6), (7),
(8) and (9) of this paragraph shall not be included. The amount of all Restricted Payments (other
than cash) shall be the fair market value on the date of the Restricted Payment of the asset(s) or
securities proposed to be transferred or issued by the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary, as
the case may be, pursuant to the Restricted Payment. The fair market value of any assets or
securities that are required to be valued by this covenant shall be determined, in the case of
amounts under $5.0 million, by an officer of the General Partner and, in the case of amounts over
$5.0 million, by the Board of Directors of the General Partner whose Board Resolution with respect
thereto shall be delivered to the Trustee.
Incurrence of indebtedness and issuance of disqualified equity
The Company will not, and will not permit any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to, directly or
indirectly, create, incur, issue, assume, guarantee or otherwise become directly or indirectly
liable, contingently or otherwise, with respect to (collectively, incur) any Indebtedness
(including Acquired Debt), and the Company will not issue any Disqualified Equity and will not
permit any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to issue any Disqualified Equity; provided that the
Company and any Subsidiary Guarantor may incur Indebtedness (including Acquired Debt), and the
Company and the Subsidiary Guarantors may issue Disqualified Equity, if the Fixed Charge Coverage
Ratio for the Companys most recently ended four full fiscal quarters for which internal financial
statements are available immediately preceding the date on which such additional Indebtedness is
incurred or such Disqualified Equity is issued would have been at least 2.0 to 1.0, determined on a
pro forma basis (including a pro forma application of the net proceeds therefrom), as if the
additional Indebtedness had been incurred, or the Disqualified Equity had been issued, as the case
may be, at the beginning of such four-quarter period.
53
So long as no Default shall have occurred and be continuing or would be caused thereby, the
first paragraph of this covenant will not prohibit the incurrence of any of the following items of
Indebtedness (collectively, Permitted Debt):
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the incurrence by the Company and any Subsidiary Guarantor of
Indebtedness under Credit Facilities and the guarantees thereof;
provided that the aggregate principal amount of all Indebtedness
of the Company and the Restricted Subsidiaries incurred pursuant
to this clause (1) and outstanding under all Credit Facilities
after giving effect to such incurrence does not exceed the
greater of (a) $225.0 million or (b) 15% of the Consolidated Net
Tangible Assets of the Company, in each case less the aggregate
amount of all repayments of Indebtedness under any Credit
Facility that have been made by the Company or any of its
Restricted Subsidiaries in respect of asset sales or casualty
events to the extent such repayments constitute a permanent
reduction of commitments under the terms of such Credit
Facility; |
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(2) |
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the incurrence by the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries of
Existing Indebtedness (other than under the Credit
Agreement); |
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(3) |
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the incurrence by the Company and the Subsidiary Guarantors of
Indebtedness represented by the notes issued and sold in this
offering and the related Guarantees and the exchange notes and
the related Guarantees issued pursuant to the Registration Rights
Agreement; |
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(4) |
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the incurrence by the Company or any of its Restricted
Subsidiaries of Indebtedness represented by Capital Lease
Obligations, mortgage financings or purchase money obligations,
in each case, incurred for the purpose of financing all or any
part of the purchase price or cost of construction or improvement
of property, plant or equipment used in the business of the
Company or such Restricted Subsidiary, in an aggregate principal
amount including all Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness incurred
to refund, refinance or replace any Indebtedness incurred
pursuant to this clause (4) not to exceed $10.0 million at any
time outstanding; |
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(5) |
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the incurrence by the Company or any of its Restricted
Subsidiaries of Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness in exchange
for, or the net proceeds of which are used to refund, refinance,
replace, defease or discharge, Indebtedness that was permitted by
the Indenture to be incurred under the first paragraph of this
covenant or clause (2) or (3) of this paragraph or this clause
(5); |
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(6) |
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the incurrence by the Company or any of its Restricted
Subsidiaries of intercompany Indebtedness between or among the
Company and any of its Restricted Subsidiaries; provided
that: |
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(a) |
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if the Company is the obligor on such
Indebtedness and a Subsidiary Guarantor is not
the obligee, such Indebtedness must be expressly
subordinated to the prior payment in full in cash
of all Obligations with respect to the notes, or
if a Subsidiary Guarantor is the obligor on such
Indebtedness and neither the Company nor another
Subsidiary Guarantor is the obligee, such
Indebtedness must be expressly subordinated to
the prior payment in full in cash of all
Obligations with respect to the Guarantee of such
Subsidiary Guarantor; and |
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(b) |
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(i) any subsequent issuance or transfer of
Equity Interests that results in any such
Indebtedness being held by a Person other than
the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary thereof
and (ii) any sale or other transfer of any such
Indebtedness to a Person that is not either the
Company or a Restricted Subsidiary thereof,
shall be deemed, in each case, to constitute an
incurrence of such Indebtedness by the Company
or such Restricted Subsidiary, as the case may
be, that was not permitted by this clause
(6); |
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(7) |
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the incurrence by the Company or any of its Restricted
Subsidiaries of Hedging Obligations that are incurred for the
purpose of fixing or hedging (but not for speculative purposes)
(a) foreign currency exchange rate risks of the Company or any
Restricted Subsidiary, (b) interest rate risks with respect to
any floating rate Indebtedness of the Company or any Restricted
Subsidiary that is permitted by the terms of the Indenture to be
outstanding or (c) commodities pricing risks of the Company or
any Restricted Subsidiary in respect of Hydrocarbons used,
produced, processed or sold by the Company or any of its
Restricted Subsidiaries; |
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(8) |
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the guarantee by the Company or any of its Restricted
Subsidiaries of Indebtedness of the Company or any of its
Restricted Subsidiaries that was permitted to be incurred by
another provision of this covenant; provided that in the event
such Indebtedness that is being guaranteed is a Subordinated
Obligation or a Guarantor Subordinated Obligation, then the
guarantee shall be subordinated in right of payment to the notes
or the Guarantee, as the case may be;
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(9) |
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the incurrence by the Company or any of its Restricted
Subsidiaries of Indebtedness in respect of workers compensation
claims, payment obligations in connection with health or other
types of social security benefits, unemployment or other
insurance or self- insurance obligations, reclamation, statutory
obligations, banks acceptances and bid, performance, surety and
appeal bonds or other similar obligations incurred in the
ordinary course of business, including guarantees and
obligations respecting standby letters of credit supporting such
obligations, to the extent not drawn (in each case other than an
obligation for money borrowed);
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(10) |
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the incurrence by the Company or any of its Restricted
Subsidiaries of additional Indebtedness or the issuance of
Disqualified Equity in an aggregate principal amount at any time
outstanding not to exceed $25.0 million; |
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(11) |
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the incurrence by the Company or any of its Restricted
Subsidiaries of Indebtedness arising from the honoring by a bank
or other financial institution of a check, draft or similar
instrument inadvertently drawn against insufficient funds;
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(12) |
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the incurrence of Indebtedness arising from agreements with the
Company or any Restricted Subsidiary providing for
indemnification, adjustment of purchase price, earn outs, or
similar obligations, in each case, incurred or assumed in
connection with the disposition or acquisition of any business,
assets or a Subsidiary in accordance with the terms of the
Indenture, other than guarantees of Indebtedness incurred or
assumed by any Person acquiring all or any portion of such
business, assets or Subsidiary for the purpose of financing such
acquisition; and |
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(13) |
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the incurrence by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of additional
Indebtedness arising out of advances on trade receivables, factoring of receivables, customer
prepayments and similar transactions in the ordinary course of business and consistent with past
practice. |
For purposes of determining compliance with this Incurrence of indebtedness and issuance of disqualified equity covenant, in the event that
an item of proposed Indebtedness meets the criteria of more than one of the categories of Permitted Debt described in clauses (1) through (13) above, or is entitled to be incurred pursuant to the first paragraph of this covenant, the
Company will be permitted
to classify (or later reclassify in whole or in part) such item of Indebtedness in any manner that complies with this covenant. An item of Indebtedness may be divided and classified in one or more of the types of Permitted Indebtedness. Any
Indebtedness under Credit Facilities on the Issue Date shall be considered incurred under clause (1) of this covenant.
The accrual of interest, the accretion or amortization of original issue discount, the payment of interest on any Indebtedness in the form of additional
Indebtedness with the same terms, and the payment of dividends on Disqualified Equity in the form of additional shares of the same class of Disqualified Equity will not be deemed to be an incurrence of Indebtedness or an issuance of
Disqualified Equity for purposes of this covenant; provided,
in each such case, that the amount thereof is included in Fixed Charges of the Company as accrued.
Liens
The Company will not, and will not permit any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to, directly or indirectly, create,
incur, assume or suffer to exist any Lien of any kind securing Indebtedness upon any asset now owned or hereafter
acquired, except Permitted Liens, without making effective provision whereby all Obligations due under the notes and
Indenture or any Guarantee, as applicable, will be secured by a Lien equally and ratably with (or before in the case of
Liens with respect to Subordinated Obligations or Guarantor Subordinated Obligations, as the case may be) any and all Obligations
thereby secured for so long as any such Obligations shall be so secured.
Layering indebtedness
The Company will not, and will not permit any Restricted Subsidiary to, directly or indirectly, incur any Indebtedness that is or purports to be by its terms
(or by the terms of any agreement governing such Indebtedness) subordinated to any other Indebtedness of the Company or of such Restricted Subsidiary, as the case may be, unless such Indebtedness is also by its terms (or by the terms of any
agreement governing such
Indebtedness) made expressly subordinate to the notes or the Guarantee of such Restricted Subsidiary, to the same extent and in the same manner as such Indebtedness is subordinated to such other Indebtedness of the Company or such Restricted
Subsidiary, as the case may be.
For purposes of the foregoing, no Indebtedness will be deemed to be subordinated in right of payment to any other Indebtedness of the Company or any Restricted
Subsidiary solely by virtue of being unsecured or secured by a junior priority lien or by virtue of the fact that the holders of such Indebtedness have entered into intercreditor agreements or other arrangements giving one or more of such
holders priority over the other holders in the collateral held by them.
56
Dividend and other payment restrictions affecting subsidiaries
The Company will not, and will not permit any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to, directly or
indirectly, create or permit to exist or become effective any encumbrance or restriction on the
ability of any Restricted Subsidiary to:
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(1) |
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pay dividends or make any other distributions on its Equity Interests to the Company or any of the
Companys Restricted Subsidiaries, or pay any indebtedness or other obligations owed to the Company or
any of the other Restricted Subsidiaries (provided that the priority that any series of preferred stock
of a Restricted Subsidiary has in receiving dividends or liquidating distributions before dividends or
liquidating distributions are paid in respect of common stock of such Restricted Subsidiary shall not
constitute a restriction on the ability to make dividends or distributions on Equity Interests for
purposes of this covenant); |
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(2) |
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make loans or advances to or make other investments in the Company or any of the other Restricted
Subsidiaries; or |
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(3) |
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transfer any of its properties or assets to the Company or any of the other Restricted Subsidiaries. |
However, the preceding restrictions will not apply to encumbrances or restrictions
existing under or by reason of:
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(1) |
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agreements as in effect on the Issue Date (including the Credit
Agreement) and any amendments, modifications, restatements,
renewals, increases, supplements, refundings, replacements or
refinancings of any such agreements; provided that such
amendments, modifications, restatements, renewals, increases,
supplements, refundings, replacements or refinancings are no
more restrictive, taken as a whole, with respect to such
distribution, dividend and other payment restrictions and loan
or investment restrictions than those contained in such
agreement, as in effect on the Issue Date; |
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(2) |
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the Indenture, the notes and the Guarantees; |
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(3) |
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applicable law, rule, regulation, order, licenses, permits or
similar governmental, judicial or regulatory restriction; |
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(4) |
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any instrument governing Indebtedness or Equity Interests of a
Person acquired by the Company or any of its Restricted
Subsidiaries as in effect at the time of such acquisition
(except to the extent such Indebtedness was incurred in
connection with or in contemplation of such acquisition), which
encumbrance or restriction is not applicable to any Person, or
the property or assets of any Person, other than such Person, or
the property or assets of such Person, so acquired; provided
that, in the case of Indebtedness, such Indebtedness was
permitted by the terms of the Indenture to be incurred; |
57
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(5) |
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customary non-assignment provisions in Hydrocarbon
purchase and sale or exchange agreements or similar
operational agreements or in licenses and leases
entered into in the ordinary course of business and
consistent with past practices; |
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(6) |
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Capital Lease Obligations, mortgage financings or
purchase money obligations, in each case for property
acquired in the ordinary course of business that
impose restrictions on that property of the nature
described in clause (3) of the preceding paragraph; |
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(7) |
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any agreement for the sale or other disposition of a
Restricted Subsidiary that restricts distributions by
that Restricted Subsidiary pending its sale or other
disposition; provided that such sale or disposition
is consummated, or such restrictions are canceled or
terminated or lapse, within by the later of (a) 90
days following the execution of such agreement and
(b) the date on which any required regulatory
approval in respect of such sale has been obtained; |
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(8) |
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Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness; provided that the
restrictions contained in the agreements governing
such Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness are no more
restrictive, taken as a whole, than those contained
in the agreements governing the Indebtedness being
refinanced; |
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(9) |
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Liens securing Indebtedness otherwise permitted to be
incurred pursuant to the provisions of the covenant
described above under the caption Liens that
limit the right of the Company or any of its
Restricted Subsidiaries to dispose of the assets
subject to such Lien; |
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(10) |
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provisions with respect to the disposition or
distribution of assets or property in joint venture
agreements, asset sale agreements, stock sale
agreements and other similar agreements entered into
in the ordinary course of business that solely affect
the assets or property that is the subject of such
agreements and provided that in the case of joint
venture agreements such provisions solely affect
assets or property of the joint venture; |
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(11) |
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any agreement or instrument relating to any property
or assets acquired after the Issue Date, so long as
such encumbrance or restriction relates only to the
property or assets so acquired and is not and was not
created in anticipation of such acquisitions; |
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(12) |
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restrictions on cash or other deposits or net worth
imposed by customers or lessors under contracts or
leases entered into in the ordinary course of
business; and |
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(13) |
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Hedging Obligations incurred from time to time. |
Merger, consolidation or sale of assets
Neither of the Issuers may, directly or indirectly: consolidate or merge with or into another
Person (whether or not such Issuer is the survivor); or sell, assign, transfer, lease, convey or
otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of its properties or assets, in one or more related
transactions, to another Person; unless:
58
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either: (a) such Issuer is the surviving entity of such transaction; or
(b) the Person formed by or surviving any such consolidation or
merger (if other than such Issuer) or to which such sale,
assignment, transfer, lease, conveyance or other disposition shall
have been made is an entity organized or existing under the laws of
the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia; provided
that Finance Co. may not consolidate or merge with or into any
entity other than a corporation satisfying such requirement; |
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the Person formed by or surviving any such consolidation or merger (if
other than such Issuer) or the Person to which such sale,
assignment, transfer, lease, conveyance or other disposition shall
have been made expressly assumes all the Obligations of such Issuer
under the notes, the Indenture and the Registration Rights
Agreement pursuant to agreements reasonably satisfactory to the Trustee; |
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immediately after such transaction no Default or Event of Default exists; |
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in the case of a transaction involving the Company and not Finance Co.,
the Company or the Person formed by or surviving any such
consolidation or merger (if other than the Company) will, on the
date of such transaction after giving pro forma effect thereto and
any related financing transactions as if the same had occurred at
the beginning of the applicable four-quarter period, be permitted to
incur at least $1.00 of additional Indebtedness pursuant to the Fixed
Charge Coverage Ratio test set forth in the first paragraph of the
covenant described above under the caption Incurrence of
indebtedness and issuance of disqualified equity; provided that
this clause (b) shall be suspended during any period in which we
and our Restricted Subsidiaries are not subject to the Suspended
Covenants; and |
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such Issuer has delivered to the Trustee an officers certificate and an
opinion of counsel, each stating that such consolidation, merger or
disposition and, if a supplemental indenture is required, such
supplemental indenture comply with the Indenture and all conditions
precedent therein relating to such transaction have been satisfied. |
Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, the Company is permitted to reorganize as any other
form of entity in accordance with the procedures established in the Indenture; provided that:
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the reorganization involves the conversion (by merger, sale, contribution
or exchange of assets or otherwise) of the Company into a form of entity
other than a limited partnership formed under Delaware law; |
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the entity so formed by or resulting from such reorganization is an entity
organized or existing under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or
the District of Columbia; |
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the entity so formed by or resulting from such reorganization assumes all
the Obligations of the Company under the notes and the Indenture pursuant
to agreements reasonably satisfactory to the Trustee; |
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immediately after such reorganization no Default or Event of Default exists; and |
59
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such reorganization is not adverse to the holders of the
notes (for purposes of this clause (5) it is stipulated
that such reorganization shall not be considered adverse to the
holders of the notes solely because the successor or
survivor of such reorganization (a) is subject to
federal or state income taxation as an entity or (b) is considered
to be an includible corporation of an affiliated group
of corporations within the meaning of Section 1504(b)(i)
of the Code or any similar state or local law). |
Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, in the event the Company becomes a
corporation or the Company or the Person formed by or surviving any consolidation or merger
(permitted in accordance with the terms of the Indenture) is a corporation, Finance Co. may be
dissolved in accordance with the Indenture and may cease to be an Issuer.
Although there is a limited body of case law interpreting the phrase substantially all,
there is no precise established definition of the phrase under applicable law. Accordingly, in
certain circumstances there may be a degree of uncertainty as to whether a particular transaction
would involve all or substantially all of the properties or assets of a Person.
Transactions with affiliates
The Company will not, and will not permit any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to, make any
payment to, or sell, lease, transfer or otherwise dispose of any of its properties or assets to, or
purchase any property or assets from, or enter into or make or amend any transaction, contract,
agreement, understanding, loan, advance or guarantee with, or for the benefit of, any Affiliate
(each, an Affiliate Transaction), unless:
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such Affiliate Transaction is on terms that are no less
favorable to the Company or the relevant Restricted Subsidiary
than those that would have been obtained in a comparable
transaction by the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary with an
unrelated Person or, if in the good faith judgment of the
independent members of the Board of Directors of the General
Partner no comparable transaction with an unrelated Person would
be available, such independent directors determine in good faith
that such Affiliate Transaction is fair to the Company from a
financial point of view; and |
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the Company delivers to the Trustee: |
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with respect to any Affiliate
Transaction or series of related
Affiliate Transactions involving
aggregate consideration in excess of
$5.0 million but less than or equal to
$25.0 million, an officers
certificate certifying that such
Affiliate Transaction complies with
this covenant and that such Affiliate
Transaction has been approved by a
majority of the disinterested members
of the Board of Directors of the
General Partner; and |
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with respect to any Affiliate
Transaction or series of related
Affiliate Transactions involving
aggregate consideration in excess of
$25.0 million, (i) a resolution of the
Board of Directors of the General
Partner set forth in an officers
certificate certifying that such
Affiliate Transaction complies with
this covenant and that such Affiliate
Transaction has been approved by a
majority of the disinterested members
of the Board of Directors of the
General Partner and (ii) an opinion as
to the fairness to the Company of such
Affiliate Transaction from a financial
point of view issued by an accounting,
appraisal or investment banking firm
of national standing recognized as an
expert in rendering fairness opinions
on transactions such as those
proposed. |
60
The following items shall not be deemed to be Affiliate Transactions and, therefore, will not
be subject to the provisions of the prior paragraph:
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any employment, equity option or equity appreciation agreement or plan
entered into by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries in the
ordinary course of business; |
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transactions between or among the Company and/or its Restricted Subsidiaries; |
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Restricted Payments that are permitted by the provisions of the Indenture
described above under the caption Restricted payments and Permitted
Investments; |
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transactions effected in accordance with the terms of agreements described in
this offering memorandum under the caption Certain Relationships and
Related Transactions as such agreements are in effect on the date of the
Indenture, and any amendment or replacement of any of such agreements so long
as such amendment or replacement agreement is no less advantageous to the
Company in any material respect than the agreement so amended or replaced; |
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customary compensation, indemnification and other benefits made available to
officers, directors or employees of the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary,
including reimbursement or advancement of out-of-pocket expenses and
provisions of officers and directors liability insurance; |
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gathering, transportation, marketing, hedging, production handling,
operating, construction, terminalling, storage, lease, platform use, or other
operational contracts, entered into in the ordinary course of business on
terms substantially similar to those contained in similar contracts entered
into by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary with third parties, or if
neither the Company nor any Restricted Subsidiary has entered into a similar
contract with a third party, on terms that are no less favorable than those
available from third parties on an arms-length basis, as determined by the
Board of Directors of the General Partner;
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the issuance or sale for cash of Equity Interests (other than Disqualified Equity); |
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any transaction in which the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries, as
the case may be, deliver to the Trustee opinion from an accounting, appraisal
or investment banking firm of national standing stating that such transaction
is fair to the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary from a financial point
of view or that such transaction meets the requirement of the first bullet
point of this covenant; |
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guarantees of performance by the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries of
the Companys Unrestricted Subsidiaries in the ordinary course of business,
except for guarantees of Indebtedness in respect of borrowed money; |
61
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if such Affiliate Transaction is with a Person
in its capacity as a holder of Indebtedness or
Equity Interests of the Company or any
Restricted Subsidiary where such Person is
treated no more favorably than the holders of
Indebtedness or Equity Interests of the
Company or any Restricted Subsidiary who are
unaffiliated with the Company and its
Restricted Subsidiaries; |
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transactions effected pursuant to agreements in
effect on the Issue Date and any amendment,
modification or replacement of such agreement (so
long as such amendment or replacement is
not in the good faith determination of the Board of
Directors of the General Partner materially
more disadvantageous to the holders of notes, taken
as a whole than the original agreement as
in effect on the Issue Date; and |
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transactions between the Company and any Person,
a director of which is also a director of
the Company; provided that such director abstains
from voting as a director of the Company on
any matter involving such other Person. |
Additional subsidiary guarantees
If, after the Issue Date, any Restricted Subsidiary that is not already a Subsidiary
Guarantor (including any newly-created or acquired Restricted Subsidiary) guarantees any other
Indebtedness of either of the Issuers or any Indebtedness of the Operating Company or any other
Subsidiary, or if the Operating Company, if not then a Subsidiary Guarantor, guarantees any other
Indebtedness of either of the Issuers or any other Subsidiary or incurs any Indebtedness under any
Credit Facility, then such, in each such case, such Subsidiary must become a Subsidiary Guarantor
by executing a supplemental indenture satisfactory to the Trustee and delivering an opinion of
counsel to the Trustee within 30 days of the date on which it became a Restricted Subsidiary or
such other guarantee was executed or such Indebtedness incurred, as applicable. Notwithstanding the
preceding, any Guarantee of a Restricted Subsidiary that was incurred pursuant to this paragraph
shall provide by its terms that it shall be automatically and unconditionally released upon the
release or discharge of the guarantee which resulted in the creation of such Restricted
Subsidiarys Guarantee, except a discharge or release by, or as a result of payment under, such
guarantee and except if, at such time, such Restricted Subsidiary is then a guarantor under any
other Indebtedness of the Issuers or another Subsidiary and any Guarantee of a Restricted
Subsidiary shall be automatically released if such Restricted Subsidiary is designated an
Unrestricted Subsidiary in accordance with the Indenture.
Designation of restricted and unrestricted subsidiaries
The Board of Directors of the General Partner may designate any Restricted Subsidiary to be an
Unrestricted Subsidiary if that designation would not cause a Default or Event of Default. If a
Restricted Subsidiary is designated as an Unrestricted Subsidiary, all outstanding Investments
owned by the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries in the Subsidiary so designated will be deemed
to be an Investment made as of the time of such designation and will reduce the amount available
for Restricted Payments under the first paragraph of the covenant described above under the caption
" Restricted payments, or represent Permitted Investments. All such outstanding Investments will
be valued at their fair market value at the time of such designation. That designation will only be
permitted if such Restricted Payment or Permitted Investments would be permitted at that time and
such Restricted Subsidiary otherwise meets the definition of an Unrestricted Subsidiary. All
Subsidiaries of an Unrestricted Subsidiary shall also be Unrestricted Subsidiaries. Upon the
designation of a Restricted Subsidiary that is a Subsidiary Guarantor as an Unrestricted
Subsidiary, the Guarantee of such entity shall be automatically released.
62
The Board of Directors of the General Partner may at any time designate any Unrestricted
Subsidiary to be a Restricted Subsidiary; provided that such designation shall be deemed to be an
incurrence of Indebtedness by a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company of any outstanding
Indebtedness of such Unrestricted Subsidiary and such designation shall only be permitted if such
Indebtedness is permitted under the covenants described under the caption Covenants
Incurrence of indebtedness and issuance of disqualified equity, calculated on a pro forma basis as
if such designation had occurred at the beginning of the four-quarter reference period, and
Covenants Liens and no Default or Event of Default would be in existence following such
designation.
During any period when covenants are suspended pursuant to Suspended Covenants we will
not be permitted to designate or redesignate any of our Subsidiaries pursuant to the covenant
described under the caption Covenants Designation of Restricted and Unrestricted
Subsidiaries.
Sale and lease-back transactions
The Company will not, and will not permit any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to, enter into
any sale and lease-back transaction; provided that the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary that is
a Subsidiary Guarantor may enter into a sale and lease-back transaction if:
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the Company or that Subsidiary Guarantor, as
applicable, could have (a) incurred
Indebtedness in an amount equal to the
Attributable Debt relating to such sale and
lease-back transaction under the Fixed Charge
Coverage Ratio test in the first paragraph
of the covenant described above under the caption
Incurrence of additional indebtedness and
issuance of disqualified equity, and (b) incurred
a Lien to secure such Indebtedness pursuant
to the covenant described above under the
caption Liens; provided that clause (a) of this
clause shall be suspended during any period
in which the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries
are not subject to the Suspended Covenants; |
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the gross cash proceeds of that sale and
lease-back transaction are at least equal
to the fair market value, as determined in good
faith by the Board of Directors of the
General Partner, of the property that is the subject
of such sale and lease-back transaction;
and |
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the transfer of assets in that sale and
lease-back transaction is permitted by, and
the Company applies the proceeds of such
transaction in compliance with, the
covenant described above under the caption
Repurchase at the option of holders
Asset sales. |
Business activities
The Company will not, and will not permit any Restricted Subsidiary to, engage in any business
other than Permitted Businesses.
63
Finance Co. may not engage in any business or incur any Indebtedness other than activities in
connection with its rights and obligations as an Issuer of the notes and any additional notes
issued under the Indenture.
Payments for consent
The Company will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, directly or indirectly,
pay or cause to be paid any consideration to or for the benefit of any holder of notes for or as an
inducement to any consent, waiver or amendment of any of the terms or provisions of the Indenture
or the notes unless such consideration is offered to be paid and is paid to all holders of the
notes that consent, waive or agree to amend in the time frame set forth in the solicitation
documents relating to such consent, waiver or agreement.
Reports
Whether or not required by the SEC, so long as any notes are outstanding, the Company will
file with the SEC (unless the SEC will not accept such a filing) within the time periods specified
in the SECs rules and regulations and, upon request, unless already publicly available through the
SECs EDGAR filing system, the Company will furnish (without exhibits) to the Trustee for delivery
to the holders of the notes:
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all quarterly and annual financial information
that would be required to be contained in a
filing with the SEC on Forms 10-Q and 10-K if the
Company were required to file such forms,
including a Managements discussion and
analysis of financial condition and results
of operations and, with respect to the annual
information only, a report on the annual
financial statements by the Companys
certified independent accountants; and |
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all current reports that would be required to be
filed with the SEC on Form 8-K if the
Company were required to file such reports. |
If as of the end of any such quarterly or annual period the Company has designated any of its
Subsidiaries as Unrestricted Subsidiaries, then the Company shall deliver (promptly after such SEC
filing referred to in the preceding paragraph) to the Trustee for delivery to the holders of the
notes quarterly and annual financial information required by the preceding paragraph as revised to
include a reasonably detailed presentation, either on the face of the financial statements or in
the footnotes thereto, and in Managements discussion and analysis of financial condition and
results of operations, of the financial condition and results of operations of the Company and its
Restricted Subsidiaries separate from the financial condition and results of operations of the
Unrestricted Subsidiaries of the Company.
In addition, whether or not required by the SEC, the Company will make such information
available to securities analysts, investors and prospective investors upon request.
Suspended Covenants
During any period when the notes have an Investment Grade Rating from either Rating Agency and
no Default has occurred and is continuing under the Indenture, the Company and its Restricted
Subsidiaries will not be subject to the provisions of the Indenture described above under the
caption Repurchase at the option of holders Asset sales and under the following headings under
the caption Covenants:
64
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Restricted payments, |
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Incurrence of indebtedness and issuance of disqualified equity, |
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Dividend and other payment restrictions affecting subsidiaries, |
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Merger, consolidation or sale of assets (only to the extent set forth in that covenant), |
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Transactions with affiliates, and |
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Sale and lease-back transactions (only to the extent set forth in that covenant) |
(collectively, the Suspended Covenants); provided that the provisions of the Indenture
described above under the caption Repurchase at the option of holders Change of control, and
described above under the following headings under the caption Covenants will not be so
suspended:
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Liens, |
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Layering Indebtedness, |
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Additional subsidiary guarantees, |
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Business activities, |
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Payments for consent, and |
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Reports; |
and provided further, that if we and our Restricted Subsidiaries are not subject to the Suspended
Covenants for any period of time as a result of the preceding portion of this sentence and,
subsequently, either of the Rating Agencies withdraws its ratings or downgrades the ratings
assigned to the notes below the Investment Grade Ratings so that the notes do not have an
Investment Grade Rating from both Rating Agencies, or a Default (other than with respect to the
Suspended Covenants) occurs and is continuing, we and our Restricted Subsidiaries will thereafter
again be subject to the Suspended Covenants, subject to the terms, conditions and obligations set
forth in the Indenture (each such date of reinstatement being the Reinstatement Date). As a
result, during any period in which we and our Restricted Subsidiaries are not subject to the
Suspended Covenants, the notes will be entitled to substantially reduced covenant protection.
Compliance with the Suspended Covenants with respect to Restricted Payments made after the
Reinstatement Date will be calculated in accordance with the terms of the covenant described under
Restricted payments as though such covenants had been in effect during the entire period of
time from which the notes are issued. However, all Restricted Payments made, Indebtedness incurred
and other actions effected during any period in which covenants are suspended will not cause a
default under the Indenture on any Reinstatement Date.
In addition, during any period when the Suspended Covenants are suspended we will not be
permitted to designate or redesignate any of our Subsidiaries pursuant to the covenant described
under the caption Covenants Designation of Restricted and Unrestricted Subsidiaries.
65
Events of Default and Remedies
Each of the following is an Event of Default:
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(1) |
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default for 30 days in the payment when due of interest on the notes; |
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(2) |
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default in payment when due of the principal of or premium, if any, on the notes; |
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(3) |
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failure by the Company to comply (for 30 days in the case of a failure to comply that is capable of cure) with the
provisions described under Merger, consolidation or sale of assets or its obligations to make a Change of Control Offer
or Asset Sale Offer; |
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(4) |
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failure by the Company to comply for 60 days after notice with any of the other agreements in the Indenture; |
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(5) |
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default under any mortgage, indenture or instrument under which there may be issued or by which there may be secured or
evidenced any Indebtedness for money borrowed by an Issuer or any of the Companys Restricted Subsidiaries (or the payment
of which is guaranteed by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries), whether such Indebtedness or guarantee now
exists or is created after the Issue Date, if that default: |
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(a) |
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is caused by a failure to pay principal of or premium, if any, or interest
on such Indebtedness before the expiration of the grace period provided in
such Indebtedness on the date of such default (a Payment Default); or |
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(b) |
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results in the acceleration of such Indebtedness before its express maturity, |
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and, in each case, the principal amount of any such Indebtedness, together with the principal amount of any other such
Indebtedness under which there has been a Payment Default or the maturity of which has been so accelerated, aggregates $10.0
million or more; |
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(6) |
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failure by an Issuer or any of the Companys Restricted Subsidiaries to pay final judgments aggregating in excess of $10.0
million, which judgments are not paid, discharged or stayed for a period of 60 days; |
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(7) |
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except as permitted by the Indenture, any Guarantee shall be held in any judicial proceeding to be unenforceable or invalid
or shall cease for any reason to be in force and effect or any Subsidiary Guarantor, or any Person acting on behalf of any
Subsidiary Guarantor, shall deny or disaffirm its Obligations under its Guarantee; and |
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(8) |
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certain events of bankruptcy or insolvency with respect to Finance Co., the Company, the General Partner or any of its
Restricted Subsidiaries that is a Significant Subsidiary or any group of Restricted Subsidiaries that, taken together, would
constitute a Significant Subsidiary. |
66
In the case of an Event of Default arising from events described in clause (8) above, with
respect to an Issuer or the General Partner, all outstanding notes will become due and payable
immediately without further action or notice. If any other Event of Default occurs and is
continuing, the Trustee or the holders of at least 25% in principal amount of the then outstanding
notes may declare all the notes to be due and payable immediately.
Holders of the notes may not enforce the Indenture or the notes except as provided in the
Indenture. Subject to certain limitations, holders of a majority in principal amount of the then
outstanding notes may direct the Trustee in its exercise of any trust or power. The Trustee may
withhold from holders of the notes notice of any continuing Default or Event of Default (except a
Default or Event of Default relating to the payment of principal or interest) if it determines that
withholding notice is in their interest.
The holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of the notes then outstanding by
notice to the Trustee may on behalf of the holders of all of the notes waive any existing Default
or Event of Default and its consequences under the Indenture except a continuing Default or Event
of Default in the payment of interest on, or the principal of, the notes.
The Issuers and the Subsidiary Guarantors are required to deliver to the Trustee annually a
statement regarding compliance with the Indenture. Upon any officer of the General Partner or
Finance Co. becoming aware of any Default or Event of Default, the Issuers are required to deliver
to the Trustee a statement specifying such Default or Event of Default.
No Personal Liability of Directors, Officers, Employees and Unitholders and No Recourse Against
General Partner
Neither the General Partner nor any past, present or future director, officer, partner,
employee, incorporator, manager or unitholder or other owner of Equity Interests of the Issuers,
the General Partner, or any Subsidiary Guarantor, as such, shall have any liability for any
Obligations of the Issuers or the Subsidiary Guarantors under the notes, the Indenture, the
Guarantees or for any claim based on, in respect of, or by reason of, such Obligations or their
creation. Each holder of notes by accepting a note waives and releases all such liability. The
waiver and release are part of the consideration for issuance of the notes. The waiver may not be
effective to waive liabilities under the federal securities laws.
Legal Defeasance and Covenant Defeasance
The Issuers may, at their option and at any time, elect to have all of the Issuers
Obligations discharged with respect to the outstanding notes and all Obligations of the Subsidiary
Guarantors discharged with respect to their Guarantees (Legal Defeasance), except for:
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the rights of holders of outstanding notes to
receive payments in respect of the
principal of, premium, if any, and interest on
such notes when such payments are due from
the trust referred to below; |
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the Issuers Obligations with respect to the
notes concerning issuing temporary notes,
registration of notes, mutilated, destroyed, lost or
stolen notes and the maintenance of an
office or agency for payment and money for
security payments held in trust; |
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the rights, powers, trusts, duties and
immunities of the Trustee, and the Issuers
Obligations in connection therewith; and |
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the Legal Defeasance provisions of the Indenture. |
In addition, the Company may, at its option and at any time, elect to have the Obligations of
the Issuers and the Guarantors released with respect to certain covenants that are described in the
Indenture (Covenant Defeasance) and thereafter any omission to comply with those covenants shall
not constitute a Default or Event of Default with respect to the notes. In the event Covenant
Defeasance occurs, certain events (not including non-payment, bankruptcy, receivership,
rehabilitation and insolvency events) described under Events of Default will no longer constitute
an Event of Default with respect to the notes.
In order to exercise either Legal Defeasance or Covenant Defeasance:
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the Issuers must irrevocably deposit with the
Trustee, in trust, for the benefit of the
holders of the notes, cash in U.S. dollars, U.S.
Government Obligations, or a combination
thereof, in such amounts as will be sufficient, in
the opinion of a nationally recognized firm
of independent public accountants, to pay the
principal of, premium, if any, and interest on
the outstanding notes at the Stated
Maturity thereof or on the applicable redemption
date, as the case may be, and the Issuers
must specify whether the notes are being defeased to
Stated Maturity or to a particular
redemption date; |
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in the case of Legal Defeasance, the Issuers
shall have delivered to the Trustee an
opinion of counsel reasonably acceptable to the
Trustee confirming that (a) the Company has
received from, or there has been published by, the
Internal Revenue Service a ruling or (b)
since the Issue Date, there has been a change in
the applicable federal income tax law, in either
case to the effect that, and based thereon
such opinion of counsel shall confirm that, the
holders of the outstanding notes will not
recognize income, gain or loss for federal income tax
purposes as a result of such Legal
Defeasance and will be subject to federal income tax
on the same amounts, in the same manner and
at the same times as would have been the
case if such Legal Defeasance had not occurred; |
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in the case of Covenant Defeasance, the Issuers
shall have delivered to the Trustee an
opinion of counsel reasonably acceptable to the
Trustee confirming that the holders of the
outstanding notes will not recognize income, gain or
loss for federal income tax purposes as a
result of such Covenant Defeasance and will
be subject to federal income tax on the same
amounts, in the same manner and at the same
times as would have been the case if such Covenant
Defeasance had not occurred; |
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no Default or Event of Default shall have
occurred and be continuing either: (a) on
the date of such deposit (other than a Default or
Event of Default resulting from the
incurrence of Indebtedness all or a portion of the
proceeds of which shall be applied to such
deposit); or (b) insofar as Events of Default
from bankruptcy or insolvency events are
concerned, at any time in the period ending
on the 91st day after the date of deposit; |
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such Legal Defeasance or Covenant Defeasance will
not result in a breach or violation of, or
constitute a default under any material agreement or
instrument (other than the Indenture) to which
the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is a
party or by which the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries is bound; |
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the Issuers must have delivered to the Trustee an
opinion of counsel to the effect that after
the 91st day following the deposit, the trust funds will
not be subject to the effect of any applicable
bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization or similar
laws affecting creditors rights generally; |
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the Issuers must deliver to the Trustee an
officers certificate stating that the deposit
was not made by the Issuers with the intent of
preferring the holders of notes over the other
creditors of the Issuers or with the intent of
defeating, hindering, delaying or defrauding
other creditors of the Issuers; and |
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the Issuers must deliver to the Trustee an
officers certificate and an opinion of
counsel, each stating that all conditions precedent
relating to the Legal Defeasance or the
Covenant Defeasance have been complied with. |
Amendment, Supplement and Waiver
Generally, the Issuers, the Subsidiary Guarantors and the Trustee may amend or supplement the
Indenture, the Guarantees and the notes with the consent of the holders of at least a majority in
principal amount of the notes then outstanding. However, without the consent of each holder
affected, an amendment, supplement or waiver may not (with respect to any notes held by a
nonconsenting holder):
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reduce the principal amount of notes whose holders must consent to an
amendment, supplement or waiver; |
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reduce the principal of or change the fixed maturity of any note or alter
or waive the provisions with respect to the redemption or repurchase of
the notes (other than provisions relating to the covenants described
above under the caption Repurchase at the option of holders so long
as no obligation to make a Change of Control Offer or an Asset Sale Offer
has arisen); |
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reduce the rate of or change the time for payment of interest on any note; |
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waive a Default or Event of Default in the payment of principal of or
premium, if any, or interest on the notes (except a rescission of
acceleration of the notes by the holders of at least a majority in
aggregate principal amount of the notes and a waiver of the payment
default that resulted from such acceleration); |
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make any note payable in money other than that stated in the notes; |
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(6) |
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make any change in the provisions of the Indenture relating to waivers of
past Defaults or the rights of holders of notes to receive payments of
principal of or premium, if any, or interest on the notes (other than as
permitted in clause (7) below); |
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(7) |
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waive a redemption or repurchase payment with respect
to any note (other than a payment required by one of
the covenants described above under the caption
Repurchase at the option of holders); |
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except as otherwise permitted in the Indenture,
release any Subsidiary Guarantor from its Obligations
under its Guarantee or the Indenture or change any
Guarantee in any manner that would adversely affect
the rights of holders; |
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make any change in the preceding amendment,
supplement and waiver provisions (except to increase
any percentage set forth therein); or |
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modify or change any provision of the Indenture or
the related definitions affecting the ranking of the
notes or any Guarantee in a manner that adversely
affects the holders of the notes. |
Notwithstanding the preceding, without the consent of any holder of notes, the Issuers, the
Subsidiary Guarantors and the Trustee may amend or supplement the Indenture, the Guarantees or the
notes:
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to cure any ambiguity, defect or inconsistency; |
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to provide for uncertificated notes in addition to or in place of certificated notes; |
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to provide for the assumption of an Issuers or Subsidiary Guarantors
Obligations to holders of notes in the case of a merger or consolidation or sale
of all or substantially all of such Issuers assets; |
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to add or release Subsidiary Guarantors pursuant to the terms of the Indenture; |
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to make any change that would provide any additional rights or benefits to the
holders of notes or surrender any right or power conferred upon the Issuers or
the Subsidiary Guarantors by the Indenture that does not adversely affect the
rights under the Indenture of any holder of the notes; provided that any change
to conform the Indenture to this offering memorandum will not be deemed to
adversely affect such rights; |
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to provide for the issuance of additional notes in accordance with the
limitations set forth in the Indenture; |
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to comply with requirements of the SEC in order to effect or maintain the
qualification of the Indenture under the Trust Indenture Act; |
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to evidence or provide for the acceptance of appointment under the Indenture of
a successor Trustee; |
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to add any additional Events of Default; |
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to secure the notes and/or the Guarantees; or |
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to comply with the rules of any applicable securities depository. |
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Satisfaction and Discharge
The Indenture will be discharged and will cease to be of further effect as to all notes issued
thereunder (except as to surviving rights of registration of transfer or exchange of the notes and
as otherwise specified in the Indenture), when
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all notes that have been authenticated,
except lost, stolen or destroyed notes that have
been replaced or paid and notes for whose payment
money has been deposited in trust and thereafter
repaid to the Issuers, have been delivered to the
Trustee for cancellation; or |
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all notes that have not been delivered to
the Trustee for cancellation have become due and
payable or will become due and payable within one
year by reason of the mailing of a notice of
redemption or otherwise and the Issuers or any
Subsidiary Guarantor has irrevocably deposited or
caused to be deposited with the Trustee as trust
funds in trust solely for the benefit of the
holders, cash in U.S. dollars, U.S. Government
Obligations, or a combination of cash in U.S.
dollars and U.S. Government Obligations, in
amounts as will be sufficient without
consideration of any reinvestment of interest, to
pay and discharge the entire indebtedness on the
notes not delivered to the Trustee for
cancellation for principal, premium, if any, and
accrued interest to the date of fixed maturity or
redemption; |
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no Default or Event of Default has occurred and is continuing
on the date of the deposit or will occur as a result of the
deposit and the deposit will not result in a breach or violation
of, or constitute a default under, any material agreement or
instrument (other than the Indenture) to which the Company or any
of its Subsidiaries is a party or by which the Company or any of
its Subsidiaries is bound; |
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the Issuers or any Subsidiary Guarantor has paid or caused to
be paid all sums payable by the Issuers under the Indenture;
and |
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the Issuers have delivered irrevocable instructions to the
Trustee to apply the deposited money toward the payment of the
notes at fixed maturity or the redemption date, as the case may
be. |
In addition, the Issuers must deliver an officers certificate and an opinion of counsel
to the Trustee stating that all conditions precedent to satisfaction and discharge have been
satisfied.
Concerning the Trustee
If the Trustee becomes a creditor of an Issuer or any Subsidiary Guarantor, the Indenture
limits its right to obtain payment of claims in certain cases, or to realize on certain property
received in respect of any such claim as security or otherwise. The Trustee will be permitted to
engage in other transactions; however, if it acquires any conflicting interest it must eliminate
such conflict within 90 days, apply to the SEC for permission to continue (if the Indenture has
been qualified under the Trust Indenture Act) or resign.
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The holders of a majority in principal amount of the then outstanding notes will have the
right to direct the time, method and place of conducting any proceeding for exercising any remedy
available to the Trustee, subject to certain exceptions. The Indenture provides that in case an
Event of Default shall occur and be continuing, the Trustee will be required, in the exercise of
its power, to use the degree of care of a prudent person the conduct of his own affairs. Subject to
such provisions, the Trustee will be under no obligation to exercise any of its rights or powers
under the Indenture at the request of any holder of notes, unless such holder shall have offered to
the Trustee security or indemnity satisfactory to it against any loss, liability or expense.
Definitions
Set forth below are defined terms used in the Indenture. Reference is made to the Indenture
for a full disclosure of all such terms, as well as any other capitalized terms used herein for
which no definition is provided.
Acquired Debt means, with respect to any specified Person:
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Indebtedness of any other Person existing at the time such other Person is merged with or
into or became a Subsidiary of such specified Person, whether or not such Indebtedness is
incurred in connection with, or in contemplation of, such other Person merging with or
into, or becoming a Subsidiary of, such specified Person, but excluding Indebtedness that
is extinguished, retired or repaid in connection with such Person merging with or
becoming a Subsidiary of such specified Person; and |
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Indebtedness secured by a Lien encumbering any asset acquired by such specified Person. |
Affiliate of any specified Person means any other Person directly or indirectly controlling
or controlled by or under direct or indirect common control with such specified Person. For
purposes of this definition, control, as used with respect to any Person, shall mean the
possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management
or policies of such Person, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by agreement or
otherwise; provided that beneficial ownership of 10% or more of the Voting Stock of a specified
Person shall be deemed to be control by the other Person; provided, further, that any third Person
which also beneficially owns 10% or more of the Voting Stock of a specified Person shall not be
deemed to be an Affiliate of either the specified Person or the other Person merely because of such
common ownership in such specified Person. For purposes of this definition, the terms
controlling, controlled by and under common control with shall have correlative meanings.
Notwithstanding the preceding, the term Affiliate shall not include a Restricted Subsidiary of
any specified Person.
Asset Sale means:
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the sale, lease, conveyance or other disposition of any assets,
other than sales of inventory in the ordinary course of
business; provided that the sale, lease, conveyance or
other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of
the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries taken as a
whole will be governed by the provisions of the Indenture
described above under the caption Change of control, and/or
the provisions described above under the caption
Merger, consolidation or sale of assets and not by the
provisions of the Asset Sale covenant; and |
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the issuance of Equity Interests by any of the Companys Restricted
Subsidiaries or the sale by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of
Equity Interests in any of its Restricted Subsidiaries. |
Notwithstanding the preceding, the following items shall not be deemed to be Asset Sales:
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any single transaction or series of related transactions that involves assets
having a fair market value of less than $1.0 million; |
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a transfer of assets between or among the Company and its Restricted
Subsidiaries; |
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an issuance of Equity Interests by a Restricted Subsidiary to the Company or to
another Restricted Subsidiary of the Company; |
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a Restricted Payment that is permitted by the covenant described above under the
caption Restricted payments or a Permitted Investment; |
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the sale or other disposition of cash or Cash Equivalents, Hedging Obligations or
other financial instruments in the ordinary course of business; |
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transfers of damaged, worn-out or obsolete equipment or assets that, in the
Companys reasonable judgment, are no longer used or useful in the business of the
Company or its Restricted Subsidiaries; |
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surrender or waiver of contract rights or the settlement, release or surrender of
contract, tort or other claims of any kind; |
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the creation or perfection of a Lien that is not prohibited by the covenant
described above under the caption Covenants Liens; |
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the grant in the ordinary course of business of any non-exclusive license of
patents, trademarks, registrations therefor and other similar intellectual property;
and |
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the sale or discounting of accounts receivable in the ordinary course of business. |
Attributable Debt in respect of a sale and lease-back transaction means, at the time of
determination, the present value of the obligation of the lessee for net rental payments during the
remaining term of the lease included in such sale and lease-back transaction including any period
for which such lease has been extended or may, at the option of the lessor, be extended. Such
present value shall be calculated using a discount rate equal to the rate of interest implicit in
such transaction, determined in accordance with GAAP.
Available Cash has the meaning assigned to such term in the Partnership Agreement, as in
effect on the Issue Date.
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Beneficial Owner has the meaning assigned to such term in Rule 13d-3 and Rule 13d-5 under
the Exchange Act, except that in calculating the beneficial ownership of any particular person
(as that term is used in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act), such person will be deemed to
have beneficial ownership of all securities that such person has the right to acquire by
conversion or exercise of other securities, whether such right is currently exercisable or is
exercisable only upon the occurrence of a subsequent condition. The terms Beneficially Owns and
Beneficially Owned have correlative meanings.
Board Resolution means a copy of a resolution certified by the Secretary or an Assistant
Secretary of the applicable Person to have been duly adopted by the Board of Directors of such
Person and to be in full force and effect on the date of such certification, and delivered to the
Trustee.
Capital Lease Obligation means, at the time any determination thereof is to be made, the
amount of the liability in respect of a capital lease that would at that time be required to be
capitalized on a balance sheet in accordance with GAAP.
Cash Equivalents means:
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(1) |
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United States dollars; |
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(2) |
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securities issued or directly and fully guaranteed or insured by the United States
government or any agency or instrumentality thereof (provided that the full faith and credit of the
United States is pledged in support thereof) having maturities of not more than one year from the
date of acquisition; |
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certificates of deposit, time deposits and eurodollar time deposits with maturities
of one year or less from the date of acquisition, bankers acceptances with maturities not
exceeding 365 days, demand and overnight bank deposits and other similar types of investments
routinely offered by commercial banks, in each case, with any domestic commercial bank having a
combined capital and surplus in excess of $500.0 million and a Thompson Bank Watch Rating of B or
better; |
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repurchase obligations with a term of not more than seven days for underlying
securities of the types described in clauses (2) and (3) above entered into with any financial
institution meeting the qualifications specified in clause (3) above; |
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commercial paper having one of the two highest ratings obtainable from Moodys or
Standard & Poors and in each case maturing within six months after the date of acquisition;
and |
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money market funds at least 95% of the assets of which constitute Cash Equivalents of
the kinds described in clauses (1) through (5) of this definition. |
Change of Control means the occurrence of any of the following:
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the direct or indirect sale, lease, transfer, conveyance or other disposition
(other than by way of merger or consolidation), in one or a series of related
transactions, of all or substantially all of the properties or assets (including Equity
Interests of the Restricted Subsidiaries) of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries
taken as a whole, to any person (as that term is used in Section 13(d)(3) of the
Exchange Act); |
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the adoption of a plan relating to the liquidation or dissolution of the Company
or the removal of the General Partner by the limited partners of the Company; |
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the consummation of any transaction (including, without limitation, any merger
or consolidation) the result of which is that any person or group (as that term
is used in Section 13(d)(3) or Section 14(d)(2) of the Exchange Act, or any
successor provision), becomes the Beneficial Owner, directly or indirectly, of more
than 50% of the Voting Stock of the General Partner, measured by voting power rather than
number of shares; provided that a change of control shall not be deemed to occur solely
as a result of a transfer of the general partnership interests of the Company or the
Equity Interests in the General Partner to a new entity in contemplation of the initial
public offering of such new entity, or as a result of any further offering of Equity
Interests of such new entity (or securities convertible into such Equity Interests) so
long as the persons or entities that beneficially own the general partnership interests
of the Company or the Equity Interests in the General Partner on the Issue Date continue
to hold the general partnership interests in such new entity (or, in the case of a new
entity that is not a partnership, no other Person or group Beneficially Owns more than
50% of the Voting Stock of such new entity); |
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the Company consolidates or merges with or into another Person or any Person
consolidates or merges with or into the Company, in either case under this clause,
in one transaction or a series of related transactions in which immediately after
the consummation thereof Persons Beneficially Owning, directly or indirectly, Voting
Stock representing in the aggregate a majority of the total voting power of the Voting
Stock of the Company immediately before such consummation do not Beneficially Own,
directly or indirectly, Voting Stock representing a majority of the total voting power of
the Voting Stock of the Company or the surviving or transferee Person; or |
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the first day on which a majority of the members of the Board of Directors of the
General Partner are not Continuing Directors. |
Code means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended from time to time, and the rules
and regulations thereunder, and any successor thereto.
Consolidated Cash Flow means, with respect to any Person for any period, the Consolidated
Net Income of such Person for such period plus (without duplication):
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an amount equal to the dividends or distributions paid during such period in
cash or Cash Equivalents to such Person or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries by a
Person that is not a Restricted Subsidiary of such Person; plus |
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the provision for taxes based on income or profits of such Person and its
Restricted Subsidiaries for such period, to the extent that such provision for taxes
was deducted in computing such Consolidated Net Income; plus |
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the consolidated interest expense of such Person and its Restricted
Subsidiaries for such period, whether paid or accrued (including, without
limitation, amortization of debt issuance costs and original issue discount, non-cash
interest payments, the interest component of any deferred payment obligations, the
interest component of all payments associated with Capital Lease Obligations,
imputed interest with respect to Attributable Debt, commissions, discounts and other
fees and charges incurred in respect of letter of credit or bankers acceptance
financings, and net of the effect of all payments, made or received pursuant to
interest-rate Hedging Obligations), to the extent that any such expense was deducted in
computing such Consolidated Net Income; plus |
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depreciation, depletion and amortization (including amortization of goodwill and
other intangibles but excluding amortization of prepaid cash expenses that were paid
in a prior period) and other non-cash expenses (excluding any such non-cash expense to
the extent that it represents an accrual of or reserve for cash expenses in any future
period or amortization of a prepaid cash expense that was paid in a prior period) of such
Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries for such period to the extent that such
depreciation, depletion, amortization and other non-cash expenses were deducted in
computing such Consolidated Net Income; plus |
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an amount equal to any extraordinary loss plus any net loss realized by such
Person or any of its Subsidiaries in connection with an Asset Sale, including any
non-recurring charges relating to any premium or penalty paid, write-off of deferred
financing costs or other financial recapitalization charges, in connection with redeeming
or retiring any Indebtedness before its Stated Maturity, to the extent such losses were
included in computing such Consolidated Net Income; minus |
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non-cash items increasing such Consolidated Net Income for such period, other
than items that were accrued in the ordinary course of business, in each case, on a
consolidated basis and determined in accordance with GAAP. |
Notwithstanding the preceding, the provision for taxes based on the income or profits of, and
the depreciation, depletion and amortization and other non-cash charges of, a Restricted Subsidiary
of the Company shall be added to Consolidated Net Income to compute Consolidated Cash Flow of the
Company only to the extent that a corresponding amount would be permitted at the date of
determination to be dividended or distributed to the Company by such Restricted Subsidiary without
prior approval (that has not been obtained), pursuant to the terms of its charter and all
agreements (other than the Indenture, the notes or its Guarantee), instruments, judgments, decrees,
orders, statutes, rules and governmental regulations applicable to that Restricted Subsidiary or
its stockholders, partners or members.
Consolidated Net Income means, with respect to any specified Person for any period, the
aggregate of the Net Income of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries for such period, on a
consolidated basis, determined in accordance with GAAP; provided that (without duplication):
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the aggregate Net Income (but not net loss in excess of such aggregate Net
Income) of all Persons that are not Restricted Subsidiaries shall be excluded,
except to the extent of the amount of dividends or distributions paid in cash to the
specified Person or a Restricted Subsidiary of the Person (without duplication); |
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the earnings included therein attributable to all entities that are accounted for
by the equity method of accounting and the aggregate Net Income (but not net loss
in excess of such aggregate Net Income) included therein attributable to all
entities constituting Joint Ventures that are accounted for on a consolidated basis
(rather than by the equity method of accounting) shall be excluded, except to the
extent of the amount of dividends or distributions paid in cash to the specified
Person or a Restricted Subsidiary of the Person; |
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the Net Income of any Restricted Subsidiary shall be excluded to the extent that
the declaration or payment of dividends or similar distributions by that Restricted
Subsidiary of that Net Income is not at the date of determination permitted without
any prior governmental approval (that has not been obtained) or, directly or indirectly,
by operation of the terms of its charter or any agreement (other than the Indenture, the
notes or its Guarantee), instrument, judgment, decree, order, statute, rule or
governmental regulation applicable to that Restricted Subsidiary or its stockholders, partners or members; |
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unrealized losses and gains under derivative instruments included in the
determination of Consolidated Net Income, including, without limitation, those
resulting from the application of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 133, shall be excluded; |
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the net operating income of NOARK Pipeline System, Limited Partnership
attributable to a particular expansion project that is subject to a Permitted NOARK
Distribution to a holder of equity interests of NOARK (other than the Company or one of
its Restricted Subsidiaries) shall be excluded to the extent of the Permitted NOARK
Distribution with respect to such expansion project; |
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the cumulative effect of a change in accounting principles shall be excluded; and
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any nonrecurring charges relating to any premium or penalty paid, write off of
deferred finance costs or other charges in connection with redeeming or retiring any
Indebtedness before its Stated Maturity will be excluded. |
Consolidated Net Tangible Assets means, with respect to any Person at any date of
determination, the aggregate amount of total assets included in such Persons most recent quarterly
or annual consolidated balance sheet prepared in accordance with GAAP less applicable reserves
reflected in such balance sheet, after deducting the following amounts: (1) all current liabilities
reflected in such balance sheet, and (2) all goodwill, trademarks, patents, unamortized debt
discounts and expenses and other like intangibles reflected in such balance sheet.
Continuing Directors means, as of any date of determination, any member of the Board of
Directors of the General Partner who (1) was a member of such Board of Directors on the Issue Date
or (2) was nominated for election or elected to such Board of Directors with the approval of either
(x) a majority of the Continuing Directors who were members of such Board at the time of such
nomination or election, or (y) any person or group (as those terms are used in Section 13(d)(3)
or Section 14(d)(2) of the Exchange Act, or any successor provision) who owns all the general
partnership interests or a majority of the Equity Interests of the General Partner.
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Credit Agreement means that certain Credit Agreement, dated April 14, 2005, and as amended
as of October 31, 2005, among the Company, the Subsidiaries party thereto, the banks parties
thereto and Wachovia Bank, National Association, as administrative agent, consisting of a revolver
loan and a term loan, including any related notes, guarantees, collateral documents, instruments
and agreements executed in connection therewith, and in each case as amended, restated, modified,
renewed, refunded, replaced, supplemented or refinanced in whole or in part from time to time.
Credit Facilities means, with respect to the Company, Finance Co. or any Restricted
Subsidiary, one or more credit facilities or commercial paper facilities, including the Credit
Agreement, in each case with banks, investment banks, insurance companies, mutual funds and/or
institutional lenders providing for revolving credit loans, term loans, production payments,
receivables or inventory financing (including through the sale of receivables or inventory to such
lenders or to special purpose entities formed to borrow from such lenders against such receivables)
or letters of credit, in each case, as amended, restated, modified, renewed, refunded, replaced,
supplemented or refinanced in whole or in part from time to time.
Default means any event that is, or with the passage of time or the giving of notice or both
would be, an Event of Default.
Disqualified Equity means any Equity Interest that, by its terms (or by the terms of any
security into which it is convertible, or for which it is exchangeable, in each case at the option
of the holder thereof), or upon the happening of any event, matures or is mandatorily redeemable,
pursuant to a sinking fund obligation or otherwise, or redeemable at the option of the holder
thereof, in whole or in part, on or before the date that is 91 days after the date on which the
notes mature. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, any Equity Interest that would constitute
Disqualified Equity solely because (i) the holders thereof have the right to require the Company or
any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to repurchase such Equity Interests upon the occurrence of a
change of control or an asset sale shall not constitute Disqualified Equity if the terms of such
Equity Interests provide that the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary may not repurchase or redeem
any such Equity Interests pursuant to such provisions unless such repurchase or redemption complies
with the covenant described above under the caption Restricted payments or (ii) such Equity
Interest is entitled to receive Permitted NOARK Distributions in accordance with the terms of the
Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of NOARK as in effect on the Issue Date shall
not constitute Disqualified Equity.
Equity Interests means:
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in the case of a corporation, corporate stock; |
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in the case of an association or business entity, any and all shares, interests,
participations, rights or other equivalents (however designated) of corporate stock; |
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in the case of a partnership or limited liability company, partnership or
membership interests (whether general or limited); |
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any other interest or participation that confers on a Person the right to receive
a share of the profits and losses of, or distributions of assets of, the issuing
Person; and |
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all warrants, options or other rights to acquire any of the interests
described above (but excluding any debt security that is convertible into, or
exchangeable for, any of the interests described above. |
Equity Offering means any public or private sale for cash of Equity Interests of the Company
(excluding sales made to any Restricted Subsidiary, sales of Disqualified Equity and private sales
to an Affiliate of the Company) after the Issue Date; provided that a private placement of Equity
Interests will not be deemed an Equity Offering unless net cash proceeds of at least $10.0 million
are received.
Existing Indebtedness means the aggregate principal amount of Indebtedness of the Company
and its Restricted Subsidiaries in existence on the Issue Date.
Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio means, with respect to any specified Person for any four-quarter
reference period, the ratio of the Consolidated Cash Flow of such Person for such period to the
Fixed Charges of such Person for such period. In the event that the specified Person or any of its
Restricted Subsidiaries incurs, assumes, guarantees, repays or redeems any Indebtedness (other than
revolving credit borrowings not constituting a permanent commitment reduction) or issues or redeems
Disqualified Equity subsequent to the commencement of the period for which the Fixed Charge
Coverage Ratio is being calculated but before the date on which the event for which the calculation
of the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio is made (the Calculation Date), then the Fixed Charge Coverage
Ratio shall be calculated giving pro forma effect to such incurrence, assumption, guarantee,
repayment or redemption of Indebtedness, or such issuance or redemption of Disqualified Equity, and
the application of the net proceeds thereof as if the same had occurred at the beginning of the
applicable four-quarter reference period (and if such Indebtedness is incurred to finance the
acquisition of assets (including, without limitation, a single asset, a division or segment or an
entire company) that were conducting commercial operations before such acquisition, there shall be
included pro forma net income for such assets, as if such assets had been acquired on the first day
of such period).
In addition, for purposes of calculating the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio:
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acquisitions that have been made by the specified Person or any of its
Restricted Subsidiaries, including through mergers or consolidations and including
any related financing transactions, during the four-quarter reference period or
subsequent to such reference period and on or before the Calculation Date shall be
deemed to have occurred on the first day of the four-quarter reference period and pro
forma effect will be given to the amount of net cost savings certified in an officers
certificate executed by the Chief Financial Officer of the Company to have occurred or
that are reasonably and in good faith projected to be realized within 12 months after,
and as a result of, such acquisition and contractual commitments in effect or specified
actions that have been taken or will within 90 days be commenced; provided that such cost
savings are reasonably identifiable and factually supportable; |
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designations of Restricted Subsidiaries and Unrestricted Subsidiaries during the
four-quarter reference period or subsequent to such reference period and on or
before the Calculation Date shall be deemed to have occurred on the first day of the four-quarter reference period; |
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the Consolidated Cash Flow attributable to discontinued operations, as determined
in accordance with GAAP, and operations or businesses disposed of before the
Calculation Date, shall be excluded; |
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the Fixed Charges attributable to discontinued operations, as determined in
accordance with GAAP, and operations or businesses disposed of before the Calculation
Date, shall be excluded, but only to the extent that the obligations giving rise to such
Fixed Charges will not be obligations of the specified Person or any of its Restricted
Subsidiaries following the Calculation Date; |
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interest on outstanding Indebtedness of the specified Person or any of its
Restricted Subsidiaries as of the last day of the four-quarter reference period shall be
deemed to have accrued at a fixed rate per annum equal to the rate of interest on such
Indebtedness in effect on such last day after giving effect to any Hedging Obligation
then in effect; and |
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if interest on any Indebtedness incurred by the specified Person or any of its
Restricted Subsidiaries on such date may optionally be determined at an interest rate
based upon a factor of a prime or similar rate, a eurocurrency interbank offered rate or
other rates, then the interest rate in effect on the last day of the four-quarter
reference period will be deemed to have been in effect during such period. |
Fixed Charges means, with respect to any Person for any period, the sum, without
duplication, of:
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the consolidated interest expense of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries
for such period, whether paid or accrued, including, without limitation, amortization of
debt issuance costs and original issue discount, non-cash interest payments, the
interest component of any deferred payment obligations, the interest component of all
payments associated with Capital Lease Obligations, imputed interest with respect to
Attributable Debt, commissions, discounts, and other fees and charges incurred in respect
of letter of credit or bankers acceptance financings, and net of the effect of all
payments made or received pursuant to interest-rate Hedging Obligations; plus |
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the consolidated interest expense of such Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries that
was capitalized during such period; plus |
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any interest expense on Indebtedness of another Person that is guaranteed by such
Person or one of its Restricted Subsidiaries or secured by a Lien on assets of such
Person or one of its Restricted Subsidiaries, whether or not such guarantee or Lien is
called upon; plus |
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the product of (a) all dividend payments, whether paid or accrued and whether or not
in cash, on any series of Disqualified Equity of such Person or any of its
Restricted Subsidiaries, other than dividend payments on Equity Interests payable solely
in Equity Interests of the Company (other than Disqualified Equity) or to the Company or
a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company, times (b) a fraction, the numerator of which is
one and the denominator of which is one minus the then current combined federal, state
and local statutory tax rate of such Person, expressed as a decimal;
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in each case, on a consolidated basis and in accordance with GAAP.
GAAP means generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, which are in
effect from time to time.
General Partner means Atlas Pipeline Partners GP, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company,
and its successors and permitted assigns as general partner of the Company.
guarantee means to guarantee, other than by endorsement of negotiable instruments for
collection in the ordinary course of business, directly or indirectly, in any manner, including,
without limitation, by way of a pledge of assets, or through letters of credit or reimbursement,
claw-back, make-well, or keep-well agreements in respect thereof, all or any part of any
Indebtedness.
Guarantee means a guarantee of the notes.
Guarantor Subordinated Obligation means, with respect to a Subsidiary Guarantor, any
Indebtedness or other Obligations of such Subsidiary Guarantor (whether outstanding on the Issue
Date or thereafter incurred) which are expressly subordinate in right of payment to the Obligations
of such Subsidiary Guarantor under its Guarantee pursuant to a written agreement.
Hedging Obligations means, with respect to any Person, the obligations of such Person under
interest rate and commodity price swap agreements, interest rate and commodity price cap
agreements, interest rate and commodity price collar agreements and foreign currency and commodity
price exchange agreements, options or futures contracts or other similar agreements or arrangements
or Hydrocarbon hedge contracts or Hydrocarbon forward sales contracts, in each case designed to
protect such Person against fluctuations in interest rates, foreign exchange rates, or commodities
prices.
Hydrocarbons means crude oil, natural gas, casinghead gas, drip gasoline, natural gasoline,
condensate, distillate, liquid hydrocarbons, gaseous hydrocarbons and all constituents, elements or
compounds thereof and products refined or processed therefrom.
Indebtedness means, with respect to any specified Person, any indebtedness of such Person,
whether or not contingent:
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in respect of borrowed money; |
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evidenced by bonds, notes, debentures or similar instruments or letters of credit (or
reimbursement agreements in respect thereof); |
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in respect of bankers acceptances; |
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representing Capital Lease Obligations; |
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representing all Attributable Debt of such Person in respect of any sale and lease-
back transactions not involving a Capital Lease Obligation; |
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representing the balance deferred and unpaid of the purchase price of any property, except
any such balance that constitutes an accrued expense or trade payable incurred in the ordinary
course of business; |
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representing Disqualified Equity; or |
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representing any Hedging Obligations; |
if and to the extent any of the preceding items (other than letters of credit, Disqualified Equity
and Hedging Obligations) would appear as a liability upon a balance sheet of the specified Person
prepared in accordance with GAAP. In addition, the term Indebtedness includes all Indebtedness of
others secured by a Lien on any asset of the specified Person (whether or not such Indebtedness is
assumed by the specified Person) and, to the extent not otherwise included, the guarantee by such
Person of any indebtedness of any other Person; provided that a guarantee otherwise permitted by
the Indenture to be incurred by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries of Indebtedness
incurred by the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary in compliance with the terms of the Indenture
shall not constitute a separate incurrence of Indebtedness.
The amount of any Indebtedness outstanding as of any date shall be:
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the accreted value thereof, in the case of any Indebtedness issued with original issue discount; |
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in the case of any Hedging Obligation, the termination value of the agreement or
arrangement giving rise to such Hedging Obligation that would be payable by such Person at such date; |
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in the case of any letter of credit, the maximum potential liability thereunder; and |
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the principal amount thereof, together with any interest thereon that is more than
30 days past due, in the case of any other indebtedness. |
For purposes of clause (7) of the preceding paragraph, Disqualified Equity shall be valued at
the maximum fixed redemption, repayment or repurchase price, which shall be calculated in
accordance with the terms of such Disqualified Equity as if such Disqualified Equity were
repurchased on any date on which Indebtedness shall be required to be determined pursuant to the
Indenture; provided that if such Disqualified Equity is not then permitted by its terms to be
redeemed, repaid or repurchased, the redemption, repayment or repurchase price shall be the book
value of such Disqualified Equity. The amount of Indebtedness of any Person at any date shall be
the outstanding balance at such date of all unconditional Obligations as described above and the
maximum liability of any guarantees at such date; provided that for purposes of calculating the
amount of any non-interest bearing or other discount security, such Indebtedness shall be deemed to
be the principal amount thereof that would be shown on the balance sheet of the issuer thereof
dated such date prepared in accordance with GAAP, but that such security shall be deemed to have
been incurred only on the date of the original issuance thereof.
Investment Grade Rating means a rating equal to or higher than Baa3 (or the equivalent) by
Moodys or BBB- (or the equivalent) by Standard & Poors or, if Moodys and Standard & Poors both
cease to rate the notes for reasons outside the Companys control, the equivalent ratings from any
other nationally recognized statistical rating agency.
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Investments means, with respect to any Person, all investments by such Person in other
Persons (including Affiliates) in the forms of direct or indirect loans (including guarantees of
Indebtedness or other Obligations), advances (other than advances to customers in the ordinary
course of business that are recorded as accounts receivable on the balance sheet of the lender and
commission, moving, travel and similar advances to officers and employees made in the ordinary
course of business) or capital contributions, purchases or other acquisitions for consideration of
Indebtedness, Equity Interests or other securities, together with all items that are or would be
classified as investments on a balance sheet prepared in accordance with GAAP. For purposes of the
definition of Unrestricted Subsidiary, the definition of Restricted Payment and the covenant
described under Covenants Restricted Payments, (1) the term Investment shall include the
portion (proportionate to the Companys Equity Interest in such Subsidiary) of the fair market
value of the net assets of any Subsidiary of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries at
the time that such Subsidiary is designated an Unrestricted Subsidiary and (2) any property
transferred to or from an Unrestricted Subsidiary shall be valued at its fair market value at the
time of such transfer, in each case as determined in good faith by the Board of Directors of the
General Partner. If the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company sells or otherwise
disposes of any Equity Interests of any direct or indirect Restricted Subsidiary of the Company
such that, after giving effect to any such sale or disposition, such Person is no longer a
Restricted Subsidiary of the Company, the Company shall be deemed to have made an Investment on the
date of any such sale or disposition equal to the fair market value of the Equity Interests of such
Restricted Subsidiary not sold or disposed of in an amount determined as provided in the final
paragraph of the covenant described above under the caption Covenants Restricted payments.
Issue Date means the date of the first issuance of notes under the Indenture, December 20,
2005.
Joint Venture means any Person that is not a direct or indirect Subsidiary of the Company in
which the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries makes any Investment provided that the
Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries own at least 20% of the Equity Interests of such Person on
a fully diluted basis or control the management of such Person pursuant to a contractual agreement.
Lien means, with respect to any asset, any mortgage, lien (statutory or otherwise), pledge,
charge, security interest, hypothecation, assignment for security, claim, preference, priority or
encumbrance of any kind in respect of such asset, whether or not filed, recorded or otherwise
perfected under applicable law, including any conditional sale or other title retention agreement
or any lease in the nature thereof, any option or other agreement to grant a security interest in
and any filing of or agreement to give any financing statement under the Uniform Commercial Code
(or equivalent statute) of any jurisdiction other than a precautionary financing statement
respecting a lease not intended as a security agreement.
Moodys means Moodys Investors Service, Inc. or any successor to the rating agency business
thereof.
Net Income means, with respect to any Person, the consolidated net income (loss) of such
Person and its Restricted Subsidiaries, determined in accordance with GAAP and before any reduction
in respect of preferred stock dividends, excluding, however:
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the aggregate after tax effect of gains and losses realized in connection with
any asset sale or the disposition of any securities by such Person or any of its
Restricted Subsidiaries; and |
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other than for purposes of Covenants Restricted Payments, any
extraordinary gain or loss, together with any related provision for taxes on such
extraordinary gain or loss. |
Net Proceeds means, with respect to any Asset Sale or sale of Equity Interests, the
aggregate proceeds received by the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries in cash or Cash
Equivalents in respect of any Asset Sale or sale of Equity Interests (including, without
limitation, any cash received upon the sale or other disposition of any non-cash consideration
received in any such sale), net of, without duplication, (1) the direct costs relating to such
Asset Sale or sale of Equity Interests, including, without limitation, brokerage commissions and
legal, accounting and investment banking fees, sales commissions, recording fees, title transfer
fees, and any relocation expenses incurred as a result thereof, (2) taxes paid or payable as a
result thereof, in each case after taking into account any available tax credits or deductions and
any tax sharing arrangements, (3) amounts required to be applied to the repayment of Indebtedness
secured by a Lien on the asset or Equity Interests that were the subject of such Asset Sale or sale
of Equity Interests, (4) all distributions and payments required to be made to minority interest
holders in Restricted Subsidiaries as a result of such Asset Sale and (5) any amounts to be set
aside in any reserve established in accordance with GAAP or any amount placed in escrow, in either
case for adjustment in respect of the sale price of such asset or Equity Interests or for
liabilities associated with such Asset Sale or sale of Equity Interests and retained by the Company
or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries until such time as such reserve is reversed or such escrow
arrangement is terminated, in which case Net Proceeds shall include only the amount of the reserve
so reversed or the amount returned to the Company or its Restricted Subsidiaries from such escrow
arrangement, as the case may be.
Non-Recourse Debt means Indebtedness as to which:
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neither the Company nor any of its Restricted Subsidiaries (a) provides
credit support of any kind (including any undertaking, agreement or instrument that
would constitute Indebtedness), (b) is directly or indirectly liable as a guarantor
or otherwise, or (c) constitutes the lender of such Indebtedness; |
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no default with respect to which (including any rights that the holders thereof
may have to take enforcement action against an Unrestricted Subsidiary) would permit
upon notice, lapse of time or both any holder of any other Indebtedness (other than the
notes) of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries to declare a default on such other Indebtedness or cause the payment thereof to be accelerated or payable before its
Stated Maturity; and |
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the lenders have been notified in writing that they will not have any recourse to
the stock or assets of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries. |
Obligations means any principal, interest, penalties, fees, indemnifications, reimbursement
obligations, damages and other liabilities payable under the documentation governing any
Indebtedness.
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Operating Surplus shall have the meaning assigned to such term in the Partnership Agreement,
as in effect on the Issue Date.
Partnership Agreement means the Second Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership
of the Company, dated as of March 9, 2004, as such may be amended, modified or supplemented from
time to time.
Permitted Asset Swap means the concurrent purchase and sale or exchange of assets used in a
Permitted Business or a combination of assets used in a Permitted Business and cash or Cash
Equivalents between the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries and another Person.
Permitted Business means either (1) gathering, transporting, treating, processing, marketing
or otherwise handling Hydrocarbons, or activities or services reasonably related or ancillary
thereto including entering into Hedging Obligations to support these businesses, or (2) any other
business that generates gross income at least 90% of which constitutes qualifying income under
Section 7704(d)(1)(E) of the Code.
Permitted Investments means:
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any Investment in, or that results in the creation of, any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company; |
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any Investment in the Company or in a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company (excluding
redemptions, purchases, acquisitions or other retirements of Equity Interests in the Company); |
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any Investment in cash or Cash Equivalents; |
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any Investment by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company in a Person
if as a result of such Investment: |
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such Person becomes a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company; or |
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such Person is merged, consolidated or amalgamated with or into, or transfers or
conveys substantially all of its assets to, or is liquidated into, the Company or a Restricted
Subsidiary of the Company; |
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any Investment made as a result of the receipt of consideration consisting of other
than cash or Cash Equivalents from an Asset Sale that was made pursuant to and in compliance with
the covenant described above under the caption Asset sales; |
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any Investment in a Person solely in exchange for the issuance of Equity Interests
(other than Disqualified Equity) of the Company; |
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Investments in stock, obligations or securities received in settlement of debts owing
to the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries as a result of bankruptcy or insolvency
proceedings or upon the foreclosure, perfection or enforcement of any Lien in favor of the Company
or any such Restricted Subsidiary, in each case as to debt owing to the Company or any such
Restricted Subsidiary that arose in the ordinary course of business of the Company or any such
Restricted Subsidiary; |
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any Investment in Hedging Obligations permitted to be incurred under the
Incurrence of indebtedness and issuance of disqualified equity covenant; |
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other investments in any Person engaged in a Permitted Business (other than an
Investment in an Unrestricted Subsidiary) having an aggregate fair market value
(measured on the date each such Investment was made and without giving effect to
subsequent changes in value), when taken together with all other Investments made
pursuant to this clause since the Issue Date and existing at the time of the Investment,
which is the subject of the determination, was made, not to exceed the greater of (a)
$10.0 million and (b) 21/2% of Consolidated Net Tangible Assets; |
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any Investment in the notes and Investments existing on the Issue Date; and |
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Investments consisting of purchases and acquisitions of inventory, supplies,
materials and equipment or purchases of contract rights or licenses or leases of
intellectual property, in each case in the ordinary course of business. |
Permitted Liens means:
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Liens securing Indebtedness under the Credit Facilities permitted to be
incurred under the covenant Incurrence of indebtedness and issuance of
disqualified equity; |
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Liens in favor of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries; |
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any interest or title of a lessor in the property subject to a Capital Lease Obligation; |
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Liens on property (including Equity Interests) of a Person existing at the time
such Person is merged with or into or consolidated with the Company or any
Restricted Subsidiary of the Company; provided that such Liens were in existence
before, and were not obtained in contemplation of, such merger or consolidation and do
not extend to any assets other than those of the Person merged into or consolidated with
the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary; |
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Liens on property existing at the time of acquisition thereof by the Company or
any Restricted Subsidiary of the Company; provided that such Liens were in existence
before, and were not obtained in contemplation of, such acquisition and relate solely to
such property, accessions thereto and the proceeds thereof; |
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Liens to secure the performance of tenders, bids, leases, statutory or regulatory
obligations, surety, indemnity or appeal bonds, government contracts, performance
bonds or other obligations of a like nature incurred in the ordinary course of business; |
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Liens on any property or asset acquired, constructed or improved by the Company or any
Restricted Subsidiary, which (a) are in favor of the seller of such property or
assets, in favor of the Person constructing or improving such asset or property, or in
favor of the Person that provided the funding for the acquisition, construction or
improvement of such asset or property, (b) are created within 360 days after the date of
acquisition, construction or improvement, (c) secure the purchase price or construction
or improvement cost, as the case may be, of such asset or property in an amount not
to exceed the lesser of (i) the cost to the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries of
such acquisition, construction or improvement of such asset or property and (ii)100% of
the fair market value (as determined by the Board of Directors of the General Partner)
of such acquisition, construction or improvement of such asset or property, and (d)
are limited to the asset or property so acquired, constructed or improved (including
proceeds thereof, accessions thereto and upgrades thereof); |
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Liens to secure performance of Hedging Obligations of the Company or a Restricted
Subsidiary; |
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Liens existing on the Issue Date and Liens in connection with any extensions,
refinancing, renewal, replacement or defeasance of any Indebtedness or other obligation
secured thereby; provided that (a) the principal amount of the Indebtedness secured by
such Lien is not increased and (b) no assets are encumbered by any such Lien other than
the assets encumbered immediately before such extension, refinancing, renewal,
replacement or defeasance; |
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Liens on pipelines or pipeline facilities that arise by operation of law; |
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Liens arising under operating agreements, joint venture agreements, partnership
agreements, oil and gas leases, farmout agreements, division orders, contracts for sale,
transportation or exchange of oil and natural gas, unitization and pooling declarations
and agreements, area of mutual interest agreements and other agreements arising in
the ordinary course of the Companys or any Restricted Subsidiarys business that
are customary in the Permitted Business; provided that any Liens arising under
operating agreements, joint venture agreements, partnership agreements and the like are
non-recourse to the Company and its Subsidiaries and only attach to Equity Interests in the
applicable joint venture, partnership or other entity that is the subject of such
agreement, and liens deemed to exist as a result of Permitted NOARK Distributions; |
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Liens securing the Obligations of the Issuers under the notes and the Indenture and of
the Subsidiary Guarantors under the Guarantees; |
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Liens upon specific items of inventory or other goods and proceeds thereof of any
Person securing such Persons Obligations in respect of bankers acceptances issued or
created for the account of such Person to facilitate the purchase, shipment or storage of
such inventory or other goods and permitted by the covenant described under
Incurrence of indebtedness and issuance of disqualified equity; |
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Liens securing any indebtedness equally and ratably with all Obligations due under
the notes or any Guarantee pursuant to a contractual covenant that limits liens in a
manner substantially similar to the covenant entitled Liens; and |
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Liens incurred in the ordinary course of business of
the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of the
Company with respect to Obligations that do not
exceed 5% of Consolidated Net Tangible Assets at any
one time outstanding. |
During any covenant suspension pursuant to the terms described under the caption Suspended
Covenants, for purposes of complying with the Liens covenant, the Liens described above will be
Permitted Liens only to the extent those Liens secure Indebtedness not exceeding, at the time of
determination, 10% of the Consolidated Net Tangible Assets of the Company.
Permitted NOARK Distributions means dividends or distributions payable to a holder of equity
interests of Noark Pipeline System, LP that made a Special Capital Contribution (as defined in the
Noark Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership as in effect on the Issue Date)
specifically to finance a particular expansion project; provided that such dividends or
distributions, in the aggregate with respect to any expansion project, shall not exceed the
additional or incremental net operating income of Noark attributable to such expansion project and
shall not exceed 200% of such holders Special Capital Contributions made in respect of such
expansion project.
Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness means any Indebtedness of the Company or any of its
Restricted Subsidiaries issued in exchange for, or the net proceeds of which are used to extend,
refinance, renew, replace, defease or refund other Indebtedness of the Company or any of its
Restricted Subsidiaries (other than intercompany Indebtedness); provided that:
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the principal amount of such Permitted Refinancing
Indebtedness does not exceed the principal
amount of, plus accrued interest on the Indebtedness
so extended, refinanced, renewed, replaced,
defeased or refunded (plus the amount of
necessary fees and expenses incurred in connection
therewith and any premiums paid on the
Indebtedness so extended, refinanced, renewed,
replaced, defeased or refunded); |
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such Permitted Refinancing Indebtedness has a
final maturity date no earlier than the final
maturity date of, and has a Weighted Average Life to
Maturity equal to or greater than the
Weighted Average Life to Maturity of, the Indebtedness
being extended, refinanced, renewed,
replaced, defeased or refunded; |
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if the Indebtedness being extended, refinanced,
renewed, replaced, defeased or refunded is
subordinated in right of payment to the notes or the
Guarantees, such Permitted Refinancing
Indebtedness is subordinated in right of payment to,
the notes or the Guarantees, as the case may
be, on terms at least as favorable to the
holders of notes as those contained in the
documentation governing the Indebtedness
being extended, refinanced, renewed, replaced, defeased
or refunded; and |
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such Indebtedness is not incurred by a Restricted
Subsidiary if the Company is the obligor on
the Indebtedness being extended, refinanced, renewed,
replaced, defeased or refunded. |
For the avoidance of doubt, the foregoing clauses shall not apply to extensions, refinancings,
renewals, replacements, defeasances or refunds of the Credit Facility.
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Person means any individual, corporation, partnership, joint venture, association,
joint-stock company, trust, unincorporated organization, limited liability company or government or
agency or political subdivision thereof or other entity.
Rating Agency means each of Standard & Poors and Moodys, or if Standard & Poors or Moodys
or both shall not make a rating on the notes publicly available, a nationally recognized
statistical rating agency or agencies, as the case may be, selected by the Issuers (as certified by
a resolution of the Board of Directors of the General Partner) which shall be substituted for
Standard & Poors or Moodys, or both, as the case may be.
Restricted Investment means an Investment other than a Permitted Investment.
Restricted Subsidiary of a Person means any Subsidiary of the referenced Person that is not
an Unrestricted Subsidiary. Notwithstanding anything in the Indenture to the contrary, each of
Finance Co. and the Operating Company shall be a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company.
Significant Subsidiary means any Subsidiary that would be a significant subsidiary as
defined in Article 1, Rule1-02 of Regulation S-X, promulgated pursuant to the Securities Act and
the Exchange Act, as such Regulation is in effect on the Issue Date.
Standard & Poors means Standard & Poors Ratings Services, a division of The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc., or any successor to the rating agency business thereof.
Stated Maturity means, with respect to any installment of interest or principal on any
series of Indebtedness, the date on which such payment of interest or principal was scheduled to be
paid in the original documentation governing such Indebtedness, and shall not include any
contingent Obligations to repay, redeem or repurchase any such interest or principal before the
date originally scheduled for the payment thereof.
Subordinated Obligation means any Indebtedness of either Issuer (whether outstanding on the
Issue Date or thereafter incurred) which is subordinate or junior in right of payment to the notes
pursuant to a written agreement.
Subsidiary means, with respect to any Person:
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any corporation, association or other business entity (other than
an entity referred to in clause (2) below) of which more than 50%
of the total Voting Stock is at the time owned or controlled,
directly or indirectly, by such Person or one or more of the
other Subsidiaries of that Person (or a combination thereof);
and |
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any partnership (whether general or limited), limited liability
company or joint venture (a) the sole general partner or the
managing general partner or managing member of which is such
Person or a Subsidiary of such Person, or (b) if there are more
than a single general partner or member, either (i) the only
general partners or managing members of which are such Person
and/or one or more Subsidiaries of such Person (or any
combination thereof) or (ii) such Person owns or controls,
directly or indirectly, a majority of the outstanding general
partner interests, member interests or other Voting Stock of such
partnership, limited liability company or joint venture,
respectively.
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Subsidiary Guarantors means each of:
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each Restricted Subsidiary of the Company existing on the Issue Date; and |
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any other Subsidiary of the Company that becomes a Subsidiary Guarantor
in accordance with the provisions of the Indenture; and |
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their respective successors and assigns |
in each case until such Subsidiary Guarantor ceases to be such in accordance with the Indenture.
Notwithstanding anything in the Indenture to the contrary, Finance Co. shall not be a Subsidiary
Guarantor.
U.S. Government Obligations means securities that are (1) direct Obligations of the United
States of America for the payment of which its full faith and credit is pledged and (2) Obligations
of a Person controlled or supervised by and acting as an agency or instrumentality of the United
States of America the payment of which is unconditionally guaranteed as a full faith and credit
obligation by the United States of America, which, in either case under clause (1) or (2) above,
are not callable or redeemable at the option of the issuers thereof.
Unrestricted Subsidiary means any Subsidiary of the Company (other than Finance Co. or the
Operating Company) that is designated by the Board of Directors of the General Partner as an
Unrestricted Subsidiary pursuant to a Board Resolution, but only to the extent that such
Subsidiary: (1) has no Indebtedness other than Non-Recourse Debt; (2) is not a party to any
agreement, contract, arrangement or understanding with the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of
the Company unless the terms of any such arrangement, contract, arrangement or understanding are no
less favorable to the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary than those that might be obtained at
the time from Persons who are not Affiliates of the Company; (3) is a Person with respect to which
neither the Company nor any of its Restricted Subsidiaries has any direct or indirect obligation
(a) to subscribe for additional Equity Interests or (b) to maintain or preserve such Persons
financial condition or to cause such Person to achieve any specified levels of operating results;
and (4) has not guaranteed or otherwise directly or indirectly provided credit support for any
Indebtedness of the Company or any of its Restricted Subsidiaries. Notwithstanding anything in the
Indenture to the contrary, neither Finance Co. nor the Operating Company shall be designated as an
Unrestricted Subsidiary.
Any designation of a Subsidiary of the Company as an Unrestricted Subsidiary shall be
evidenced to the Trustee by filing with the Trustee a Board Resolution giving effect to such
designation and an officers certificate certifying that such designation complied with the
preceding conditions and was permitted by the covenant described above under the caption
Covenants Restricted payments. If, at any time, any Unrestricted Subsidiary would fail to meet
the preceding requirements as an Unrestricted Subsidiary, it shall thereafter cease to be an
Unrestricted Subsidiary for purposes of the Indenture and any Indebtedness of such Subsidiary shall
be deemed to be incurred by a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company as of such date and, if such
Indebtedness is not permitted to be incurred as of such date under the covenant described under the
caption Incurrence of indebtedness and issuance of disqualified equity, the Company shall be in
default of such covenant.
Voting Stock of any Person as of any date means the Equity Interests of such Person pursuant
to which the holders thereof have the general voting power under ordinary circumstances to elect at
least a majority of the board of directors, managers, general partners or trustees of such Person
(regardless of whether, at the time, Equity Interests of any other class or classes shall have, or
might have, voting power by reason of the occurrence of any contingency) or, with respect to a
partnership (whether general or limited), any general partner interest in such partnership.
90
Weighted Average Life to Maturity means, when applied to any Indebtedness at any date, the
number of years obtained by dividing:
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the sum of the products obtained by multiplying (a) the
amount of each then remaining installment, sinking
fund, serial maturity or other required payments of
principal, including payment at final maturity, in respect
thereof, by (b) the number of years (calculated to
the nearest one-twelfth) that will elapse between
such date and the making of such payment; by |
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the then outstanding principal amount of such indebtedness. |
Delivery and Form
Exchange notes initially will be represented by one or more notes in registered, definitive
form without interest coupons (collectively, the Certificated notes).
Beneficial interests in the Certificated notes may only be exchanged for notes in certificated
form.
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MATERIAL UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES
The following discussion is a summary of material federal income tax consequences relevant to
the exchange of exchange notes for outstanding notes, but does not purport to be a complete
analysis for all potential tax effects. The discussion is based upon the Internal Revenue Code of
1986, as amended, Treasury Regulations, Internal Revenue Service rulings and pronouncements and
judicial decisions now in effect, all of which may be subject to change at any time by legislative,
judicial or administrative action. These changes may be applied retroactively in a manner that
could adversely affect a holder of exchange notes. The description does not consider the effect of
any applicable foreign, state, local or other tax laws or estate or gift tax considerations.
We believe that the exchange of exchange notes for outstanding notes should not be a taxable
event to a holder for United States federal income tax purposes. Accordingly, a holder should have
the same adjusted issue price, adjusted basis and holding period in the exchange notes as it had in
the outstanding notes immediately before the exchange.
PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION
Based on interpretations by the staff of the SEC in no-action letters issued to third parties,
we believe that you may transfer exchange notes issued under the exchange offer in exchange for the
outstanding notes if:
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you acquire the exchange notes in the ordinary course of your business; and |
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you are not engaged in, and do not intend to engage in, and have no
arrangement or understanding with any person to participate in, a
distribution of such exchange notes. |
You may not participate in the exchange offer if you are:
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an affiliate within the meaning of Rule 405 under the
Securities Act of us or Atlas Pipeline Finance; or |
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a broker-dealer that acquired outstanding notes directly from us. |
Each broker-dealer that receives exchange notes for its own account pursuant to the exchange
offer must acknowledge that it will deliver this prospectus in connection with any resale of such
exchange notes. To date, the staff of the SEC has taken the position that broker-dealers may
fulfill their prospectus delivery requirements with respect to transactions involving an exchange
of securities such as this exchange offer, other than a resale of an unsold allotment from the
original sale of the outstanding notes, with this prospectus. This prospectus, as it may be amended
or supplemented from time to time, may be used by a broker-dealer in connection with resales of
exchange notes received in exchange for outstanding notes where such outstanding notes were
acquired as a result of market-making activities or other trading activities. We have agreed that,
during the period described in Section 4(3) of and Rule 174 under the Securities Act that is
applicable to transactions by brokers or dealers with respect to the exchange notes, we will make
this prospectus, as amended or supplemented, available to any broker-dealer for use in connection
with any such resale. In addition, until such date, all dealers effecting transactions in exchange
notes may be required to deliver this prospectus.
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If you wish to exchange notes for your outstanding notes in the exchange offer, you will be
required to make representations to us as described in Exchange OffersProcedures for
TenderingYour Representations to Us in this prospectus. As indicated in the letter of
transmittal, you will be deemed to have made these representations by tendering your outstanding
notes in the exchange offer. In addition, if you are a broker-dealer who receives exchange notes
for your own account in exchange for outstanding notes that were acquired by you as a result of
market- making activities or other trading activities, you will be required to acknowledge, in the
same manner, that you will deliver this prospectus in connection with any resale by you of such
exchange notes.
We will not receive any proceeds from any sale of exchange notes by broker-dealers. Exchange
notes received by broker-dealers for their own account pursuant to the exchange offer may be sold
from time to time in one or more transactions:
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in the over-the-counter market; |
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in negotiated transactions; |
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through the writing of options on the exchange notes; or |
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a combination of such methods of resale; |
at market prices prevailing at the time of resale, at prices related to such prevailing market
prices or at negotiated prices.
Any such resale may be made directly to purchasers or to or through brokers or dealers who may
receive compensation in the form of commissions or concessions from any such broker-dealer or the
purchasers of any such exchange notes. Any broker-dealer that resells exchange notes of any series
that were received by it for its own account pursuant to the exchange offer and any broker or
dealer that participates in a distribution of such exchange notes may be deemed to be an
underwriter within the meaning of the Securities Act. Each letter of transmittal states that by
acknowledging that it will deliver and by delivering this prospectus, a broker-dealer will not be
deemed to admit that it is an underwriter within the meaning of the Securities Act.
For the period described in Section 4(3) of and Rule 174 under the Securities Act that is
applicable to transactions by brokers or dealers with respect to the exchange notes, we will
promptly send additional copies of this prospectus and any amendment or supplement to this
prospectus to any broker-dealer that requests such documents in the applicable letter of
transmittal. We have agreed to pay all reasonable expenses incident to the exchange offers
(including the expenses of one counsel for the holders of the outstanding notes) other than
commissions or concessions of any broker-dealers and will indemnify the holders of the outstanding
notes (including any broker-dealers) against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the
Securities Act.
LEGAL MATTERS
Ledgewood has issued an opinion about the legality of the exchange notes.
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EXPERTS
Our consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2006 and 2005 and for each of the three
years in the period ended December 31, 2006 and managements assessment of the effectiveness of
internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2006, incorporated by reference, have
been audited by Grant Thornton LLP, independent registered public accountants, as indicated in
their reports with respect thereto, incorporated herein in reliance upon the authority of such firm
as experts in accounting and auditing.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION
We file annual, quarterly and special reports, proxy statements and other information with the
SEC. You may read and copy any document we file with the SEC at the SECs public reference room
located at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for
further information on the operation of the public reference room and its copy charges. Our SEC
filings are also available to the public on the SECs web site at http://www.sec.gov.
We incorporate by reference information into this prospectus, which means that we disclose
important information to you by referring you to another document filed separately with the SEC.
The information incorporated by reference is deemed to be part of this prospectus except for any
information superseded by information contained expressly in this prospectus, and the information
we file later with the SEC will automatically supersede this information. You should not assume
that the information in this prospectus is current as of any date other than the date on the front
page of this prospectus.
Any information that we file under Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, and that is deemed filed, with the SEC before the exchange offer is
terminated will automatically update and supersede this information. We incorporate by reference
the documents listed below:
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Our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006; |
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Our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended
March 31, 2007 and June 30, 2007; and |
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Our Current Reports on Form 8-K filed April 19, 2007, June 5, 2007 and July 30, 2007. |
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You may request a copy of any document incorporated by reference in this prospectus and any
exhibit specifically incorporated by reference in those documents, at no cost, by writing or
telephoning us at the following address or phone number:
Brian Begley
Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P.
West Pointe Corporate Center I,
1550 Coraopolis Heights Rd., 2nd Floor
Moon Township, PA 15108
(412) 262-2830
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We also make available free of charge on our internet website at
http://www.atlaspipelinepartners.com our annual reports on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on
Form 10-Q, and any amendments to those reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we
electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Information contained on our
website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus and you should not consider
information contained on our website as part of this prospectus.
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ANNEX A
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
to Tender
Outstanding 8-1/8% Senior Notes due 2015
of
ATLAS PIPELINE PARTNERS, L.P.
ATLAS PIPELINE FINANCE CORPORATION
Pursuant
to the Exchange Offer and Prospectus dated August 9, 2007
The Exchange Agent for the Exchange Offer is:
Ledgewood, P.C.
1900 Market
Street
Suite 750
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Attention: Mark E.
Rosenstein
Phone: 215-731-9450
Facsimile: 215-735-2513
IF YOU WISH TO EXCHANGE CURRENTLY OUTSTANDING 8-1/8% SENIOR NOTES DUE 2015 (THE
OUTSTANDING NOTES) FOR AN EQUAL AGGREGATE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF 8-1/8% SERIES B SENIOR NOTES DUE
2015 PURSUANT TO THE EXCHANGE OFFER, YOU MUST VALIDLY TENDER (AND NOT WITHDRAW) OUTSTANDING NOTES
TO THE EXCHANGE AGENT BEFORE 5:00 P.M. NEW YORK CITY TIME ON THE EXPIRATION DATE BY CAUSING AN
AGENTS MESSAGE TO BE RECEIVED BY THE EXCHANGE AGENT BEFORE SUCH TIME.
The
undersigned hereby acknowledges receipt and review of the prospectus,
dated August 9, 2007
(the Prospectus), of Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership (the
Partnership) and Atlas Pipeline Finance Corporation, a Delaware corporation (Finance Corp.),
and this Letter of Transmittal (the Letter of Transmittal), which together describe the
Partnership and Finance Corp.s offer (the Exchange Offer) to exchange its 8-1/8% Series B Senior
Notes due 2015 (the Exchange Notes) that have been registered under the Securities Act of 1933,
as amended (the Securities Act), for a like principal amount of their issued and outstanding
8-1/8% Senior Notes due 2015 (the Outstanding Notes). Capitalized terms used but not defined
herein have the respective meaning given to them in the Prospectus.
The Partnership reserves the right, at any time or from time to time, to extend the Exchange
Offer at its discretion, in which event the term Expiration Date shall mean the latest time and
date to which the Exchange Offer is extended. The Partnership shall notify the Exchange Agent and
each registered holder of the Outstanding Notes of any extension by oral or written notice before
9:00 a.m., New York City time, on the next business day after the previously scheduled Expiration
Date.
A-1
This Letter of Transmittal is to be used by holders of the Outstanding Notes. Tender of
Outstanding Notes is to be made pursuant to the procedures set forth in the prospectus under the
caption The Exchange OfferProcedures for Tendering. For you to validly tender your Outstanding
Notes in the Exchange Offer, the Exchange Agent must receive your notes before the Expiration Date.
PLEASE READ THE ACCOMPANYING INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY.
A-2
Ladies and Gentlemen:
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By tendering Outstanding Notes in the Exchange Offer, you acknowledge receipt of the
Prospectus and this Letter of Transmittal. |
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By tendering Outstanding Notes in the Exchange Offer, you represent and warrant that you
have full authority to tender the Outstanding Notes described above and will, upon request,
execute and deliver any additional documents deemed by the Partnership to be necessary or
desirable to complete the tender of Outstanding Notes. |
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The tender of the Outstanding Notes pursuant to all of the procedures set forth in the
Prospectus will constitute an agreement between you and the Partnership as to the terms and
conditions set forth in the Prospectus. |
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The Exchange Offer is being made in reliance upon interpretations contained in no-action
letters issued to third parties by the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
Commission), including Exxon Capital Holdings Corp., Commission No-Action Letter
(available May 13, 1988), Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc., Commission No-Action Letter
(available June 5, 1991) and Shearman & Sterling, Commission No-Action Letter (available
July 2, 1993), that the Exchange Notes issued in exchange for the Outstanding Notes
pursuant to the Exchange Offer may be offered for resale, resold and otherwise transferred
by holders thereof (other than a broker-dealer who purchased Outstanding Notes exchanged
for such Exchange Notes directly from the Partnership to resell pursuant to Rule 144A or
any other available exemption under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities
Act) and any such holder that is an affiliate of the Partnership or Finance Corp. within
the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act), without compliance with the registration
and prospectus delivery provisions of the Securities Act, provided that such Exchange Notes
are acquired in the ordinary course of such holders business and such holders are not
participating in, and have no arrangement with any person to participate in, the
distribution of such Exchange Notes. |
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By tendering Outstanding Notes in the Exchange Offer, you represent and warrant that: |
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the Exchange Notes acquired pursuant to
the Exchange Offer are being obtained in
the ordinary course of your business,
whether or not you are the holder; |
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neither you nor any such other person is
engaging in or intends to engage in a
distribution of such Exchange Notes; |
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neither you nor any such other person has
an arrangement or understanding with any
person to participate in the distribution
of such Exchange Notes; and |
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neither the holder nor any such other
person is an affiliate, as such term is
defined under Rule 405 promulgated under
the Securities Act, of the Partnership or
Finance Corp. |
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You may, if you are unable to make all of the representations and
warranties contained in paragraph 5 above and as otherwise
permitted in the Registration Rights Agreement (as defined below),
elect to have your Outstanding Notes registered in the shelf
registration statement described in the Registration Rights
Agreement, dated as of April 18, 2007, relating to the 8-1/8%
Senior Notes due 2015 the Registration Rights Agreement) by and
among the Partnership, Finance Corp. and the Purchaser (as
defined therein). Such election may be made only by notifying the
Partnership in writing at Atlas
Pipeline Partners, L.P., West Pointe Corporate Center I, 1550
Coraopolis Heights Rd., 2nd Floor, Moon Township, PA
15108, Attention: Lisa Washington. By making such election, you
agree, as a holder of Outstanding Notes participating in a shelf
registration, to indemnify and hold harmless the Partnership, each
of the directors of Atlas Pipeline Partners GP, LLC, the general
partner of the Partnership (the General Partner), Finance Corp.,
each of the officers of the General Partner who signs such shelf
registration statement on behalf of the Partnership, each person
who controls the Partnership within the meaning of either the
Securities Act or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended
(the Exchange Act), and each other holder of Outstanding Notes,
from and against any and all losses, claims, damages or
liabilities caused by any untrue statement or alleged untrue
statement of a material fact contained in any shelf registration
statement or prospectus, or in any supplement thereto or amendment
thereof, or caused by the omission or alleged omission to state
therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary
to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances
under which they were made, not misleading; but only with respect
to information relating to you furnished in writing by or on
behalf of you expressly for use in a shelf registration statement,
a prospectus or any amendments or supplements thereto. Any such
indemnification shall be governed by the terms and subject to the
conditions set forth in the Registration Rights Agreement,
including, without limitation, the provisions regarding notice,
retention of counsel, contribution and payment of expenses set
forth therein. The above summary of the indemnification provision
of the Registration Rights Agreement is not intended to be
exhaustive and is qualified in its entirety by the Registration
Rights Agreement. |
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If you are a broker-dealer that will receive Exchange
Notes for your own account in exchange for Outstanding
Notes that were acquired as a result of market-making
activities or other trading activities, you
acknowledge, by tendering Outstanding Notes in the
Exchange Offer, that you will deliver a prospectus in
connection with any resale of such Exchange Notes;
however, by so acknowledging and by delivering a
prospectus, you will not be deemed to admit that you
are an underwriter within the meaning of the
Securities Act. If you are a broker-dealer and
Outstanding Notes held for your own account were not
acquired as a result of market-making or other trading
activities, such Outstanding Notes cannot be exchanged
pursuant to the Exchange Offer. |
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Any of your obligations hereunder shall be binding
upon your successors, assigns, executors,
administrators, trustees in bankruptcy and legal and
personal representatives. |
A-4
INSTRUCTIONS
FORMING PART OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE EXCHANGE OFFER
1. Partial Tenders.
Tenders of Outstanding Notes will be accepted only in denominations of $1,000 and integral
multiples of $1,000. The entire principal amount of Outstanding Notes delivered to the Exchange
Agent will be deemed to have been tendered unless otherwise communicated to the Exchange Agent. If
the entire principal amount of all Outstanding Notes is not tendered, then Outstanding Notes for
the principal amount
of Outstanding Notes not tendered and Exchange Notes issued in exchange for any Outstanding
Notes accepted will be recertificated and delivered to the holder promptly after the Outstanding
Notes are accepted for exchange.
2. Validity of Tenders.
All questions as to the validity, form, eligibility (including time of receipt), acceptance,
and withdrawal of tendered Outstanding Notes will be determined by the Partnership, in its sole
discretion, which determination will be final and binding. The Partnership reserves the absolute
right to reject any or all tenders not in proper form or the acceptance for exchange of which may,
in the opinion of counsel for the Partnership, be unlawful. The Partnership also reserves the
absolute right to waive any of the conditions of the Exchange Offer or any defect or irregularity
in the tender of any Outstanding Notes. The Partnerships interpretation of the terms and
conditions of the Exchange Offer (including the instructions on this Letter of Transmittal) will be
final and binding on all parties. Unless waived, any defects or irregularities in connection with
tenders of Outstanding Notes must be cured within such time as the Partnership shall determine.
Although the Partnership intends to notify holders of defects or irregularities with respect to
tenders of Outstanding Notes, neither the Partnership, the Exchange Agent, nor any other person
shall be under any duty to give notification of any defects or irregularities in tenders or incur
any liability for failure to give such notification. Tenders of Outstanding Notes will not be
deemed to have been made until such defects or irregularities have been cured or waived. Any
Outstanding Notes received by the Exchange Agent that are not properly tendered and as to which the
defects or irregularities have not been cured or waived will be returned by the Exchange Agent to
the tendering holders as soon as practicable following the Expiration Date.
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