Substitute Members No Member shall have the right to substitute a transferee of all or any part of such Member’s Units in its place, except as provided in this Article 11. Any such transferee of Unit(s) (whether pursuant to a voluntary or involuntary Transfer) shall be admitted to the Company as a Substitute Member only (i) with the consent of the Manager granted at its sole discretion, (ii) by satisfying the requirements of this Article 11, and (iii) upon the receipt of all necessary consents of governmental and regulatory authorities. Persons who become Substitute Members pursuant to Article 11.5 need not comply with clause (i) of the preceding sentence. Each transferee of all or part of a Member's Membership Units, as a condition to its admission as a Substitute Member, shall execute and acknowledge such instruments, in form and substance satisfactory to the Manager, as the Manager reasonably deems necessary or desirable to effectuate such admission and to confirm the agreement of such person to be bound by all the terms and provisions of this Agreement with respect to the Membership Units acquired. All reasonable expenses, including attorneys’ fees, incurred by the Company in this connection shall be borne by such person.
Ownership by Limited Partner of Corporate General Partner or Affiliate No Limited Partner shall at any time, either directly or indirectly, own any stock or other interest in the General Partner or in any Affiliate thereof, if such ownership by itself or in conjunction with other stock or other interests owned by other Limited Partners would, in the opinion of counsel for the Partnership, jeopardize the classification of the Partnership as a partnership for federal tax purposes. The General Partner shall be entitled to make such reasonable inquiry of the Limited Partners as is required to establish compliance by the Limited Partners with the provisions of this Section.
Outside Activities of the Limited Partners Subject to the provisions of Section 7.5, which shall continue to be applicable to the Persons referred to therein, regardless of whether such Persons shall also be Limited Partners, any Limited Partner shall be entitled to and may have business interests and engage in business activities in addition to those relating to the Partnership, including business interests and activities in direct competition with the Partnership Group. Neither the Partnership nor any of the other Partners shall have any rights by virtue of this Agreement in any business ventures of any Limited Partner.
Outside Activities of Limited Partners Subject to any agreements entered into by a Limited Partner or its Affiliates with the General Partner, Partnership or a Subsidiary, any Limited Partner and any officer, director, employee, agent, trustee, Affiliate or stockholder of any Limited Partner shall be entitled to and may have business interests and engage in business activities in addition to those relating to the Partnership, including business interests and activities in direct competition with the Partnership or that are enhanced by the activities of the Partnership. Neither the Partnership nor any Partners shall have any rights by virtue of this Agreement in any business ventures of any Limited Partner or Assignee. Subject to such agreements, none of the Limited Partners nor any other Person shall have any rights by virtue of this Agreement or the partnership relationship established hereby in any business ventures of any other Person, other than the Limited Partners benefiting from the business conducted by the General Partner, and such Person shall have no obligation pursuant to this Agreement to offer any interest in any such business ventures to the Partnership, any Limited Partner or any such other Person, even if such opportunity is of a character which, if presented to the Partnership, any Limited Partner or such other Person, could be taken by such Person.
Economic Uniformity; Changes in Law (A) At the election of the General Partner with respect to any taxable period ending upon, or after, the termination of the Subordination Period, all or a portion of the remaining items of Partnership gross income or gain for such taxable period, after taking into account allocations pursuant to Section 6.1(d)(iii), shall be allocated 100% to each Partner holding Subordinated Units that are Outstanding as of the termination of the Subordination Period (“Final Subordinated Units”) in the proportion of the number of Final Subordinated Units held by such Partner to the total number of Final Subordinated Units then Outstanding, until each such Partner has been allocated an amount of gross income or gain that increases the Capital Account maintained with respect to such Final Subordinated Units to an amount that after taking into account the other allocations of income, gain, loss and deduction to be made with respect to such taxable period will equal the product of (1) the number of Final Subordinated Units held by such Partner and (2) the Per Unit Capital Amount for a Common Unit. The purpose of this allocation is to establish uniformity between the Capital Accounts underlying Final Subordinated Units and the Capital Accounts underlying Common Units held by Persons other than the General Partner and its Affiliates immediately prior to the conversion of such Final Subordinated Units into Common Units. This allocation method for establishing such economic uniformity will be available to the General Partner only if the method for allocating the Capital Account maintained with respect to the Subordinated Units between the transferred and retained Subordinated Units pursuant to Section 5.5(c)(ii) does not otherwise provide such economic uniformity to the Final Subordinated Units.
(B) With respect to an event triggering an adjustment to the Carrying Value of Partnership property pursuant to Section 5.5(d) during any taxable period of the Partnership ending upon, or after, the issuance of IDR Reset Common Units pursuant to Section 5.11, after the application of Section 6.1(d)(x)(A), any Unrealized Gains and Unrealized Losses shall be allocated among the Partners in a manner that to the nearest extent possible results in the Capital Accounts maintained with respect to such IDR Reset Common Units issued pursuant to Section 5.11 equaling the product of (1) the Aggregate Quantity of IDR Reset Common Units and (2) the Per Unit Capital Amount for an Initial Common Unit.
(C) With respect to any taxable period during which an IDR Reset Common Unit is transferred to any Person who is not an Affiliate of the transferor, all or a portion of the remaining items of Partnership gross income or gain for such taxable period shall be allocated 100% to the transferor Partner of such transferred IDR Reset Common Unit until such transferor Partner has been allocated an amount of gross income or gain that increases the Capital Account maintained with respect to such transferred IDR Reset Common Unit to an amount equal to the Per Unit Capital Amount for an Initial Common Unit.
(D) For the proper administration of the Partnership and for the preservation of uniformity of the Limited Partner Interests (or any class or classes thereof), the General Partner shall (1) adopt such conventions as it deems appropriate in determining the amount of depreciation, amortization and cost recovery deductions; (2) make special allocations of income, gain, loss, deduction, Unrealized Gain or Unrealized Loss; and (3) amend the provisions of this Agreement as appropriate (x) to reflect the proposal or promulgation of Treasury Regulations under Section 704(b) or Section 704(c) of the Code or (y) otherwise to preserve or achieve uniformity of the Limited Partner Interests (or any class or classes thereof). The General Partner may adopt such conventions, make such allocations and make such amendments to this Agreement as provided in this Section 6.1(d)(x)(D) only if such conventions, allocations or amendments would not have a material adverse effect on the Partners, the holders of any class or classes of Limited Partner Interests issued and Outstanding or the Partnership, and if such allocations are consistent with the principles of Section 704 of the Code.
Changes in General Partner 7.01 Transfer of the General Partner's Partnership Interest.
(a) The General Partner shall not transfer all or any portion of its General Partnership Interest or withdraw as General Partner except as provided in or in connection with a transaction contemplated by Section 7.01(c), (d) or (e).
(b) The General Partner agrees that the Percentage Interest for it will at all times be in the aggregate at least .1%.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in Section 6.04(b) or Section 7.01(d) or (e) hereof, the General Partner shall not engage in any merger, consolidation or other combination with or into another Person or sale of all or substantially all of its assets, (other than in connection with a change in the General Partner's state of incorporation or organizational form) in each case which results in a change of control of the General Partner (a "Transaction"), unless:
(i) the consent of Limited Partners holding more than 50% of the Percentage Interests and more than 50% of the Special Percentage Interests of the Limited Partners is obtained;
(ii) as a result of such Transaction all Limited Partners will receive (A) for each Partnership Unit an amount of cash, securities, or other property equal to the product of the Conversion Factor and the greatest amount of cash, securities or other property paid in the Transaction to a holder of one REIT Share in consideration of one REIT Share, provided that if, in connection with the Transaction, a purchase, tender or exchange offer ("Offer") shall have been made to and accepted by the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding REIT Shares, each holder of Partnership Units shall be given the option to exchange its Partnership Units for the greatest amount of cash, securities, or other property which a Limited Partner would have received had it (a) exercised its Redemption Right and (b) sold, tendered or exchanged pursuant to the Offer the REIT Shares received upon exercise of the Redemption Right immediately prior to the expiration of the Offer and (B) for each Special Partnership Unit an amount of cash, securities or other property (as applicable based upon the type of consideration and the proportions thereof paid to holders of REIT Shares in the Transaction) equal to the fair market value of such Special Partnership Unit at such time as determined in good faith by the General Partner by reference to the value paid for the REIT Shares; or
(iii) the General Partner is the surviving entity in the Transaction and either (a) the holders of REIT Shares do not receive cash, securities, or other property in the Transaction or (B) all Limited Partners (other than the General Partner or any Subsidiary) receive an amount of cash, securities, or other property (expressed as an amount per REIT Share) that is no less than the product of the Conversion Factor and the greatest amount of cash, securities, or other property (expressed as an amount per REIT Share) received in the Transaction by any holder of REIT Shares and (2) in exchange for their Special Partnership Units, an amount of cash, securities or other property (as applicable based upon the type of consideration and proportion thereof paid to holders of REIT Shares in the Transaction) equal to the fair market value of such special Partnership Units at such time as determined in good faith by the General Partner by reference to the value paid for the REIT Shares.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 7.01(c), the General Partner may merge with or into or consolidate with another entity if immediately after such merger or consolidation (i) substantially all of the assets of the successor or surviving entity (the "Survivor"), other than Partnership Units held by the General Partner, are contributed, directly or indirectly, to the Partnership as a Capital Contribution in exchange for Partnership Units with a fair market value equal to the value of the assets so contributed as determined by the Survivor in good faith and (ii) the Survivor expressly agrees to assume all obligations of the General Partner, as appropriate, hereunder. Upon such contribution and assumption, the Survivor shall have the right and duty to amend this Agreement as set forth in this Section 7.01(d). The Survivor shall in good faith arrive at a new method for the calculation of the Cash Amount, the REIT Shares Amount and Conversion Factor for a Partnership Unit after any such merger or consolidation so as to approximate the existing method for such calculation as closely as reasonably possible. Such calculation shall take into account, among other things, the kind and amount of securities, cash and other property that was receivable upon such merger or consolidation by a holder of REIT Shares or options, warrants or other rights relating thereto, and to which a holder of Partnership Units could have acquired had such Partnership Units been exchanged immediately prior to such merger or consolidation. Such amendment to this Agreement shall provide for adjustment to such method of calculation, which shall be as nearly equivalent as may be practicable to the adjustments provided for with respect to the Conversion Factor. The Survivor also shall in good faith modify the definition of REIT Shares and make such amendments to Section 8.05 hereof so as to approximate the existing rights and obligations set forth in Section 8.05 as closely as reasonably possible. The above provisions of this Section 7.01(d) shall similarly apply to successive mergers or consolidations permitted hereunder. In respect of any transaction described in the preceding Paragraph, the General Partner is required to use its commercially reasonable efforts to structure such transaction to avoid causing the Limited Partners to recognize a gain for federal income tax purposes by virtue of the occurrence of or their participation in such transaction, provided such efforts are consistent with the exercise of the Board of Trustees' fiduciary duties to the shareholders of the General Partner under applicable law.
(e) Notwithstanding Section 7.01(c),
(i) a General Partner may transfer all or any portion of its General Partnership Interest to (a) a wholly-owned Subsidiary of such General Partner or (b) the owner of all of the ownership interests of such General Partner, and following a transfer of all of its General Partnership Interest, may withdraw as General Partner; and
(ii) the General Partner may engage in a transaction not required by law or by the rules of any national securities exchange on which the REIT Shares are listed to be submitted to the vote of the holders of the REIT Shares.
7.02 Admission of a Substitute or Additional General Partner. A Person shall be admitted as a substitute or additional General Partner of the Partnership only if the following terms and conditions are satisfied:
(a) the Person to be admitted as a substitute or additional General Partner shall have accepted and agreed to be bound by all the terms and provisions of this Agreement by executing a counterpart thereof and such other documents or instruments as may be required or appropriate in order to effect the admission of such Person as a General Partner, and a certificate evidencing the admission of such Person as a General Partner shall have been filed for recordation and all other actions required by Section 2.05 hereof in connection with such admission shall have been performed;
(b) if the Person to be admitted as a substitute or additional General Partner is a corporation or a partnership it shall have provided the Partnership with evidence satisfactory to counsel for the Partnership of such Person's authority to become a General Partner and to be bound by the terms and provisions of this Agreement; and
(c) counsel for the Partnership shall have rendered an opinion (relying on such opinions from other counsel and the state or any other jurisdiction as may be necessary) that the admission of the person to be admitted as a substitute or additional General Partner is in conformity with the Act, that none of the actions taken in connection with the admission of such Person as a substitute or additional General Partner will cause (i) the Partnership to be classified other than as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, or (ii) the loss of any Limited Partner's limited liability.
Additional Members One or more additional members may be admitted to the Company with the consent of the Member. Prior to the admission of any such additional members to the Company, the Member shall amend this Agreement to make such changes as the Member shall determine to reflect the fact that the Company shall have such additional members. Each additional member shall execute and deliver a supplement or counterpart to this Agreement, as necessary.
Professional Memberships Each employee is eligible for reimbursement for membership fees or dues paid for the maintenance of a license required to perform employee’s job and for dues paid for membership in one additional job related professional association.
Successor General Partner Upon the occurrence of an event giving rise to a Withdrawal of a General Partner, any remaining General Partner, or, if there be no remaining General Partner, the Withdrawing General Partner or its legal representative, shall promptly notify the Special Limited Partner of such Withdrawal (the "Withdrawal Notice"). Whether or not the Withdrawal Notice shall have been sent as provided herein, the Special Limited Partner shall have the right to become a successor General Partner (and to become the successor managing General Partner if the Withdrawing General Partner was previously the managing General Partner). In order to effectuate the provisions of this Section 13.4 and the continuance of the Partnership, the Withdrawal of a General Partner shall not be effective until the expiration of 120 days from the date on which occurred the event giving rise to the Withdrawal, unless the Special Limited Partner shall have elected to become a successor General Partner as provided herein prior to expiration of such 120-day period, whereupon the Withdrawal of the General Partner shall be deemed effective upon the notification of all the other Partners by the Special Limited Partner of such election.
Interest of Departing General Partner and Successor General Partner (a) In the event of (i) withdrawal of the General Partner under circumstances where such withdrawal does not violate this Agreement or (ii) removal of the General Partner by the holders of Outstanding Units under circumstances where Cause does not exist, if the successor General Partner is elected in accordance with the terms of Section 11.1 or Section 11.2, the Departing General Partner shall have the option, exercisable prior to the effective date of the withdrawal or removal of such Departing General Partner, to require its successor to purchase its General Partner Interest and its or its Affiliates’ general partner interest (or equivalent interest), if any, in the other Group Members and all of its or its Affiliates’ Incentive Distribution Rights (collectively, the “Combined Interest”) in exchange for an amount in cash equal to the fair market value of such Combined Interest, such amount to be determined and payable as of the effective date of its withdrawal or removal. If the General Partner is removed by the Unitholders under circumstances where Cause exists or if the General Partner withdraws under circumstances where such withdrawal violates this Agreement, and if a successor General Partner is elected in accordance with the terms of Section 11.1 or Section 11.2 (or if the business of the Partnership is continued pursuant to Section 12.2 and the successor General Partner is not the former General Partner), such successor shall have the option, exercisable prior to the effective date of the withdrawal or removal of such Departing General Partner (or, in the event the business of the Partnership is continued, prior to the date the business of the Partnership is continued), to purchase the Combined Interest for such fair market value of such Combined Interest. In either event, the Departing General Partner shall be entitled to receive all reimbursements due such Departing General Partner pursuant to Section 7.4, including any employee-related liabilities (including severance liabilities), incurred in connection with the termination of any employees employed by the Departing General Partner or its Affiliates (other than any Group Member) for the benefit of the Partnership or the other Group Members. For purposes of this Section 11.3(a), the fair market value of the Combined Interest shall be determined by agreement between the Departing General Partner and its successor or, failing agreement within 30 days after the effective date of such Departing General Partner’s withdrawal or removal, by an independent investment banking firm or other independent expert selected by the Departing General Partner and its successor, which, in turn, may rely on other experts, and the determination of which shall be conclusive as to such matter. If such parties cannot agree upon one independent investment banking firm or other independent expert within 45 days after the effective date of such withdrawal or removal, then the Departing General Partner shall designate an independent investment banking firm or other independent expert, the Departing General Partner’s successor shall designate an independent investment banking firm or other independent expert, and such firms or experts shall mutually select a third independent investment banking firm or independent expert, which third independent investment banking firm or other independent expert shall determine the fair market value of the Combined Interest. In making its determination, such third independent investment banking firm or other independent expert may consider the then current trading price of Units on any National Securities Exchange on which Units are then listed or admitted to trading, the value of the Partnership’s assets, the rights and obligations of the Departing General Partner, the value of the Incentive Distribution Rights and the General Partner Interest and other factors it may deem relevant.
(b) If the Combined Interest is not purchased in the manner set forth in Section 11.3(a), the Departing General Partner (or its transferee) shall become a Limited Partner and its Combined Interest shall be converted into Common Units pursuant to a valuation made by an investment banking firm or other independent expert selected pursuant to Section 11.3(a), without reduction in such Partnership Interest (but subject to proportionate dilution by reason of the admission of its successor). Any successor General Partner shall indemnify the Departing General Partner (or its transferee) as to all debts and liabilities of the Partnership arising on or after the date on which the Departing General Partner (or its transferee) becomes a Limited Partner. For purposes of this Agreement, conversion of the Combined Interest of the Departing General Partner to Common Units will be characterized as if the Departing General Partner (or its transferee) contributed its Combined Interest to the Partnership in exchange for the newly issued Common Units.
(c) If a successor General Partner is elected in accordance with the terms of Section 11.1 or Section 11.2 (or if the business of the Partnership is continued pursuant to Section 12.2 and the successor General Partner is not the former General Partner) and the option described in Section 11.3(a) is not exercised by the party entitled to do so, the successor General Partner shall, at the effective date of its admission to the Partnership, contribute to the Partnership cash in the amount equal to the product of (x) the quotient obtained by dividing (A) the Percentage Interest of the General Partner Interest of the Departing General Partner by (B) a percentage equal to 100% less the Percentage Interest of the General Partner Interest of the Departing General Partner and (y) the Net Agreed Value of the Partnership’s assets on such date. In such event, such successor General Partner shall, subject to the following sentence, be entitled to its Percentage Interest of all Partnership allocations and distributions to which the Departing General Partner was entitled. In addition, the successor General Partner shall cause this Agreement to be amended to reflect that, from and after the date of such successor General Partner’s admission, the successor General Partner’s interest in all Partnership distributions and allocations shall be its Percentage Interest.
