Transfer of General Partner’s Partnership Interest A. Except in connection with a Termination Transaction permitted under Section 11.2.B, the General Partner shall not withdraw from the Partnership and shall not transfer all or any portion of its interest in the Partnership (whether by sale, statutory merger or consolidation, liquidation or otherwise), other than to an Affiliate, without the Consent of the Limited Partners, which may be given or withheld by each Limited Partner in its sole and absolute discretion, and only upon the admission of a successor General Partner pursuant to Section 12.1. Upon any transfer of a Partnership Interest in accordance with the provisions of this Section 11.2, the transferee shall become a substitute General Partner for all purposes herein, and shall be vested with the powers and rights of the transferor General Partner, and shall be liable for all obligations and responsible for all duties of the General Partner, once such transferee has executed such instruments as may be necessary to effectuate such admission and to confirm the agreement of such transferee to be bound by all the terms and provisions of this Agreement with respect to the Partnership Interest so acquired. It is a condition to any transfer otherwise permitted hereunder that the transferee assumes, by operation of law or express agreement, all of the obligations of the transferor General Partner under this Agreement with respect to such transferred Partnership Interest, and no such transfer (other than pursuant to a statutory merger or consolidation wherein all obligations and liabilities of the transferor General Partner are assumed by a successor corporation by operation of law) shall relieve the transferor General Partner of its obligations under this Agreement without the Consent of the Limited Partners, in their reasonable discretion. In the event the General Partner withdraws from the Partnership, in violation of this Agreement or otherwise, or otherwise dissolves or terminates, or upon the Incapacity of the General Partner, all of the remaining Partners may elect to continue the Partnership business by selecting a substitute General Partner in accordance with the Act.
B. The General Partner shall not engage in any merger, consolidation or other combination with or into another person, sale of all or substantially all of its assets or any reclassification, recapitalization or change of its outstanding equity interests (“Termination Transaction”) unless (1) the Termination Transaction has been approved by a Consent of the Partners and (2) either clause (a) or (b) below is satisfied:
(a) in connection with such Termination Transaction all Limited Partners either will receive, or will have the right to elect to receive, for each Common Unit an amount of cash, securities, or other property equal to the product of the REIT Shares Amount and the greatest amount of cash, securities or other property paid to a holder of one REIT Share in consideration of one REIT Share in connection with the Termination Transaction; provided, that, if, in connection with the Termination Transaction, a purchase, tender or exchange offer shall have been made to and accepted by the holders of more than fifty percent (50%) of the outstanding REIT Shares, each Holder of Common Units shall receive, or shall have the right to elect to receive, the greatest amount of cash, securities, or other property which such holder would have received had it exercised its right to Redemption (as set forth in Section 8.6) and received REIT Shares in exchange for its Common Units immediately prior to the expiration of such purchase, tender or exchange offer and had thereupon accepted such purchase, tender or exchange offer and then such Termination Transaction shall have been consummated; or
(b) the following conditions are met: (i) substantially all of the assets directly or indirectly owned by the surviving entity are held directly or indirectly by the Partnership or another limited partnership or limited liability company which is the survivor of a merger, consolidation or combination of assets with the Partnership (in each case, the “Surviving Partnership”); (ii) the holders of Common-Equivalent Units own a percentage interest of the Surviving Partnership based on the relative fair market value of the net assets of the Partnership and the other net assets of the Surviving Partnership immediately prior to the consummation of such transaction; (iii) the rights, preferences and privileges of such holders in the Surviving Partnership are at least as favorable as those in effect immediately prior to the consummation of such transaction and as those applicable to any other limited partners or non-managing members of the Surviving Partnership; and (iv) such rights of the Limited Partners include at least one of the following: (a) the right to redeem their interests in the Surviving Partnership for the consideration available to such persons pursuant to Section 11.2.B(a); or (b) the right to redeem their Common Units for cash on terms equivalent to those in effect with respect to their Common Units immediately prior to the consummation of such transaction, or, if the ultimate controlling person of the Surviving Partnership has publicly traded common equity securities, such common equity securities, with an exchange ratio based on the determination of relative fair market value of such securities and the REIT Shares.
Transfer of Partnership Interests The foregoing power of attorney shall survive the delivery of an instrument of transfer by any Partner of the whole or any portion of or interest in its Partnership Interest, except that (i) where a Partner becomes a Former Partner, or (ii) where a Transferee of such Partnership Interest has been approved as a successor Partner and the Transferor shall thereupon cease being a Partner (all in accordance with this Agreement), then the power of attorney of the Former Partner or the Transferor Partner, as the case may be, shall survive the cessation of Partner status or the delivery of such instrument of transfer, as the case may be, for the sole purpose of enabling the attorneys-in-fact for such Former Partner or the Transferor Partner (or any of them) to execute, swear to, acknowledge and file any and all instruments necessary to effectuate or reflect such cessation, transfer and succession.
Transfers of Limited Partnership Interests 9.1 Restrictions on Transfer of Limited Partnership Interests.
(a) No Limited Partner may offer, sell, assign, hypothecate, pledge or otherwise transfer all or any portion of his Limited Partnership Interest, or any of such Limited Partner’s economic rights as a Limited Partner, whether voluntarily or by operation of law or at judicial sale or otherwise (collectively, a “Transfer”) without the consent of the General Partner, which consent may be granted or withheld in its sole and absolute discretion. Any such purported Transfer undertaken without such consent shall be considered to be null and void ab initio and shall not be given effect.
(b) No Limited Partner may withdraw from the Partnership other than as a result of a permitted Transfer of all of its Partnership Interest pursuant to this Article 9. Upon the permitted Transfer or redemption of all of a Limited Partner’s Partnership Interest, such Limited Partner shall cease to be a Limited Partner.
Transfers of Partnership Interests Except as the Partners may otherwise agree from time to time, a Partner may not Transfer all or any part of its Partnership Interest without the Consent of each other Partner, which Consent may be withheld in the sole discretion of each such other Partner.
Transfer of Membership Interests (a) The Member may transfer its Membership Interest, in whole but not in part, but the transferee shall not be admitted as a Member except in accordance with Section 6.07. Until the transferee is admitted as a Member, the Member shall continue to be the sole member of the Company (subject to Section 1.02) and to be entitled to exercise any rights or powers of a Member of the Company with respect to the Membership Interest transferred.
(b) To the fullest extent permitted by law, any purported transfer of any Membership Interest in violation of the provisions of this Agreement shall be wholly void and shall not effectuate the transfer contemplated thereby. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary and to the fullest extent permitted by law, the Member may not transfer any Membership Interest in violation of any provision of this Agreement or in violation of any applicable federal or state securities laws.
Restrictions on Transfer of Limited Partnership Interests (a) Subject to the provisions of 9.2(b), (c) and (d), no Limited Partner may offer, sell, assign, hypothecate, pledge or otherwise transfer all or any portion of its Limited Partnership Interest, or any of such Limited Partner’s economic rights as a Limited Partner, whether voluntarily or by operation of law or at judicial sale or otherwise (collectively, a “Transfer”) without the consent of the General Partner, which consent may be granted or withheld in its sole and absolute discretion. Any such purported transfer undertaken without such consent shall be considered to be null and void ab initio and shall not be given effect. The General Partner may require, as a condition of any Transfer to which it consents, that the transferor assume all costs incurred by the Partnership in connection therewith.
(b) No Limited Partner may withdraw from the Partnership other than as a result of a permitted Transfer (i.e., a Transfer consented to as contemplated by clause (a) above or clause (c) below or a Transfer pursuant to Section 9.5 below) of all of its Partnership Units pursuant to this Article 9 or pursuant to an exchange of all of its Partnership Units pursuant to Section 8.4. Upon the permitted Transfer or redemption of all of a Limited Partner’s Partnership Interest, such Limited Partner shall cease to be a Limited Partner.
(c) Subject to 9.2(d), (e) and (f) below, a Limited Partner may Transfer, with the consent of the General Partner, all or a portion of its Partnership Units to (i) a parent or parent’s spouse, natural or adopted descendant or descendants, spouse of such descendant, or brother or sister, or a trust created by such Limited Partner for the benefit of such Limited Partner and/or any such Person(s), of which trust such Limited Partner or any such Person(s) is a trustee, (ii) a corporation controlled by a Person or Persons named in (i) above, or (iii) if the Limited Partner is an entity, its beneficial owners.
(d) No Limited Partner may effect a Transfer of its Limited Partnership Interest, in whole or in part, if, in the opinion of legal counsel for the Partnership, such proposed Transfer would otherwise violate any applicable federal or state securities or blue sky law (including investment suitability standards).
(e) No Transfer by a Limited Partner of its Partnership Units, in whole or in part, may be made to any Person if (i) in the opinion of legal counsel for the Partnership, the transfer would result in the Partnership’s being treated as an association taxable as a corporation (other than a qualified REIT subsidiary within the meaning of Section 856(i) of the Code), (ii) in the opinion of legal counsel for the Partnership, it would adversely affect the ability of the General Partner to continue to qualify as a REIT or subject the General Partner to any additional taxes under Section 857 or Section 4981 of the Code, or (iii) such transfer is effectuated through an “established securities market” or a “secondary market (or the substantial equivalent thereof)” within the meaning of Section 7704 of the Code.
(f) No transfer of any Partnership Units may be made to a lender to the Partnership or any Person who is related (within the meaning of Regulations Section 1.752-4(b)) to any lender to the Partnership whose loan constitutes a nonrecourse liability (within the meaning of Regulations Section 1.752-1(a)(2)), without the consent of the General Partner, which may be withheld in its sole and absolute discretion, provided that as a condition to such consent the lender will be required to enter into an arrangement with the Partnership and the General Partner to exchange or redeem for the Cash Amount any Partnership Units in which a security interest is held simultaneously with the time at which such lender would be deemed to be a partner in the Partnership for purposes of allocating liabilities to such lender under Section 752 of the Code.
(g) Any Transfer in contravention of any of the provisions of this Article 9 shall be void and ineffectual and shall not be binding upon, or recognized by, the Partnership.
(h) Prior to the consummation of any Transfer under this Article 9, the transferor and/or the transferee shall deliver to the General Partner such opinions, certificates and other documents as the General Partner shall request in connection with such Transfer.
Registration and Transfer of Limited Partner Interests (a) The General Partner shall maintain, or cause to be maintained by the Transfer Agent in whole or in part, the Partnership Register on behalf of the Partnership.
(b) The General Partner shall not recognize any transfer of Limited Partner Interests evidenced by Certificates until the Certificates evidencing such Limited Partner Interests are duly endorsed and surrendered for registration of transfer. No charge shall be imposed by the General Partner for such transfer; provided, however, that as a condition to the issuance of any new Certificate under this Section 4.5, the General Partner may require the payment of a sum sufficient to cover any tax or other governmental charge that may be imposed with respect thereto. Upon surrender of a Certificate for registration of transfer of any Limited Partner Interests evidenced by a Certificate, and subject to the provisions of this Section 4.5(b), the appropriate officers of the General Partner on behalf of the Partnership shall execute and deliver, and in the case of Certificates evidencing Limited Partner Interests for which a Transfer Agent has been appointed, the Transfer Agent shall countersign and deliver, in the name of the holder or the designated transferee or transferees, as required pursuant to the holder’s instructions, one or more new Certificates evidencing the same aggregate number and type of Limited Partner Interests as was evidenced by the Certificate so surrendered. Upon the proper surrender of a Certificate, such transfer shall be recorded in the Partnership Register.
(c) Upon the receipt of proper transfer instructions from the Record Holder of uncertificated Partnership Interests, such transfer shall be recorded in the Partnership Register.
(d) Except as provided in Section 4.9, by acceptance of any Limited Partner Interests pursuant to a transfer in accordance with this Article IV, each transferee of a Limited Partner Interest (including any nominee, or agent or representative acquiring such Limited Partner Interests for the account of another Person or Group) (i) shall be admitted to the Partnership as a Limited Partner with respect to the Limited Partner Interests so transferred to such Person when any such transfer or admission is reflected in the Partnership Register and such Person becomes the Record Holder of the Limited Partner Interests so transferred, (ii) shall become bound, and shall be deemed to have agreed to be bound, by the terms of this Agreement, (iii) represents that the transferee has the capacity, power and authority to enter into this Agreement, (iv) makes the consents, acknowledgements and waivers contained in this Agreement, all with or without execution of this Agreement by such Person and (v) shall be deemed to certify that the transferee is not an Ineligible Holder. The transfer of any Limited Partner Interests and the admission of any new Limited Partner shall not constitute an amendment to this Agreement.
(e) Subject to (i) the foregoing provisions of this Section 4.5, (ii) Section 4.3, (iii) Section 4.8, (iv) with respect to any class or series of Limited Partner Interests, the provisions of any statement of designations or an amendment to this Agreement establishing such class or series, (v) any contractual provisions binding on any Limited Partner and (vi) provisions of applicable law including the Securities Act, Limited Partner Interests shall be freely transferable.
(f) The General Partner and its Affiliates shall have the right at any time to transfer their Common Units to one or more Persons.
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 7.1(b), (c) or (d).
(b) Except as otherwise provided in Section 7.1(c) or (d) 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 approval of the holders of a majority of the Partnership Units (including the Partnership Units held by the General Partner or an Affiliate thereof) is obtained;
(ii) as a result of such Transaction all Limited Partners will receive 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 Exchange Right and (B) sold, tendered or exchanged pursuant to the Offer the REIT Shares received upon exercise of the Exchange Right immediately prior to the expiration of the Offer; 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.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 7.1(b), 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 “Surviving General Partner”), 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 Surviving General Partner in good faith and (ii) the Surviving General Partner expressly agrees to assume all obligations of the General Partner, as appropriate, hereunder. Upon such contribution and assumption, the Surviving General Partner shall have the right and duty to amend this Agreement as set forth in this Section 7.1(c). The Surviving General Partner 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 Surviving General Partner also shall in good faith modify the definition of REIT Shares and make such amendments to Section 8.4 hereof so as to approximate the existing rights and obligations set forth in Section 8.4 as closely as reasonably possible. The above provisions of this Section 7.1(c) 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 General Partner’s board of directors’ fiduciary duties to the stockholders of the General Partner under applicable law.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 7.1(b),
(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 Transactions 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.
Issuance of Additional Partnership Interests The General Partner, in its sole and absolute discretion, may raise all or any portion of the Additional Funds by accepting additional Capital Contributions of cash. The General Partner may also accept additional Capital Contributions of real property or any other non-cash assets. In connection with any such additional Capital Contributions (of cash or property), the General Partner is hereby authorized to cause the Partnership from time to time to issue to Partners (including the General Partner) or other Persons (including, without limitation, in connection with the contribution of tangible or intangible property, services, or other consideration permitted by the Act to the Partnership) additional Partnership Units or other Partnership Interests, which may be Common Units or other Partnership Units issued in one or more classes, or one or more series of any of such classes, with such designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional, conversion, exchange or other special rights, powers, and duties, including rights, powers, and duties senior to then existing Limited Partner Interests, all as shall be determined by the General Partner in its sole and absolute discretion subject to Maryland law, including without limitation, (i) the allocations of items of Partnership income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit to such class or series of Partnership Interests; (ii) the right of each such class or series of Partnership Interests to share in Partnership distributions; (iii) the rights of each such class or series of Partnership Interests upon dissolution and liquidation of the Partnership; and (iv) the right to vote, including, without limitation, the Limited Partner approval rights set forth in Section 11.2.A; provided, that no such additional Partnership Units or other Partnership Interests shall be issued to the General Partner unless either (a)
(1) the additional Partnership Interests are issued in connection with the grant, award, or issuance of shares of the General Partner pursuant to Section 4.3.C below, which shares have designations, preferences, and other rights (except voting rights) such that the economic interests attributable to such shares are substantially similar to the designations, preferences and other rights of the additional Partnership Interests issued to the General Partner in accordance with this Section 4.3.B, and (2) the General Partner shall make a Capital Contribution to the Partnership in an amount equal to any net proceeds raised in connection with such issuance, or (b) the additional Partnership Interests are issued to all Partners holding Partnership Interests in the same class in proportion to their respective Percentage Interests in such class or (c) the additional Partnership Interests are issued pursuant to a Stock Plan. The General Partner’s determination that consideration is adequate shall be conclusive insofar as the adequacy of consideration relates to whether the Partnership Interests are validly issued and paid. In the event that the Partnership issues additional Partnership Interests pursuant to this Section 4.3.B, the General Partner shall make such revisions to this Agreement (including but not limited to the revisions described in Section 5.4, Section 6.2.B, and Section 8.6) as it determines are necessary to reflect the issuance of such additional Partnership Interests.
Transfer of the General Partner’s General Partner Interest (a) Subject to Section 4.6(c) below, prior to the first day of the first Quarter beginning after the tenth anniversary of the Closing Date, the General Partner shall not transfer all or any part of its General Partner Interest to a Person unless such transfer (i) has been approved by the prior written consent or vote of the holders of at least a majority of the Outstanding Common Units (excluding Common Units held by the General Partner and its Affiliates) or (ii) is of all, but not less than all, of its General Partner Interest to (A) an Affiliate of the General Partner (other than an individual) or (B) another Person (other than an individual) in connection with the merger or consolidation of the General Partner with or into such other Person or the transfer by the General Partner of all or substantially all of its assets to such other Person.
(b) Subject to Section 4.6(c) below, on or after the first day of the first Quarter beginning after the tenth anniversary of the Closing Date, the General Partner may at its option transfer all or any part of its General Partner Interest without Unitholder approval.
(c) Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, no transfer by the General Partner of all or any part of its General Partner Interest to another Person shall be permitted unless (i) the transferee agrees to assume the rights and duties of the General Partner under this Agreement and to be bound by the provisions of this Agreement, (ii) the Partnership receives an Opinion of Counsel that such transfer would not result in the loss of limited liability under the Delaware Act of any Limited Partner or cause the Partnership to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise to be taxed as an entity for federal income tax purposes (to the extent not already so treated or taxed) and (iii) such transferee also agrees to purchase all (or the appropriate portion thereof, if applicable) of the partnership or membership interest held by the General Partner as the general partner or managing member, if any, of each other Group Member. In the case of a transfer pursuant to and in compliance with this Section 4.6, the transferee or successor (as the case may be) shall, subject to compliance with the terms of Section 10.2, be admitted to the Partnership as the General Partner effective immediately prior to the transfer of the General Partner Interest, and the business of the Partnership shall continue without dissolution.
