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.
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.
Rights of Assignees of Partnership Interests (a) Subject to the provisions of Sections 9.1 and 9.2 hereof, except as required by operation of law, the Partnership shall not be obligated for any purposes whatsoever to recognize the assignment by any Limited Partner of its Partnership Interest until the Partnership has received notice thereof. (b) Any Person who is the assignee of all or any portion of a Limited Partner’s Limited Partnership Interest, but does not become a Substitute Limited Partner and desires to make a further assignment of such Limited Partnership Interest, shall be subject to all the provisions of this Article 9 to the same extent and in the same manner as any Limited Partner desiring to make an assignment of its Limited Partnership Interest.
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 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.
Certain Interests (a) Except as disclosed in Schedule 3.20, no officer or director of ERC, the LLC or any Subsidiary and no relative or spouse (or relative of such spouse) who resides with, or is a dependent of, any such officer or director: (i) has any direct or indirect financial interest in any competitor, supplier or customer of ERC, the LLC or any Subsidiary, provided, however, that the ownership of securities representing no more than one percent of the outstanding voting power of any competitor, supplier or customer, and which are listed on any national securities exchange or traded actively in the national over-the-counter market, shall not be deemed to be a "financial interest" so long as the person owning such securities has no other connection or relationship with such competitor, supplier or customer; (ii) owns, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, or has any other interest in any tangible or intangible property which ERC, the LLC or any Subsidiary uses or has used in the conduct of its business or otherwise; or (iii) has outstanding any material indebtedness to ERC, the LLC or any Subsidiary. (b) Except as disclosed in Schedule 3.20(b), no officer or director of ERC, the LLC or any Subsidiary and no relative or spouse (or relative of such spouse) who resides with, or is a dependent of, any such officer or director has outstanding any indebtedness to the ERC Shareholders. (c) Except as disclosed in Schedule 3.20(c), neither ERC, the LLC nor any Subsidiary has any liability or any other obligation of any nature whatsoever to any officer, director or shareholder of ERC, the LLC or any Subsidiary or to any relative or spouse (or relative of such spouse) who resides with, or is a dependent of, any such officer, director or shareholder.
Issuances of Additional Partnership Interests (a) The Partnership may issue additional Partnership Interests and options, rights, warrants, appreciation rights, tracking and phantom interests, and other economic interests relating to the Partnership Interests (including pursuant to Section 7.4(c)) for any partnership purpose at any time and from time to time to such Persons for such consideration and on such terms and conditions as the General Partner shall determine, all without the approval of any Limited Partners. (b) Each additional Partnership Interest or other security authorized to be issued by the Partnership pursuant to Section 5.6(a) or Section 7.4(c) may be issued in one or more classes, or one or more series of any such classes, with such designations, preferences, rights, powers and duties (which may be senior to existing classes and series of Partnership Interests or other securities), as shall be fixed by the General Partner, including (i) the right to share in Partnership profits and losses or items thereof; (ii) the right to share in Partnership distributions; (iii) the rights upon dissolution and liquidation of the Partnership; (iv) whether, and the terms and conditions upon which, the Partnership may or shall be required to redeem the Partnership Interest (including sinking fund provisions) or other security; (v) whether such Partnership Interest or other security is issued with the privilege of conversion or exchange and, if so, the terms and conditions of such conversion or exchange; (vi) the terms and conditions upon which each Partnership Interest or other security will be issued, evidenced by certificates and assigned or transferred; (vii) the method for determining the Percentage Interest as to such Partnership Interest; and (viii) the right, if any, of each such Partnership Interest to vote on Partnership matters, including matters relating to the relative rights, preferences and privileges of such Partnership Interest. (c) The General Partner shall take all actions that it determines to be necessary or appropriate in connection with (i) each issuance of Partnership Interests and options, rights, warrants, appreciation rights, tracking and phantom interests, and other economic interests in the Partnership or relating to Partnership Interests pursuant to this Section 5.6 or Section 7.4(c), (ii) the conversion of the Combined Interest into Units pursuant to the terms of this Agreement, (iii) the issuance of Common Units pursuant to Section 5.11, (iv) the admission of Additional Limited Partners and (v) all additional issuances of Partnership Interests. The General Partner shall determine the relative rights, powers and duties of the holders of the Units or other Partnership Interests or other securities being so issued. The General Partner shall do all things necessary to comply with the Delaware Act and is authorized and directed to do all things that it determines to be necessary or appropriate in connection with any future issuance of Partnership Interests or other securities or in connection with the conversion of the Combined Interest into Units pursuant to the terms of this Agreement, including compliance with any statute, rule, regulation or guideline of any federal, state or other governmental agency or any National Securities Exchange on which the Units or other Partnership Interests are listed or admitted to trading. (d) No fractional Units shall be issued by the Partnership.
Restrictions on General Partner’s Authority A. The General Partner may not take any action in contravention of an express prohibition or limitation of this Agreement without the written Consent of the Limited Partners and the Special Limited Partner, and may not (i) perform any act that would subject a Limited Partner to liability as a general partner in any jurisdiction or any other liability except as provided herein or under the Act; or (ii) enter into any contract, mortgage, loan or other agreement that prohibits or restricts, or has the effect of prohibiting or restricting, the ability of a Limited Partner to exercise its rights to a Redemption in full, except in each case with the written consent of such Limited Partner. B. The General Partner shall not, without the prior Consent of the Partners (in addition to any Consent of the Limited Partners required by any other provision hereof), or except as provided in Section 7.3D, amend, modify or terminate this Agreement. C. The General Partner may not cause the Partnership to take any action which the General Partner would be prohibited from taking directly under the General Partner’s bylaws as in effect from time to time. D. Notwithstanding Section 7.3B, the General Partner shall have the exclusive power to amend this Agreement as may be required to facilitate or implement any of the following purposes: (1) to add to the obligations of the General Partner or surrender any right or power granted to the General Partner or any Affiliate of the General Partner for the benefit of the Limited Partners; (2) to reflect the issuance of additional Partnership Interests pursuant to Sections 4.4B and 5.4 or the admission, substitution, termination, or withdrawal of Partners in accordance with this Agreement (which may be effected through the replacement of Exhibit A with an amended Exhibit A); (3) to set forth or amend the designations, rights, powers, duties and preferences of the holders of any additional Partnership Interests issued pursuant to Article 4; (4) to reflect a change that is of an inconsequential nature and does not adversely affect the Limited Partners in any material respect, or to cure any ambiguity, correct or supplement any provision in this Agreement not inconsistent with law or with other provisions, or make other changes with respect to matters arising under this Agreement that will not be inconsistent with law or with the provisions of this Agreement; (5) to satisfy any requirements, conditions, or guidelines contained in any order, directive, opinion, ruling or regulation of a federal or state agency or contained in federal or state law; (6) to reflect such changes as are reasonably necessary for the General Partner to maintain its status as a REIT, including changes which may be necessitated due to a change in applicable law (or an authoritative interpretation thereof) or a ruling of the IRS; (7) to modify, as set forth in the definition of “Capital Account,” the manner in which Capital Accounts are computed; and (8) to amend or modify any provision of this Agreement to reflect a statutory or regulatory change regarding the federal income tax treatment of the “profits interest” of the Special Limited Partner or to ensure that the receipt of the Special Limited Partner’s profits interest will not result in taxation to the Special Limited Partner. The General Partner will provide notice to the Limited Partners when any action under this Section 7.3D is taken. E. Notwithstanding Sections 7.3B and 7.3D, this Agreement shall not be amended with respect to any Partner adversely affected, and no action may be taken by the General Partner, without the Consent of such Partner adversely affected if such amendment or action would (i) convert a Limited Partner’s interest in the Partnership into a general partner’s interest (except as the result of the General Partner acquiring such interest), (ii) modify the limited liability of a Limited Partner, (iii) alter rights of the Partner to receive distributions pursuant to Article 5 or Section 13.2A(4), or the allocations specified in Article 6 (except as permitted pursuant to Sections 4.4, 5.4, and Section 7.3D(2)), (iv) materially alter or modify the rights to a Redemption or the REIT Shares Amount as set forth in Section 8.6, and related definitions hereof, or (v) amend this Section 7.3E. Further, no amendment may alter the restrictions on the General Partner’s authority set forth elsewhere in this Section 7.3 or in Section 11.2A without the Consent specified in such section. This Section 7.3E does not require unanimous consent of all Partners adversely affected unless the amendment is to be effective against all partners adversely affected.
