AMENDMENT NO. 3 TO FIRST AMENDED AND RESTATED AGREEMENT OF LIMITED PARTNERSHIP OF BLACK STONE MINERALS, L.P. December 11, 2017
Exhibit 3.1
AMENDMENT NO. 3 TO FIRST AMENDED AND RESTATED
AGREEMENT OF LIMITED PARTNERSHIP OF BLACK STONE MINERALS, L.P.
December 11, 2017
This Amendment No. 3 (this “Amendment”) to First Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Black Stone Minerals, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership (the “Partnership”), dated as of May 6, 2015, as amended by Amendment No. 1 to First Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Black Stone Minerals, L.P. dated as of April 15, 2016 and Amendment No. 2 to First Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Black Stone Minerals, L.P. dated as of November 28, 2017, (as so amended, the “Partnership Agreement”) is entered into effective as of December 11, 2017, by, Black Stone Minerals GP, L.L.C., a Delaware limited liability company (the “General Partner”), in accordance with Article XIII of the Partnership Agreement. Capitalized terms used but not defined herein are used as defined in the Partnership Agreement.
R E C I T A L S
WHEREAS, the General Partner is the sole general partner of the Partnership that is governed by the Partnership Agreement;
WHEREAS, the General Partner has determined that this Amendment (i) is necessary and appropriate to ensure that the Partnership will not be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxed as an entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes and to satisfy requirements, conditions or guidelines contained in any opinion, directive, order, ruling or regulation, (ii) is required to effect the intent expressed in the Registration Statement or the intent of the provisions of the Partnership Agreement or is otherwise contemplated by the Partnership Agreement or is required to effect any Required Provision and (iii) does not adversely affect the Limited Partners (including any particular class of Partnership Interests as compared to other classes of Partnership Interests) in any material respect; and
WHEREAS, acting pursuant to the power and authority granted to it under Section 13.1(c) and 13.1(d) of the Partnership Agreement, the General Partner has determined that this Amendment does not require the approval of any Partner.
NOW, THEREFORE, it is hereby agreed as follows:
A G R E E M E N T
NOW, THEREFORE, the Partnership Agreement is hereby amended as follows:
1. Section 5.6(b). The date of “August 30, 2019” included in the first line of Section 5.6(b) is hereby changed to “June 30, 2019.”
2. Section 9.3. Section 9.3 is hereby deleted in its entirety and replaced in full as follows:
Tax Controversies.
(a) Subject to the provisions hereof, the General Partner, or such other Partner as the General Partner shall designate, is designated as the Tax Matters Partner (as defined in Section 6231(a)(7) of the Code as in effect prior to the enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015), and the Partnership Representative (as defined in Section 6223 of the Code following the enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 or under any applicable state or local law providing for an analogous capacity) and is authorized and required to represent the Partnership (at the Partnership’s expense) in connection with all examinations of the Partnership’s affairs by tax authorities, including resulting administrative and judicial proceedings, and to expend Partnership funds for professional services and costs associated therewith. In its capacity as the Partnership Representative, the General Partner, or such other Partner as the General Partner has designated, shall exercise any and all authority of the Partnership Representative, including, without limitation, (i) binding the Partnership and its Partners with respect to tax matters and (ii) determining whether to make any available election under Section 6226 of the Code or an analogous election under state or local law, which election permits the Partnership to pass any partnership adjustment through to the Persons who were Partners of the Partnership in the year to which the adjustment relates and irrespective of whether such Persons are Partners of the Partnership at the time such election is made. Each Partner agrees to cooperate with the General Partner, or such other Partner as the General Partner has designated, and to do or refrain from doing any or all things reasonably required by the General Partner, or such other Partner as the General Partner has designated, in its capacity as Tax Matters Partner or Partnership Representative. For Partners that are not tax-exempt entities (as defined in Section 168(h)(2) of the Code) and subject to the General Partner’s discretion to seek modifications of an imputed underpayment, this cooperation includes (i) filing amended federal, state or local tax returns, paying any additional tax (including interest, penalties and other additions to tax), and providing the General Partner with an affidavit swearing to those facts (all within the requisite time periods), and (ii) providing any other information requested by the General Partner in order to seek modifications of an imputed underpayment. For Partners that are tax-exempt entities (as defined in Section 168(h)(2) of the Code) and subject to the General Partner’s discretion to seek modifications of an imputed underpayment, this cooperation includes providing the General Partner with information necessary to establish the Partner’s tax-exempt status. This agreement to cooperate applies irrespective of whether such Persons are Partners of the Partnership at the time of the requested cooperation.
(b) Each Partner agrees that notice of or updates regarding tax controversies shall be deemed conclusively to have been given or made by the General Partner, or such other Partner as the General Partner has designated, if the Partnership has either (i) filed the information for which notice is required with the Commission via its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval system and such information is publicly available on such system or (ii) made the information for which notice is required available on any publicly available website maintained by the Partnership, whether or not such Partner remains a Partner in the Partnership at the time such information is made publicly available. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, nothing in this provision shall obligate the Partnership Representative to provide notice to the Partners other than as required by the Code.
(c) The General Partner may amend the provisions of this Agreement as it determines appropriate to satisfy any requirements, conditions, or guidelines set forth in any amendment to the provisions of Subchapter C of Chapter 63 of Subtitle F of the Code, any analogous provisions of the laws of any state or locality or the promulgation of regulations or publication of other administrative guidance thereunder.
3. Section 9.4. Section 9.4 is hereby deleted in its entirety and replaced in full as follows:
Withholding and Other Tax Payments by the Partnership.
(a) The General Partner may treat taxes paid by the Partnership on behalf of all or less than all of the Partners as a distribution of cash to such Partners, as a general expense of the Partnership or as indemnifiable payments made by the Partnership on behalf of the Partners or former Partners (as provided in Section 9.4(c)), as determined appropriate under the circumstances by the General Partner.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, the General Partner is authorized to take any action that may be required to cause the Partnership and other Group Members to comply with any withholding requirements established under the Code or any other federal, state or local law including pursuant to Sections 1441, 1442, 1445 and 1446 of the Code. To the extent that the Partnership is required or elects to withhold and pay over to any taxing authority any amount resulting from the allocation or distribution of income or from a distribution to any Partner (including by reason of Section 1446 of the Code), the General Partner may treat the amount withheld as a distribution of cash pursuant to Section 6.3 or Section 12.4(c) in the amount of such withholding from such Partner.
(c) If the Partnership pays an imputed underpayment under Section 6225 of the Code and/or any analogous provision of the laws of any state or locality, the General Partner may require that some or all of the Partners of the Partnership in the year to which the underpayment relates indemnify the Partnership for their allocable share of that underpayment (including interest, penalties and other additions to tax). This indemnification obligation shall not apply to a Partner to the extent that (i) the Partnership received a modification of the imputed underpayment under Section 6225(c)(2) of the Code (or any analogous provision of state or local law) due to the Partner’s filing of amended tax returns and payment of any resulting tax (including interest, penalties and other additions to tax), (ii) the Partner is a tax-exempt entity (as defined in Section 168(h)(2) of the Code) and either the Partnership received a modification of the imputed underpayment under Section 6225(c)(3) of the Code (or any analogous provision of state or local law) because of such Partner’s status as a tax-exempt entity or the Partnership did not make a good faith effort to obtain a modification of the imputed underpayment due to such Partner’s status as a tax-exempt entity, or (iii) the Partnership received a modification of the imputed underpayment under Section 6225(c)(4)-(6) of the Code (or any analogous provision of state or local law) as a result of other information that was either provided by the Partner or otherwise available to the Partnership with respect to the Partner. This indemnification obligation imposed on Partners, including former Partners, applies irrespective of whether such Persons are Partners of the Partnership at the time the Partnership pays the imputed underpayment.
4. Ratification. Except as expressly amended hereby, the Partnership Agreement is hereby ratified and confirmed and shall continue in full force and effect.
5. Governing Law. This Amendment shall be construed in accordance with and governed by the laws of the State of Delaware.
[Signature page follows]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the General Partner has executed and delivered this Amendment in accordance with Section 13.1 of the Partnership Agreement, and as of the date first above written.
| BLACK STONE MINERALS GP, L.L.C., as General Partner | ||
| By: | /s/ Xxxxx Xxxxxx | |
| Name: | Xxxxx Xxxxxx | |
| Title: | Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary | |
