424B3
Table of Contents

Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3)
Registration No. 333-220017

PROSPECTUS

Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P.

202,450,687

Common Units Representing Limited Partner Interests

 

 

This prospectus relates to 202,450,687 common units representing limited partner interests (the “Common Units”) in Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. (the “Partnership”) that were issued to or acquired by the selling unitholders named in this prospectus or in any supplement to this prospectus or any transferee, assignee or other successor-in-interest to the selling unitholders (the “Selling Unitholders”).

We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of Common Units owned by the Selling Unitholders. For a more detailed discussion of the Selling Unitholders, please read “Selling Unitholders.”

The Common Units may be offered and sold by each of the Selling Unitholders for its own account from time to time in accordance with the provisions set forth under “Plan of Distribution.” The Selling Unitholders may offer and sell the Common Units to or through one or more underwriters, dealers and agents, who may receive compensation in the form of discounts, concessions or commissions, or directly to purchasers, on a continuous or delayed basis. The Selling Unitholders may offer and sell the Common Units at various times in amounts, at prices and on terms to be determined by market conditions and other factors at the time of such offerings. This prospectus describes the general terms of the Common Units and the general manner in which the Common Units may be offered and sold by the Selling Unitholders. The specific manner in which the Selling Unitholders will offer and sell the Common Units will be described in a supplement to this prospectus, which may also add to, update or change the information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus. You should carefully read this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement and the documents we refer to under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information” of this prospectus before you purchase any of our Common Units.

Our Common Units are traded on the NYSE American under the symbol “CQP.” The last reported sales price of our Common Units on the NYSE American on September 6, 2017 was $28.04 per Common Unit.

 

 

Investing in our Common Units involves risks. You should carefully read and consider the risks related to an investment in our Common Units and each of the other risk factors described under “Risk Factors” on page 1 of this prospectus, in any applicable prospectus supplement and in our periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission before you make an investment in our Common Units.

 

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities, or determined if this prospectus or any prospectus supplement is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

The date of this prospectus is September 7, 2017.


Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

     ii  

INDUSTRY AND MARKET DATA

     ii  

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

     ii  

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

     iv  

ABOUT CHENIERE ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

     1  

RISK FACTORS

     1  

USE OF PROCEEDS

     1  

CASH DISTRIBUTION POLICY AND RESTRICTIONS ON DISTRIBUTIONS

     2  

HOW WE MAKE CASH DISTRIBUTIONS

     4  

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND FIDUCIARY DUTIES

     14  

DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMON UNITS

     22  

THE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

     24  

MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES

     38  

INVESTMENT IN CHENIERE ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P. BY EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

     54  

SELLING UNITHOLDERS

     56  

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

     57  

LEGAL MATTERS

     61  

EXPERTS

     61  

 

 

In making your investment decision, you should rely only on the information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement. Neither we nor any of the Selling Unitholders has authorized anyone to provide you with any other information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it.

You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus or in any prospectus supplement is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front cover of those documents. You should not assume that the information contained in the documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus or in any prospectus supplement is accurate as of any date other than the respective dates of those documents. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.

This prospectus and any prospectus supplement is not an offer to sell, nor a solicitation of an offer to buy, Common Units in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

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ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

This prospectus is part of a registration statement on Form S-3 that we have filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), utilizing a “shelf” registration process. Under this shelf registration process, the Selling Unitholders may, from time to time, offer and sell up to 202,450,687 Common Units, a portion of which were issued to one of the Selling Unitholders upon conversion of 100,000,000 of the Partnership’s Class B units representing limited partner interests (the “Class B Units”) on August 2, 2017.

This prospectus provides you with a general description of Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. and the Common Units that are registered hereunder that may be offered by the Selling Unitholders. Because each of the Selling Unitholders may be deemed to be an “underwriter” within the meaning of the Securities Act, each time any of the Selling Unitholders offers Common Units with this prospectus, such Selling Unitholder is required to provide you with this prospectus and the related prospectus supplement that will describe, among other things, the specific amounts and prices of the Common Units being offered and the terms of the offering.

The specific manner in which the Common Units may be offered and sold will be described in a supplement to this prospectus or a free writing prospectus. Any prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus may add to, update or change the information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus. Any statement made or incorporated by reference in this prospectus will be modified or superseded by any inconsistent statement made in a prospectus supplement or a free writing prospectus. Therefore, you should read this prospectus (including any documents incorporated by reference) and any prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus before you invest in our Common Units.

This prospectus does not contain all of the information set forth in the registration statement, or the exhibits that are a part of the registration statement, parts of which are omitted as permitted by the rules and regulations of the SEC. Additional information, including our financial statements and the notes thereto, is incorporated in this prospectus by reference to our reports filed with the SEC. Please read “Where You Can Find More Information.” You are urged to read carefully this prospectus and any attached prospectus supplements relating to the securities offered to you, together with the additional information described under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information,” before investing in our Common Units.

Unless the context requires otherwise, as used in this prospectus, “Cheniere Partners,” “the Partnership,” “we,” “our,” “us” or like terms mean Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership, and its subsidiaries. References to our “general partner” refer to Cheniere Energy Partners GP, LLC, the general partner of the Partnership, which effectively manages the business and affairs of the Partnership. References to our “partnership agreement” refer to the Fourth Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of the Partnership.

INDUSTRY AND MARKET DATA

A portion of the market data and certain other statistical information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus is based on independent industry publications, government publications or other published independent sources. Some data is also based on our good faith estimates and our management’s understanding of industry conditions. While we are not aware of any misstatements regarding our market, industry or similar data presented herein, such data involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on various factors, including those discussed under the headings “Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors.”

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

We have filed a registration statement with the SEC under the Securities Act that registers the Common Units offered by this prospectus. The registration statement, including the attached exhibits, contains additional

 

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relevant information about us. The rules and regulations of the SEC allow us to omit some information included in the registration statement from this prospectus.

In addition, we file annual, quarterly and current reports and other information with the SEC. You may read and copy any document we file at the SEC’s public reference room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-732-0330 for further information on the operation of the SEC’s public reference room. Our SEC filings are available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. We also make available free of charge on our website at http://www.cheniere.com, all materials that we file electronically with the SEC, including our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, Section 16 reports and amendments to these reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after such materials are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC.

The SEC allows us to “incorporate by reference” the information we have filed with the SEC. This means that we can disclose important information to you without actually including the specific information in this prospectus by referring you to other documents filed separately with the SEC. These other documents contain important information about us, our financial condition and our results of operations. The information incorporated by reference is an important part of this prospectus. Any statement contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this prospectus to the extent that a statement contained herein, or in any subsequently filed document which also is incorporated by reference herein, modifies or supersedes such earlier statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this prospectus.

Unless otherwise specified, information contained on, or available by hyperlink from, our website or contained on the SEC’s website is not incorporated into this prospectus.

We incorporate by reference the documents listed below and any future filings we make with the SEC under Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), (excluding any information in those documents that is deemed by the rules of the SEC to be furnished and not filed with the SEC) until all offerings under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part are completed or terminated:

 

    our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, filed on February 24, 2017;

 

    our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2017, filed on May 4, 2017 and for the quarter ended June 30, 2017, filed on August 8, 2017;

 

    our Current Reports on Form 8-K filed on January 20, 2017, February 21, 2017, February 27, 2017, March 6, 2017, April 21, 2017, July 21, 2017 and August 16, 2017; and

 

    the description of our Common Units contained in our registration statement on Form 8-A12B (File No. 001-33366) filed on March 15, 2007.

You may obtain copies of any of the documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus from the SEC through the SEC’s website at the address provided above. You also may request a copy of any document incorporated by reference in this prospectus (including exhibits to those documents specifically incorporated by reference in this prospectus), at no cost, by visiting our website at http://www.cheniere.com, or by writing or calling us at the following address:

Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P.

700 Milam Street, Suite 1900

Houston, Texas 77002

(713) 375-5000

Attn: Investor Relations

 

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus, any prospectus supplement and the documents we incorporate by reference herein and therein may contain certain statements that are, or may be deemed to be, “forward-looking statements.” All statements, other than statements of historical or present facts or conditions, included herein or incorporated herein by reference are “forward-looking statements.” Included among “forward-looking statements” are, among other things:

 

    statements regarding our ability to pay distributions to our unitholders;

 

    statements regarding our expected receipt of cash distributions from Sabine Pass LNG, L.P. (“SPLNG”), Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC (“SPL”) or Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline, L.P. (“CTPL”);

 

    statements that we expect to commence or complete construction of our proposed liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) terminals, liquefaction facilities, pipeline facilities or other projects, or any expansions or portions thereof, by certain dates, or at all;

 

    statements regarding future levels of domestic and international natural gas production, supply or consumption or future levels of LNG imports into or exports from North America and other countries worldwide or purchases of natural gas, regardless of the source of such information, or the transportation or other infrastructure or demand for and prices related to natural gas, LNG or other hydrocarbon products;

 

    statements regarding any financing transactions or arrangements, or our ability to enter into such transactions;

 

    statements relating to the construction of our natural gas liquefaction Trains (“Trains”), including statements concerning the engagement of any engineering, procurement and construction (“EPC”) contractor or other contractor and the anticipated terms and provisions of any agreement with any such EPC or other contractor, and anticipated costs related thereto;

 

    statements regarding any LNG sale and purchase agreement (“SPA”) or other agreement to be entered into or performed substantially in the future, including any revenues anticipated to be received and the anticipated timing thereof, and statements regarding the amounts of total LNG regasification, natural gas liquefaction or storage capacities that are, or may become, subject to contracts;

 

    statements regarding counterparties to our commercial contracts, construction contracts and other contracts;

 

    statements regarding our planned development and construction of additional Trains;

 

    statements that our Trains, when completed, will have certain characteristics, including amounts of liquefaction capacities;

 

    statements regarding our business strategy, our strengths, our business and operation plans or any other plans, forecasts, projections, or objectives, including anticipated revenues, capital expenditures, maintenance and operating costs and cash flows, any or all of which are subject to change;

 

    statements regarding legislative, governmental, regulatory, administrative or other public body actions, approvals, requirements, permits, applications, filings, investigations, proceedings or decisions; and

 

    any other statements that relate to non-historical or future information.

All of these types of statements, other than statements of historical or present facts or conditions, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “project,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “pursue,” “target,” “continue,” the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology. The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus, any prospectus supplement and the

 

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documents incorporated herein and therein are largely based on our expectations, which reflect estimates and assumptions made by our management. These estimates and assumptions reflect our best judgment based on known market conditions and other factors at the time of the statement. Although we believe that such estimates are reasonable, they are inherently uncertain and involve a number of risks and uncertainties beyond our control. In addition, assumptions may prove to be inaccurate. We caution that the forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus, any prospectus supplement and the documents incorporated by reference herein and therein are not guarantees of future performance and that such statements may not be realized or the forward-looking statements or events may not occur. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated or implied in forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors described in this prospectus, any prospectus supplement and the documents incorporated by reference herein and therein and in the other reports and other information that we file with the SEC, including those discussed under “Risk Factors”. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these risk factors. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and other than as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement or provide reasons why actual results may differ, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

 

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ABOUT CHENIERE ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P.

We are a publicly traded Delaware limited partnership formed by Cheniere Energy, Inc. (“Cheniere”). Our vision is to be recognized as the premier global LNG company and provide a reliable, competitive and integrated source of LNG to our customers while creating a safe, productive and rewarding work environment for our employees. The liquefaction of natural gas into LNG allows it to be shipped economically from areas of the world where natural gas is abundant and inexpensive to produce to other areas where natural gas demand and infrastructure exist to economically justify the use of LNG. Through our wholly owned subsidiary, SPL, we are developing, constructing and operating natural gas liquefaction facilities (the “Liquefaction Project”) at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal located in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, on the Sabine-Neches Waterway less than four miles from the Gulf Coast. We plan to construct up to six Trains, which are in various stages of development, construction and operations. Trains 1 through 3 are operational, Train 4 is undergoing commissioning, Train 5 is under construction and Train 6 is being commercialized and has all necessary regulatory approvals in place. Each Train is expected to have a nominal production capacity, which is prior to adjusting for planned maintenance, production reliability and potential overdesign, of approximately 4.5 mtpa of LNG. Through our wholly owned subsidiary, SPLNG, we own and operate regasification facilities at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal, which includes existing infrastructure of five LNG storage tanks with capacity of approximately 16.9 Bcfe, two marine berths that can accommodate vessels with nominal capacity of up to 266,000 cubic meters and vaporizers with regasification capacity of approximately 4.0 Bcf/d. We also own a 94-mile pipeline that interconnects the Sabine Pass LNG terminal with a number of large interstate pipelines through our wholly owned subsidiary, CTPL.

Our Common Units have been publicly traded since March 21, 2007 and are traded on the NYSE American under the symbol “CQP.” Our principal executive offices are located at 700 Milam Street, Suite 1900, Houston, Texas 77002, and our telephone number is (713) 375-5000.

RISK FACTORS

An investment in our Common Units involves risks. Before you invest in our Common Units, you should consider carefully the risk factors in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and our other reports filed from time to time with the SEC, which are incorporated by reference into this prospectus, as the same may be amended, supplemented or superseded from time to time by our filings under the Exchange Act, as well as those that may be included in any applicable prospectus supplement. Before making an investment decision, you should carefully consider these risks as well as all of the other information included or incorporated by reference in this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement and the documents we incorporate by reference.

If any of these risks were to materialize, our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. In that case, our ability to make distributions to our unitholders may be reduced, the trading price of our Common Units could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment.

USE OF PROCEEDS

We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of Common Units by the Selling Unitholders. The Selling Unitholders will receive all of the net proceeds from the sale of Common Units.

 

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CASH DISTRIBUTION POLICY AND RESTRICTIONS ON DISTRIBUTIONS

General

Rationale for Our Cash Distribution Policy

Our cash distribution policy reflects a basic judgment that our unitholders will be better served by our distributing our cash available after expenses and reserves rather than retaining it. Because we are not subject to entity level federal income tax, we will have more cash to distribute to our unitholders than would be the case were we subject to tax. Our cash distribution policy is consistent with the terms of our partnership agreement, which requires that we distribute all of our available cash quarterly.

Limitations on Our Ability to Pay Quarterly Distributions

There is no guarantee that unitholders will receive quarterly distributions from us. Our distribution policy may be changed at any time and is subject to certain restrictions and uncertainties, including:

 

    Our ability to pay distributions to our unitholders will depend on the performance of us and our subsidiaries, and their ability to make distributions to us, which may be limited by the terms of our and their indebtedness.

 

    We may lack sufficient cash to pay distributions to our unitholders due to a number of factors that could adversely affect us. Please read “Risk Factors.”

 

    Our general partner has broad discretion to establish reserves for the prudent conduct of our business, and the establishment of those reserves could result in a reduction of our cash distributions to you from levels we currently anticipate pursuant to our stated distribution policy.

 

    Even if our cash distribution policy is not modified, the amount of distributions that we pay under our cash distribution policy and the decision to pay any distribution is determined by our general partner, taking into consideration the terms of our partnership agreement.

 

    Although our partnership agreement requires us to distribute our available cash, our partnership agreement may be amended. During the subordination period, with certain exceptions, our partnership agreement may not be amended without the approval of a majority of nonaffiliated common unitholders. However, our partnership agreement can be amended with the consent of our general partner and the approval of a majority of the outstanding common units, after the subordination period has ended. Affiliates of our general partner own approximately 30.0% of our common units outstanding as of August 3, 2017. If the subordinated units were converted into common units, affiliates of our general partner would own approximately 49.6% of our common units outstanding as of August 3, 2017.

 

    Under Section 17-607 of the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act, we may not make a distribution to you if the distribution would cause our liabilities to exceed the fair value of our assets.

Our Cash Distribution Policy May Limit Our Ability to Grow

We will distribute all of our available cash to our unitholders. As a result, we expect to rely primarily upon external financing sources, including commercial borrowings and issuances of debt or equity securities of us or our subsidiaries, to fund our acquisition and capital investment expenditures. The incurrence of additional commercial borrowings or other debt to finance our operations would result in increased interest expense, which in turn may impact the available cash that we have to distribute to our unitholders. If we are unable to finance growth externally, our cash distribution policy could significantly impair our ability to grow.

After the subordination period, there are no limitations in our partnership agreement on our ability to issue additional units, including units ranking senior to the common units. To the extent we issue additional units, the

 

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payment of distributions on those additional units may increase the risk that we will be unable to maintain or increase our per unit distribution level, which in turn may impact the available cash that we have to distribute on each unit.

Cash Distributions

The amount of the initial quarterly distribution on our common units is $0.425 per unit, or $1.70 per year. Until the end of the subordination period, before we make any quarterly distributions to subordinated unitholders, our common unitholders are entitled to receive payment of the full initial quarterly distribution plus any arrearages from prior quarters. Please read “How We Make Cash Distributions—Subordination Period.”

Our general partner is entitled to 2% of all distributions that we make prior to our liquidation. The general partner’s 2% interest in these distributions may be reduced if we issue additional units in the future and our general partner does not contribute a proportionate amount of capital to us to maintain its 2% general partner interest. Our general partner has the right, but not the obligation, to contribute a proportionate amount of capital to us to maintain its current general partner interest.

Distributions on the Class B Units

In 2012, we issued Class B Units, a new class of equity interests representing limited partner interests in us, in connection with the development of our project to add liquefaction capabilities adjacent to the Sabine Pass LNG terminal. The Class B Units were not entitled to cash distributions except in the event of our liquidation (or merger, combination or sale of substantially all of our assets). The Class B Units were subject to conversion, mandatorily or at the option of the holders of the Class B Units under specified circumstances, into a number of common units based on the then-applicable conversion value of the Class B Units. On a quarterly basis beginning on the initial purchase of the Class B Units, and ending on the conversion date of the Class B Units, the conversion value of the Class B Units increased at a compounded rate of 3.5% per quarter. The holders of Class B Units had a preference over the holders of the subordinated units in the event of our liquidation (or merger, combination or sale of substantially all of our assets). On August 2, 2017, all of our outstanding Class B Units mandatorily converted into common units.

In this section, references to “unitholders” made in the context of the recipients of quarterly cash distributions refer to our common unitholders and subordinated unitholders.

 

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HOW WE MAKE CASH DISTRIBUTIONS

Distributions of Available Cash

General

Our partnership agreement requires that, within 45 days after the end of each quarter, we distribute all of our available cash to unitholders of record on the applicable record date. In this section, references to “unitholders” refer to our common unitholders and subordinated unitholders.

Definition of Available Cash

We define available cash in our partnership agreement, and it generally means, for each fiscal quarter, the sum of all cash and cash equivalents on hand at the end of the quarter:

 

    less the amount of cash reserves established by our general partner to:

 

    provide for the proper conduct of our business;

 

    comply with applicable law, any of our debt instruments, or other agreements; and

 

    provide funds for distributions to our unitholders and to our general partner for any one or more of the next four quarters;

 

    plus all additional cash and cash equivalents 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 a credit facility, commercial paper facility or similar financing arrangement, and in all cases are used solely for working capital purposes or to pay distributions to partners and with the intent of the borrower to repay such borrowings within 12 months.

Minimum Quarterly Distribution

We will distribute to the holders of common units and subordinated units on a quarterly basis at least the minimum quarterly distribution of $0.425 per unit, or $1.70 per year, to the extent that we have sufficient cash from our operations after establishment of cash reserves and payment of fees and expenses, including payments to our general partner. However, there is no guarantee that we will pay the minimum quarterly distribution on the units in any quarter. Even if our cash distribution policy is not modified or revoked, the amount of distributions paid under our policy and the decision to make any distribution is determined by our general partner, taking into consideration the terms of our partnership agreement. Please see “Cash Distribution Policy and Restrictions on Distributions” for a discussion of the restrictions that may restrict our ability to make distributions.

General Partner Interest and Incentive Distribution Rights

Our general partner is currently entitled to 2% of all quarterly distributions that we make prior to our liquidation. This general partner interest is represented by 9,877,523 general partner units as of August 3, 2017. Our general partner has the right, but not the obligation, to contribute a proportionate amount of capital to us to maintain its current general partner interest. The general partner’s 2% interest in these distributions may be reduced if we issue additional units in the future and our general partner does not contribute a proportionate amount of capital to us to maintain its 2% general partner interest.

Our general partner also currently holds incentive distribution rights that entitle it to receive increasing percentages, up to a maximum of 50%, of the cash that we distribute from operating surplus (as defined below) in excess of $0.489 per unit per quarter. Please see “—Incentive Distribution Rights” for additional information.

 

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Operating Surplus and Capital Surplus

Overview

All cash distributed to unitholders will be characterized as either “operating surplus” or “capital surplus.” We treat distributions of available cash from operating surplus differently than distributions of available cash from capital surplus.

Definition of Operating Surplus

We define operating surplus in our partnership agreement, and for any period it generally means:

 

    $30 million (as described below); plus

 

    all of our cash receipts, excluding cash from:

 

    borrowings that are not working capital borrowings,

 

    sales of equity securities and debt securities,

 

    sales or other dispositions of assets outside the ordinary course of business,

 

    the termination of commodity hedge contracts or interest rate swap agreements prior to the termination date specified therein,

 

    capital contributions received, and

 

    corporate reorganizations or restructurings; plus

 

    working capital borrowings made after the end of a quarter but on or before the date of determination of operating surplus for the quarter; plus

 

    cash distributions paid on equity issued in connection with the construction or development of a capital improvement or replacement asset during the period beginning on the date that we enter into a binding commitment to commence the construction or development of such capital improvement or replacement asset and ending on the earlier to occur of the date the capital improvement or replacement asset is placed into service and the date that it is abandoned or disposed of; less

 

    all of our operating expenditures (as defined below); less

 

    the amount of cash reserves established by our general partner to provide funds for future operating expenditures; less

 

    all working capital borrowings not repaid within twelve months after having been incurred or repaid within such twelve-month period with the proceeds of additional working capital borrowings.

If a working capital borrowing, which increases operating surplus, is not repaid during the twelve month period following the borrowing, it will be deemed repaid at the end of such period, thus decreasing operating surplus at such time. When such working capital is in fact repaid, it will not be treated as a reduction in operating surplus because operating surplus will have been previously reduced by the deemed repayment.

We define operating expenditures in our partnership agreement, and it generally means all of our expenditures, including, but not limited to, taxes, payments to our general partner, reimbursements of expenses incurred by our general partner on our behalf, non-pro rata repurchases of units, repayment of working capital borrowings, debt service payments, interest payments, payments made in the ordinary course of business under commodity hedge contracts and maintenance capital expenditures, provided that operating expenditures will not include, among others, the following:

 

    repayment of working capital borrowings deducted from operating surplus pursuant to the last bullet point of the definition of operating surplus above when such repayment actually occurs;

 

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    payments (including prepayments) of principal of and premium on indebtedness other than working capital borrowings;

 

    expansion capital expenditures;

 

    investment capital expenditures;

 

    payment of transaction expenses (including taxes) relating to interim capital transactions;

 

    distributions to our partners;

 

    non-pro rata repurchases of units of any class made with the proceeds of an interim capital transaction (as defined below); and

 

    cash expenditures made to acquire, own, operate or maintain the operating capacity of the Creole Trail Pipeline prior to the date of first commercial delivery under the SPA with Gas Natural Fenosa.

Capital Expenditures

Maintenance capital expenditures are those capital expenditures required to maintain, including over the long-term, our operating capacity or asset base. Maintenance capital expenditures include interest (and related fees) on debt incurred and distributions on equity issued to finance the construction or development of a replacement asset during the period from the date we enter into a binding obligation to commence constructing or developing a replacement asset until the earlier to occur of the date any such replacement asset is placed into service and the date that it is abandoned or disposed.

Expansion capital expenditures are those capital expenditures that we expect will increase our operating capacity or asset base. Expansion capital expenditures include interest (and related fees) on debt incurred and distributions on equity issued to finance the construction or development of a capital improvement during the period from the date we enter into a binding commitment to commence construction or development of a capital improvement until the earlier to occur of the date any such capital improvement is placed into service and the date that it is abandoned or disposed.

Investment capital expenditures are those capital expenditures that are neither maintenance capital expenditures nor expansion capital expenditures. Examples of investment capital expenditures include traditional capital expenditures for investment purposes, such as purchases of securities, as well as other capital expenditures that might be made in lieu of such traditional investment capital expenditures, such as the acquisition of a capital asset for investment purposes, but which is not expected to expand our asset base for more than the short-term.

Neither investment capital expenditures nor expansion capital expenditures are subtracted from operating surplus. Because maintenance capital expenditures and expansion capital expenditures include interest payments (and related fees) on debt incurred and distributions on equity issued to finance the construction or development of a capital improvement or replacement asset during the period from such financing until the earlier to occur of the date any such capital improvement or replacement asset is placed into service or the date that it is abandoned or disposed, such interest payments and equity distributions are also not subtracted from operating surplus (except, in the case of maintenance capital expenditures, to the extent such interest payments and distributions are included in maintenance capital expenditures).

Capital expenditures that are made in part for maintenance capital purposes and in part for investment capital or expansion capital purposes will be allocated as maintenance capital expenditures, investment capital expenditures or expansion capital expenditures by our general partner, based upon its good faith determination, subject to concurrence by our conflicts committee.

 

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Definition of Capital Surplus

We also define capital surplus in our partnership agreement and in “—Characterization of Cash Distributions” below, and it will generally be generated only by the following, which we call “interim capital transactions:”

 

    borrowings other than working capital borrowings;

 

    sales of debt and equity securities;

 

    sales or other dispositions of assets for cash, other than inventory, accounts receivable and other assets sold in the ordinary course of business or as part of normal retirements or replacements of assets;

 

    the termination of commodity hedge contracts or interest rate swap agreements prior to the termination date specified therein;

 

    capital contributions received; and

 

    corporate reorganizations or restructurings.

Characterization of Cash Distributions

Our partnership agreement requires that we treat all available cash distributed as coming from operating surplus until the sum of all available cash distributed since we began operations equals the operating surplus as of the most recent date of determination of available cash. We will treat any amount distributed in excess of operating surplus, regardless of its source, as capital surplus. As reflected above, operating surplus includes a $30 million “basket.” This amount does not reflect actual cash on hand that is available for distribution to our unitholders. It is instead a provision that enables us, if we choose, to distribute as operating surplus up to $30 million of cash that we may receive from interim capital transactions that would otherwise be distributed as capital surplus. We do not anticipate that we will make any distributions from capital surplus.

Subordination Period

General

During the subordination period, the common units will have the right to receive distributions of available cash from operating surplus in an amount equal to the initial quarterly distribution of $0.425 per quarter, plus any arrearages in the payment of the initial quarterly distribution on the common units from prior quarters, before any distributions of available cash from operating surplus may be made on the subordinated units. Cheniere Energy Partners LP Holdings, LLC (“Cheniere Holdings”) owns all of the 135,383,831 subordinated units in us as of the date of this prospectus. These units are deemed “subordinated” because for a period of time, referred to as the subordination period, the subordinated units will not be entitled to receive any distributions until after the common units have received the initial quarterly distribution plus any arrearages from prior quarters. Furthermore, no arrearages will be paid on the subordinated units. The practical effect of the subordination period is to increase the likelihood that during this period there will be sufficient available cash to pay the initial quarterly distribution on the common units.

Definition of Subordination Period

The subordination period will extend until the first business day following the distribution of available cash to partners in respect of any quarter that each of the following occurs:

 

    distributions of available cash from operating surplus on each of the outstanding common units, subordinated units and any other outstanding units that are senior or equal in right of distribution to the subordinated units equaled or exceeded the initial quarterly distribution for each of the three consecutive, non-overlapping four-quarter periods immediately preceding that date;

 

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    the “adjusted operating surplus” (as defined below) generated during each of the three consecutive, non-overlapping four-quarter periods immediately preceding that date equaled or exceeded the sum of the initial quarterly distributions on all of the outstanding common units, subordinated units, general partner units and any other outstanding units that are senior or equal in right of distribution to the subordinated units during those periods on a fully diluted basis; and

 

    there are no arrearages in payment of the initial quarterly distribution on the common units.

Expiration of the Subordination Period

When the subordination period expires, each outstanding subordinated unit will convert into one common unit and will then participate pro rata with the other common units in distributions of available cash. In addition, if the unitholders remove our general partner other than for cause and units held by the general partner and its affiliates are not voted in favor of such removal:

 

    the subordination period will end and each subordinated unit will immediately convert into one common unit;

 

    any existing arrearages in payment of the initial quarterly distribution on the common units will be extinguished; and

 

    the general partner will have the right to convert its general partner units and its incentive distribution rights into common units or to receive cash in exchange for those interests.

Early Conversion of Subordinated Units

The subordination period will automatically terminate and all of the subordinated units will convert into common units on a one-for-one basis on the first business day following the distribution of available cash to partners in respect of any quarter that each of the following occurs:

 

    in connection with distributions of available cash from operating surplus, the amount of such distributions constituting “contracted adjusted operating surplus” (as defined below) on each outstanding common unit, subordinated unit and any other outstanding unit that is senior or equal in right of distribution to the subordinated units equaled or exceeded $0.638 (150% of the initial quarterly distribution) for each quarter in the four-quarter period immediately preceding that date;

 

    the contracted adjusted operating surplus generated during each quarter in the four-quarter period immediately preceding that date equaled or exceeded the sum of a distribution of $0.638 (150% of the initial quarterly distribution) on all of the outstanding common units, subordinated units, general partner units, any other units that are senior or equal in right of distribution to the subordinated units, and any other equity securities that are junior to the subordinated units that the board of directors of our general partner deems to be appropriate for the calculation, after consultation with management of our general partner, on a fully diluted basis; and

 

    there are no arrearages in payment of the initial quarterly distribution on the common units.

Definition of Adjusted Operating Surplus

We define adjusted operating surplus in our partnership agreement, and for any period, it generally means:

 

    operating surplus generated with respect to that period; less

 

    any net increase in working capital borrowings with respect to that period; less

 

    any net reduction in cash reserves for operating expenditures with respect to that period not relating to an operating expenditure made with respect to that period; plus

 

    any net decrease in working capital borrowings with respect to that period; plus

 

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    any net increase in cash reserves for operating expenditures with respect to that period required by any debt instrument for the repayment of principal, interest or premium.

Adjusted operating surplus is intended to reflect the cash generated from operations during a particular period and therefore excludes the $30 million operating surplus “basket,” net increases in working capital borrowings, net drawdowns of reserves of cash generated in prior periods.

Definition of Contracted Adjusted Operating Surplus

We define contracted adjusted operating surplus in our partnership agreement and it generally means:

 

    adjusted operating surplus derived solely from SPAs and terminal use agreements (“TUA”), in each case, with a minimum term of three years with counterparties who are not affiliates of Cheniere; and

 

    excludes revenues and expenses attributable to the portion of payments made under the LNG sale and purchase agreements related to the final settlement price for the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Henry Hub natural gas futures contract for the month in which the relevant cargo’s delivery window is scheduled.

Distributions of Available Cash from Operating Surplus During the Subordination Period

We will make distributions of available cash from operating surplus for any quarter during the subordination period in the following manner:

 

    First, 98% to the common unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until we distribute for each outstanding common unit an amount equal to the initial quarterly distribution for that quarter;

 

    Second, 98% to the common unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until we distribute for each outstanding common unit an amount equal to any arrearages in payment of the initial quarterly distribution on the common units for any prior quarters during the subordination period;

 

    Third, 98% to the subordinated unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until we distribute for each outstanding subordinated unit an amount equal to the initial quarterly distribution for that quarter; and

 

    Thereafter, in the manner described in “—Incentive Distribution Rights” below.

The preceding discussion is based on the assumptions that our general partner maintains its 2% general partner interest and that we do not issue additional classes of equity securities.

Distributions of Available Cash from Operating Surplus After the Subordination Period

We will make distributions of available cash from operating surplus for any quarter after the subordination period in the following manner:

 

    First, 98% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to the general partner, until we distribute for each outstanding unit an amount equal to the initial quarterly distribution for that quarter; and

 

    Thereafter, in the manner described in “—Incentive Distribution Rights” below.

The preceding discussion is based on the assumptions that our general partner maintains its 2% general partner interest and that we do not issue additional classes of equity securities.

Incentive Distribution Rights

Incentive distribution rights represent the right to receive an increasing percentage of quarterly distributions of available cash from operating surplus in excess of the initial quarterly distribution. Our general partner currently holds the incentive distribution rights but may transfer these rights separately from its general partner interest, subject to restrictions in our partnership agreement.

 

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If for any quarter:

 

    we have distributed available cash from operating surplus to the unitholders in an amount equal to the initial quarterly distribution; and

 

    we have distributed available cash from operating surplus on outstanding common units in an amount necessary to eliminate any cumulative arrearages in payment of the initial quarterly distribution to the common units;

then we will distribute any additional available cash from operating surplus for that quarter among the unitholders and our general partner in the following manner:

 

    First, 98% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until each unitholder receives a total of $0.489 per unit for that quarter (the “first target distribution”);

 

    Second, 85% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 15% to our general partner, until each unitholder receives a total of $0.531 per unit for that quarter (the “second target distribution”);

 

    Third, 75% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 25% to our general partner, until each unitholder receives a total of $0.638 per unit for that quarter (the “third target distribution”); and

 

    Thereafter, 50% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 50% to our general partner.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we distribute available cash from operating surplus as a result of the refinancing of our indebtedness for borrowed money, then the holder of the incentive distribution rights will not be entitled to any such distributions with respect thereto.

Percentage Allocations of Available Cash from Operating Surplus

The following table illustrates the percentage allocations of the additional available cash from operating surplus between the unitholders and our general partner up to the various target distribution levels. The amounts set forth under “Marginal Percentage Interest in Distributions” are the percentage interests of our general partner and the unitholders in any available cash from operating surplus that we distribute up to and including the corresponding amount in the column “Total Quarterly Distribution,” until available cash from operating surplus that we distribute reaches the next target distribution level, if any. The percentage interests shown for the unitholders and our general partner for the initial quarterly distribution are also applicable to quarterly distribution amounts that are less than the initial quarterly distribution. The percentage interests set forth below for our general partner include its 2% general partner interest and assume that our general partner maintains its 2% general partner interest and has not transferred its incentive distribution rights.

 

    

Total Quarterly Distribution

   Marginal Percentage
Interest in Distributions
 
    

Target Amount

   Common and
Subordinated
Unitholders
    General
Partner
 

Initial quarterly distribution

   $0.425      98     2

First Target Distribution

   above $0.425 up to $0.489      98     2

Second Target Distribution

   above $0.489 up to $0.531      85     15

Third Target Distribution

   above $0.531 up to $0.638      75     25

Thereafter

   above $0.638      50     50

 

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Distributions from Capital Surplus

How Distributions from Capital Surplus Will Be Made

We will make distributions of available cash from capital surplus, if any, in the following manner:

 

    First, 98% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until we distribute for each common unit that was issued in our initial public offering an amount of available cash from capital surplus equal to the initial public offering price;

 

    Second, 98% to the common unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until we distribute for each common unit an amount of available cash from capital surplus equal to any unpaid arrearages in payment of the initial quarterly distribution on the common units; and

 

    Thereafter, we will make all distributions of available cash from capital surplus as if they were from operating surplus.

The preceding discussion is based on the assumptions that our general partner maintains its 2% general partner interest and that we do not issue additional classes of equity securities.

Effect of a Distribution from Capital Surplus

Our partnership agreement treats a distribution of capital surplus as the repayment of the initial unit price from our initial public offering, which is a return of capital. The initial public offering price less any distributions of capital surplus per unit is referred to as the “unrecovered initial unit price.” Each time a distribution of capital surplus is made, the initial quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels will be reduced in the same proportion as the corresponding reduction in the unrecovered initial unit price. Because distributions of capital surplus will reduce the initial quarterly distribution, after any of these distributions are made, it may be easier for our general partner to receive incentive distributions and for the subordinated units to convert into common units. However, any distribution of capital surplus before the unrecovered initial unit price is reduced to zero cannot be applied to the payment of the initial quarterly distribution or any arrearages.

Once we distribute capital surplus on a unit in an amount equal to the initial unit price, we will reduce the initial quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels to zero. We will then make all future distributions from operating surplus, with 50% being paid to the unitholders, pro rata, and 50% to our general partner. The percentage interests shown for our general partner include its 2% general partner interest and assume that our general partner maintains its 2% general partner interest and has not transferred its incentive distribution rights.

Adjustment to the Initial Quarterly Distribution and Target Distribution Levels

In addition to adjusting the initial quarterly distribution and target distribution levels to reflect a distribution of capital surplus, if we combine our units into fewer units or subdivide our units into a greater number of units, we will proportionately adjust:

 

    the initial quarterly distribution;

 

    the target distribution levels;

 

    the unrecovered initial unit price; and

 

    the number of common units into which a subordinated unit is convertible.

For example, if a two-for-one split of the common units should occur, the initial quarterly distribution, the target distribution levels and the unrecovered initial unit price would each be reduced to 50% of its initial level and each subordinated unit would be convertible into two common units. We will not make any adjustment by reason of the issuance of additional units for cash or property.

 

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In addition, if legislation is enacted or if existing law is modified or interpreted by a court of competent jurisdiction so that we become taxable as a corporation or otherwise subjecting us to a material amount of entity level taxation for federal, state or local income tax purposes, our general partner may reduce the initial quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels for each quarter by multiplying each distribution level by a fraction, the numerator of which is available cash for that quarter (after deducting our general partner’s estimate of our aggregate liability for the quarter for such income taxes payable by reason of such legislation or interpretation) and the denominator of which is the sum of available cash for that quarter plus our general partner’s estimate of our aggregate liability for the quarter for such income taxes payable by reason of such legislation or interpretation. To the extent that the actual tax liability differs from the estimated tax liability for any quarter, the difference will be accounted for in subsequent quarters.

Distributions of Cash Upon Liquidation

General

If we dissolve in accordance with our partnership agreement, we will sell or otherwise dispose of our assets in a process called liquidation. We will first apply the proceeds of liquidation to the payment of our creditors. We will distribute any remaining proceeds to the unitholders and our general partner in accordance with their capital account balances, as adjusted below to reflect any income, gain, loss and deduction for the current period and gain or loss upon the sale or other disposition of our assets in liquidation.

Our allocations of gain and loss upon liquidation are intended, to the extent possible, to entitle the holders of outstanding common units to a preference over the holders of outstanding subordinated units upon our liquidation, to the extent required to permit common unitholders to receive their unrecovered initial unit price plus the initial quarterly distribution for the quarter during which liquidation occurs plus any unpaid arrearages in payment of the initial quarterly distribution on the common units. However, there may not be sufficient gain upon our liquidation to enable the holders of common units to fully recover all of these amounts, although there may be cash available for distribution to the holders of subordinated units. Any further net gain recognized upon liquidation will be allocated in a manner that takes into account the incentive distribution rights currently owned by our general partner.

Manner of Adjustments for Gain

The manner of the adjustment for gain is set forth in our partnership agreement. If our liquidation occurs before the end of the subordination period, we will allocate any item of gain to the partners in the following manner:

 

    First, to the general partner and the holders of units who have negative balances in their capital accounts to the extent of and in proportion to those negative balances;

 

    Second, 98% to the common unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until the capital account for each common unit is equal to the sum of:

(1)    the unrecovered initial unit price;

(2)    the amount of the initial quarterly distribution for the quarter during which our liquidation occurs; and

(3)    any unpaid arrearages in payment of the initial quarterly distribution;

 

    Third, 98% to the subordinated unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until the capital account for each subordinated unit is equal to the sum of:

(1)    the unrecovered initial unit price; and

(2)    the amount of the initial quarterly distribution for the quarter during which our liquidation occurs;

 

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    Fourth, 98% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, until we allocate under this paragraph an amount per unit equal to:

(1)     the sum of the excess of the first target distribution per unit over the initial quarterly distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence; less

(2)    the cumulative amount per unit of any distributions of available cash from operating surplus in excess of the initial quarterly distribution per unit that we distributed 98% to the unitholders, pro rata, and 2% to our general partner, for each quarter of our existence;

 

    Fifth, 85% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 15% to our general partner, until we allocate under this paragraph an amount per unit equal to:

(1)     the sum of the excess of the second target distribution per unit over the first target distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence; less

(2)    the cumulative amount per unit of any distributions of available cash from operating surplus in excess of the first target distribution per unit that we distributed 85% to the unitholders, pro rata, and 15% to our general partner for each quarter of our existence;

 

    Sixth, 75% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 25% to our general partner, until we allocate under this paragraph an amount per unit equal to:

(1)     the sum of the excess of the third target distribution per unit over the second target distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence; less

(2)     the cumulative amount per unit of any distributions of available cash from operating surplus in excess of the second target distribution per unit that we distributed 75% to the unitholders, pro rata, and 25% to our general partner for each quarter of our existence; and

 

    Thereafter, 50% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 50% to our general partner.

The percentages set forth above are based on the assumptions that our general partner maintains its 2% general partner interest and has not transferred its incentive distribution rights and that we do not issue additional classes of equity securities.

If the liquidation occurs after the end of the subordination period, the distinction between common units and subordinated units will disappear, so that clause (3) of the second bullet point above and all of the third bullet point above will no longer be applicable.

Manner of Adjustments for Losses

If our liquidation occurs before the end of the subordination period, we will generally allocate any loss to our general partner and the unitholders in the following manner:

 

    First, 98% to holders of subordinated units in proportion to the positive balances in their capital accounts and 2% to our general partner, until the capital accounts of the subordinated unitholders have been reduced to zero;

 

    Second, 98% to the holders of common units in proportion to the positive balances in their capital accounts and 2% to our general partner, until the capital accounts of the common unitholders have been reduced to zero; and

 

    Thereafter, 100% to our general partner.

The 2% interests set forth in the first and second bullet points above for our general partner are based on the assumptions that our general partner maintains its 2% general partner interest and that we do not issue additional classes of equity securities.

 

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If the liquidation occurs after the end of the subordination period, the distinction between common units and subordinated units will disappear, so that all of the first bullet point above will no longer be applicable.

Adjustments to Capital Accounts

We will make adjustments to capital accounts upon the issuance of additional units. In the event of an issuance of additional units, we will allocate any unrealized and, for tax purposes, unrecognized gain or loss resulting from the adjustments to the unitholders and our general partner in the same manner as we allocate gain or loss upon liquidation. In the event that we make positive adjustments to the capital accounts upon the issuance of additional units, we will allocate any later negative adjustments to the capital accounts resulting from the issuance of additional units or upon our liquidation in a manner which results, to the extent possible, in our general partner’s capital account balances equaling the amount which they would have been if no earlier positive adjustments to the capital accounts had been made.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND FIDUCIARY DUTIES

Conflicts of Interest

Conflicts of interest exist and may arise in the future as a result of the relationships between our general partner and its affiliates, including Cheniere and Cheniere Holdings, on the one hand, and us and our limited partners, on the other hand. The directors and officers of our general partner have fiduciary duties to manage our general partner in a manner beneficial to its owners. At the same time, our general partner has a fiduciary duty to manage us in a manner beneficial to us and our unitholders. Our partnership agreement contains provisions that modify and limit our general partner’s fiduciary duties to the unitholders. Our partnership agreement also restricts the remedies available to unitholders for actions taken that, without those limitations, might constitute breaches of fiduciary duty.

Whenever a conflict arises between our general partner or its affiliates, on the one hand, and us or any other partner, on the other hand, our general partner will resolve that conflict. Our general partner may, but is not required to, seek the approval of such resolution from the conflicts committee of the board of directors of our general partner. An independent third party is not required to evaluate the fairness of the resolution.

Our general partner will not be in breach of its obligations under our partnership agreement or its duties to us or our unitholders if the resolution of the conflict is:

 

    approved by a majority of the conflicts committee, although our general partner is not obligated to seek such approval;

 

    approved by the vote of a majority of the outstanding common units, excluding any units owned by our general partner or any of its affiliates;

 

    on terms no less favorable to us than those generally being provided to or available from unrelated third parties; or

 

    fair and reasonable 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.

If our general partner seeks approval from the conflicts committee or does not seek approval from the conflicts committee and the board of directors of our general partner determines that the resolution or course of action taken with respect to the conflict of interest satisfies either of the standards set forth in the third and fourth bullet points above, then, in each case, it will be presumed that, in making its decision, the board of directors acted in good faith, and in any proceeding brought by or on behalf of any limited partner or the partnership, the person bringing or prosecuting such proceeding will have the burden of overcoming such presumption. Unless the resolution of a conflict is specifically provided for in our partnership agreement, our general partner or the

 

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conflicts committee may consider any factors that it determines in good faith to consider when resolving a conflict. When our partnership agreement requires someone to act in good faith, it requires that person to believe that he is acting in the best interests of the partnership.

Conflicts of interest could arise in the situations described below, among others.

Actions taken by our general partner may affect the amount of cash available to pay distributions to unitholders or accelerate the right to convert subordinated units.

The amount of cash that is available for distributions to unitholders is affected by decisions of our general partner regarding such matters as:

 

    amount and timing of asset purchases and sales;

 

    cash expenditures;

 

    borrowings;

 

    issuance of additional units; and

 

    the creation, reduction or increase of reserves in any quarter.

In addition, borrowings by us and our affiliates do not constitute a breach of any duty owed by our general partner to our unitholders, including borrowings that have the purpose or effect of:

 

    enabling our general partner or its affiliates to receive distributions on any subordinated units or incentive distribution rights held by them; or

 

    hastening the expiration of the subordination period.

For example, in the event that we have not generated sufficient cash from our operations to pay the initial quarterly distribution on our common units and our subordinated units, our partnership agreement permits us to borrow funds, which would enable us to pay this distribution on all outstanding units. Please read “How We Make Cash Distributions—Subordination Period.”

Our partnership agreement provides that we and our subsidiaries may borrow funds from our general partner and its affiliates. Our general partner and its affiliates may not borrow funds from us or our subsidiaries.

Neither our partnership agreement nor any other agreement requires Cheniere or Cheniere Holdings to pursue business strategies that favor us or utilize our assets or dictates what markets to pursue or grow. Cheniere’s and Cheniere Holdings’ respective directors and officers have a fiduciary duty to make these decisions in the best interests of the stockholders of Cheniere and Cheniere Holdings, respectively, which may be contrary to our interests.

Because the officers and certain of the directors of our general partner are also directors and/or officers of Cheniere or Cheniere Holdings, such directors and officers have fiduciary duties to Cheniere and Cheniere Holdings, respectively, that may cause them to pursue business strategies that disproportionately benefit Cheniere and Cheniere Holdings, respectively, or which otherwise are not in our best interests.

Our general partner is allowed to take into account the interests of parties other than us, such as Cheniere and Cheniere Holdings, in resolving conflicts of interest.

Our partnership agreement contains provisions that reduce the standards to which our general partner would otherwise be held by state fiduciary duty law. For example, our partnership agreement permits our general partner to make a number of decisions in its individual capacity, as opposed to in its capacity as our general

 

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partner. This entitles our general partner to consider only the interests and factors that it desires, and it has no duty or obligation to give any consideration to any interest of, or factors affecting, us, our affiliates or any limited partner. Examples include the exercise of its limited call right, its voting rights with respect to the units that it owns, its registration rights and its determination whether or not to consent to any merger or consolidation of the partnership or amendment to our partnership agreement.

Our general partner has limited its liability and reduced its fiduciary duties and has also restricted the remedies available to our unitholders for actions that, without the limitations, might constitute breaches of fiduciary duty.

In addition to the provisions described above, our partnership agreement contains provisions that restrict the remedies available to our unitholders for actions that might otherwise constitute breaches of fiduciary duty. For example, our partnership agreement:

 

    provides that our general partner will not have any liability to us or our unitholders for decisions made in its capacity as a general partner so long as it acted in good faith, meaning that it believed that the decision was in the best interests of our partnership;

 

    generally provides that affiliated transactions and resolutions of conflicts of interest not approved by a majority of the conflicts committee of the board of directors of our general partner and not involving a vote of unitholders must be on terms no less favorable to us than those generally being provided to or available from unrelated third parties or be “fair and reasonable” to us, as determined by the board of directors of our general partner in good faith, and that, in determining whether a transaction or resolution is “fair and reasonable,” the board of directors may consider the totality of the relationships between the parties involved, including other transactions that may be particularly favorable or advantageous to us;

 

    provides that our general partner and its officers and directors will not be liable for monetary damages to us or our limited partners for any acts or omissions unless there has been a final and non-appealable judgment entered by a court of competent jurisdiction determining that our general partner or those other persons acted in bad faith or engaged in fraud, willful misconduct or, in the case of a criminal matter, acted with knowledge that such conduct was criminal; and

 

    provides that in resolving conflicts of interest, it will be presumed that in making its decision the conflicts committee or the general partner acted in good faith, and in any proceeding brought by or on behalf of any limited partner or us, the person bringing or prosecuting such proceeding will have the burden of overcoming such presumption.

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 businesses 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 for the time and effort of the officers and employees who provide services to our general partner. The officers of our general partner are not required to work full time on our affairs. These officers are required to devote time to the affairs of Cheniere, Cheniere Holdings or their affiliates and are compensated by them for the services rendered to them.

Certain of our general partner’s officers are not required to devote their full time to our business.

All of the senior officers of our general partner are also senior officers of Cheniere and will spend sufficient amounts of their time overseeing the management, operations, corporate development and future acquisition initiatives of our business. Jack A. Fusco is the principal executive responsible for the oversight of our affairs. Our non-executive directors will devote as much time as is necessary to prepare for and attend board of directors and committee meetings.

 

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Our general partner and its affiliates receive management fees and cost reimbursements.

We pay significant management fees to our general partner and its affiliates and reimburse them for expenses incurred on our behalf, which reduces our cash available for distribution to our unitholders. Our general partner and its affiliates will also be entitled to reimbursement for all other direct expenses that they incur on our behalf.

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 to our assets and not against our general partner or its assets or any affiliate of our general partner or its assets. Our partnership agreement provides that any action taken by our general partner to limit its or our liability is not a breach of our general partner’s fiduciary duties, even if we could have obtained terms that are more favorable without the limitation on liability.

Common unitholders will have no right to enforce obligations of our general partner and its affiliates under agreements with us.

Any agreements between us, on the one hand, and our general partner and its affiliates, on the other hand, will not grant to the unitholders, separate and apart from us, the right to enforce the obligations of our general partner and its affiliates in our favor.

Contracts between us, on the one hand, and our general partner and its affiliates, on the other hand, will not be the result of arm’s-length negotiations.

Neither our partnership agreement nor any of the other agreements, contracts and arrangements between us and our general partner and its affiliates are or will be the result of arm’s-length negotiations. Our partnership agreement generally provides that any affiliated transaction, such as an agreement, contract or arrangement between us and our general partner and its affiliates, must be:

 

    on terms no less favorable to us than those generally being provided to or available from unrelated third parties; or

 

    fair and reasonable 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).

Our general partner will determine, in good faith, the terms of any of these transactions.

Our general partner and its affiliates will have no obligation to permit us to use any facilities or assets of our general partner and its affiliates, except as may be provided in contracts entered into specifically dealing with that use. Our general partner may also enter into additional contractual arrangements with any of its affiliates on our behalf. There is no obligation of our general partner and its affiliates to enter into any contracts of this kind.

Except in limited circumstances, our general partner has the power and authority to conduct our business without unitholder approval.

Under our partnership agreement, our general partner has full power and authority to do all things, other than those items that require unitholder approval or with respect to which our general partner has sought conflicts committee approval, on such terms as it determines to be necessary or appropriate to conduct our business, including, but not limited to, the following:

 

    the making of any expenditures, the lending or borrowing of money, the assumption or guarantee of, or other contracting for, indebtedness and other liabilities, the issuance of evidences of indebtedness, including indebtedness that is convertible into securities of our partnership, and the incurring of any other obligations;

 

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    the making of tax, regulatory and other filings, or rendering of periodic or other reports to governmental or other agencies having jurisdiction over our business or assets;

 

    the acquisition, disposition, mortgage, pledge, encumbrance, hypothecation or exchange of any or all of our assets or the merger or other combination of us with or into another person subject to any prior approval that may be required under our partnership agreement;

 

    the use of our assets for any purpose consistent with the terms of our partnership agreement;

 

    the negotiation, execution and performance of any contracts, conveyances or other instruments;

 

    the distribution of partnership cash;

 

    the selection and dismissal of employees and agents, outside attorneys, accountants, consultants and contractors and the determination of their compensation and other terms of employment or hiring;

 

    the maintenance of insurance for our benefit and the benefit of our partners;

 

    the formation of, or acquisition of an interest in, and the contribution of property and the making of loans to, any further limited or general partnerships, joint ventures, corporations, limited liability companies or other relationships subject to the restrictions in our partnership agreement;

 

    the control of any matters affecting our rights and obligations, including the bringing and defending of actions at law or in equity and otherwise engaging in the conduct of litigation, arbitration or mediation and the incurring of legal expense and the settlement of claims and litigation;

 

    the indemnification of any person against liabilities and contingencies to the extent permitted by law;

 

    the entering into of listing arrangements with any national securities exchange and the delisting of some or all of our securities from, or requesting that trading be suspended on, any such exchange subject to the limitations specified in our partnership agreement;

 

    the purchase, sale or other acquisition or disposition of our securities, or the issuance of options, rights, warrants and appreciation rights relating to our securities;

 

    the undertaking of any action in connection with our participation in any of our subsidiaries; and

 

    the entering into of agreements with any of its affiliates to render services to us or our subsidiaries or to itself in the discharge of its duties as our general partner.

Please read “The Partnership Agreement—Voting Rights” for information regarding the voting rights of unitholders.

Common units are subject to our general partner’s limited call right.

Our general partner may exercise its right to call and purchase common units as provided in our partnership agreement or assign this right to one of its affiliates or to us. Our general partner may use its own discretion, free of fiduciary duty restrictions, in determining whether to exercise this right. As a result, a common unitholder may have common units purchased at an undesirable time or price. Please read “The Partnership Agreement—Limited Call Right.”

We may choose not to retain separate advisors for ourselves or for the holders of common units.

The attorneys, independent 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 its affiliates. We may retain separate counsel for ourselves or the holders of our common units in the event of a conflict of interest between our general partner and its affiliates, on the one hand, and us or the holders of our common units, on the other hand, depending on the nature of the conflict. We do not intend to do so in most cases.

 

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Our general partner’s affiliates may compete with us, and neither our general partner nor its affiliates have any obligation to present business opportunities to us.

Our partnership agreement provides that our general partner is restricted from engaging in any business activities other than those incidental to its management of us. However, affiliates of our general partner are not prohibited from engaging in other businesses or activities, including those that might be in direct competition with us. Except for a right of first refusal that we have during the investor approval period if Cheniere transfers any assets relating to the liquefaction or regasification of natural gas to a master limited partnership formed by Cheniere, Cheniere may acquire, construct or dispose of pipelines or other assets in the future without any obligation to offer us the opportunity to purchase or construct any of those assets. In addition, under our partnership agreement, the doctrine of corporate opportunity, or any analogous doctrine, will not apply to the general partner and its affiliates. As a result, neither the general partner nor any of its affiliates will have any obligation to present business opportunities to us and may take advantage of such opportunities themselves.

Fiduciary Duties

Our general partner is accountable to us and our unitholders as a fiduciary. Fiduciary duties owed to unitholders by our general partner are prescribed by law and our partnership agreement. The Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act, which we refer to as the Delaware Act, provides that Delaware limited partnerships may, in their partnership agreements, expand, restrict or eliminate the fiduciary duties otherwise owed by a general partner to limited partners and the partnership.

Our partnership agreement contains various provisions modifying and restricting the fiduciary duties that might otherwise be owed by our general partner. We have adopted these provisions to allow our general partner or its affiliates to engage in transactions with us that otherwise would be prohibited by state law fiduciary standards and to take into account the interests of other parties in addition to our interests when resolving conflicts of interest. We believe this is appropriate and necessary because the board of directors of our general partner has fiduciary duties to manage our general partner in a manner beneficial both to its indirect owner, Cheniere, as well as to you. Without these modifications, our general partner’s ability to make decisions involving conflicts of interests would be restricted. The modifications to the fiduciary standards benefit our general partner by enabling it to take into consideration all parties involved in the proposed action. These modifications also strengthen the ability of our general partner to attract and retain experienced and capable directors. These modifications represent a detriment to the common unitholders because they restrict the remedies available to unitholders for actions that, without those limitations, might constitute breaches of fiduciary duty, as described below, and permit our general partner to take into account the interests of third parties in addition to our interests when resolving conflicted interests. The following is a summary of:

 

    the fiduciary duties imposed on our general partner by the Delaware Act;

 

    material modifications of these duties contained in our partnership agreement; and

 

    certain rights and remedies of unitholders contained in the Delaware Act.

 

State law fiduciary duty standards

   Fiduciary duties are generally considered to include an obligation to act in good faith and with due care and loyalty. The duty of care, in the absence of a provision in a partnership agreement providing otherwise, would generally require a general partner to act for the partnership in the same manner as a prudent person would act on his own behalf. The duty of loyalty, in the absence of a provision in a partnership agreement providing otherwise, would generally prohibit a general partner of a Delaware limited partnership from taking any action or engaging in any transaction where a conflict of interest is present unless such transaction is entirely fair to the partnership.

 

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Partnership agreement modified standards

   Our partnership agreement contains provisions that waive or consent to conduct by our general partner and its affiliates that might otherwise raise issues as to compliance with fiduciary duties or applicable law. For example, Section 7.9 of our partnership agreement provides that when our general partner is acting in its capacity as our general partner, as opposed to in its individual capacity, unless another express standard is provided for in our partnership agreement it must act in “good faith” and will not be subject to any other standard under applicable law. For these purposes, our partnership agreement defines “good faith” as a belief that the determination or other action is in the best interest of the partnership. In addition, when our general partner is acting in its individual capacity, as opposed to in its capacity as our general partner, it may act without any fiduciary obligation to us or our unitholders whatsoever. These standards reduce the obligations to which our general partner would otherwise be held.
   Our partnership agreement generally provides that affiliated transactions and resolutions of conflicts of interest not involving a vote of unitholders and that are not approved by a majority of the conflicts committee of the board of directors of our general partner must be:
  

•    on terms no less favorable to us than those generally being provided to or available from unrelated third parties; or

  

•    fair and reasonable 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).

   If our general partner does not seek approval from the conflicts committee and the board of directors of our general partner determines that the resolution or course of action taken with respect to the conflict of interest satisfies either of the standards set forth in the bullet points above, then it will be presumed that, in making its decision, the board of directors, which may include board members affected by the conflict of interest, acted in good faith, and in any proceeding brought by or on behalf of any limited partner or the partnership, the person bringing or prosecuting such proceeding will have the burden of overcoming such presumption. These standards reduce the obligations to which our general partner would otherwise be held.
   Our partnership agreement provides that our general partner may consult with legal counsel, accountants, appraisers, management consultants, investment bankers and other consultants and advisers, and any act taken or omitted to be taken by our general partner in reliance upon the advice or opinion of such consultants and advisers as to matters that our general partner reasonably believes to be within such person’s professional or expert

 

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   competence will be conclusively presumed to have been done or omitted in good faith and in accordance with such advice or opinion. In addition, our partnership agreement provides that our general partner is fully protected from liability to our partnership, its partners or other persons bound to the partnership agreement for such reliance made in good faith. These standards reduce the obligations to which our general partner would otherwise be held and limit the remedies available to our limited partners when we take or omit to take actions in reliance on the advice or opinions of experts.
   In addition to the other more specific provisions limiting the obligations of our general partner, our partnership agreement further provides that our general partner, its affiliates and their officers and directors will not be liable for monetary damages to us or our limited partners for or any acts or omissions, unless there has been a final and non-appealable judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction determining that our general partner or its officers and directors acted in bad faith or engaged in fraud or willful misconduct or, in the case of a criminal matter, acted with knowledge that the indemnitee’s conduct was criminal.
Rights and remedies of unitholders    The Delaware Act generally provides that a limited partner may institute legal action on behalf of the partnership to recover damages from a third party where a general partner has refused to institute the action or where an effort to cause a general partner to do so is not likely to succeed. These actions include actions against a general partner for breach of its fiduciary duties or of our partnership agreement. In addition, the statutory or case law of some jurisdictions may permit a limited partner to institute legal action on behalf of itself and all other similarly situated limited partners to recover damages from a general partner for violations of its fiduciary duties to the limited partners.

In order to become one of our limited partners, a unitholder is required to agree to be bound by the provisions in our partnership agreement, including the provisions discussed above. Please read “Description of the Common Units—Transfer of Common Units.” This is in accordance with the policy of the Delaware Act favoring the principle of freedom of contract and the enforceability of partnership agreements. The failure of a limited partner to sign our partnership agreement does not render our partnership agreement unenforceable against that person.

Under our partnership agreement, we must indemnify our general partner and its officers, directors and members, to the fullest extent permitted by law, against liabilities, costs and expenses incurred by our general partner or these other persons. We must provide this indemnification unless there has been a final and non-appealable judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction determining that these persons acted in bad faith or engaged in fraud or willful misconduct. We also must provide this indemnification for criminal proceedings unless our general partner or these other persons acted with knowledge that their conduct was unlawful. Thus, our general partner could be indemnified for its negligent acts if it meets the requirements set forth above. To the extent that these provisions purport to include indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act, in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is contrary to public policy and therefore unenforceable. If you have questions regarding the fiduciary duties of our general partner, please read “The Partnership Agreement—Indemnification.”

 

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DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMON UNITS

The Units

The common units and the subordinated units are separate classes of limited partner interests in us. The holders of units are entitled to exercise the rights or privileges available to limited partners under our partnership agreement. For a description of the relative rights and preferences of holders of common units and subordinated units in and to partnership distributions, please read this section and “Cash Distribution Policy and Restrictions on Distributions.” For a description of the rights and privileges of limited partners under our partnership agreement, including voting rights, please read “The Partnership Agreement.”

Transfer Agent and Registrar

Duties

Computershare Trust Company, N.A. serves as registrar and transfer agent for the common units. We pay all fees charged by the transfer agent for transfers of common units, except the following that must be paid by unitholders:

 

    surety bond premiums to replace lost or stolen certificates, taxes and other governmental charges;

 

    special charges for services requested by a holder of a common unit; and

 

    other similar fees or charges.

There is no charge to unitholders for disbursements of our cash distributions. We will indemnify the transfer agent against all claims and losses that may arise out of all actions of the transfer agent or its agents or subcontractors for their activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence or willful misconduct of the transfer agent or its agents or subcontractors.

Resignation or Removal

The transfer agent may resign, by notice to us, or be removed by us. The resignation or removal of the transfer agent will become effective upon our appointment of a successor transfer agent and registrar and its acceptance of the appointment. If no successor has been appointed and has accepted the appointment within 30 days after notice of the resignation or removal, our general partner may act as the transfer agent and registrar until a successor is appointed.

Transfer of Common Units

The transfer of our common units to persons that purchase directly from the underwriters will be accomplished through the proper completion, execution and delivery of a transfer application by the investor. Any later transfers of a common unit will not be recorded by the transfer agent or recognized by us unless the transferee executes and delivers a properly completed transfer application. By executing and delivering a transfer application, the transferee of common units:

 

    becomes the record holder of our common units and is an assignee until admitted into our partnership as a substituted limited partner;

 

    requests admission as a substituted limited partner in our partnership;

 

    executes and agrees to comply with and be bound by the terms and conditions of our partnership agreement;

 

    represents that the transferee has the right, power and authority and, if an individual, the capacity to enter into our partnership agreement;

 

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    grants powers of attorney to the officers of our general partner and any liquidator of us as specified in our partnership agreement; and

 

    makes the waivers and gives the consents and approvals contained in our partnership agreement.

An assignee will become a substituted limited partner of our partnership for the transferred common units automatically upon the recording of the transfer on our books and records. Our general partner will cause any unrecorded transfers for which a properly completed and duly executed transfer application has been received to be recorded on our books and records no less frequently than quarterly.

A transferee’s broker, agent or nominee may, but is not obligated to, complete, execute and deliver a transfer application. We are entitled to treat the nominee holder of a common unit as the absolute owner. In that case, the beneficial holder’s rights are limited solely to those that it has against the nominee holder as a result of any agreement between the beneficial owner and the nominee holder.

Common units are securities and are transferable according to the laws governing transfer of securities. In addition to other rights acquired upon transfer, the transferor gives the transferee the right to request admission as a substituted limited partner in our partnership for the transferred common units. A purchaser or transferee of common units who does not execute and deliver a properly completed transfer application obtains only:

 

    the right to negotiate the common units to a purchaser or other transferee; and

 

    the right to transfer the right to request admission as a substituted limited partner in our partnership for the transferred common units.

Thus, a purchaser or transferee of common units who does not execute and deliver a properly completed transfer application:

 

    will not receive cash distributions;

 

    will not be allocated any of our income, gain, deduction, losses or credits for federal income tax or other tax purposes;

 

    may not receive some federal income tax information or reports furnished to record holders of common units; and

 

    will have no voting rights;

unless the common units are held in a nominee or “street name” account and the nominee or broker has executed and delivered a transfer application and certification as to itself and any beneficial holders.

The transferor of common units has a duty to provide the transferee with all information that may be necessary to transfer the common units. The transferor does not have a duty to ensure the execution of the transfer application by the transferee and has no liability or responsibility if the transferee neglects or chooses not to execute and deliver a properly completed transfer application to the transfer agent. Please read “The Partnership Agreement—Status as Limited Partner or Assignee” below.

Until a common unit has been transferred on our books, we and the transfer agent may treat the record holder of the unit as the absolute owner for all purposes, except as otherwise required by law or stock exchange regulations.

 

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THE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

The following is a summary of the material provisions of our partnership agreement. Our partnership agreement is filed with the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

We summarize the following provisions of our partnership agreement elsewhere in this prospectus:

 

    with regard to distributions of available cash, please read “How We Make Cash Distributions;”

 

    with regard to the fiduciary duties of our general partner, please read “Conflicts of Interest and Fiduciary Duties;”

 

    with regard to the transfer of common units, please read “Description of the Common Units—Transfer of Common Units;” and

 

    with regard to allocations of taxable income and taxable loss, please read “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences.”

Organization and Duration

We were organized on November 21, 2006 and have a perpetual existence.

Purpose

Our purpose under our partnership agreement is to engage in, directly or indirectly, any business activity that is approved by our general partner and in any event that lawfully may be conducted by a limited partnership organized under Delaware law; provided, that our general partner may not cause us to engage, directly or indirectly, in any business activity that our general partner determines would cause us to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxable as an entity for federal income tax purposes. Any decision by our general partner to cause us or our subsidiaries to engage in activities will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be free from any fiduciary or other duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in good faith or in the best interests of us and our limited partners. In general, our general partner is authorized to perform all acts it determines to be necessary or appropriate to carry out our purposes and to conduct our business.

Power of Attorney

Each limited partner and each person who acquires a unit from a unitholder and executes and delivers a transfer application grants to our general partner and, if appointed, a liquidator, a power of attorney to, among other things, execute and file documents required for our qualification, continuance or dissolution. The power of attorney also grants our general partner the authority under certain circumstances to amend, and to make consents and waivers under, our partnership agreement.

Capital Contributions

Unitholders are not obligated to make additional capital contributions, except as described below under “—Limited Liability.”

Voting Rights

The approval of specified matters requires the limited partner vote specified below. Various matters require the approval of a “unit majority,” which means:

 

    during the subordination period, the approval of a majority of the outstanding common units, excluding those common units held by our general partner and its affiliates, and a majority of the outstanding subordinated units, voting as a separate class; and

 

    after the subordination period, the approval of a majority of the outstanding common units.

 

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As of the date of this prospectus, Blackstone holds a majority of the outstanding common units. Accordingly, Blackstone would control the voting of that class and, together with our general partner and its affiliates, would control the vote of a “unit majority” without the vote of any other unitholder.

In voting their common and subordinated units, our general partner and its affiliates will have no fiduciary duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in good faith or in the best interests of us and our limited partners.

The following is a summary of the vote requirements specified for certain matters under our partnership agreement:

 

Issuance of additional units    During the subordination period, we may not issue any additional common units or units senior to or pari passu with our common units without the approval of the conflicts committee of the board of directors of our general partner.
Amendment of our partnership agreement    Certain amendments may be made by our general partner without the approval of the limited partners. Other amendments generally require the approval of a unit majority. Please read “—Amendment of Our Partnership Agreement.”
Merger or conversion of our partnership or the sale of all or substantially all of our assets   

Unit majority in certain circumstances. Please read “—Merger, Conversion, Sale or Other Disposition of Assets.”

Dissolution of our partnership    Unit majority. Please read “—Termination and Dissolution.”
Continuation of our partnership upon dissolution   

Unit majority. Please read “—Termination and Dissolution.”

Withdrawal of our general partner    Our general partner may withdraw as general partner without first obtaining approval of any unitholder by giving 90 days’ written notice. Please read “—Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner.”
Removal of our general partner    Not less than 66 2/3% of the outstanding common units and subordinated units, voting as a single class, including common units and subordinated units held by our general partner and its affiliates. Please read “—Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner.”
Transfer of our general partner interest    Our general partner may transfer all, but not less than all, of its general partner interest in us, without a vote of our limited partners, to an affiliate or to another person in connection with its merger or consolidation with or into, or sale of all or substantially all of its assets to, such person. Please read “—Transfer of General Partner Interest.”
Transfer of incentive distribution rights    The holder of our incentive distribution rights may transfer the incentive distribution rights to a third party prior without the approval of any unitholder. Please read “—Transfer of Incentive Distribution Rights.”
Transfer of ownership interests in our general partner   

No approval required at any time. Please read “—Transfer of Ownership Interests in Our General Partner.”

 

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Limited Liability

Assuming that a limited partner does not participate in the control of our business within the meaning of the Delaware Act and that it otherwise acts in conformity with the provisions of our partnership agreement, its liability under the Delaware Act will be limited, subject to possible exceptions, to the amount of capital that it is obligated to contribute to us for its limited partner interests plus its share of any undistributed profits and assets. If it were determined, however, that the right of, or exercise of the right by, the limited partners as a group:

 

    to remove or replace our general partner,

 

    to approve some amendments to our partnership agreement, or

 

    to take other action under our partnership agreement

constituted “participation in the control” of our business for the purposes of the Delaware Act, then the limited partners could be held personally liable for our obligations under the laws of Delaware to the same extent as our general partner. This liability would extend to persons who transact business with us who reasonably believe that the limited partner is a general partner. Neither our partnership agreement nor the Delaware Act specifically provides for legal recourse against our general partner if a limited partner were to lose limited liability through any fault of our general partner. While this does not mean that a limited partner could not seek legal recourse, we know of no precedent for such a claim in Delaware case law.

Under the Delaware Act, a limited partnership may not make a distribution to a partner if, after the distribution, all liabilities of the limited partnership, other than liabilities to partners on account of their partnership interests and liabilities for which the recourse of creditors is limited to specific property of the partnership, would exceed the fair value of the assets of the limited partnership. For the purpose of determining the fair value of the assets of a limited partnership, the Delaware Act provides that the fair value of property subject to liability for which recourse of creditors is limited will be included in the assets of the limited partnership only to the extent that the fair value of that property exceeds the nonrecourse liability. The Delaware Act provides that a limited partner who receives a distribution and knew at the time of the distribution that the distribution was in violation of the Delaware Act will be liable to the limited partnership for the amount of the distribution for three years. Under the Delaware Act, an assignee who becomes a substituted limited partner of a limited partnership is liable for the obligations of his assignor to make contributions to the partnership, except the assignee is not obligated for liabilities unknown to him at the time he became a limited partner and that could not be ascertained from our partnership agreement.

We conduct business in two states. We may conduct business in other states in the future. Maintenance of our limited liability may require compliance with legal requirements in the jurisdictions in which Cheniere Energy Investments, LLC conducts business, including qualifying our subsidiaries to do business there. Limitations on the liability of limited partners for the obligations of a limited partnership have not been clearly established in many jurisdictions. If, by virtue of our membership interest in Cheniere Energy Investments, LLC or otherwise, it were determined that we were conducting business in any state without compliance with the applicable limited partnership statute, or that the right of, or exercise of the right, by the limited partners as a group, to remove or replace our general partner, to approve some amendments to our partnership agreement, or to take other action under our partnership agreement constituted “participation in the control” of our business for purposes of the statutes of any relevant jurisdiction, then the limited partners could be held personally liable for our obligations under the law of that jurisdiction to the same extent as our general partner under the circumstances. We will operate in a manner that our general partner considers reasonable and necessary or appropriate to preserve the limited liability of the limited partners.

Issuance of Additional Securities

During the subordination period, we may not issue any additional common units or units senior to or on a parity with our common units without the approval of the conflicts committee of the board of directors of our

 

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general partner. After the subordination period, our partnership agreement authorizes us to issue an unlimited number of additional partnership securities for the consideration and on the terms and conditions determined by our general partner without the approval of the conflicts committee.

It is possible that we will fund acquisitions and capital expenditures through the issuance of additional common units, subordinated units or other partnership securities. Holders of any additional common units that we issue will be entitled to share equally with the then-existing holders of common units in our distributions of available cash. In addition, the issuance of additional common units or other partnership securities may dilute the value of the interests of the then-existing holders of common units in our net assets.

In accordance with Delaware law and the provisions of our partnership agreement, we may also issue additional partnership securities that, as determined by our general partner, have special voting rights to which the common units are not entitled. In addition, our partnership agreement does not prohibit the issuance by our subsidiaries of equity securities, which may effectively rank senior to the common units.

Upon issuance of additional partnership securities, our general partner will have the right, but not the obligation, to make additional capital contributions to the extent necessary to maintain its 2% general partner interest in us. Our general partner’s 2% interest in us will thus be reduced if we issue additional partnership securities in the future and our general partner does not contribute a proportionate amount of capital to us to maintain its 2% general partner interest. In addition, our general partner will have the right, which it may from time to time assign in whole or in part to any of its affiliates, to purchase common units, subordinated units or other partnership securities to the extent necessary to maintain its and its affiliates’ percentage interest in us, whenever, and on the same terms that, we issue those securities to persons other than our general partner and its affiliates. The holders of common units will not have preemptive rights to acquire additional common units or other partnership securities.

Amendment of Our Partnership Agreement

General

Amendments to our partnership agreement may be proposed only by our general partner. However, our general partner will have no duty or obligation to propose any amendment and may decline to do so free of any fiduciary duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in good faith or in the best interests of us or the limited partners. In order to adopt a proposed amendment, other than the amendments discussed below, our general partner must seek written approval of the holders of the number of units required to approve the amendment or call a meeting of the limited partners to consider and vote upon the proposed amendment. Except as described below, an amendment must be approved by a unit majority.

Prohibited Amendments

No amendment may:

 

  (1) enlarge the obligations of any limited partner without its consent, unless approved by at least a majority of the type or class of limited partner interests so affected; or

 

  (2) enlarge the obligations of, restrict in any way any action by or rights of, or reduce in any way the amounts distributable, reimbursable or otherwise payable by us to our general partner or any of its affiliates without the consent of our general partner, which may be given or withheld at its option.

The provision of our partnership agreement preventing the amendments having the effects described in clauses (1) and (2) above can be amended upon the approval of the holders of at least 90% of the outstanding limited partner units, voting together as a single class (including units owned by our general partner and its affiliates). Affiliates of our general partner own approximately 30.0% of our common units outstanding as of August 3, 2017. If the subordinated units were converted into common units, affiliates of our general partner would own approximately 49.6% of our common units outstanding as of August 3, 2017.

 

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No Limited Partner Approval

Our general partner may generally make amendments to our partnership agreement without the approval of any limited partner or assignee to reflect:

 

    a change in our name, the location of our principal place of business, our registered agent or our registered office;

 

    the admission, substitution, withdrawal or removal of partners in accordance with our partnership agreement;

 

    a change that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate for us to qualify or to continue our qualification as a limited partnership or a partnership in which the limited partners have limited liability under the laws of any state or to ensure that we and our subsidiaries will not be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxed as an entity for federal income tax purposes;

 

    an amendment that is necessary, in the opinion of our counsel, to prevent us or our general partner or its directors, officers, trustees or agents from in any manner being subjected to the provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the Investment Advisors Act of 1940, as amended, or “plan asset” regulations adopted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, or ERISA, whether or not substantially similar to plan asset regulations currently applied or proposed;

 

    an amendment that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate for the creation, authorization or issuance of additional partnership securities;

 

    any amendment expressly permitted in our partnership agreement to be made by our general partner acting alone;

 

    an amendment effected, necessitated or contemplated by a merger agreement that has been approved under the terms of our partnership agreement;

 

    any amendment that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate to reflect and account for our formation of, or our investment in, any corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company or other entity, as otherwise permitted by our partnership agreement;

 

    a change in our fiscal year or taxable year and related changes;

 

    mergers with or conveyances to another limited liability entity that is newly formed and has no assets, liabilities or operations at the time of the merger or conveyance other than those that it receives by way of the merger or conveyance; or

 

    any other amendments substantially similar to any of the matters described above.

In addition, our general partner may make amendments to our partnership agreement without the approval of any limited partner or assignee if our general partner determines that those amendments:

 

    do not adversely affect in any material respect the limited partners considered as a whole or any particular class of limited partners;

 

    are necessary or appropriate to satisfy any requirements, conditions, or guidelines contained in any opinion, directive, order, ruling, or regulation of any federal or state agency or judicial authority or contained in any federal or state statute;

 

    are necessary or appropriate to facilitate the trading of limited partner interests or to comply with any rule, regulation, guideline or requirement of any securities exchange on which the limited partner interests are or will be listed for trading;

 

    are necessary or appropriate for any action taken by our general partner relating to splits or combinations of units under the provisions of our partnership agreement; or

 

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    are required to effect the intent of the provisions of our partnership agreement or are otherwise contemplated by our partnership agreement.

Opinion of Counsel and Limited Partner Approval

Our general partner will not be required to obtain an opinion of counsel that an amendment will not result in a loss of limited liability to the limited partners or result in our being treated as an entity for federal income tax purposes in connection with any of the amendments described under “—No Limited Partner Approval.” No other amendments to our partnership agreement will become effective without the approval of holders of at least 90% of the outstanding limited partner units voting as a single class unless we first obtain an opinion of counsel to the effect that the amendment will not affect the limited liability under Delaware law of any of our limited partners.

In addition to the above restrictions, any amendment that would have a material adverse effect on the rights or preferences of any type or class of outstanding units in relation to other classes of units will require the approval of at least a majority of the type or class of units so affected. Any amendment that reduces the voting percentage required to take any action must be approved by the affirmative vote of limited partners whose aggregate outstanding units constitute not less than the voting requirement sought to be reduced.

Merger, Conversion, Sale or Other Disposition of Assets

A merger, consolidation or conversion of us requires the prior consent of our general partner. However, our general partner will have no duty or obligation to consent to any merger, consolidation or conversion and may decline to do so free of any fiduciary duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in good faith or in the best interest of us or the limited partners.

In addition, our partnership agreement generally prohibits our general partner, without the prior approval of the holders of units representing a unit majority, from causing us to, among other things, sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets in a single transaction or a series of related transactions, including by way of merger, consolidation, other combination, or sale of ownership interests of our subsidiaries. Our general partner may, however, mortgage, pledge, hypothecate or grant a security interest in all or substantially all of our assets without that approval. Our general partner may also sell all or substantially all of our assets under a foreclosure or other realization upon those encumbrances without that approval.

Our general partner may consummate any merger without the prior approval of our limited partners if we are the surviving entity in the transaction, the transaction would not result in a material amendment to our partnership agreement, each of our units will be an identical unit of our partnership following the transaction, the units to be issued do not exceed 20% of our outstanding units immediately prior to the transaction and our general partner has received an opinion of counsel regarding certain limited liability and tax matters.

If the conditions specified in our partnership agreement are satisfied, our general partner may convert us or any of our subsidiaries into a new limited liability entity or merge us or any of our subsidiaries into, or convey all of our assets to, a newly formed entity if our general partner has received an opinion of counsel regarding certain limited liability and tax matters, the sole purpose of that conversion, merger or conveyance is to effect a mere change in our legal form into another limited liability entity and the governing instruments of the new entity provide our partners with the same rights and obligations contained in our partnership agreement. The limited partners are not entitled to dissenters’ rights of appraisal under our partnership agreement or applicable Delaware law in the event of a conversion, merger or consolidation, a sale of substantially all of our assets or any other transaction or event.

 

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Termination and Dissolution

We will continue as a limited partnership until terminated under our partnership agreement. We will dissolve upon:

 

  (1) the election of our general partner to dissolve us, if approved by the holders of units representing a unit majority;

 

  (2) at any time there are no limited partners, unless the partnership is continued without dissolution in accordance with the Delaware Act;

 

  (3) the entry of a decree of judicial dissolution of our partnership pursuant to the provisions of the Delaware Act; or

 

  (4) the withdrawal or removal of our general partner or any other event that results in its ceasing to be our general partner other than by reason of a transfer of its general partner interest in accordance with our partnership agreement.

Upon a dissolution under clause (4), the holders of a unit majority may also elect, within 90 days thereafter if our general partner withdraws or is removed and otherwise within 180 days thereafter, to reconstitute us and continue our business on the same terms and conditions described in our partnership agreement by appointing as general partner an entity approved by the holders of units representing a unit majority, subject to our receipt of an opinion of counsel to the effect that:

 

    the action would not result in the loss of limited liability under Delaware law of any limited partner; and

 

    neither our partnership nor any of our subsidiaries would be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise be taxable as an entity for federal income tax purposes upon the exercise of that right to continue (to the extent not already so treated or taxed).

Liquidation and Distribution of Proceeds

Upon our dissolution, unless we are reconstituted and continued as a new limited partnership, the liquidator authorized to wind up our affairs will, acting with all of the powers of our general partner that are necessary or appropriate, liquidate our assets and apply the proceeds of the liquidation as described in “How We Make Cash Distributions—Distributions of Cash Upon Liquidation.” The liquidator may defer liquidation or distribution of our assets for a reasonable period of time or distribute assets to partners in kind if it determines that an immediate sale would be impractical or would cause undue loss to our partners.

Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner

Our general partner may withdraw as general partner, without first obtaining approval of any unitholder, by giving 90 days’ written notice, and such withdrawal will not constitute a violation of our partnership agreement. In addition, our partnership agreement permits our general partner in some instances to sell or otherwise transfer all of its general partner interest in us without the approval of the limited partners. As of the date of this prospectus, our general partner has not withdrawn. Please read “—Transfer of General Partner Interest” and “—Transfer of Incentive Distribution Rights.”

Upon withdrawal of our general partner under any circumstances, other than as a result of a transfer by our general partner of all or a part of its general partner interest in us, the holders of a unit majority may select a successor to that withdrawing general partner. If a successor is not elected, or is elected but an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters cannot be obtained, we will be dissolved, wound up and liquidated, unless within a specified period of time after that withdrawal, the holders of a unit majority agree in writing to continue our business and to appoint a successor general partner. Please read “—Termination and Dissolution.”

 

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Our general partner may not be removed unless that removal is approved by the vote of the holders of not less than 66 2/3% of the outstanding common units and subordinated units, voting together as a single class, including units held by our general partner and its affiliates. Any removal of our general partner is also subject to the approval of a successor general partner by the vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding common units, including units held by our general partner and its affiliates, and subordinated units, voting as a separate class. The ownership of more than 33 1/3% of the outstanding common units and subordinated units by our general partner and its affiliates would give them the practical ability to prevent our general partner’s removal. If the subordinated units were converted into common units, affiliates of our general partner would own approximately 49.6% of our outstanding common units as of August 3, 2017.

Our partnership agreement also provides that if our general partner is removed as our general partner under circumstances where cause does not exist and no units held by our general partner and its affiliates are voted in favor of that removal:

 

    the subordination period will end and all outstanding subordinated units will immediately convert into common units on a one-for-one basis;

 

    any existing arrearages in payment of the initial quarterly distribution on the common units will be extinguished; and

 

    our general partner will have the right to convert its general partner interest and its incentive distribution rights into common units or to receive cash in exchange for those interests based on the fair market value of the interests at the time.

In the event of removal of our general partner under circumstances where cause exists, or withdrawal of our general partner where that withdrawal violates our partnership agreement, a successor general partner will have the option to purchase the general partner interest and incentive distribution rights of the departing general partner for a cash payment equal to the fair market value of those interests. Under all other circumstances where our general partner withdraws or is removed by the limited partners, the departing general partner will have the option to require the successor general partner to purchase the general partner interest of the departing general partner and its incentive distribution rights for their fair market value. In each case, this fair market value will be determined by agreement between the departing general partner and the successor general partner. If no agreement is reached, an independent investment banking firm or other independent expert selected by the departing general partner and the successor general partner will determine the fair market value, or, if the departing general partner and the successor general partner cannot agree upon an expert, then an expert chosen by agreement of the experts selected by each of them will determine the fair market value.

If the option described above is not exercised by either the departing general partner or the successor general partner, the departing general partner will become a limited partner and the departing general partner’s general partner interest and its incentive distribution rights will automatically convert into common units equal to the fair market value of those interests as determined by an investment banking firm or other independent expert selected in the manner described in the preceding paragraph.

In addition, we will be required to reimburse the departing general partner for all amounts due to it, including, without limitation, all employee-related liabilities, including severance liabilities, incurred for the termination of any employees employed by the departing general partner or its affiliates for our benefit.

Transfer of General Partner Interest

Our general partner may transfer the general partner interest without the approval of any holder of any series or class of units. As a condition of this transfer, the transferee must, among other things, assume the rights and duties of our general partner, agree to be bound by the provisions of our partnership agreement and furnish an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters.

 

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Our general partner and its affiliates may at any time transfer limited partner interests to one or more persons, without unitholder approval.

Transfer of Ownership Interests in Our General Partner

At any time, the owners of our general partner may sell or transfer all or part of their ownership interests in our general partner to an affiliate or a third party without the approval of our unitholders.

Transfer of Incentive Distribution Rights

Our general partner, its affiliates or a subsequent holder may transfer their incentive distribution rights without the prior approval of the unitholders as long as the transferee agrees to be bound by our partnership agreement.

Anti-Takeover Provisions

Our partnership agreement contains specific provisions that are intended to discourage a person or group from attempting to remove Cheniere Energy Partners GP, LLC as our general partner or otherwise change management. If any person or group, other than our general partner and its affiliates, acquires beneficial ownership of 20% or more of any class of units, that person or group loses voting rights on all of its units. This loss of voting rights does not apply to any person or group that acquires the units from our general partner or its affiliates and any transferees of that person or group approved by our general partner provided that our general partner has notified such transferees in writing that the loss of voting rights will not apply, or to any person or group who acquires the units with the prior approval of the board of directors of our general partner.

Our partnership agreement provides that if our general partner is removed without cause and no units held by our general partner and its affiliates are voted in favor of that removal:

 

    the subordination period will end and all outstanding subordinated units will immediately convert into common units on a one-for-one basis;

 

    any existing arrearages in payment of the initial quarterly distribution on the common units will be extinguished; and

 

    our general partner will have the right to convert its general partner interest and its incentive distribution rights into common units or to receive cash in exchange for those interests based on the fair market value of the interests at the time.

Our partnership agreement also contains specific provisions that are intended to discourage a person or group from attempting to take control of our partnership without the approval of our general partner. Specifically, our partnership agreement provides that we have elected to have Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or DGCL, apply to transactions in which an interested unitholder (as described below) seeks to enter into a business combination with us. Under this provision, such a holder will not be permitted to enter into a business combination with us for a period of three years following the time that the unitholder became an interested unitholder unless:

 

    prior to the time the unitholder becomes an interested unitholder, our general partner approved either the business combination or the transaction that resulted in the unitholder becoming an interested unitholder;

 

    upon consummation of the transaction that resulted in the unitholder’s becoming an interested unitholder, the interested unitholder owned at least 85% of our outstanding limited partner units at the time the transaction commenced, excluding for purposes of determining the number of limited partner units outstanding those limited partner units owned:

 

    by persons who are directors and also officers; and

 

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    by employee unit plans in which employee participants do not have the right to determine confidentially whether units held subject to the plan will be tendered in a tender or exchange offer; or

 

    at or subsequent to such time the business combination is approved by our general partner and authorized at an annual or special meeting of holders of our limited partner units, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 66 2/3% of our outstanding voting limited partner units that are not owned by the interested unitholder.

With respect to our partnership, a “business combination” under Section 203 of the DGCL would generally include:

 

    any merger or consolidation involving the partnership and the interested unitholder;

 

    any sale, lease, exchange, mortgage, pledge, transfer or other disposition of 10% or more of the assets of the partnership involving the interested unitholder;

 

    subject to certain exceptions, any transaction that results in the issuance or transfer by the partnership of any limited partner units of the partnership to the interested unitholder;

 

    any transaction involving the partnership that has the effect of increasing the proportionate share of the units of any class or series of the partnership beneficially owned by the interested unitholder; or

 

    the receipt by the interested unitholder of the benefit of any loans, advances, guarantees, pledges or other financial benefits provided by or through the partnership.

In general, by reference to Section 203, an “interested unitholder” is any person or entity, other than our general partner and its affiliates, that beneficially owns (or within three years did own) 15% or more of the outstanding limited partner units of the partnership and any entity or person affiliated or associated with such entity or person.

The existence of this provision is expected to have an anti-takeover effect with respect to transactions not approved in advance by our general partner, thereby discouraging attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for units held by unitholders.

Limited Call Right

If at any time our general partner and its affiliates hold more than 80% of the total limited partner interest of any class then outstanding, our general partner will have the right, which it may assign in whole or in part to any of its affiliates or to us, to acquire all, but not less than all, of the remaining limited partner interests of the class held by unaffiliated persons. Affiliates of our general partner own approximately 30.0% of our common units outstanding as of August 3, 2017. If the subordinated units were converted into common units, affiliates of our general partner would own approximately 49.6% of our common units outstanding as of August 3, 2017.

The purchase price in the event of such an acquisition will be the greater of:

 

  (1) the average of the daily closing prices of the partnership securities of such class over the 20 trading days preceding the date three days before the date the notice is mailed; and

 

  (2) the highest price paid by our general partner or any of its affiliates for any partnership securities of the class purchased within the 90 days preceding the date on which our general partner first mails notice of its election to purchase those partnership securities.

As a result of our general partner’s rights to purchase outstanding units, a holder of units may have his units purchased at an undesirable time or price. The federal income tax consequences to a unitholder of the exercise of this call right are the same as a sale by that unitholder of his common units in the market. Please read “Material Tax Consequences—Disposition of Common Units.”

 

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Non-Eligible Citizen; Redemption

If we or any of our subsidiaries is or becomes subject to any federal, state or local law or regulation that our general partner determines would create a substantial risk of cancellation or forfeiture of any property in which we or any of our subsidiaries has an interest based on the nationality, citizenship or other related status of a unitholder, our general partner, acting on our behalf, may at any time require any unitholder to certify that the unitholder is an Eligible Citizen. For this purpose, an Eligible Citizen means a person or entity qualified to hold an interest in real property in jurisdictions in which we or any of our subsidiaries does business or proposes to do business from time to time, and whose status as a unitholder our general partner determines does not or would not subject us or any of our subsidiaries to a significant risk of cancellation or forfeiture of any of its properties or any interest therein.

If a unitholder fails to furnish a citizenship certification containing the required certification within 30 days after request or our general partner determines, with the advice of counsel, that a unitholder is not an Eligible Citizen we will have the right to redeem all but not less than all of the units held by such unitholder. Furthermore, the units will not be entitled to any allocations of income or loss, distributions or voting rights while held by such unitholder.

The purchase price in the event of such a redemption for each unit held by such unitholder will be equal to the current market price as calculated pursuant to our partnership agreement as of the date fixed for redemption.

The purchase price will be paid in cash or by delivery of a promissory note, as determined by our general partner. Any such promissory note will bear interest at the rate of 5% annually and be payable in three equal annual installments of principal and accrued interest, commencing one year after the redemption date.

Non-Taxpaying Assignees; Redemption

Our partnership agreement provides that if our general partner, with the advice of counsel, determines that our status as a pass-through entity for federal, state or local income tax purposes, coupled with the tax status (or lack of proof thereof) of one or more of our limited partners, has, or will have, a material adverse effect on our economic interests, then our general partner may, in its sole discretion, adopt such amendments to our partnership agreement as it determines necessary or advisable to:

 

    obtain proof of the federal income tax status of our limited partners (and their owners, to the extent relevant); and

 

    permit our general partner to redeem the units held by any limited partner whose tax status has or is reasonably likely to have such a material adverse effect or who fails to comply with the procedures instituted by our general partner to obtain proof of the federal income tax status. The redemption price in the case of such a redemption will be the average of the daily closing prices per unit for the 20 consecutive trading days immediately prior to the date set for redemption.

Meetings; Voting

Except as described below regarding a person or group owning 20% or more of any class of units then outstanding, unitholders or assignees who are record holders of units on the record date will be entitled to notice of, and to vote at, meetings of our limited partners and to act upon matters for which approvals may be solicited. Common units that are owned by an assignee who is a record holder, but who has not yet been admitted as a limited partner, will be voted by our general partner at the written direction of the record holder. Absent direction of this kind, the common units will not be voted.

Our general partner does not anticipate that any meeting of unitholders will be called in the foreseeable future. Any action that is required or permitted to be taken by the unitholders may be taken either at a meeting of

 

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the unitholders or without a meeting if consents in writing describing the action so taken are signed by holders of the number of units necessary to authorize or take that action at a meeting at which all the limited partners were present and voted. Meetings of the unitholders may be called by our general partner or by unitholders owning at least 20% of the outstanding limited partner units of the class for which a meeting is proposed (including the outstanding units of such class deemed owned by the general partner). Unitholders may vote either in person or by proxy at meetings. The holders of a majority of the outstanding units of the class or classes for which a meeting has been called, represented in person or by proxy, will constitute a quorum unless any action by the unitholders requires approval by holders of a greater percentage of the units, in which case the quorum will be the greater percentage.

Each record holder of a unit has a vote according to his percentage interest in us, although additional limited partner interests having special voting rights could be issued. Please read “—Issuance of Additional Securities.” However, if at any time any person or group, other than our general partner and its affiliates, or a direct or subsequently approved transferee of our general partner or its affiliates, acquires, in the aggregate, beneficial ownership of 20% or more of any class of units then outstanding, that person or group will lose voting rights on all of its units and the units may not be voted on any matter and will not be considered to be outstanding when sending notices of a meeting of unitholders, calculating required votes, determining the presence of a quorum, or for other similar purposes. Common units held in a nominee or street name account will be voted by the broker or other nominee in accordance with the instruction of the beneficial owner unless the arrangement between the beneficial owner and his nominee provides otherwise.

Any notice, demand, request, report, or proxy material required or permitted to be given or made to record holders of common units under our partnership agreement will be delivered to the record holder by us or by the transfer agent.

Status as Limited Partner or Assignee

Except as described above under “—Limited Liability,” the common units will be fully paid, and unitholders will not be required to make additional contributions.

An assignee of a common unit, after executing and delivering a transfer application, but pending its admission as a substituted limited partner, is entitled to an interest equivalent to that of a limited partner with respect to allocations and distributions from us, including liquidating distributions. Our general partner will exercise the voting rights attributable to common units owned by an assignee that has not become a substituted limited partner at the written direction of the assignee. Please read “—Meetings; Voting.” An assignee has no other rights of a limited partner. Transferees who do not execute and deliver a transfer application and certification will not be treated as assignees or as record holders of common units, and will not receive cash distributions, federal income tax allocations, or reports furnished to holders of common units. Please read “—Transfer of Common Units.”

Indemnification

Under our partnership agreement, we will indemnify the following persons in most circumstances, to the fullest extent permitted by law, from and against all losses, claims, damages or similar events:

 

  (1) our general partner;

 

  (2) any departing general partner;

 

  (3) any person who is or was an affiliate of our general partner or any departing general partner;

 

  (4) any person who is or was a member, manager, partner, director, officer, fiduciary or trustee of any of our subsidiaries or any entity described in (1), (2) or (3) above (other than any person who is or was our limited partner in such person’s capacity as such);

 

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  (5) any person who is or was serving as an officer, director, member, manager, partner, fiduciary or trustee of another person at the request of our general partner or any departing general partner or any of their affiliates; or

 

  (6) any person designated by our general partner.

Any indemnification under these provisions will only be out of our assets. Unless it otherwise agrees, our general partner will not be personally liable for, or have any obligation to contribute or loan funds or assets to us to enable us to effectuate, indemnification. We may purchase insurance against liabilities asserted against and expenses incurred by persons for our activities, regardless of whether we would have the power to indemnify the person against liabilities under our partnership agreement.

Reimbursement of Expenses

Our partnership agreement requires us to reimburse our general partner or Cheniere LNG Terminals, Inc., without duplication, for all direct expenses it incurs or payments it makes on our behalf and all other expenses allocable to us or our subsidiaries or otherwise incurred in connection with operating our business. These expenses include the fees and expenses payable by us pursuant to management services agreements. Our general partner will determine the expenses allocable to us and our subsidiaries.

Books and Reports

Our general partner is required to keep appropriate books and records of our business at our principal offices. The books will be maintained for financial reporting purposes on an accrual basis. Our fiscal year is the calendar year.

We will mail or make available (by posting on our website or other reasonable means) to record holders of common units, within 120 days after the close of each fiscal year, an annual report containing audited financial statements and a report on those financial statements by our independent public accountants. Except for our fourth quarter, we will also mail or make available summary financial information within 90 days after the close of each quarter.

We will furnish each record holder of a unit with information reasonably required for tax reporting purposes within 90 days after the close of each calendar year. This information is expected to be furnished in summary form so that some complex calculations normally required of partners can be avoided. Our ability to furnish this summary information to unitholders will depend on the cooperation of unitholders in supplying us with specific information. Every unitholder will receive information to assist him in determining his federal and state tax liability and filing his federal and state income tax returns, regardless of whether he supplies us with information.

Right to Inspect Our Books and Records

Our partnership agreement provides that a limited partner can, for a purpose reasonably related to his interest as a limited partner, upon reasonable written demand and at his own expense, have furnished to him:

 

  (1) a current list of the name and last known address of each partner;

 

  (2) a copy of our tax returns;

 

  (3) information as to the amount of cash, and a description and statement of the agreed value of any other property or services, contributed or to be contributed by each partner and the date on which each became a partner;

 

  (4) copies of our partnership agreement, our certificate of limited partnership, related amendments and powers of attorney under which they have been executed;

 

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  (5) information regarding the status of our business and financial condition; and

 

  (6) any other information regarding our affairs as is just and reasonable.

Our general partner may, and intends to, keep confidential from the limited partners trade secrets or other information the disclosure of which our general partner believes in good faith is not in our best interests or that we are required by law or by agreements with third parties to keep confidential.

Registration Rights

Under our partnership agreement, we have agreed to register for resale under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws any common units and subordinated units or other partnership securities proposed to be sold by our general partner or any of its affiliates or their assignees if an exemption from the registration requirements is not otherwise available. These registration rights continue for two years following any withdrawal or removal of Cheniere Energy Partners GP, LLC as our general partner. We are obligated to pay all expenses incidental to the registration, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions.

 

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MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES

This section is a summary of the material U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be relevant to prospective unitholders who are individual citizens or residents of the U.S. and, unless otherwise noted in the following discussion, is the opinion of Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP, counsel to our general partner and us, insofar as it relates to legal conclusions with respect to matters of U.S. federal income tax law. This section is based upon current provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Internal Revenue Code, existing and proposed Treasury regulations promulgated under the Internal Revenue Code, or the Treasury Regulations, and current administrative rulings and court decisions, all of which are subject to change. Later changes in these authorities may cause the tax consequences to vary substantially from the consequences described below. Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this section to “us” or “we” are references to Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. and Cheniere Energy Investments, LLC.

The following discussion does not comment on all federal income tax matters affecting us or our unitholders and does not describe the application of the alternative minimum tax that may be applicable to certain unitholders. Moreover, the discussion focuses on unitholders who are individual citizens or residents of the U.S. and has only limited application to corporations, estates, entities treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes, trusts, nonresident aliens, U.S. expatriates and former citizens or long-term residents of the United States or other unitholders subject to specialized tax treatment, such as banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions, tax-exempt institutions, foreign persons (including, without limitation, controlled foreign corporations, passive foreign investment companies and non-U.S. persons eligible for the benefits of an applicable income tax treaty with the United States), individual retirement accounts (IRAs), real estate investment trusts (REITs) or mutual funds, dealers in securities or currencies, traders in securities, U.S. persons whose “functional currency” is not the U.S. dollar, persons holding their units as part of a “straddle,” “hedge,” “conversion transaction” or other risk reduction transaction, and persons deemed to sell their units under the constructive sale provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. In addition, the discussion only comments to a limited extent on state, local and foreign tax consequences. Accordingly, we encourage each prospective unitholder to consult his own tax advisor in analyzing the state, local and foreign tax consequences particular to him of the ownership or disposition of common units and potential changes in applicable tax laws.

We will rely on opinions of Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP regarding our characterization as a partnership for tax purposes. An opinion of counsel represents only that counsel’s best legal judgment and does not bind the IRS or the courts. Accordingly, the opinions and statements made herein may not be sustained by a court if contested by the IRS. Any contest of this sort with the IRS may materially and adversely impact the market for common units and the prices at which common units trade. In addition, the costs of any contest with the IRS, principally legal, accounting and related fees, will result in a reduction in cash available for distribution to our unitholders and our general partner and thus will be borne indirectly by our unitholders and our general partner. Furthermore, the tax treatment of us, or of an investment in us, may be significantly modified by future legislative or administrative changes or court decisions. Any modifications may or may not be retroactively applied.

All statements as to matters of federal income tax law and legal conclusions with respect thereto, but not as to factual matters, contained in this section, unless otherwise noted, are the opinion of Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP and are based on the accuracy of the representations made by us, as discussed below.

For the reasons described below, Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP has not rendered an opinion with respect to the following specific federal income tax issues: (i) the treatment of a unitholder whose common units are loaned to a short seller to cover a short sale of common units (please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Treatment of Short Sales”); (ii) whether our monthly convention for allocating taxable income and losses is permitted by existing Treasury Regulations (please read “—Disposition of Common Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees”) and (iii) whether our method for taking into account Section 743 adjustments is sustainable in certain cases (please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election” and “—Uniformity of Units”).

 

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Partnership Status

A partnership is not a taxable entity and incurs no federal income tax liability. Instead, each partner of a partnership is required to take into account his share of items of income, gain, loss and deduction of the partnership in computing his federal income tax liability, regardless of whether cash distributions are made to him by the partnership. Distributions by a partnership to a partner are generally not taxable to the partnership or the partner unless the amount of cash distributed to him is in excess of the partner’s adjusted basis in his partnership interest. Section 7704 of the Internal Revenue Code provides that publicly-traded partnerships will, as a general rule, be taxed as corporations. However, an exception, referred to as the “Qualifying Income Exception,” exists with respect to publicly-traded partnerships of which 90% or more of the gross income for every taxable year consists of “qualifying income.” Qualifying income includes income and gains derived from the transportation, storage, processing and marketing of crude oil, natural gas and products thereof. Other types of qualifying income include interest (other than from a financial business), dividends, gains from the sale of real property and gains from the sale or other disposition of capital assets held for the production of income that otherwise constitutes qualifying income.

We estimate that less than 2% of our current gross income is not qualifying income; however, this estimate could change from time to time. Based upon and subject to this estimate, the factual representations made by us and our general partner and a review of the applicable legal authorities, Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP is of the opinion that at least 90% of our current gross income constitutes qualifying income. The portion of our income that is qualifying income may change from time to time.

The IRS has made no determination as to our status or the status of Cheniere Energy Investments, LLC for federal income tax purposes. Instead, we will rely on the opinion of Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP on such matters. It is the opinion of Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP that, based upon the Internal Revenue Code, its regulations, published revenue rulings and court decisions and the representations described below that:

 

    we will be classified as a partnership for federal income tax purposes; and

 

    Cheniere Energy Investments, LLC will be disregarded as an entity separate from us for federal income tax purposes.

In rendering its opinion, Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP has relied on factual representations made by us and our general partner. The representations made by us and our general partner upon which Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP has relied include:

 

    neither we nor Cheniere Energy Investments, LLC has elected or will elect to be treated as a corporation; and

 

    for each taxable year, more than 90% of our gross income has been and will be income of the type that Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP has opined or will opine is “qualifying income” within the meaning of Section 7704(d) of the Internal Revenue Code.

We believe that these representations have been true in the past and expect that these representations will continue to be true in the future.

If we fail to meet the Qualifying Income Exception, other than a failure that is determined by the IRS to be inadvertent and that is cured within a reasonable time after discovery (in which case the IRS may also require us to make adjustments with respect to our unitholders or pay other amounts), we will be treated as if we had transferred all of our assets, subject to liabilities, to a newly formed corporation, on the first day of the year in which we fail to meet the Qualifying Income Exception, in return for stock in that corporation, and then distributed that stock to the unitholders in liquidation of their interests in us. This deemed contribution and liquidation should be tax-free to unitholders and us so long as we, at that time, do not have liabilities in excess of the tax basis of our assets. Thereafter, we would be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes.

 

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The present federal income tax treatment of publicly-traded partnerships, including us, or an investment in our common units may be modified by administrative, legislative or judicial interpretation at any time. For example, from time to time, members of the U.S. Congress and the U.S. President propose and consider substantive changes to the existing federal income tax laws that affect publicly-traded partnerships, including the elimination of partnership tax treatment for publicly-traded partnerships.

In addition, on January 24, 2017, final Treasury Regulations (“Final Regulations”) regarding activities that give rise to qualifying income within the meaning of Section 7704 of the Code were published in the Federal Register. The Final Regulations are effective as of January 19, 2017, and apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 19, 2017. We do not believe the Final Regulations affect our ability to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Any modification to the federal income tax laws and interpretations thereof may or may not be retroactively applied and could make it more difficult or impossible to meet the exception for us to be treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. We are unable to predict whether any such changes will ultimately be enacted. However, it is possible that a change in law could affect us, and any such changes could negatively impact the value of an investment in our common units.

If we were treated as an association taxable as a corporation in any taxable year, either as a result of a failure to meet the Qualifying Income Exception or otherwise, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction would be reflected only on our tax return rather than being passed through to our unitholders, and our net income would be taxed to us at corporate rates. In addition, any distribution made to a unitholder would be treated as taxable dividend income, to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, or, in the absence of earnings and profits, a nontaxable return of capital, to the extent of the unitholder’s tax basis in his common units, or taxable capital gain, after the unitholder’s tax basis in his common units is reduced to zero. Accordingly, taxation as a corporation would result in a material reduction in a unitholder’s cash flow and after-tax return and thus would likely result in a substantial reduction of the value of the units.

The discussion below is based on Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP’s opinion that we will be classified as a partnership for federal income tax purposes.

Limited Partner Status

Unitholders who have become limited partners of Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. will be treated as partners of Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. for federal income tax purposes. Also, unitholders whose common units are held in street name or by a nominee and who have the right to direct the nominee in the exercise of all substantive rights attendant to the ownership of their common units will be treated as partners of Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. for federal income tax purposes.

A beneficial owner of common units whose units have been transferred to a short seller to complete a short sale would appear to lose his status as a partner with respect to those units for federal income tax purposes. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Treatment of Short Sales.”

Income, gains, losses or deductions would not appear to be reportable by a unitholder who is not a partner for federal income tax purposes, and any cash distributions received by a unitholder who is not a partner for federal income tax purposes would therefore appear to be fully taxable as ordinary income. These holders are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to the tax consequences to them of holding common units in Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. The references to “unitholders” in the discussion that follows are to persons who are treated as partners in Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. for federal income tax purposes.

 

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Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership

Flow-Through of Taxable Income

Subject to the discussion below under “—Entity-Level Collections” and “—Administrative Matters—Information Returns and Audit Procedures,” we will not pay any federal income tax. Instead, each unitholder will be required to report on his income tax return his share of our income, gains, losses and deductions without regard to whether we make cash distributions to him. Consequently, we may allocate income to a unitholder even if he has not received a cash distribution. Each unitholder will be required to include in income his allocable share of our income, gains, losses and deductions for our taxable year ending with or within his taxable year. Our taxable year ends on December 31.

Treatment of Distributions

Distributions by us to a unitholder generally will not be taxable to the unitholder for federal income tax purposes, except to the extent the amount of any such cash distribution exceeds his tax basis in his common units immediately before the distribution. Our cash distributions in excess of a unitholder’s tax basis generally will be considered to be gain from the sale or exchange of the common units, taxable in accordance with the rules described under “—Disposition of Common Units.” Any reduction in a unitholder’s share of our liabilities for which no partner, including the general partner, bears the economic risk of loss, known as “nonrecourse liabilities,” will be treated as a distribution by us of cash to that unitholder. To the extent our distributions cause a unitholder’s “at-risk” amount to be less than zero at the end of any taxable year, the unitholder must recapture any losses deducted in previous years. Please read “—Limitations on Deductibility of Losses.”

A decrease in a unitholder’s percentage interest in us because of our issuance of additional common units will decrease his share of our nonrecourse liabilities, and thus will result in a corresponding deemed distribution of cash. This deemed distribution may constitute a non-pro rata distribution. A non-pro rata distribution of money or property may result in ordinary income to a unitholder, regardless of his tax basis in his common units, if the distribution reduces the unitholder’s share of our “unrealized receivables,” including depreciation recapture or substantially appreciated “inventory items,” each as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, and collectively, “Section 751 Assets.” To that extent, the unitholder will be treated as having been distributed his proportionate share of the Section 751 Assets and then having exchanged those assets with us in return for the non-pro rata portion of the actual distribution made to him. This latter deemed exchange will generally result in the unitholder’s realization of ordinary income, which will equal the excess of (1) the non-pro rata portion of that distribution over (2) the unitholder’s tax basis (often zero) for the share of Section 751 Assets deemed relinquished in the exchange.

Basis of Common Units

A unitholder’s initial tax basis for his common units will be the amount he paid for the common units plus his share of our nonrecourse liabilities. That basis will be increased by his share of our income and by any increases in his share of our nonrecourse liabilities. That basis will be decreased, but not below zero, by distributions from us, by the unitholder’s share of our losses, by any decreases in his share of our nonrecourse liabilities and by his share of our expenditures that are not deductible in computing taxable income and are not required to be capitalized. A unitholder will have no share of our debt that is recourse to our general partner under Section 752 of the Internal Revenue Code, but will have a share, generally based on his share of profits, of our nonrecourse liabilities. Please read “—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss.”

Limitations on Deductibility of Losses

The deduction by a unitholder of his share of our losses will be limited to the tax basis in his units and, in the case of an individual unitholder, estate, trust, or corporate unitholder (if more than 50% of the value of the corporate unitholder’s stock is owned directly or indirectly by or for five or fewer individuals or some

 

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tax-exempt organizations) to the amount for which the unitholder is considered to be “at risk” with respect to our activities, if that is less than his tax basis. A common unitholder subject to these limitations must recapture losses deducted in previous years to the extent that distributions cause his at-risk amount to be less than zero at the end of any taxable year. Losses disallowed to a unitholder or recaptured as a result of these limitations will carry forward and will be allowable as a deduction to the extent that his at-risk amount is subsequently increased, provided such losses do not exceed such common unitholder’s tax basis in his common units. Upon the taxable disposition of a unit, any gain recognized by a unitholder can be offset by losses that were previously suspended by the at-risk limitation but may not be offset by losses suspended by the basis limitation. Any loss previously suspended by the at-risk limitation in excess of that gain would no longer be utilizable.

In general, a unitholder will be at risk to the extent of the tax basis of his units, excluding any portion of that basis attributable to his share of our nonrecourse liabilities, reduced by (i) any portion of that basis representing amounts otherwise protected against loss because of a guarantee, stop loss agreement or other similar arrangement and (ii) any amount of money he borrows to acquire or hold his units, if the lender of those borrowed funds owns an interest in us, is related to the unitholder or can look only to the units for repayment. A unitholder’s at-risk amount will increase or decrease as the tax basis of the unitholder’s units increases or decreases, other than tax basis increases or decreases attributable to increases or decreases in his share of our nonrecourse liabilities.

In addition to the basis and at-risk limitations on the deductibility of losses, the passive loss limitations generally provide that individuals, estates, trusts and some closely held C corporations and personal service corporations can deduct losses from passive activities, which are generally trade or business activities in which the taxpayer does not materially participate, only to the extent of the taxpayer’s income from those passive activities. The passive loss limitations are applied separately with respect to each publicly-traded partnership. Consequently, any passive losses we generate will only be available to offset our passive income generated in the future and will not be available to offset income from other passive activities or investments, including our investments or a unitholder’s investments in other publicly-traded partnerships, or the unitholder’s salary, active business or other income. Passive losses that are not deductible because they exceed a unitholder’s share of income we generate may be deducted in full when the unitholder disposes of his entire investment in us in a fully taxable transaction with an unrelated party. The passive loss limitations are applied after other applicable limitations on deductions, including the at-risk rules and the basis limitation.

A unitholder’s share of our net income may be offset by any of our suspended passive losses, but it may not be offset by any other current or carryover losses from other passive activities, including those attributable to other publicly-traded partnerships.

Limitations on Interest Deductions

The deductibility of a non-corporate taxpayer’s “investment interest expense” is generally limited to the amount of that taxpayer’s “net investment income.” Investment interest expense includes:

 

    interest on indebtedness properly allocable to property held for investment;

 

    our interest expense attributed to portfolio income; and

 

    the portion of interest expense incurred to purchase or carry an interest in a passive activity to the extent attributable to portfolio income.

The computation of a unitholder’s investment interest expense will take into account interest on any margin account borrowing or other loan incurred to purchase or carry a unit. Net investment income includes gross income from property held for investment and amounts treated as portfolio income under the passive loss rules, less deductible expenses, other than interest, directly connected with the production of investment income, but generally does not include gains attributable to the disposition of property held for investment or (if applicable)

 

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qualified dividend income. The IRS has indicated that the net passive income earned by a publicly-traded partnership will be treated as investment income to its unitholders. In addition, the unitholder’s share of our portfolio income will be treated as investment income.

Entity-Level Collections

If we are required or elect under applicable law to pay any federal, state, local or foreign income tax on behalf of any current or former unitholder or our general partner, we are authorized to pay those taxes from our funds and treat that payment, if made, as a distribution of cash to the unitholder or as a general expense of the partnership. Where the tax is payable on behalf of all unitholders or we cannot determine the specific unitholder on whose behalf the tax is payable, we are authorized to treat the payment as a distribution to all current unitholders. Payments by us as described above could give rise to an overpayment of tax on behalf of an individual unitholder in which event the unitholder would be required to file a claim in order to obtain a credit or refund. Unitholders are urged to consult their tax advisors to determine the consequences to them of any payment we make on their behalf.

Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction

In general, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction will be allocated among our general partner and the unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us. At any time that distributions are made to the common units in excess of distributions to the subordinated units or we make incentive distributions to the general partner, gross income will be allocated to the recipients to the extent of these distributions. If we have a net loss for the entire year, that loss will be allocated first to our general partner and the unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us to the extent of their positive capital accounts and, second, to our general partner.

Specified items of our income, gain, loss and deduction will be allocated to account for (i) any difference between the tax basis and fair market value of our assets at the time of an offering and (ii) any difference between the tax basis and fair market value of any property contributed to us that exists at the time of such contribution, together referred to in this discussion as the “Contributed Property.” The effect of these allocations, referred to as “Section 704(c) Allocations,” to a unitholder purchasing common units in an offering will be essentially the same as if the tax bases of our assets were equal to their fair market values at the time of such an offering. In the event we issue additional common units or engage in certain other transactions in the future, “reverse Section 704(c) Allocations,” similar to the Section 704(c) Allocations described above, will be made to the general partner and to all of our unitholders immediately prior to such issuance or other transactions to account for the difference between the “book” basis for purposes of maintaining capital accounts and the fair market value of all property held by us at the time of such issuance or future transaction. In addition, items of recapture income will be allocated to the extent possible to the unitholder who was allocated the deduction giving rise to the treatment of that gain as recapture income in order to minimize the recognition of ordinary income by some unitholders. Finally, although we do not expect that our operations will result in the creation of negative capital accounts, if negative capital accounts nevertheless result, items of our income and gain will be allocated in an amount and manner sufficient to eliminate the negative balance as quickly as possible.

An allocation of items of our income, gain, loss or deduction, other than an allocation required by the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the difference between a partner’s “book” capital account, credited with the fair market value of Contributed Property, and “tax” capital account, credited with the tax basis of Contributed Property, referred to in this discussion as the “Book-Tax Disparity,” will generally be given effect for federal income tax purposes in determining a partner’s share of an item of income, gain, loss or deduction only if the allocation has “substantial economic effect.” In any other case, a partner’s share of an item will be determined on the basis of his interest in us, which will be determined by taking into account all the facts and circumstances, including:

 

    his relative contributions to us;

 

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    the interests of all the partners in profits and losses;

 

    the interest of all the partners in cash flow; and

 

    the rights of all the partners to distributions of capital upon liquidation.

Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP is of the opinion that, with the exception of the issues described in “—Section 754 Election” and “—Disposition of Common Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees,” allocations under our partnership agreement will be given effect for federal income tax purposes in determining a partner’s share of an item of income, gain, loss or deduction.

Treatment of Short Sales

A unitholder whose units are loaned to a “short seller” to cover a short sale of units may be considered as having disposed of those units. If so, he would no longer be treated for tax purposes as a partner with respect to those units during the period of the loan and may recognize gain or loss from the disposition. As a result, during this period:

 

    any of our income, gain, loss or deduction with respect to those units would not be reportable by the unitholder;

 

    any cash distributions received by the unitholder as to those units would be fully taxable; and

 

    while not entirely free from doubt, all of these distributions would appear to be ordinary income.

Because there is no direct or indirect controlling authority on the issue relating to partnership interests, Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP has not rendered an opinion regarding the tax treatment of a unitholder whose common units are loaned to a short seller to cover a short sale of common units; therefore, unitholders desiring to assure their status as partners and avoid the risk of gain recognition from a loan to a short seller are urged to consult a tax advisor to discuss whether it is advisable to modify any applicable brokerage account agreements to prohibit their brokers from borrowing and loaning their units. The IRS has previously announced that it is studying issues relating to the tax treatment of short sales of partnership interests. Please read “—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss.”

Tax Rates

Under current law, the highest marginal U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to ordinary income of individuals is 39.6% and the highest marginal U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to long-term capital gains (generally, capital gains on certain assets held for more than twelve months) of individuals is 20%. Such rates are subject to change by new legislation at any time.

In addition, a 3.8% net investment income tax, or NIIT, is imposed on certain net investment income earned by individuals, estates and trusts. For these purposes, net investment income generally includes a unitholder’s allocable share of our income and gain realized by a unitholder from a sale of units. In the case of an individual, the tax will be imposed on the lesser of (i) the unitholder’s net investment income and (ii) the amount by which the unitholder’s modified adjusted gross income exceeds $250,000 (if the unitholder is married and filing jointly or a surviving spouse), $125,000 (if the unitholder is married and filing separately) or $200,000 (in any other case). In the case of an estate or trust, the tax will be imposed on the lesser of (i) undistributed net investment income and (ii) the excess adjusted gross income over the dollar amount at which the highest income tax bracket applicable to an estate or trust begins.

Section 754 Election

We have made the election permitted by Section 754 of the Internal Revenue Code. That election is irrevocable without the consent of the IRS unless there is a constructive termination of the partnership. Please

 

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read “—Disposition of Common Units—Constructive Termination.” The election will generally permit us to adjust a common unit purchaser’s tax basis in our assets (“inside basis”) under Section 743(b) of the Internal Revenue Code to reflect his purchase price. This election does not apply with respect to a person who purchases common units directly from us. The Section 743(b) adjustment belongs to the purchaser and not to other unitholders. For purposes of this discussion, the inside basis in our assets with respect to a unitholder will be considered to have two components: (1) his share of our tax basis in our assets (“common basis”) and (2) his Section 743(b) adjustment to that basis.

Treasury Regulations under Section 743 of the Internal Revenue Code require, if the remedial allocation method is adopted (which we have adopted), a portion of the Section 743(b) adjustment that is attributable to recovery property that is subject to depreciation under Section 168 of the Internal Revenue Code and whose book basis is in excess of its tax basis to be depreciated over the remaining cost recovery period for the property’s unamortized Book-Tax Disparity. Under Treasury Regulation Section 1.167(c)-1(a)(6), a Section 743(b) adjustment attributable to property subject to depreciation under Section 167 of the Internal Revenue Code, rather than cost recovery deductions under Section 168, is generally required to be depreciated using either the straight-line method or the 150% declining balance method. Under our partnership agreement, our general partner is authorized to take a position to preserve the uniformity of units even if that position is not consistent with these and any other Treasury Regulations. Please read “—Uniformity of Units.”

We intend to depreciate the portion of a Section 743(b) adjustment attributable to unrealized appreciation in the value of Contributed Property, to the extent of any unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, using a rate of depreciation or amortization derived from the depreciation or amortization method and useful life applied to the property’s unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, or treat that portion as non-amortizable to the extent attributable to property which is not amortizable. This method is consistent with the methods employed by other publicly-traded partnerships but is arguably inconsistent with Treasury Regulation Section 1.167(c)-1(a)(6), which is not expected to directly apply to a material portion of our assets. To the extent this Section 743(b) adjustment is attributable to appreciation in value in excess of the unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, we will apply the rules described in the Treasury Regulations and legislative history. If we determine that this position cannot reasonably be taken, we may take a depreciation or amortization position under which all purchasers acquiring units in the same month would receive depreciation or amortization, whether attributable to common basis or a Section 743(b) adjustment, based upon the same applicable rate as if they had purchased a direct interest in our assets. This kind of aggregate approach may result in lower annual depreciation or amortization deductions than would otherwise be allowable to some unitholders. Please read “—Uniformity of Units.” A unitholder’s tax basis for his common units is reduced by his share of our deductions (whether or not such deductions were claimed on an individual’s income tax return) so that any position we take that understates deductions will overstate the common unitholder’s basis in his common units, which may cause the unitholder to understate gain or overstate loss on any sale of such units. Please read “—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss.” Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP is unable to opine as to whether our method for taking into account Section 743 adjustments is sustainable for property subject to depreciation under Section 167 of the Internal Revenue Code or if we use an aggregate approach as described above, as there is no direct or indirect controlling authority addressing the validity of these positions. Moreover, the IRS may challenge our position with respect to depreciating or amortizing the Section 743(b) adjustment we take to preserve the uniformity of the units. If such a challenge were sustained, the gain from the sale of units might be increased without the benefit of additional deductions.

A Section 754 election is advantageous if the transferee’s tax basis in his units is higher than the units’ share of the aggregate tax basis of our assets immediately prior to the transfer. In that case, as a result of the election, the transferee would have, among other items, a greater amount of depreciation deductions and his share of any gain or loss on a sale of our assets would be less. Conversely, a Section 754 election is disadvantageous if the transferee’s tax basis in his units is lower than those units’ share of the aggregate tax basis of our assets immediately prior to the transfer. Thus, the fair market value of the units may be affected either favorably or unfavorably by the election. A basis adjustment is required regardless of whether a Section 754 election is made

 

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in the case of a transfer of an interest in us if we have a substantial built-in loss immediately after the transfer, or if we distribute property and have a substantial basis reduction. Generally, a built-in loss or a basis reduction is substantial if it exceeds $250,000.

The calculations involved in the Section 754 election are complex and will be made on the basis of assumptions as to the value of our assets and other matters. For example, the allocation of the Section 743(b) adjustment among our assets must be made in accordance with the Internal Revenue Code. The IRS could seek to reallocate some or all of any Section 743(b) adjustment allocated by us to our tangible assets to goodwill instead. Goodwill, as an intangible asset, is generally nonamortizable or amortizable over a longer period of time or under a less accelerated method than our tangible assets. We cannot assure unitholders that the determinations we make will not be successfully challenged by the IRS and that the deductions resulting from them will not be reduced or disallowed altogether. Should the IRS require a different basis adjustment to be made, and should, in our opinion, the expense of compliance exceed the benefit of the election, we may seek permission from the IRS to revoke our Section 754 election. If permission is granted, a subsequent purchaser of units may be allocated more income than he would have been allocated had the election not been revoked.

Tax Treatment of Operations

Accounting Method and Taxable Year

We use the year ending December 31 as our taxable year and the accrual method of accounting for federal income tax purposes. Each unitholder will be required to include in income his share of our income, gain, loss and deduction for our taxable year ending within or with his taxable year. In addition, a unitholder who has a taxable year ending on a date other than December 31 and who disposes of all of his units following the close of our taxable year but before the close of his taxable year must include his share of our income, gain, loss and deduction in income for his taxable year, with the result that he will be required to include in income for his taxable year his share of more than twelve months of our income, gain, loss and deduction. Please read “—Disposition of Common Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees.”

Tax Basis, Depreciation and Amortization

The tax basis of our assets will be used for purposes of computing depreciation and cost recovery deductions and, ultimately, gain or loss on the disposition of those assets. The federal income tax burden associated with the difference between the fair market value of our assets and their tax basis immediately prior to an offering of new common units will be borne by our general partner and all of our unitholders holding interests in us prior to any such offering. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction.”

To the extent allowable, we may elect to use the depreciation and cost recovery methods, including bonus depreciation to the extent available, that will result in the largest deductions being taken in the early years after assets subject to these allowances are placed in service. Please read “—Uniformity of Units.” Property we subsequently acquire or construct may be depreciated using accelerated methods permitted by the Internal Revenue Code.

If we dispose of depreciable property by sale, foreclosure or otherwise, all or a portion of any gain, determined by reference to the amount of depreciation deductions previously taken, may be subject to the recapture rules and taxed as ordinary income rather than capital gain. Similarly, a unitholder who has taken cost recovery or depreciation deductions with respect to property we own will likely be required to recapture some or all of those deductions as ordinary income upon a sale of his interest in us. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction.”

The costs we incur in selling our units (called “syndication expenses”) must be capitalized and cannot be deducted currently, ratably or upon our termination. There are uncertainties regarding the classification of costs

 

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as organization expenses, which may be amortized by us, and as syndication expenses, which may not be amortized by us. The underwriting discounts and commissions we incur will be treated as syndication expenses.

Valuation and Tax Basis of Our Properties

The federal income tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of units will depend in part on our estimates of the relative fair market values, and the tax bases, of our assets. Although we may from time to time consult with professional appraisers regarding valuation matters, we will make many of the relative fair market value estimates and tax basis determinations ourselves. These estimates and determinations of basis are subject to challenge and will not be binding on the IRS or the courts. If the estimates of fair market value or basis are later found to be incorrect, the character and amount of items of income, gain, loss or deductions previously reported by unitholders might change, and unitholders might be required to adjust their tax liability for prior years and incur interest and penalties with respect to those adjustments.

Disposition of Common Units

Recognition of Gain or Loss

Gain or loss will be recognized on a sale of units equal to the difference between the amount realized and the unitholder’s tax basis for the units sold. A unitholder’s amount realized will be measured by the sum of the cash or the fair market value of other property received by him plus his share of our nonrecourse liabilities. Because the amount realized includes a unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities, the gain recognized on the sale of units could result in a tax liability in excess of any cash received from the sale.

Prior distributions from us that in the aggregate were in excess of cumulative net taxable income for a common unit and, therefore, decreased a unitholder’s tax basis in that common unit will, in effect, become taxable income if the common unit is sold at a price greater than the unitholder’s tax basis in that common unit, even if the price received is less than his original cost.

Except as noted below, gain or loss recognized by a unitholder, other than a “dealer” in units, on the sale or exchange of a unit will generally be taxable as capital gain or loss. Capital gain recognized by an individual on the sale of units held for more than twelve months will generally be taxed at the U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to long-term capital gains. However, a portion of this gain or loss, which will likely be substantial, will be separately computed and taxed as ordinary income or loss under Section 751 of the Internal Revenue Code to the extent attributable to “unrealized receivables,” including depreciation recapture, or to “inventory items” we own. Ordinary income attributable to unrealized receivables, inventory items and depreciation recapture may exceed net taxable gain realized upon the sale of a unit and may be recognized even if there is a net taxable loss realized on the sale of a unit. Thus, a unitholder may recognize both ordinary income and a capital loss upon a sale of units. Capital losses may offset capital gains and no more than $3,000 of ordinary income, in the case of individuals, and may only be used to offset capital gains in the case of corporations. Both ordinary income and capital gain recognized on a sale of units may be subject to the NIIT in certain circumstances. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Tax Rates.”

The IRS has ruled that a partner who acquires interests in a partnership in separate transactions must combine those interests and maintain a single adjusted tax basis for all those interests. Upon a sale or other disposition of less than all of those interests, a portion of that tax basis must be allocated to the interests sold using an “equitable apportionment” method, which generally means that the tax basis allocated to the interest sold equals an amount that bears the same relation to the partner’s tax basis in his entire interest in the partnership as the value of the interest sold bears to the value of the partner’s entire interest in the partnership. Treasury Regulations under Section 1223 of the Internal Revenue Code allow a selling unitholder who can identify common units transferred with an ascertainable holding period to elect to use the actual holding period of the common units transferred. Thus, according to the ruling discussed above, a common unitholder will be

 

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unable to select high or low basis common units to sell as would be the case with corporate stock, but, according to the Treasury Regulations, he may designate specific common units sold for purposes of determining the holding period of units transferred. A unitholder electing to use the actual holding period of common units transferred must consistently use that identification method for all subsequent sales or exchanges of common units. A unitholder considering the purchase of additional units or a sale of common units purchased in separate transactions is urged to consult his tax advisor as to the possible consequences of this ruling and application of the Treasury Regulations.

Specific provisions of the Internal Revenue Code affect the taxation of some financial products and securities, including partnership interests, by treating a taxpayer as having sold an “appreciated” partnership interest, one in which gain would be recognized if it were sold, assigned or terminated at its fair market value, if the taxpayer or related persons enter(s) into:

 

    a short sale;

 

    an offsetting notional principal contract; or

 

    a futures or forward contract;

in each case, with respect to the partnership interest or substantially identical property.

Moreover, if a taxpayer has previously entered into a short sale, an offsetting notional principal contract or a futures or forward contract with respect to the partnership interest, the taxpayer will be treated as having sold that position if the taxpayer or a related person then acquires the partnership interest or substantially identical property. The Secretary of the Treasury is also authorized to issue regulations that treat a taxpayer that enters into transactions or positions that have substantially the same effect as the preceding transactions as having constructively sold the financial position.

Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees

In general, our taxable income and losses will be determined annually, will be prorated on a monthly basis and will be subsequently apportioned among the unitholders in proportion to the number of units owned by each of them as of the opening of the applicable exchange on the first business day of the month, which we refer to in this prospectus as the “Allocation Date.” However, gain or loss realized on a sale or other disposition of our assets other than in the ordinary course of business will be allocated among the unitholders on the Allocation Date in the month in which that gain or loss is recognized. As a result, a unitholder transferring units may be allocated income, gain, loss and deduction realized after the date of transfer.

Although recently issued final Treasury Regulations allow publicly-traded partnerships to use a similar monthly simplifying convention to allocate tax items among transferor and transferee unitholders, these regulations do not specifically authorize all aspects of the proration method we have adopted. Accordingly, Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP is unable to opine on the validity of our method of allocating income, gain, loss and deductions among transferor and transferee unitholders. If the IRS were to successfully challenge our proration method, we may be required to change the allocation of items of income, gain, loss and deduction among our unitholders. We are authorized to revise our method of allocation between transferor and transferee unitholders, as well as unitholders whose interests vary during a taxable year, to conform to these Treasury Regulations.

A unitholder who owns units at any time during a quarter and who disposes of them prior to the record date set for a cash distribution for that quarter will be allocated items of our income, gain, loss and deductions attributable to that quarter through the month of disposition but will not be entitled to receive that cash distribution.

Notification Requirements

A unitholder who sells any of his units is generally required to notify us in writing of that sale within 30 days after the sale (or, if earlier, January 15 of the year following the sale). A purchaser of units who purchases

 

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units from another unitholder is also generally required to notify us in writing of that purchase within 30 days after the purchase. Upon receiving such notifications, we are required to notify the IRS of that transaction and to furnish specified information to the transferor and transferee. Failure to notify us of a purchase may, in some cases, lead to the imposition of penalties. However, these reporting requirements do not apply to a sale by an individual who is a citizen of the U.S. and who effects the sale or exchange through a broker who will satisfy such requirements.

Constructive Termination

We will be considered to have “constructively” terminated our partnership for federal income tax purposes if there is a sale or exchange of 50% or more of the total interests in our capital and profits within a twelve-month period. For purposes of determining whether the 50% threshold has been met, multiple sales of the same interest will be counted only once. Our constructive termination would, among other things, result in the closing of our taxable year for all unitholders. In the case of a unitholder reporting on a taxable year other than a fiscal year ending December 31, the closing of our taxable year may also result in more than twelve months of our taxable income or loss being includable in his taxable income for the year of termination. A constructive termination occurring on a date other than December 31 generally would require that we file two tax returns for one fiscal year, thereby increasing our administration and tax preparation costs. However, pursuant to an IRS relief procedure the IRS may allow a constructively terminated partnership to provide a single Schedule K-1 for the calendar year in which a termination occurs. Our termination currently would not affect our classification as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, but instead we would be treated as a new partnership for federal income tax purposes. Following a constructive termination, we would be required to make new tax elections, including a new election under Section 754 of the Internal Revenue Code, and the termination would result in a deferral of our deductions for depreciation. A termination could also result in penalties if we are unable to determine that a termination occurred. Moreover, a technical termination might either accelerate the application of, or subject us to, any tax legislation enacted before the termination that would not otherwise have been applied to us as a continuing as opposed to a terminating partnership.

Uniformity of Units

Because we cannot match transferors and transferees of units, we must maintain uniformity of the economic and tax characteristics of the units to a purchaser of these units. In the absence of uniformity, we may be unable to completely comply with a number of federal income tax requirements, both statutory and regulatory. A lack of uniformity can result from a literal application of Treasury Regulation Section 1.167(c)-1(a)(6). Any non-uniformity could have a negative impact on the value of the units. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election.” We intend to depreciate the portion of a Section 743(b) adjustment attributable to unrealized appreciation in the value of Contributed Property, to the extent of any unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, using a rate of depreciation or amortization derived from the depreciation or amortization method and useful life applied to the property’s unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, or treat that portion as nonamortizable, to the extent attributable to property the common basis of which is not amortizable, consistent with the regulations under Section 743 of the Internal Revenue Code, even though that position may be inconsistent with Treasury Regulation Section 1.167(c)-1(a)(6), which is not expected to directly apply to a material portion of our assets.

Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election.” To the extent that the Section 743(b) adjustment is attributable to appreciation in value in excess of the unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, we will apply the rules described in the Treasury Regulations and legislative history. If we determine that this position cannot reasonably be taken, we may adopt a depreciation and amortization position under which all purchasers acquiring units in the same month would receive depreciation and amortization deductions, whether attributable to common basis or a Section 743(b) adjustment, based upon the same applicable rate as if they had purchased a direct interest in our assets. If this position is adopted, it may result in lower annual

 

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depreciation and amortization deductions than would otherwise be allowable to some unitholders and risk the loss of depreciation and amortization deductions not taken in the year that these deductions are otherwise allowable. This position will not be adopted if we determine that the loss of depreciation and amortization deductions will have a material adverse effect on the unitholders. If we choose not to utilize this aggregate method, we may use any other reasonable depreciation and amortization method to preserve the uniformity of the intrinsic tax characteristics of any units that would not have a material adverse effect on the unitholders. In either case, and as stated above under “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election,” Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP has not rendered an opinion with respect to these methods. Moreover, the IRS may challenge any method of depreciating the Section 743(b) adjustment described in this paragraph. If this challenge were sustained, the uniformity of units might be affected, and the gain from the sale of units might be increased without the benefit of additional deductions. Please read “—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss.”

Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Investors

Ownership of units by employee benefit plans, other tax-exempt organizations, non-resident aliens, foreign corporations and other foreign persons raises issues unique to those investors and, as described below to a limited extent, may have substantially adverse tax consequences to them. A prospective unitholder that is a tax-exempt entity or a non-U.S. person, should consult its tax advisor before investing in our common units. Employee benefit plans and most other organizations exempt from federal income tax, including individual retirement accounts and other retirement plans, are subject to federal income tax on unrelated business taxable income. Virtually all of our income allocated to a unitholder that is a tax-exempt organization will be unrelated business taxable income and will be taxable to it.

Non-resident aliens and foreign corporations, trusts or estates that own units will be considered to be engaged in business in the U.S. because of the ownership of units. As a consequence, they will be required to file federal tax returns to report their share of our income, gain, loss or deduction and pay federal income tax at regular rates on their share of our net income or gain, unless exempted or further limited by an income tax treaty. Moreover, under rules applicable to publicly-traded partnerships, our quarterly distribution to foreign unitholders will be subject to withholding at the highest applicable effective tax rate. Each foreign unitholder must obtain a taxpayer identification number from the IRS and submit that number to our transfer agent on a Form W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E or applicable substitute form in order to obtain credit for these withholding taxes. A change in applicable law may require us to change these procedures.

In addition, because a foreign corporation that owns units will be treated as engaged in a U.S. trade or business, that corporation may be subject to the U.S. branch profits tax at a rate of 30%, in addition to regular federal income tax, on its share of our earnings and profits, as adjusted for changes in the foreign corporation’s “U.S. net equity,” that is effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business. That tax may be reduced or eliminated by an income tax treaty between the U.S. and the country in which the foreign corporate unitholder is a “qualified resident.” In addition, this type of unitholder is subject to special information reporting requirements under Section 6038C of the Internal Revenue Code.

A foreign unitholder who sells or otherwise disposes of a common unit will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on gain realized from the sale or disposition of that unit to the extent the gain is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business of the foreign unitholder. Under a ruling published by the IRS, interpreting the scope of “effectively connected income,” a foreign unitholder would be considered to be engaged in a trade or business in the U.S. by virtue of the U.S. activities of the partnership, and part or all of that unitholder’s gain would be effectively connected with that unitholder’s indirect U.S. trade or business. However, in a recent decision, the U.S. Tax Court declined to follow this ruling and held that such gain is not effectively connected with a foreign unitholder’s U.S. trade or business and would only be taxable to the extent attributable to such unitholder’s share of the partnership’s U.S. real property interests. As this decision is still subject to appeal, its exact impact on foreign unitholders is uncertain. Prospective unitholders should consult their own tax advisors

 

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regarding the potential impact of this decision on their investment in our common units. Apart from the ruling, a foreign unitholder will not be taxed or subject to withholding upon the sale or disposition of a common unit if he has owned 5% or less in value of the units during the five-year period ending on the date of the disposition and if the units are regularly traded on an established securities market at the time of sale or disposition.

Administrative Matters

Information Returns and Audit Procedures

We intend to furnish to each unitholder, within 90 days after the close of each calendar year, specific tax information, including a Schedule K-1, which describes each unitholder’s share of our income, gain, loss and deduction for our preceding taxable year. In preparing this information, which will not be reviewed by counsel, we will take various accounting and reporting positions, some of which have been mentioned earlier, to determine each unitholder’s share of income, gain, loss and deduction. We cannot assure prospective unitholders that those positions will yield a result that conforms to the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury Regulations or administrative interpretations of the IRS. Neither we nor Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP can assure prospective unitholders that the IRS will not successfully contend in court that those positions are impermissible. Any challenge by the IRS could negatively affect the value of the units.

The IRS may audit our federal income tax information returns. Adjustments to items of our income, gain, loss or deduction resulting from an IRS audit may require each unitholder to adjust a prior year’s tax liability, and possibly may result in an audit of his return. Any audit of a unitholder’s return could result in adjustments not related to our returns as well as those related to our returns. Partnerships generally are treated as separate entities for purposes of federal tax audits, judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS and tax settlement proceedings. The tax treatment of partnership items of income, gain, loss and deduction are determined in a partnership proceeding rather than in separate proceedings with the partners. For years beginning before January 1, 2018, the Internal Revenue Code requires that one partner be designated as the “Tax Matters Partner” for these purposes. Our partnership agreement names our general partner as our Tax Matters Partner.

The Tax Matters Partner has made some elections on our behalf and on behalf of unitholders. In addition, the Tax Matters Partner can extend the statute of limitations for assessment of tax deficiencies against unitholders for items in our returns. The Tax Matters Partner may bind a unitholder with less than a 1% profits interest in us to a settlement with the IRS unless that unitholder elects, by filing a statement with the IRS, not to give that authority to the Tax Matters Partner. The Tax Matters Partner may seek judicial review, by which all the unitholders are bound, of a final partnership administrative adjustment and, if the Tax Matters Partner fails to seek judicial review, judicial review may be sought by any unitholder having at least a 1% interest in profits or by any group of unitholders having in the aggregate at least a 5% interest in profits. However, only one action for judicial review will go forward, and each unitholder with an interest in the outcome may participate.

A unitholder must file a statement with the IRS identifying the treatment of any item on his federal income tax return that is not consistent with the treatment of the item on our return. Intentional or negligent disregard of this consistency requirement may subject a unitholder to substantial penalties.

Legislation applicable to partnership tax years beginning after 2017 alters the procedures for auditing large partnerships and for assessing and collecting taxes due (including penalties and interest) as a result of a partnership-level federal income tax audit. Under these rules, unless we elect to issue revised Schedules K-1 to our partners with respect to an audited and adjusted return, the IRS may assess and collect taxes (including any applicable penalties and interest) directly from us in the year in which the audit is completed. If we are required to pay taxes, penalties and interest as a result of audit adjustments, cash available for distribution to our partners may be substantially reduced. In addition, because payment would be due for the taxable year in which the audit is completed, partners during that taxable year would bear the expense of the adjustment even if they were not partners during the audited tax year. Pursuant to this legislation, our partnership agreement designates our general partner to act as the partnership representative who shall have the sole authority to act on behalf of the partnership with respect to dealings with the IRS under these new audit procedures.

 

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Nominee Reporting

Persons who hold an interest in us as a nominee for another person are required to furnish to us:

 

    the name, address and taxpayer identification number of the beneficial owner and the nominee;

 

    whether the beneficial owner is:

 

    a person that is not a U.S. person;

 

    a foreign government, an international organization or any wholly-owned agency or instrumentality of either of the foregoing; or

 

    a tax-exempt entity;

 

    the amount and description of units held, acquired or transferred for the beneficial owner; and

 

    specific information including the dates of acquisitions and transfers, means of acquisitions and transfers, and acquisition cost for purchases, as well as the amount of net proceeds from dispositions.

Brokers and financial institutions are required to furnish additional information, including whether they are U.S. persons and specific information on units they acquire, hold or transfer for their own account. A penalty of $250 per failure, up to a maximum of $3,000,000 per calendar year, is imposed by the Internal Revenue Code for failure to report that information to us. The nominee is required to supply the beneficial owner of the units with the information furnished to us.

Accuracy-Related Penalties

An additional tax equal to 20% of the amount of any portion of an underpayment of tax that is attributable to one or more specified causes, including negligence or disregard of rules or regulations, substantial understatements of income tax and substantial valuation misstatements, is imposed by the Internal Revenue Code. No penalty will be imposed, however, for any portion of an underpayment if it is shown that there was a reasonable cause for that portion and that the taxpayer acted in good faith regarding that portion.

For individuals, a substantial understatement of income tax in any taxable year exists if the amount of the understatement exceeds the greater of 10% of the tax required to be shown on the return for the taxable year or $5,000. The amount of any understatement subject to penalty generally is reduced if any portion is attributable to a position adopted on the return:

 

    for which there is, or was, “substantial authority”; or

 

    as to which there is a reasonable basis and the pertinent facts of that position are disclosed on the return.

If any item of income, gain, loss or deduction included in the distributive shares of unitholders might result in that kind of an “understatement” of income for which no “substantial authority” exists, we must disclose the pertinent facts on our return. In addition, we will make a reasonable effort to furnish sufficient information for unitholders to make adequate disclosure on their returns and to take other actions as may be appropriate to permit unitholders to avoid liability for this penalty. More stringent rules apply to “tax shelters,” which we do not believe includes us, or any of our investments, plans or arrangements.

A substantial valuation misstatement exists if (a) the value of any property, or the adjusted basis of any property, claimed on a tax return is 150% or more of the amount determined to be the correct amount of the valuation or adjusted basis, (b) the price for any property or services (or for the use of property) claimed on any such return with respect to any transaction between persons described in Internal Revenue Code Section 482 is 200% or more (or 50% or less) of the amount determined under Section 482 to be the correct amount of such price, or (c) the net Internal Revenue Code Section 482 transfer price adjustment for the taxable year exceeds the lesser of $5 million or 10% of the taxpayer’s gross receipts. No penalty is imposed unless the portion of the underpayment attributable to a substantial valuation misstatement exceeds $5,000. If the valuation claimed on a return is 200% or more than the correct valuation or certain other thresholds are met, the penalty imposed increases to 40%. We do not anticipate making any valuation misstatements.

 

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In addition, the 20% accuracy-related penalty also applies to any portion of an underpayment of tax that is attributable to transactions lacking economic substance. To the extent that such transactions are not disclosed, the penalty imposed is increased to 40%. Additionally, there is no reasonable cause defense to the imposition of this penalty to such transactions.

We do not anticipate that any accuracy-related penalties will be assessed against us.

Reportable Transactions

If we were to engage in a “reportable transaction,” we (and possibly our unitholders and others) would be required to make a detailed disclosure of the transaction to the IRS. A transaction may be a reportable transaction based upon any of several factors, including the fact that it is a type of tax avoidance transaction publicly identified by the IRS as a “listed transaction” or that it produces certain kinds of losses for partnerships, individuals, S corporations, and trusts in excess of $2 million in any single year, or $4 million in any combination of six successive tax years. Our participation in a reportable transaction could increase the likelihood that our federal income tax information return (and possibly our unitholders’ tax returns) would be audited by the IRS. Please read “—Information Returns and Audit Procedures.”

Moreover, if we were to participate in a reportable transaction with a significant purpose to avoid or evade tax, or in any listed transaction, our unitholders may be subject to the following additional consequences:

 

    accuracy-related penalties with a broader scope, significantly narrower exceptions, and potentially greater amounts than described above at “—Accuracy-Related Penalties”;

 

    for those persons otherwise entitled to deduct interest on federal tax deficiencies, nondeductibility of interest on any resulting tax liability; and

 

    in the case of a listed transaction, an extended statute of limitations.

We do not expect to engage in any “reportable transactions.”

State, Local, Foreign and Other Tax Considerations

In addition to federal income taxes, unitholders may be subject to other taxes, including state, local and foreign income taxes, unincorporated business taxes, and estate, inheritance or intangibles taxes that may be imposed by the various jurisdictions in which we conduct business or own property now or in the future or in which the unitholder is a resident. Although an analysis of those various taxes is not presented here, each prospective unitholder should consider their potential impact on his investment in us.

Although a unitholder may not be required to file a return and pay taxes in some jurisdictions because the unitholder’s income from that jurisdiction falls below the filing and payment requirement, a unitholder will be required to file income tax returns and to pay income taxes in many of the jurisdictions in which we do business or own property and may be subject to penalties for failure to comply with those requirements. Some of the jurisdictions may require us, or we may elect, to withhold a percentage of income from amounts to be distributed to a unitholder who is not a resident of the jurisdiction. Withholding, the amount of which may be greater or less than a particular unitholder’s income tax liability to the jurisdiction, generally does not relieve a nonresident unitholder from the obligation to file an income tax return. Amounts withheld will be treated as if distributed to unitholders for purposes of determining the amounts distributed by us. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Entity-Level Collections.”

It is the responsibility of each unitholder to investigate the legal and tax consequences, under the laws of pertinent jurisdictions, of its investment in us. We urge each prospective unitholder to consult, and depend on, its own tax counsel or other advisor with regard to those matters. Further, it is the responsibility of each unitholder to file all state, local and foreign, as well as U.S. federal tax returns, that may be required of it. Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP has not rendered an opinion on the state, local, alternative minimum tax or non-U.S. tax consequences of an investment in us.

 

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INVESTMENT IN CHENIERE ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P. BY EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

An investment in us by an employee benefit plan is subject to additional considerations because the investments of these plans are subject to the fiduciary responsibility and prohibited transaction provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) and the restrictions imposed by Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”) and provisions under any federal, state, local, non-U.S. or other laws or regulations that are similar to such provisions of ERISA or the Internal Revenue Code (collectively, “Similar Laws”). For these purposes the term “employee benefit plan” includes, but is not limited to, qualified pension, profit-sharing and stock bonus plans, Keogh plans, simplified employee pension plans and tax deferred annuities or IRAs or annuities established or maintained by an employer or employee organization, and entities whose underlying assets are considered to include “plan assets” of such plans, accounts and arrangements (collectively, “Employee Benefit Plans”).

This summary is based on the provisions of ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code (and related regulations and administrative and judicial interpretations) as of the date of this prospectus. This summary does not purport to be complete and future legislation, court decisions, administrative regulations, rulings or administrative pronouncements could significantly modify the requirements summarized below. Any of these changes may be retroactive and, therefore, may apply to transactions entered into prior to the date of their enactment or release.

Among other things, consideration should be given to:

 

    whether the investment is prudent under Section 404(a)(1)(B) of ERISA and any other applicable Similar Laws;

 

    whether in making the investment, the plan will satisfy the diversification requirements of Section 404(a)(1)(C) of ERISA and any other applicable Similar Laws;

 

    whether the investment will result in recognition of unrelated business taxable income by the plan and, if so, the potential after-tax investment return. Please read “Material U.S. Federal Tax Consequences—Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Investors”; and

 

    whether making such an investment will comply with the delegation of control and prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code and any other applicable Similar Laws.

The person with investment discretion with respect to the assets of an Employee Benefit Plan, often called a fiduciary, should determine whether an investment in us is authorized by the appropriate governing instrument and is a proper investment for the plan.

Section 406 of ERISA and Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code prohibit Employee Benefit Plans from engaging, either directly or indirectly, in specified transactions involving “plan assets” with parties that, with respect to the Employee Benefit Plan, are “parties in interest” under ERISA or “disqualified persons” under the Internal Revenue Code unless an exemption is available. A party in interest or disqualified person who engages in a non-exempt prohibited transaction may be subject to excise taxes and other penalties and liabilities under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code. In addition, the fiduciary of the ERISA plan that engaged in such a non-exempt prohibited transaction may be subject to penalties and liabilities under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code.

In addition to considering whether the purchase of Common Units is a prohibited transaction, a fiduciary should consider whether the Employee Benefit Plan will, by investing in us, be deemed to be an undivided interest in our assets, with the result that the general partner would also be a fiduciary of such Employee Benefit Plan and our operations would be subject to the regulatory restrictions of ERISA, including its prohibited transaction rules, as well as the prohibited transaction rules of the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA and any other applicable Similar Laws.

 

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The Department of Labor regulations and Section 3(42) of ERISA provide guidance with respect to whether, in certain circumstances, the assets of an entity in which Employee Benefit Plans acquire equity interests would be deemed “plan assets.” Under these regulations, an entity’s assets would not be considered to be “plan assets” if, among other things:

 

  (a) the equity interests acquired by the Employee Benefit Plan are publicly offered securities—i.e., the equity interests are widely held by 100 or more investors independent of the issuer and each other, are “freely transferable” (as defined in the regulations) and are registered under certain provisions of the federal securities laws;

 

  (b) the entity is an “operating company,”—i.e., it is primarily engaged in the production or sale of a product or service, other than the investment of capital, either directly or through a majority-owned subsidiary or subsidiaries; or

 

  (c) there is no significant investment by “benefit plan investors,” which is defined to mean that less than 25% of the value of each class of equity interest, disregarding certain interests held by our general partner, its affiliates and certain other persons, is held generally by Employee Benefit Plans.

Our assets should not be considered “plan assets” under these regulations because it is expected that the investment will satisfy the requirements in (a) and (b) above.

The foregoing discussion of issues arising for Employee Benefit Plan investments under ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code and applicable Similar Laws is general in nature and is not intended to be all inclusive, nor should it be construed as legal advice. Employee Benefit Plan fiduciaries and other persons contemplating a purchase of Common Units should consult with their own counsel regarding the potential applicability of and consequences of such purchase under ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code and other Similar Laws in light of the complexity of these rules and the serious penalties, excise taxes and liabilities imposed on persons who engage in non-exempt prohibited transactions or other violations. The sale of any Common Units by or to any Employee Benefit Plan is in no respect a representation by us or any of our affiliates or representatives that such an investment meets all relevant legal requirements with respect to investments by such Employee Benefit Plans generally or any particular employee benefit plan, or that such an investment is appropriate for such employee benefit plans generally or any particular Employee Benefit Plan.

 

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SELLING UNITHOLDERS

This prospectus relates to 202,450,687 Common Units, a portion of which were issued to Blackstone CQP Holdco LP (“Blackstone CQP Holdco”), one of the Selling Unitholders, upon conversion of 100,000,000 Class B Units on August 2, 2017. During 2012, Blackstone CQP Holdco completed its purchase of the Class B Units for total consideration of $1.5 billion. Proceeds from the financing were used to fund a portion of the costs of developing, constructing and placing into service the Liquefaction Project. The Class B Units were subject to conversion, mandatorily or at the option of Blackstone CQP Holdco under specified circumstances, into a number of Common Units based on the then-applicable conversion value of the Class B Units. On a quarterly basis beginning on the date of the initial purchase date of the Class B Units, the conversion value of the Class B Units increased at a compounded rate of 3.5% per quarter. The accreted conversion ratio of the Class B Units owned by Blackstone CQP Holdco was approximately 1.99 upon conversion.

Blackstone CQP Holdco and the other Selling Unitholders, each an affiliate of The Blackstone Group, L.P. (“Blackstone Group” and, together with Blackstone CQP Holdco and the other Selling Unitholders, “Blackstone”), is a holder of more than 40.3% of our outstanding equity interests following the conversion of the Class B Units. In addition, Blackstone has three representatives on the board of directors of our general partner and one director on the Cheniere board of directors. Accordingly, Blackstone may be deemed our “affiliate,” as that term is defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2.

The following table sets forth information about the maximum number of Common Units that may be offered from time to time by the Selling Unitholders under this prospectus. The Selling Unitholders may currently hold or acquire at any time Common Units in addition to those registered hereby. In addition, the Selling Unitholders may sell, transfer, assign or otherwise dispose of some or all of their Common Units in private placement transactions exempt from or not subject to the registration requirements of the Securities Act. Accordingly, we cannot give an estimate as to the amount of Common Units that will be held by the Selling Unitholders upon termination of this offering. Information concerning the Selling Unitholders may change from time to time and, if necessary, we will supplement this prospectus accordingly.

The Selling Unitholders are an affiliate of a broker-dealer registered under Section 15 of the Exchange Act. Each of the Selling Unitholders certifies that it purchased the Common Units and Class B Units in the ordinary course of business and, at the time of the purchase of such securities, it had no agreements or understandings, directly or indirectly, with any person to distribute such securities.

We have prepared the table and the related notes based on information supplied to us by the Selling Unitholders on or prior to August 11, 2017. We have not sought to verify such information. Other information about the Selling Unitholder may change over time.

 

Selling Unitholders

   Common Units
Beneficially Owned
Prior to the
Offering
     Maximum Number
of Common Units
to be Sold Pursuant
to this Prospectus
(1)
     Percentage of
Common Units
Beneficially Owned
Following the
Offering(1)
 

Investment funds affiliated with The Blackstone Group, L.P. (2)

     202,450,687        202,450,687        *  

 

* Less than 1%
(1) Assumes the sale of all Common Units held by the Selling Unitholders pursuant to this prospectus. Based on 348,614,790 Common Units outstanding as of August 3, 2017.
(2) Based on information provided to us by the Selling Unitholders and based on a Schedule 13D/A filed with the SEC on August 11, 2017 by Blackstone. Blackstone CQP Common Holdco L.P. is the record holder of 1,101,169 Common Units. GSO Credit-A Partners LP and GSO Palmetto Opportunistic Investment Partners LP are the record holders of 953,855 and 953,855 Common Units, respectively. GSO Credit Alpha Fund AIV-2 LP is the record owner of 462,922 Common Units. Blackstone CQP Holdco is the record holder of 198,978,886 Common Units. The address of the various persons identified in this footnote is 345 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10154.

 

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PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

We are registering the Common Units included in this prospectus to permit the resale of such Common Units by the Selling Unitholders from time to time after the date of this prospectus. We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of the Common Units by the Selling Unitholders pursuant to this prospectus.

The Selling Unitholders may act independently of us in making decisions with respect to the timing, manner and size of each of their sales. The Selling Unitholders and their successors, including their donees, pledgees, transferees and successors-in-interest, may make sales of the Common Units from time to time through one or more methods specified herein or through a combination of any of such methods or any other method permitted pursuant to applicable law. Such offers and sales may be made directly to purchasers, through underwriters, to dealers, or through agents, on the NYSE American or otherwise at prices and under terms prevailing at the time of the sale, at prices related to the then-current market price, at fixed prices, at varying prices determined at the time of sale, at privately negotiated prices or any other method permitted by law. These sales may be effected in one or more transactions, including:

 

    in the over-the-counter market or on the NYSE American or any national securities exchange or quotation service on which the Common Units may be listed or quoted at the time of the sale;

 

    in transactions other than on such exchanges or services or in the over-the-counter market;

 

    in privately negotiated transactions;

 

    in underwritten offerings;

 

    through distributions to the partners, members, stockholders or other security holders of the Selling Unitholders;

 

    through the writing of options (including the issuance by the Selling Unitholders of derivative securities), whether the options or such other derivative securities are listed on an options exchange or otherwise;

 

    through the settlement of short sales;

 

    through any combination of the foregoing; or

 

    through any other method permitted by law.

The Selling Unitholders may offer and sell some or all of the Common Units included in this prospectus by or through a broker-dealer in one or more, or a combination, of the following methods, without limitation:

 

    purchases by the broker-dealer as principal, and resale by the broker-dealer for its account;

 

    a block trade in which the broker-dealer may attempt to sell the units as agent, but may resell all or a portion of the block as principal in order to facilitate the transaction;

 

    in a public auction;

 

    transactions in which a broker-dealer may agree with the Selling Unitholders to sell a specified number of such units at a stipulated price per unit;

 

    transactions in which the broker-dealer as agent solicits purchasers and ordinary brokerage transactions by the broker-dealer as agent;

 

    an offering at other than a fixed price on or through the facilities of any stock exchange on which the Common Units are then listed or to or through a market maker other than on that stock exchange; and

 

    any other method permitted pursuant to applicable law.

In connection with sales of the Common Units under this prospectus, the Selling Unitholders may enter into hedging transactions with broker-dealers, who may in turn engage in short sales of the Common Units in the

 

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course of hedging the positions they assume. The Selling Unitholders also may sell Common Units short and deliver them to close out the short positions or loan or pledge the Common Units to broker-dealers that in turn may sell them.

The Selling Unitholders may also directly make offers to sell some or all of the Common Units included in this prospectus to, or solicit offers to purchase such Common Units from, purchasers from time to time. If required, the prospectus supplement related to any such offering by the Selling Unitholders will set forth the terms of such offering.

If the Selling Unitholders use one or more underwriters in the sale, the underwriters will acquire the securities for their own account, and they may resell these securities from time to time in one or more transactions, including negotiated transactions, at a fixed public offering price or at varying prices determined at the time of sale. The securities may be offered and sold to the public either through underwriting syndicates represented by one or more managing underwriters or directly by one or more of such firms. In connection with those sales, underwriters may be deemed to have received compensation from the Selling Unitholders in the form of underwriting discounts or commissions and may also receive commissions from purchasers of the Common Units for which they may act as agents. Underwriters may resell Common Units to or through dealers, and those dealers may receive compensation in the form of discounts, concessions or commissions from the underwriters and/or commissions from purchasers for which they may act as agents. The prospectus supplement related to any such offering will include any required information about underwriting compensation to be paid to underwriters, and any discounts, concessions or commissions underwriters allow to participating dealers, in connection with such offering. Unless otherwise disclosed in the prospectus supplement, the obligations of the underwriters to purchase securities will be subject to certain conditions precedent, and the underwriters will be obligated to purchase all of the securities offered by the prospectus supplement if any of the securities are purchased.

From time to time, the Selling Unitholders may sell the Common Units included in this prospectus to one or more dealers acting as principals. If required, the prospectus supplement related to any such offering will name such dealers as Selling Unitholders, and will include information about any compensation paid to the dealers, in such offering. The dealers, which may be deemed to be “underwriters” as that term is defined in the Securities Act, may then resell the Common Units to purchasers.

The Selling Unitholders may sell the Common Units it holds using a public auction process in which the public offering price and the allocation of the Common Units will be determined through an auction conducted by an auction agent. The auction process may involve a modified “Dutch auction” mechanic in which the auction agent (and potentially other brokers) will receive and accept bids from bidders at either a minimum bid price or at price increments in excess of the minimum bid price. The auction agent and any such other brokers may be the underwriters of the offering or their affiliates. After the auction closes and those bids become irrevocable, the auction agent will determine the clearing price for the sale of the Common Units offered in the auction, and subject to agreement between the Selling Unitholders and the underwriters to proceed with the offering, the Common Units will be allocated to winning bidders by the underwriters. If the Selling Unitholders use a public auction process to sell the Common Units, a more detailed description of the procedures to be used in connection with any such auction will be set forth in a prospectus supplement related to such offering.

The Selling Unitholders may designate broker-dealers as agents from time to time to solicit offers from purchasers to purchase the Common Units included in this prospectus, or to sell such Common Units in ordinary brokerage transactions, on their behalf. If required, the prospectus supplement related to any such offering will name such agents, and will include information about any commissions paid to the agents in such offering. Agents may be deemed to be “underwriters” as that term is defined in the Securities Act in such offering.

The Selling Unitholders or their respective underwriters, broker-dealers, or agents may make sales of the Common Units that are deemed to be an at-the-market offering as defined in Securities Act Rule 415, which includes sales of such Common Units made directly on or through the NYSE American, the existing trading market for the Common Units, or in the over-the-counter market or otherwise.

 

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From time to time, one or more of the Selling Unitholders may pledge, hypothecate or grant a security interest in some or all of the securities owned by them. In the event of default, the pledgees, secured parties or persons to whom the securities have been hypothecated will, upon foreclosure, be deemed to be a Selling Unitholders under this prospectus. The number of Common Units offered under this prospectus by a given Selling Unitholders will decrease as and when such events occur. In addition, a Selling Unitholder may, from time to time, sell Common Unit short, and, in those instances, this prospectus may be delivered in connection with the short sales, and the Common Units offered under this prospectus may be used to cover short sales.

In addition to the transactions described above, the Selling Unitholders may sell the Common Units included in this prospectus in compliance with Rule 144 or Rule 144A of the Securities Act, if available, or pursuant to other available exemptions from the registration requirements under the Securities Act, rather than pursuant to this prospectus.

The Selling Unitholders and any other persons participating in the sale or distribution of Common Units will be subject to applicable provisions of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder, including Regulation M. Regulation M may limit the timing of purchases and sales of any of the Common Units by the Selling Unitholders and any other such persons. In addition, Regulation M may restrict the ability of any person engaged in the distribution of the Common Units to engage in market-making activities with respect to the Common Units for a period of up to five business days before the distribution. This may affect the marketability of the Common Units and the ability of any person or entity to engage in market-making activities with respect to the Common Units.

We have agreed to indemnify, in certain circumstances, the Selling Unitholders against certain liabilities to which it may become subject in connection with the sale of the Common Units included in this prospectus, including liabilities arising under the Securities Act. Each of the Selling Unitholders has agreed to indemnify us in certain circumstances against certain liabilities to which we may become subject in connection with the sale of such Common Units, including liabilities arising under the Securities Act. We and the Selling Unitholders may agree to indemnify underwriters, dealers and agents who participate in the distribution of the Common Units included in this prospectus against certain liabilities to which they may become subject in connection with the sale of such Common Units, including liabilities arising under the Securities Act.

Certain of the underwriters and their affiliates may be customers of, may engage in transactions with and may perform services for us or our affiliates in the ordinary course of business.

We have agreed to pay the expenses of the registration of the Common Units offered and sold by the Selling Unitholders under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, including, but not limited to, all registration and filing fees, fees and expenses of our counsel and accountants, and reasonable fees and expenses of one counsel for the Selling Unitholders. The Selling Unitholders will pay any underwriting discounts and commissions applicable to the Common Units sold by the Selling Unitholders.

A prospectus and accompanying prospectus supplement in electronic form may be made available on the websites maintained by the underwriters of a given offering. The underwriters may agree to allocate a number of securities for sale to their online brokerage account holders. Such allocations of securities for internet distributions will be made on the same basis as other allocations. In addition, securities may be sold by the underwriters to securities dealers who resell securities to online brokerage account holders.

The aggregate maximum compensation the underwriters will receive in connection with the sale of any securities under this prospectus and the registration statement of which it forms a part will not exceed 10% of the gross proceeds from such sale.

Because the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) views our Common Units as interests in a direct participation program, any offering of Common Units under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part will be made in compliance with FINRA Rule 2310.

 

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To the extent required, this prospectus may be amended or supplemented from time to time to describe a specific plan of distribution. The place and time of delivery for the securities in respect of which this prospectus is delivered will be set forth in the accompanying prospectus supplement.

In connection with offerings of securities under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part and in compliance with applicable law, underwriters, brokers or dealers may engage in transactions that stabilize or maintain the market price of the securities at levels above those that might otherwise prevail in the open market. Specifically, underwriters, brokers or dealers may over-allot in connection with offerings, creating a short position in the securities for their own accounts. For the purpose of covering a syndicate short position or stabilizing the price of the securities, the underwriters, brokers or dealers may place bids for the securities or effect purchases of the securities in the open market. Finally, the underwriters may impose a penalty whereby selling concessions allowed to syndicate members or other brokers or dealers for distribution of the securities in offerings may be reclaimed by the syndicate if the syndicate repurchases previously distributed securities in transactions to cover short positions, in stabilization transactions or otherwise. These activities may stabilize, maintain or otherwise affect the market price of the securities, which may be higher than the price that might otherwise prevail in the open market, and, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time. These transactions may be effected on or through the NYSE American, the existing trading market for the Common Units, or in the over-the-counter market or otherwise.

 

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LEGAL MATTERS

The validity of the Common Units offered by this prospectus will be passed upon for us by Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP, Houston, Texas. Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP will also render an opinion on the material tax consequences regarding such Common Units. If certain legal matters in connection with an offering of the Common Units made by this prospectus and a related prospectus supplement are passed on by counsel for the Selling Unitholders or underwriters of such offering, that counsel will be named in the applicable prospectus supplement related to that offering.

EXPERTS

The consolidated financial statements of Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, and for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2016, and management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2016 have been incorporated by reference herein and in the registration statement, in reliance upon the reports of KPMG LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, appearing elsewhere incorporated by reference herein, and upon the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing. The audit report covering the December 31, 2016 financial statements refers to a change in the method of accounting for debt issuance costs and a change in the presentation of cash flows.

 

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