UNITED
STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
8-K
CURRENT
REPORT
PURSUANT
TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)
OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of
Report (Date of earliest event reported): March 5, 2010 (March 1,
2010)
GENESIS
ENERGY, L.P.
(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware
|
1-12295
|
76-0513049
|
(State
or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
|
(Commission
File Number)
|
(I.R.S.
Employer Identification No.)
|
919
Milam, Suite 2100, Houston, Texas
|
77002
|
(Address
of principal executive offices)
|
(Zip
Code)
|
(713)
860-2500
(Registrant's
telephone number, including area code)
Check the
appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously
satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following
provisions:
___
Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR
230.425)
___
Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240-14a-12)
___
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act
(17 CFR 240-14d-2(b))
___
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act
(17 CFR 240-13e-4(c))
Item
1.01. Entry
into a Material Definitive Agreement
|
Director
Indemnification Agreements
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On March
4, 2010, we entered into indemnification
agreements with the directors of our general
partner. Those agreements provide, among other things, that we will indemnify
each
director in the event that she/he
becomes a party or otherwise a participant in any action or proceeding on
account of her/his service as a
director of
our general partner (or service for another entity in any capacity at the
request of our general partner or us) to the fullest extent permitted by
applicable law. Under
each indemnification
agreement, we have agreed to pay, in
advance of the final disposition of any such action or proceeding, expenses
(including attorneys’ fees) incurred by each director in defending or otherwise
responding to such action or proceeding. The contractual rights to
indemnification provided by the
indemnification
agreements are subject to the limitations and
conditions specified in those agreements, and are in addition to any other
rights the directors may have under our general partner’s limited liability
company agreement and our partnership agreement (each as amended from time to
time) and applicable law. In addition, as additional credit support
for each director, our general partner became a party to each of those
indemnification agreements. We have joint and several liability with
our general partner for all obligations owed to those directors under those
indemnification agreements. Under our partnership agreement, we have
agreed to reimburse and indemnify our general partner for all costs and expenses
it incurs in connection with being our general partner, including any costs and
expenses related to indemnifying its directors.
A copy of
the form of the
indemnification
agreement with each
director is annexed to this Current Report
on Form 8-K as Exhibit 10.1 hereof and is incorporated herein by
reference.
|
Item
5.02. Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors;
Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain
Officers
|
Directors
In
connection with Q GEI Holdings, LLC and other investors acquiring all of the
equity interest in our general partner that was then owned by Denbury Resources
Inc. on February 5, 2010, the board of directors of our general partner
reorganized at a meeting on March 1, 2010, which reorganization included
replacing all of the independent directors and reorganizing that board’s
committee structure so that it was comprised of three standing committees—the
Audit Committee; the Conflicts Committee and the Governance, Compensation and
Business Development Committee. At that board meeting, the non-independent
directors exercised their right to remove (without cause) the independent
directors—
David C.
Baggett, Susan O. Rheney, J. Conley Stone and Martin G. White—all of whom had
been selected by Denbury. Those directors did not have any
disagreement with our general partner or us. Q GEI Holdings, LLC,
which has the right to designate six members (two of whom must be independent)
to the board under our general partner’s organizational documents, designated
the following independent directors:
·
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Kenneth
M. Jastrow, II, age 62, became a director of our general partner on March
1, 2010, and will serve as chairman of the governance, compensation and
business
|
|
development
committee and as a member of the conflicts committee. Mr. Jastrow is
Non-Executive Chairman of Forestar Group, Inc., a real estate and natural
resources company. He served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Temple-Inland, Inc., a manufacturing company and the former parent of
Forestar Group, from 2000 to 2007. Prior to that, Mr. Jastrow served in
various roles at Temple-Inland, including President and Chief Operating
Officer, Group Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Jastrow is
also a director of KB Home and MGIC Investment Corporation, where he also
serves on the compensation
committee.
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·
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S.
James Nelson, age 67, became a director of our general partner on March 1,
2010, and will serve as chairman of the conflicts committee and as a
member of the audit committee and the governance, compensation and
business development committee. In 2004, Mr. Nelson retired after 15 years
of service from Cal Dive International, Inc. (now known as Helix Energy
Solutions Group, Inc.), a marine contractor and operator of offshore oil
and natural gas properties and production facilities, where he was a
founding shareholder, the Chief Financial Officer from 1990 to 2000, Vice
Chairman from 2000 to 2004, and a director. Mr. Nelson is also a director
of three other public companies: W&T Offshore, Inc., Oil States
International, Inc. and ION Geophysical (formerly Input/Output,
Inc.). Mr. Nelson also serves on the audit committee of the
board of directors of each such company and, with respect to W&T
Offshore, on the compensation committee. In addition, from 2005
through the company's sale in 2008, Mr. Nelson was a member of the board
of directors of Quintana Maritime LLC where he was also chairman of the
audit committee and a member of the compensation
committee.
|
Certain
members of the Davison family, which have the right to designate three members
to the board (one of whom must be independent) under our general partner’s
organizational documents, designated the following independent
director:
·
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Sharilyn
S. Gasaway, age 41, became a director of our general partner on March 1,
2010, and will serve as chairman of the audit committee and as a member of
the governance, compensation and business development committee and the
conflicts committee. Ms. Gasaway is a private investor and was Executive
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Alltel Corporation, a
wireless communications company, from 2006 to 2009. She served as
Controller of Alltel Corporation from 2002 through 2006. Ms. Gasaway is
also a director of JB Hunt Transport Services, Inc., serving on its audit
and nominating committees.
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EIV
Capital Fund LP, which has the right to designate one member to the board (who
must be independent) under our general partner’s organizational documents,
designated the following independent director:
·
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Carl
A. Thomason, age 57, became a director of our general partner on March 1,
2010, and will serve on the audit committee, conflicts committee and
governance, compensation and business development committee. Mr. Thomason
has been a marketing consultant to Yessup Oil Corp., a crude oil marketing
company, since 2004
|
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and
prior to that he served for over thirty years in various roles in the
crude oil gathering business, including as an owner of a regional crude
oil gathering and transportation
company.
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The board
determined that Ms. Gasaway and Messrs. Jastrow, Nelson and Thomason satisfied
the independence requirements of the NYSE Amex.
In addition, the board of our general
partner reorganized its committee structure to be comprised of the following
committees:
Directors
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Governance,
Compensation and Business Development
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Conflicts
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Audit
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Gasaway
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x
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x
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x*
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Jastrow
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x*
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x
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Nelson
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x
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x*
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x
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Thomason
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x
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x
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x
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Sturdivant
†
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x
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|
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Davison
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x
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Davison,
Jr.
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x
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|
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Evans
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x
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|
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Robertson,
C.
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x
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|
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Robertson,
W.
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x
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|
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Sims
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x
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†--Indicates
board chairperson.
*--Indicates
committee chairperson.
Director
Compensation
The board
also approved a new compensation arrangement for the
directors. Directors who are not officers of our general partner are
entitled to a base compensation of $150,000 per year, with $75,000 paid in cash
and $75,000 paid in phantom units. Cash will be paid, and phantom units will be
awarded, on the first day of each calendar quarter. So long as he or
she is a director on the relevant date of determination, such director will
receive an amount of money equal to (i) on each quarterly distribution date, the
product of the number of phantom units held by such director multiplied by the
quarterly distribution amount we will pay in respect of each of our outstanding
common units on such distribution date, and (ii) on the third anniversary of
each award date for such director, the product of the number of phantom units
granted to such director on such award date multiplied by the average closing
price of our common units for the 20 trading days ending on the day immediately
preceding such anniversary date.
Chairpersons
of the audit and governance committees will receive an additional amount of base
compensation split equally between cash and phantom units, which compensation
will be included as a portion of the equal quarterly
installments. Such additional amount will be $20,000 for the chair of
the audit committee and $10,000 for the chair of the governance
committee.
In
addition, each director will receive additional cash compensation for each
additional meeting (board and/or committee) in which he or she participates.
Participation by a director in-person will entitle her/him to additional
compensation of $2,000, and participation by a director by means of
telecommunication will entitle her/him to additional compensation of $1,500.
Such payments will be made in connection with the quarterly payments of base
compensation. Additional meetings consist of (i) with respect to the board, any
meetings (in-person or by telecommunication) other than (x) the four pre-set
meetings of the Board for each calendar year and (y) brief follow-up
telecommunication conferences relating to the Annual Report on Form 10-K or any
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q the Company files with the SEC, and (ii) with
respect to any committee, each meeting of such committee.
Officer
Compensation
On March
1, 2010, the Board approved increases to the base salary of each of the named
executive officers set forth below, effective March 1, 2010. The new base salary
and the amount of the increase over the previous year's base salary for each
such executive officer are as follows:
Officer
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2010
Salary
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|
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Increase
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Grant
E. Sims
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$
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460,000
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|
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$
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120,000
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Robert
V. Deere
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$
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420,000
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$
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50,400
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In,
addition, on March 1, 2010, the Board approved bonuses of $150,000 and $175,000
under our bonus plan payable to Ross A. Benavides, Senior Vice President,
General Counsel and Secretary, and Karen N. Pape, Senior Vice President and
Controller, respectively, for performance during 2009.
Item
8.01. Other Events.
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Amendment
to Partnership Agreement
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On March
1, 2010, our general partner amended our partnership agreement by changing the
name of the committee that can grant special approval under our partnership
agreement in connection with the resolution of conflicts of interest and
potential conflicts of interest from the “Audit Committee” to the “Conflicts
Committee.” Our conflicts committee is comprised solely of
independent directors. The procedures for the evaluation of conflicts of
interest and potential conflicts of interest were not amended or otherwise
modified.
A copy of
the amendment to our partnership agreement is annexed to this Current Report on
Form 8-K as Exhibit 10.2 hereof and is incorporated herein by
reference.
Item
9.01. Financial
Statements and Exhibits
(d)
Exhibits
The
following materials are filed as exhibits to this Current Report on Form
8-K.
Exhibits
.
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10.1
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Form
of Indemnity Agreement, among Genesis Energy, L.P., Genesis Energy, LLC
and Quintana Energy Partners II, L.P. and each of the Directors of Genesis
Energy, LLC
|
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10.2
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Amendment
No. 2 to the Fourth Amended and Restated Partnership Agreement of Genesis
Energy, L.P., dated March 1, 2010
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has
duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto
duly authorized.
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GENESIS
ENERGY, L.P.
(a
Delaware limited partnership)
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By:
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GENESIS
ENERGY, LLC, as its sole
general
partner
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Date:
March 5, 2010
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By:
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/s/
Robert V.
Deere
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|
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Robert
V. Deere
Chief
Financial Officer
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Exhibit
Index
10.1
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Form
of Indemnity Agreement, among Genesis Energy, L.P., Genesis Energy, LLC
and Quintana Energy Partners II, L.P. and each of the Directors of Genesis
Energy, LLC
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10.2
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Amendment
No. 2 to the Fourth Amended and Restated Partnership Agreement of Genesis
Energy, L.P., dated March 1, 2010
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