Approval by Limited Partners (a) Except as provided in Section 14.3(d) and Section 14.3(e), the General Partner, upon its approval of the Merger Agreement or the Plan of Conversion, as the case may be, shall direct that the Merger Agreement or the Plan of Conversion, as applicable, be submitted to a vote of Limited Partners, whether at a special meeting or by written consent, in either case in accordance with the requirements of Article XIII. A copy or a summary of the Merger Agreement or the Plan of Conversion, as the case may be, shall be included in or enclosed with the notice of a special meeting or the written consent and, subject to any applicable requirements of Regulation 14A pursuant to the Exchange Act or successor provision, no other disclosure regarding the proposed merger, consolidation or conversion shall be required.
(b) Except as provided in Section 14.3(d) and Section 14.3(e), the Merger Agreement or Plan of Conversion, as the case may be, shall be approved upon receiving the affirmative vote or consent of the holders of a Unit Majority unless the Merger Agreement or Plan of Conversion, as the case may be, effects an amendment to any provision of this Agreement that, if contained in an amendment to this Agreement adopted pursuant to Article XIII, would require for its approval the vote or consent of a greater percentage of the Outstanding Units or of any class of Limited Partners, in which case such greater percentage vote or consent shall be required for approval of the Merger Agreement or the Plan of Conversion, as the case may be.
(c) Except as provided in Section 14.3(d) and Section 14.3(e), after such approval by vote or consent of the Limited Partners, and at any time prior to the filing of the certificate of merger or articles of conversion pursuant to Section 14.4, the merger, consolidation or conversion may be abandoned pursuant to provisions therefor, if any, set forth in the Merger Agreement or Plan of Conversion, as the case may be.
(d) Notwithstanding anything else contained in this Article XIV or in this Agreement, the General Partner is permitted, without Limited Partner approval, to convert the Partnership or any Group Member into a new limited liability entity, to merge the Partnership or any Group Member into, or convey all of the Partnership’s assets to, another limited liability entity that shall be newly formed and shall have no assets, liabilities or operations at the time of such conversion, merger or conveyance other than those it receives from the Partnership or other Group Member if (i) the General Partner has received an Opinion of Counsel that the conversion, merger or conveyance, as the case may be, would not result in the loss of limited liability under the laws of the jurisdiction governing the other limited liability entity (if that jurisdiction is not Delaware) of any Limited Partner as compared to its limited liability under the Delaware Act or cause the Partnership to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise to be taxed as an entity for federal income tax purposes (to the extent not previously treated as such), (ii) the sole purpose of such conversion, merger, or conveyance is to effect a mere change in the legal form of the Partnership into another limited liability entity and (iii) the General Partner determines that the governing instruments of the new entity provide the Limited Partners and the General Partner with substantially the same rights and obligations as are herein contained.
(e) Additionally, notwithstanding anything else contained in this Article XIV or in this Agreement, the General Partner is permitted, without Limited Partner approval, to merge or consolidate the Partnership with or into another limited liability entity if (i) the General Partner has received an Opinion of Counsel that the merger or consolidation, as the case may be, would not result in the loss of the limited liability of any Limited Partner under the laws of the jurisdiction governing the other limited liability entity (if that jurisdiction is not Delaware) as compared to its limited liability under the Delaware Act or cause the Partnership to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise to be taxed as an entity for federal income tax purposes (to the extent not previously treated as such), (ii) the merger or consolidation would not result in an amendment to this Agreement, other than any amendments that could be adopted pursuant to Section 13.1, (iii) the Partnership is the Surviving Business Entity in such merger or consolidation, (iv) each Unit outstanding immediately prior to the effective date of the merger or consolidation is to be an identical Unit of the Partnership after the effective date of the merger or consolidation, and (v) the number of Partnership Interests to be issued by the Partnership in such merger or consolidation does not exceed 20% of the Partnership Interests (other than Incentive Distribution Rights) Outstanding immediately prior to the effective date of such merger or consolidation.
(f) Pursuant to Section 17-211(g) of the Delaware Act, an agreement of merger or consolidation approved in accordance with this Article XIV may (i) effect any amendment to this Agreement or (ii) effect the adoption of a new partnership agreement for the Partnership if it is the Surviving Business Entity. Any such amendment or adoption made pursuant to this Section 14.3 shall be effective at the effective time or date of the merger or consolidation.
Withdrawal of General Partner (a) The General Partner may not Withdraw (other than as a result of an Involuntary Withdrawal) without the Consent of the Special Limited Partner. Withdrawal shall be conditioned upon the agreement of the Special Limited Partner to be admitted as a successor General Partner, or if the Special Limited Partner declines to be admitted as a successor General Partner then on the agreement of one or more Persons who satisfy the requirements of Section 13.5 of this Agreement to be admitted as successor General Partner(s).
(b) Each General Partner shall indemnify and hold harmless the Partnership and all Partners from its Withdrawal in violation of Section 13.1(a) hereof. Each General Partner shall be liable for damages to the Partnership resulting from its Withdrawal in violation of Section 13.1(a).
General Partners Each Plains Entity or GP Entity that serves as a general partner of another Plains Entity or GP Entity has full corporate or limited liability company power and authority, as the case may be, to serve as general partner of such Plains Entity or GP Entity, in each case in all material respects, as disclosed in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.
Removal of a General Partner (a) Upon the occurrence of an Event of Bankruptcy as to, or the dissolution of, a General Partner, such General Partner shall be deemed to be removed automatically; provided, however, that if a General Partner is on the date of such occurrence a partnership, the withdrawal, death or dissolution of, Event of Bankruptcy as to, or removal of, a partner in, such partnership shall be deemed not to be a dissolution of the General Partner if the business of such General Partner is continued by the remaining partner or partners. The Limited Partners may not remove the General Partner, with or without cause.
(b) If a General Partner has been removed pursuant to this Section 7.4 and the Partnership is continued pursuant to Section 7.3, such General Partner shall promptly transfer and assign its General Partnership Interest in the Partnership to the substitute General Partner approved by the Limited Partners in accordance with Section 7.3(b) and otherwise admitted to the Partnership in accordance with Section 7.2. At the time of assignment, the removed General Partner shall be entitled to receive from the substitute General Partner the fair market value of the General Partnership Interest of such removed General Partner as reduced by any damages caused to the Partnership by such General Partner. Such fair market value shall be determined by an appraiser mutually agreed upon by the General Partner and the Limited Partners holding a majority of the Percentage Interests of all Limited Partners within 10 days following the removal of the General Partner. If the parties are unable to agree upon an appraiser, the removed General Partner and the Limited Partners holding a majority of the Percentage Interests of all Limited Partners each shall select an appraiser. Each such appraiser shall complete an appraisal of the fair market value of the removed General Partner’s General Partnership Interest within 30 days of the General Partner’s removal, and the fair market value of the removed General Partner’s General Partnership Interest shall be the average of the two appraisals; provided, however, that if the higher appraisal exceeds the lower appraisal by more than 20% of the amount of the lower appraisal, the two appraisers, no later than 40 days after the removal of the General Partner, shall select a third appraiser who shall complete an appraisal of the fair market value of the removed General Partner’s General Partnership Interest no later than 60 days after the removal of the General Partner. In such case, the fair market value of the removed General Partner’s General Partnership Interest shall be the average of the two appraisals closest in value.
(c) The General Partnership Interest of a removed General Partner, during the time after default until transfer under Section 7.4(b), shall be converted to that of a special Limited Partner; provided, however, such removed General Partner shall not have any rights to participate in the management and affairs of the Partnership, and shall not be entitled to any portion of the income, expense, profit, gain or loss allocations or cash distributions allocable or payable, as the case may be, to the Limited Partners. Instead, such removed General Partner shall receive and be entitled only to retain distributions or allocations of such items that it would have been entitled to receive in its capacity as General Partner, until the transfer is effective pursuant to Section 7.4(b).
(d) All Partners shall have given and hereby do give such consents, shall take such actions and shall execute such documents as shall be legally necessary, desirable and sufficient to effect all the foregoing provisions of this Section.
Approval of Stockholders If an option is granted by this Agreement prior to approval of the stockholders of the Plan, the option granted shall be null and void unless stockholder approval is obtained within twelve months after the Plan was adopted.