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| QELP > SEC Filings for QELP > Form 8-K on 7-Jul-2009 | All Recent SEC Filings |
7-Jul-2009
Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement
• QEAC will merge with and into QELP (the "QELP Merger"), with QELP surviving the QELP Merger and (i) each outstanding common unit of QELP (other than any common units owned by QRCP) will entitle the holder thereof to the right to receive 0.2859 shares of New Quest common stock, (ii) all of the outstanding general partner units of QELP held by QELP GP will be converted into one general partner unit and (iii) all of the outstanding incentive distribution rights and subordinated units of QELP will be cancelled for no consideration;
• QMAC will merge with and into QMLP (the "QMLP Merger"), with QMLP surviving
the QMLP Merger and (i) each outstanding common unit of QMLP will entitle
the holder thereof to the right to receive 0.4033 shares of New Quest common
stock, (ii) all of the outstanding general partner units of QMLP will be
converted into (x) one general partner unit of QMLP and (y) a number of
shares of New Quest common stock equal to the product obtained by
multiplying the aggregate number of shares of New Quest common stock issued
to holders of QMLP common units in the QMLP Merger and 0.30612% and
(iii) all of the outstanding incentive distribution rights and subordinated
units of QMLP will be cancelled for no consideration;
• Following the QELP Merger, New Quest and QELP GP will convert QELP into a Delaware limited liability company ("OGLLC"), with OGLLC becoming a wholly owned direct subsidiary of New Quest;
• Following the QMLP Merger, QMHC and QMLP GP will convert QMLP into a Delaware limited liability company ("PLLC"), with PLLC becoming a wholly owned direct subsidiary of QMHC;
• Following the conversion of QMLP into PLLC, QMLP GP will merge with and into QRCP (the "QMLP GP Merger"), and each outstanding QMLP GP unit held by persons other than QRCP will entitle the holder thereof to the right to receive a number of shares of New Quest common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing the number of shares of New Quest common
stock to be received by QMLP GP in the QMLP Merger by the total number of QMLP GP units outstanding and held by persons other than QRCP; and
• Following the QMLP GP Merger, QELP GP will merge with and into QRCP (the "QELP GP Merger"), and each outstanding QELP GP unit will be cancelled for no consideration.
At the time of the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Merger
Agreement, New Quest will change its name to a name which has not yet been
decided. Any fractional share of New Quest common stock to be issued in the QRCP
Merger, the QELP Merger or the QMLP Merger will be rounded up to the nearest
whole share of New Quest common stock.
At the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, the New
Quest board of directors will consist of nine members, two of whom will be
designated by the current board of directors of QRCP and who are expected to be
William H. Damon III and Jon H. Rateau, three of whom will be designated by the
conflicts committee of the board of directors of QELP GP and who are expected to
be Gary M. Pittman, Mark A. Stansberry and J. Philip McCormick, three of whom
will be designated by the board of directors of QMLP GP and who are expected to
be Daniel Spears, Duke R. Ligon and Edward Russell and one of whom shall be the
principal executive officer of New Quest and who is expected to be David C.
Lawler. It is currently expected that Gary M. Pittman will be chairman of the
New Quest board of directors.
The Merger Agreement contains customary representations and warranties and
covenants by each of the parties. Completion of each of the transactions
contemplated by the Merger Agreement is conditioned upon, among other things:
• Approval of the Merger Agreement by holders of at least a majority of the
outstanding shares of common stock of QRCP;
• Approval and adoption of the Merger Agreement and the QELP Merger by holders of at least a majority of the outstanding QELP common units (other than common units owned by QELP GP and its affiliates), voting as a class, and by the holders of at least a majority of the outstanding QELP subordinated units, voting as a class;
• Approval and adoption of the Merger Agreement and the QMLP Merger by holders of at least a majority of the outstanding QMLP common units (other than common units owned by QMLP GP and its affiliates), voting as a class, and by the holders of at least a majority of the outstanding QMLP subordinated units, voting as a class;
• Absence of certain legal impediments prohibiting the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement;
• Effectiveness of a registration statement on Form S-4 relating to the shares of New Quest common stock to be issued pursuant to the Merger Agreement;
• Authorization for listing on the NASDAQ Stock Market of the shares of New Quest common stock to be issued pursuant to the Merger Agreement;
• All necessary consents having been obtained under QRCP's, QELP's and QMLP's existing credit facilities;
• New Quest and its subsidiaries having entered into one or more credit facilities reasonably acceptable to the board of directors of each of QRCP, QELP GP and QMLP GP;
• Each of the parties having performed, in all material respects, all of its covenants and agreements contained in the Merger Agreement required to be performed on or before the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement and that the representations and warranties generally be true and correct as if made on the date of the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, subject to a materiality standard set forth in the Merger Agreement;
• None of the parties shall have suffered a material adverse effect, as contemplated by the Merger Agreement; and
• Receipt of certain tax opinions.
The Merger Agreement contains provisions granting QRCP, QELP and QMLP the right
to terminate the Merger Agreement for certain reasons, including, among others:
• The mutual consent of QRCP, QELP and QMLP through action of their respective
boards of directors;
• Any of the mergers contemplated by the Merger Agreement has not been consummated by March 31, 2010;
• The failure to obtain the necessary approval of QRCP stockholders, QELP unitholders or QMLP unitholders;
• A court or any governmental, regulatory or administrative agency of commission having issued a final or nonappealable order, decree or ruling or taken any other action permanently restraining, enjoining or otherwise prohibiting the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement;
• One of the parties having breached any representation or warranty or failed to perform any covenant or agreement contained in the Merger Agreement or any representation or warranty shall have become untrue and the result being that a condition to closing has not been satisfied and is not cured within 30 days of receiving notice of such breach, failure or untruth; and
• A change in the recommendation of the QRCP board of directors to the QRCP stockholders to vote in favor of the Merger Agreement occurs, a change in the QELP GP board of directors recommendation to the QELP unitholders to vote in favor of the Merger Agreement occurs or a change in the QMLP GP board of directors recommendation to the QMLP unitholders to vote in favor of the Merger Agreement occurs.
The foregoing summary does not purport to be complete and is subject to, and is
qualified in its entirety by, reference to the Merger Agreement, a copy of which
is filed as Exhibit 2.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated
herein by reference.
Support Agreement
In connection with the Merger Agreement, QELP entered into a Support Agreement,
dated as of July 2, 2009 among QRCP, QELP, QMLP and certain QMLP unitholders
(the "Support Agreement"). Pursuant to the Support Agreement,
• QRCP, which owns all of the subordinated units of QELP, agreed to vote its QELP subordinated units to approve and adopt the Merger Agreement and the QELP Merger and against certain other competing transactions;
• QRCP, which owns all of the Class A subordinated units and Class B subordinated units of QMLP, agreed to vote its QMLP subordinated units to approve and adopt the Merger Agreement and the QMLP Merger at any meeting of QMLP unitholders and against certain other competing transactions;
• The QMLP unitholders that are a party to the Support Agreement, who in the aggregate own approximately 40% of the common units of QMLP, agreed to vote their QMLP common units to approve and adopt the Merger Agreement and the QMLP Merger at any meeting of QMLP unitholders and against certain other competing transactions;
• The QMLP unitholders that are a party to the Support Agreement that also own membership interests in QMLP GP approved, authorized and consented to the QMLP GP Merger;
• QRCP granted a proxy to the chairman of the board of directors of QELP GP authorizing him to vote its QELP subordinated units to approve and adopt the Merger Agreement and the QELP Merger;
• QRCP granted a proxy to the chairman of the board of directors of QMLP GP authorizing him to vote its QMLP subordinated units to approve and adopt the Merger Agreement and the QMLP Merger; and
• The QMLP unitholders that are a party to the Support Agreement granted a proxy to the chairman of the board of directors of QELP GP authorizing him to vote their QMLP common units to adopt and approve the Merger Agreement and the QMLP Merger.
The foregoing summary does not purport to be complete and is subject to, and is
qualified in its entirety by, reference to the Support Agreement, a copy of
which is filed as Exhibit 10.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is
incorporated herein by reference.
Amendment to Quest Cherokee's Amended and Restated Credit Agreement
On June 30, 2009, Quest Cherokee, LLC ("Quest Cherokee"), QELP (QELP together
with Quest Cherokee, "Quest Energy") and Quest Cherokee Oilfield Service, LLC
("QCOS") entered into a Fourth Amendment to Amended and Restated Credit
Agreement (the "Quest Cherokee Fourth Amendment") that amended a covenant
contained in the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement dated as of November 15,
2007 among QRCP, Quest Cherokee, QELP, Royal Bank of Canada ("RBC"), KeyBank
National Association ("KeyBank") and the lenders party thereto, as amended (the
"Quest Cherokee Credit Agreement"), in order to defer until August 15, 2009
Quest Energy's obligation to deliver to RBC unaudited consolidated balance
sheets and related statements of income and cash flows for the fiscal quarters
ending September 30, 2008 and March 31, 2009. Quest Energy paid the lenders a
$185,000 amendment fee. The Quest Cherokee Fourth Amendment is among Quest
Cherokee, as borrower, QELP and QCOS as guarantors, RBC as administrative agent
and collateral agent, KeyBank as documentation agent and the required lenders
party thereto.
The foregoing summary does not purport to be complete and is subject to, and is
qualified in its entirety by, reference to the Quest Cherokee Fourth Amendment,
a copy of which is filed as Exhibit 10.2 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and
is incorporated herein by reference.
On July 3, 2009, Quest Cherokee received notice from RBC, as Administrative
Agent under the Quest Cherokee Credit Agreement, that the borrowing base under
the Quest Cherokee Credit Agreement had been reduced from $190 million to
$160 million, which resulted in the outstanding borrowings under the Quest
Cherokee Credit Agreement exceeding the new borrowing base by $14 million (the
"Borrowing Base Deficiency"). Under the terms of the Quest Cherokee Credit
Agreement, Quest Cherokee must notify RBC by August 2, 2009 whether it elects to
(i) repay the Borrowing Base Deficiency within 30 days of such election,
(ii) repay the Borrowing Base Deficiency in four equal monthly installments of
$3.5 million or (iii) pledge additional oil and gas properties as collateral for
the Quest Cherokee Credit Agreement to eliminate the Borrowing Base Deficiency.
In anticipation of the reduction in the borrowing base, QELP amended or exited
certain of its above market natural gas price derivative contracts and, in
return, received approximately $26 million. The strike prices on the derivative
contracts that QELP did not exit were set to market prices at the time. At the
same time, QELP entered into new natural gas price derivative contracts to
increase the total amount of its future proved developed natural gas production
hedged to approximately 85% through 2013. On June 30, 2009, using these
proceeds, QELP made a principal payment of $15 million on the Quest Cherokee
Credit Agreement. Management believes that QELP has sufficient capital resources
to repay the $14 million Borrowing Base Deficiency and the $3.8 million
principal payment due under the Quest Cherokee Term Loan Agreement (as defined
below) on August 15, 2009. Management is currently pursuing various options to
restructure or refinance the Quest Cherokee Term Loan Agreement. There can be no
assurance that such efforts will be successful or that the terms of any new or
restructured indebtedness will be favorable to QELP.
Amendment to Quest Cherokee's Second Lien Senior Term Loan Agreement
On June 30, 2009, Quest Cherokee, QELP and QCOS also entered into a Second
Amendment to Second Lien Senior Term Loan Agreement (the "Quest Cherokee Second
Amendment") that amended a covenant contained in the Second Lien Senior Term
Loan Agreement dated as of July 11, 2008 among Quest Cherokee, QELP, RBC,
KeyBank, Société Générale and the lenders party thereto, as amended (the "Quest
Cherokee Term Loan Agreement"), in order defer until August 15, 2009 Quest
Energy's obligation to deliver to RBC unaudited consolidated balance sheets and
related statements of income and cash flows for the fiscal quarters ending
September 30, 2008 and March 31, 2009. Quest Energy paid the lenders a $15,000
amendment fee. The Quest Cherokee Second Amendment is among Quest Cherokee, as
borrower, QELP and QCOS as guarantors, RBC as administrative agent and
collateral agent, KeyBank as syndication agent, Société Générale as
documentation agent and the required lenders party thereto.
The foregoing summary does not purport to be complete and is subject to, and is
qualified in its entirety by, reference to the Quest Cherokee Second Amendment,
a copy of which is filed as Exhibit 10.3 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and
is incorporated herein by reference.
Cautionary Statements
The Merger Agreement is filed herewith to provide investors with information
regarding its terms and is not intended to provide any other factual information
about any of the parties thereto. In particular, the assertions embodied in the
representations and warranties contained in the Merger Agreement are as of
specified dates and were made only for purposes of the Merger Agreement. Such
representations and warranties are solely for the benefit of the parties to the
Merger Agreement, and may be subject to limitations agreed among the parties,
including being qualified by information contained in the exhibits to the Merger
Agreement and in the disclosure letters exchange among the parties in connection
with the execution of the Merger Agreement that may modify and create exceptions
to the representations and warranties contained in the Merger Agreement.
Moreover, certain representations and warranties in the Merger Agreement were
used for the purpose of allocating risk among the parties, rather than
establishing
matters as facts. Accordingly, they should not be relied upon as statements of
factual information. Unitholders are not third-party beneficiaries under the
Merger Agreement and should not rely on the representations and warranties in
the Merger Agreement as characterizations of the actual state of facts about the
parties to the Merger Agreement. None of the representations and warranties
contained in the Merger Agreement will have any legal effect among the parties
to the Merger Agreement after the closing of the transactions contemplated by
the Merger Agreement.
Forward Looking Statements
Opinions, forecasts, projections or statements other than statements of
historical fact, are forward-looking statement that involve a number of risks
and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this report, including QELP's
intentions to eliminate the Borrowing Base Deficiency, to make the principal
payment due under the Quest Cherokee Term Loan Agreement on August 15, 2009 and
to restructure or refinance the Quest Cherokee Term Loan Agreement, are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Although QELP believes that the expectations reflected in
such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that
such expectations will prove to be correct. In particular, the forward-looking
statements made in this report are based upon a number of financial and
operating assumptions that are subject to a number of risks, including the
ability to restructure its credit facilities, the ongoing worldwide crisis in
the capital markets, uncertainty involved in exploring for and developing new
natural gas reserves, the sale prices of natural gas and oil, labor and raw
material costs, the availability of sufficient capital resources to carry out
the anticipated level of new well development and construction of related
pipelines, environmental issues, weather conditions, competition and general
market conditions. Actual results may differ materially due to a variety of
factors, some of which may not be foreseen by QELP. These risks, and other risks
are detailed in QELP's latest annual report on Form 10-K and other filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which can be found at
www.qelp.net or at www.sec.gov. Readers are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on these forward looking statements, which speak only as of their
dates. By making these forward looking statements, QELP undertakes no obligation
to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this
report.
Important Information and Where to Find It
In connection with the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, a
registration statement of New Quest, which will include a prospectus of New
Quest and a joint proxy statement of QELP and QRCP and other materials, will be
filed with the SEC. INVESTORS ARE URGED TO CAREFULLY READ THE REGISTRATION
STATEMENT AND THE PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND THESE OTHER MATERIALS REGARDING
THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED BY THE MERGER AGREEMENT WHEN THEY BECOME
AVAILABLE, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PARTIES TO
THE MERGER AGREEMENT AND THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED BY THE MERGER AGREEMENT.
A definitive proxy statement/prospectus will be sent to QELP unitholders seeking
their approval and adoption of the Merger Agreement and the QELP Merger and
unitholders may obtain a free copy of the proxy statement/prospectus (when it is
available) and other documents containing information about the parties to the
Merger Agreement, without charge, at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Copies of
the registration statement and the definitive proxy statement/prospectus may
also be obtained for free by contacting QELP at Quest Energy Partners, L.P.,
Attn: Jack Collins, 210 Park Avenue, Suite 2750, Oklahoma City, OK 73102:
Telephone: (405) 600-7704.
Participants in Solicitation
QELP and its directors, officers and certain other members of management may be
deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from its unitholders in
respect of the QELP Merger. Information
about these persons can be found in QELP's annual report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2008 as filed with the SEC on June 16, 2009. Additional
information about the interests of such persons in the solicitation of proxies
in respect of the QELP Merger will be included in the registration statement and
the proxy statement/prospectus to be filed with the SEC in connection with the
proposed transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement.
Item 2.04 Triggering Events That Accelerate or Increase a Direct Financial
Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement.
See the disclosures under Item 1.01 regarding the Quest Cherokee Credit
Agreement, which are incorporated herein by reference.
Item 8.01 Other Events.
On July 6, 2009, a press release was issued relating to the Merger Agreement. A
copy of the press release is filed as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on
Form 8-K and incorporated herein by reference. Additionally, on July 6, 2009, a
press release was issued regarding the Quest Cherokee Credit Agreement borrowing
base redetermination and Borrowing Base Deficiency and QELP's monetization of
certain derivative contracts and entry into new derivative contracts. A copy of
the press release is filed as Exhibit 99.2 to this Current Report on Form 8-K
and incorporated herein by reference. The press releases contain statements
intended as "forward looking statements" that are subject to the cautionary
statements about forward looking statements contained in the respective press
releases.
Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits.
Exhibit 2.1 Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of July 2, 2009, among New
Quest Holdings Corp., Quest Resource Corporation, Quest Midstream
Partners, L.P., Quest Energy Partners, L.P., Quest Midstream GP,
LLC, Quest Energy GP, LLC, Quest Resource Acquisition Corp., Quest
Energy Acquisition, LLC, Quest Midstream Holdings Corp. and Quest
Midstream Acquisition, LLC.
Exhibit 10.1 Support Agreement, dated as of July 2, 2009, among Quest Resource
Corporation, Quest Midstream Partners, L.P., Quest Energy Partners,
L.P. and each of the unitholders of Quest Midstream Partners, L.P.
party thereto.
Exhibit 10.2 Fourth Amendment to Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as
of June 30, 2009, among Quest Cherokee, LLC, Quest Energy Partners,
L.P., Quest Cherokee Oilfield Service, LLC, Royal Bank of Canada,
KeyBank National Association and the Required Lenders party thereto.
Exhibit 10.3 Second Amendment to Second Lien Senior Term Loan Agreement, dated as
of June 30, 2009, among Quest Cherokee, LLC, Quest Energy Partners,
L.P., Quest Cherokee Oilfield Service, LLC, Royal Bank of Canada,
KeyBank National Association, Société Générale and the Required
Lenders party thereto.
Exhibit 99.1 Press Release dated July 6, 2009.
Exhibit 99.2 Press Release dated July 6, 2009.
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