Item 1.01. Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement
On November 3, 2009, Hiland Partners, LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the
"Partnership"), announced that it had entered into Amendment No. 2 (the
"Amendment"), dated November 3, 2009, to the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated
as of June 1, 2009, with HH GP Holding, LLC, an Oklahoma limited liability
company and an affiliate of Harold Hamm ("Parent"), HLND MergerCo, LLC, a
Delaware limited liability company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Parent
("Merger Sub" and together with Parent, the "Parent Parties"), and Hiland
Partners GP, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and the general partner
of the Partnership, as amended by Amendment No. 1 thereto, dated October 26,
2009 (the "Agreement"), under which Merger Sub will be merged with and into the
Partnership, with the Partnership continuing as the surviving entity (the
"Merger").
Under the terms of the Amendment, the merger consideration payable to common
unitholders of the Partnership pursuant to the Agreement increased from $7.75 to
$10.00 per common unit and the end date of the Agreement was extended from
November 6, 2009 until December 11, 2009. Mr. Hamm has also delivered to Parent
an amendment (the "Commitment Letter Amendment") to the funding commitment
letter previously delivered to Parent on June 1, 2009 (the "Commitment Letter"),
pursuant to which Mr. Hamm has committed to contribute the aggregate merger
consideration contemplated under the Amendment of approximately $41.3 million.
The Parent Parties' obligation to effect the Merger is conditioned upon,
among other things, the simultaneous consummation of the merger contemplated in
the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of June 1, 2009, entered into by
Parent, HPGP MergerCo, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Parent ("Holdings Merger Sub"), Hiland Holdings GP,
LP, a Delaware limited partnership ("Hiland Holdings"), and Hiland Partners GP
Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and the general partner of
Hiland Holdings, as amended by Amendment No. 1 thereto, dated October 26, 2009
(the "Hiland Holdings Agreement") under which Holdings Merger Sub will be merged
with and into Hiland Holdings, with Hiland Holdings continuing as the surviving
entity. On November 3, 2009, Hiland Holdings announced that it had entered into
Amendment No. 2 to the Hiland Holdings Agreement (the "Hiland Holdings
Amendment") to increase the merger consideration payable to common unitholders
of Hiland Holdings from $2.40 to $3.20 per common unit and to extend the end
date of the Hiland Holdings Agreement from November 6, 2009 until December 11,
2009. Mr. Hamm also delivered to Parent an amendment to the funding commitment
letter previously delivered to Parent on June 1, 2009, pursuant to which
Mr. Hamm has committed to contribute the aggregate merger consideration
contemplated under the Hiland Holdings Amendment of approximately $28.2 million.
Conflicts committees comprised entirely of independent members of the boards
of directors of the general partners of the Partnership and Hiland Holdings
(collectively, the "Hiland Companies") separately determined that the
going-private transactions, as contemplated in the amended agreements, are
advisable, fair to and in the best interests of the applicable Hiland Company
and its public unitholders. In determining to make their recommendation to the
boards of directors, each conflicts committee considered, among other things,
the opinion received from its respective financial advisor as the to fairness of
the increased merger consideration. Based on the recommendation of its conflicts
committee, the board of directors of the general partner of each of the
Partnership and Hiland Holdings has approved the amendment to the applicable
merger agreement and has recommended, along with its respective conflicts
committee, that the public unitholders of the Partnership and Hiland Holdings,
respectively, approve the applicable merger.
The foregoing summary of the Amendment and the transactions contemplated
thereby does not purport to be complete and is subject to, and qualified in its
entirety by reference to, the full text of the Amendment and the Commitment
Letter Amendment, which are attached as Exhibit 2.1 and Exhibit 2.2 hereto,
Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement, which is attached as Exhibit 2.1 to the
Partnership's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission ("SEC") on October 27, 2009, and the Agreement and the Commitment
Letter, which are attached as Exhibit 2.1 and Exhibit 2.2 to the Partnership's
Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on June 1, 2009.
Item 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure
On November 3, 2009, the Partnership and Hiland Holdings issued a joint press
release announcing that they had entered into the Amendment and the Hiland
Holdings Amendment, respectively, and that each of the
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Partnership and Hiland Holdings had adjourned their respective special meeting
of unitholders scheduled for November 3, 2009 to December 4, 2009. A copy of the
press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 hereto.
The statements included in this Current Report on Form 8-K regarding any
transaction with Harold Hamm and his affiliates, including statements regarding
the intention to mail a supplement to the Hiland companies' joint proxy
statement and the intention to hold the special meetings on December 4, 2009,
are forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and
uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the ability of the Hiland
companies to receive clearance of the supplement by the SEC with a sufficient
amount of time prior to the meeting date to permit distribution of the
supplement, actions by regulatory authorities, market conditions, the Hiland
Companies' financial results and performance, satisfaction of closing
conditions, actions by any other bidder and other factors detailed in risk
factors and elsewhere in Hiland Partners' and Hiland Holdings' Annual Reports on
Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC. Should one or more of these risks or
uncertainties materialize (or the consequences of such a development worsen), or
should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual outcomes may vary
materially from those forecasted or expected. The Hiland Companies disclaim any
intention or obligation to update publicly or revise such statements, whether as
a result of new information, future events or otherwise.